Black Bear Diner Turlock — Restaurant in Turlock

I was recently in Modesto visiting my family. My brother and sister in law suggested this establishment. We had a party of 10 and were on a waitlist for about 10 to 15 minutes. The place was full but pleasant. We were seated and greeted in a timely manner. I think our servers name was Cori? She delivered our beverages and took our order. Approximately 10 minutes after doing so, the fire alarm goes off. All of the customers including ourselves, sat calmly looking around. Ten minutes goes by and not a single staff member informs us of what is taking place. So customers start getting up and leaving. We were content with conversing with ourselves, minus the annoying alarm. There were no signs of smoke or imminent danger. It was quite unprofessional for the manager on duty to be so invisible. I had also noticed that there weren’t any other staff members around. Until a busboy appeared to deliver us part of our order. Then a server named, Tanner, also appeared with more of our order. They informed us that it was a false alarm and that they were trying to shut off the alarms. They also informed us that they called and canceled the fire department!!! When all of us were served, there were things forgotten, but rectified and then there were things that were delivered cold. Seeing that we were the only ones there, that’s pitiful. I understand that it was our CHOICE to stay, but they still cooked and it was delivered cold, what a shame. But the biggest shame, is that 99 % of the staff abandoned ship, including the manager!!!!! I hope the corporate office will investigate and rectify the problem. There’s a protocol for this and it’s apparently missing structure!!! The manager finally appeared and apologized. The original server also reappeared to rectify her position. I’m hoping that Tanner received whatever tip my...

We visited this location on 9/12/21

This was her first time at this location coming for breakfast, well a late breakfast around 12 PM we decided to make our way to Turlock for food ended up deciding on blackbear and we were not disappointed in our choice for The afternoon.

Upon entering the building we were greeted by the host who then seated us at our table. We got the pleasure of having Tanner as our waiter for the day and I can honestly say he was a fantastic server. He made sure to give us the appropriate amount of time for us to find what we needed on the menu and he constantly checked in on us throughout our meal. Fantastic job on hiring friendly servers to give fantastic service.

Let's talk food we were a party of three and we ordered multiple items off the menu;

I ended up ordering the Grizz and everything about my meal was delicious and the pancakes were soft and warm my toast was crispy. my eggs were cooked perfectly and the hashbrowns were delightful. My husband ordered the scramble bowl with a side of French toast which he said were delicious my mother ordered another meal which I'm not too sure what it was called but she also said she really enjoyed her cinnamon roll pancakes. they were a bit sweet but that's what you get when you order cinnamon roll pancakes.

Overall our food was very good everything was hot and if we needed anything extra tanner made sure to accommodate us in our request I would honestly come back to this location again if the service continues to be...

Of course, COVID has dulled the experience - but I don't mind sitting outside. It seems however that the staff is hurting as a result. it is considerably more difficult to relay food outside to a tent than to serve it inside.

Servers in general i have found, have a hard time focusing long enough to get things right. Thank goodness the manager was around to make things right - this is all small stuff in the grand scheme of things. THings like my dad's egg breakfast only had one egg instead of two; he was also missing some bacon; the drinks were not getting replenished... things like that.

Okay the negative is out of the way - let's talk about the good things! Food at Black Bear is served in abundance - not of the best quality and often not done to your standards i don't take it that seriously - but some might. Prime example is hashbrowns, They are always soggy - even if we request well done!!

Summary here - good place to take the kids and mom and dad on a sunday brunch or an informal dinner. Large portions - not always up to snuff and staff that is not as attentive nor detailed as...