Black Bear Diner The Woodlands — Restaurant in Shenandoah

This was my first visit (Apr 13)…but absolutely not my last! A coworker recommended this place when I asked about a “good chicken fried steak.” I’m so thankful my family and I chose to go here. This, overall, was one of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had. The restaurant is conveniently located. There’s plenty of parking space. The outside was neat, clean and appealing (good spots for taking pics). There’s outside dining space as well. Upon entry, we were greeted warmly and there were no off-putting smells (if a place doesn’t smell right, I can’t eat there. Period.). The environment was clean, cozy and cared for. We were seated in a large booth that was clean! I was able to slide into the booth—both booth and table were clean: no stickiness, no crumbs, no wetness no nothing but booth and table…and did I say, CLEAN!? :-) Ketchup bottle on the table—clean! SOON after being seated, we were greeted by our waiter, JESSE, and he was a stand-out from the get-go. He was polite, charming, kind, gracious, knowledgeable, down-to-earth, comical and ready to serve. He served us as if he owned the place—truly vested and invested—and as if we were the only people in the building. He made it all about us and made sure we were delighted with our full experience. He “WAITED” on us in full-service fashion and he was a joy. He didn’t bug nor bother, he didn’t huff nor puff (lol) he was genuinely glad to be in this space and we were so glad he was, too. Thank you, Jesse!!! Sooo, I don’t get the chicken fried steak. My mom did. She got the smaller sized portion, and it was still a big portion. It was good (I tasted it) and she enjoyed it. My husband went with the pot roast. It was succulent, tender and full of vegetables. The mashed potatoes were real and the brown gravy topped it all off. Since I was in a new place, I went out on a limb and tried something new. The Bacon Bleu Burger was sooooo good and my sweet potato fries were natural cut and cooked to perfection. The ranch dressing I requested for dipping was thick and homemade…turns out, it’s a “bacon ranch.” Not much room left for dessert, but we did it anyway…fudge chocolate cake and creamy cheesecake. Totally delectable. I was so overwhelmed by the sheer number of sumptuous choices on the menu, that it was hard to decide. Jesse was helpful and patient. When I go back I’m pretty sure I will have to try something from the breakfast menu. You can get breakfast, lunch or dinner any time of the day, 6am-10pm. My Black Bear experience was so FULL and RICH, and so was I. I was a content bear. lol. Everything was great, start to finish. Every employee that I made eye contact with had a smile for me…almost knowingly, as if they could see and appreciate my glee and confidently respond with smile like “Yeah girl, we know…we know.” Hahahaa. I loved it all. Can’t wait to go back. I had to hug Jesse as we said our good-byes. I made a new friend…and I have a new favorite place to...

Let me start out by saying we LOVE BBD. Every year on christmas morning we go have breakfast with our family(10-15 people). Not only is the food amazing but they have so many things to choose from. usually the service is amazing too. Today we go like we normally do. We sat down and I looked at a new menu in front of me. Now I WAS NOT RUDE IN ANYWAY!!!! BUT asked the waitress what happen to the menu and she responded that they downsized for the holidays. my response was "oh wow, they took alot off the menu and that's really disappointing because that's why we come here" she shrugged her shoulders and walked off. Well next thing you know we have a new waitress come over and start taking our drink order. Now at this point I had no idea that I had made anyone upset. My daughter was like " mom, that waitress is over there complaining and told another co-worker that she didn't want to put up with this shit and wanted to go home" and she did not want to waitress our table. As I look up, like 10 employees are over by kitchen looking at me and talking crap!!! The waitress was just bobbing her head making it so much more then what it was. So when our new waitress came back, I told her "I don't know what happen but I was not rude and didn't mean to offened her and I am confused as to why the entire staff is staring and talking about me". Waitress apologized and said not worry she would take care of us. So we ate, enjoyed our meal even though we were constantly being stared at and talked about by other waitresses. We had wonderful service with our new waitress. As we went to leave our waitress came over to give us our ticket. I handed her a $200.00 cash tip and thanked her for being so nice and providing great service. She was overwhelmed with getting such a large tip but we could tell she really appericiated it. We had planned to give a large tip when we arrived as we try to do this every year if we are able too. We also had planned to give to at least 1 more employee because normally we have great service But not this time and it was really just disappointing. so to the waitress that obviously had a bad morning and made a scene, you missed out. Shame on her. And Shame on management for allowing the staff to act that way in front of customers as the manager stood around and allowed all of this to happen and even cut her eyes at our table more than once. I guess next year we may need to have a new tradition/location to go on...

Ebony did a stellar job taking care of us this morning, as we enjoyed the Bear’s Choice Breakfast on our way up to our farm for a day filled with manual labor.

Ebony is not only a great server, she’s quite the “bear”ista too, as she prepares THE BEST hidden menu Sweet Cream Hazelnut Iced Coffee in Shenandoah. She’s bubbly, quick, and fun, leaving her clients satisfied with their choice to stop by the Black Bear Diner. She does a good job managing multiple tables, while making all her guests feel special. We can’t wait to see her the next time we stop in, while knowing that we likely will be pleased as punch with any of the staff members, as they take pride in their food, service, and facilities.

The only downside to our experience was being sat adjacent to the bathrooms, but it was a quiet area and we had easy access to the facilities.

I was surprised that there wasn’t better teamwork by other BBD staff, as Ebony happily invited guests into the restaurant, took guests food orders, helped a colleague take on a 10 top, delivered food & drink, followed up on guest needs, bussed tables, dropped the check, and helped encourage reviews on google to get feedback on the guest experience. This was all accomplished with no additional support by other servers, which was surprising. Ebony managed it all well, all with a smile while promoting BBD merchandise. It was all I could do not to leave with a BBD backpack/drawstring bag & dog bandana.

Come enjoy some hearty portions and delicious food with a touch of personalized service which will leave you one happy camper (with a full tummy at a great value), and looking forward to your next black bear...