Black Bear Diner Salem — Restaurant in Salem

Overall Impression: This review is based on a recent dinner visit. As a long-time customer who has visited \mathbf{10} Black Bear Diner locations across multiple states, I had high hopes for this new Salem spot, especially given the apparent community excitement and high volume of customers. However, the dining experience fell short of the brand's usual standard. The Atmosphere & Service: The location seems extremely busy—much more so than similar diners in the area. While this is a positive sign for the business, it appears the kitchen and service staff are struggling to keep up. The Food (The Problem Areas): Cheeseburger: I ordered a cheeseburger that was not cooked to order as directed. In a restaurant with a reputation for hearty, satisfying meals, this is a basic execution flaw. French Fries: The accompanying side of french fries was cold to the touch. Serving cold sides suggests issues with timing and plate delivery from the kitchen. Family Feedback: My senior father, who is not a "food connoisseur" and is generally easy to please, was notably unimpressed. His comment was that the diner "needs to stick with breakfast," which is a telling indictment of the quality of the dinner fare we received. Conclusion & Hope for the Future: Salem is a difficult market for restaurants, and locations that don't quickly resolve operational issues often "die" here. I genuinely hope this franchise location figures out its problems soon. The Black Bear Diner brand is a favorite of mine, but the new Salem location needs significant improvements in order accuracy and food temperature consistency to meet the expectations of its...

Went for breakfast the first Saturday of the Salem location's operation and was thrilled to see it so busy and running so smoothly.

We expected and anticipated a wait and the host station has a great system set up to text you updates of where your party is in the queue. The new resturant has a great mix of tables for 2-4+ and seats at the diner-style counter.

Ordered the Bear's Choice with eggs over easy, sausage links, and biscuits and gravy with coffee. As is Black Bear Tradition, the servings were hearty and leftovers walked out with me. The servers made sure my coffee cup was never empty for long!

It made me so happy to see the old Shari's building full of laughter and happiness over breakfast again! It was delightful to see so many intergenerational tables out to enjoy breakfast together.

The Shasta-California wodlodsy style decor with black bears, fishing gear, the beary best puns, and a jukebox is homey, cozy, and inviting. If the goal is to deliver hospitality, big smiles, and everyone leaving full and happy, they knocked it out of the park.

My party of two arrived about 9:45, had a 30 or so minute wait (to be expected), and every step of the way service was fast and attentive. Food orders were in and delivered to the table lightning quick and had extra hands on deck to help ensure multiple plates arrived together.

Looking forward to another Leslie Knope and Ran Swanson approved breakfast plate. It's also going to be the perfect to spot to take my friend's kids for dessert when the adults need a break and I already know it's going to be decked out for the...

On 10/25 ....(Understandable)they are busy newly opened assuming with sign in the window still hiring we proceeded and the wait for a seat not horrible considering. With that being siad we finally got seated yeah! Well as we sit and sit watching waitresses and staff contually walk pass with heads down yet helping tables around us other than one other family in front of us.. we decided to finally approach the front desk politely asked if a drink order was possible still waited more than 20 minutes later with help from a random believe to be bus person we got a waitress...drink and food order FINALLY taken yeah (starving) by this time we had been sitting at table for over an hour and with pushing we got a salad and semi warm childs plate for the grandbaby ..again watching other tables very close to us get service drinks and food and leave and others come in same result, we are now looking at each other like what did we possibly do or just forgotten 😀 finally ask now being here over 2hrs not counting time waiting for table we stopped a server asked about are food they looked confused at this time wanted to pay for are drinks and child meal that we got and leave, when suddenly a bunch of incorrect and ice cold food arrived... we asked to just pay what we owe and leave... This was really sad we have been going to black bear diners since all are traveling...