Black Bear Diner Yucca Valley — Restaurant in Yucca Valley

During our initial walk in, there was no staff visible but about 5 other tables were seated. Eventually a lady came out sat us down and said she'd be right with us. Quite a few minutes go by and I started looking around and see another lady appear from the kitchen area. We make eye contact and she eventually comes over after applying lotion.

She approaches the table and asks if we are ready to order. We said yes and ordered a meal for my toddler(mini volcano), myself (classic benedict), and boyfriend (the grizz). Total cost was about $65 for our bill which, I wouldn't have had a problem with if the service was there.

She only gave 2 straws, 2 silverware when there is clearly 3 of us at the table. She never once checked on us to see how the meal was or if we needed anything else or to top of drinks.

Once the food was served, we didn't see our server until we had to whistle and wave her down at the beverage making station where she was just casually chatting away with her coworker.

When she finally came to the table she did apologize but once again left us hanging at the front register, which really pissed me off and lead to this review. Because when she dropped the boxes and check, my boyfriend told her we were in a hurry to make an appointment. It's the utter disrespect and disregard for people's time. Especially when someone speaks up and says hey I'm in a hurry here. We ended up leaving cash on the register counter and walked out.

I've worked in the resturant industry for a long time. So when you have experiences like this it's very hard to bite your tongue and not say something. If this industry has jaded you over the years or servicing others isnt truly your thing, I believe a career change is in order. Maybe it was an off day for this individual but doesn't seem so based off now reading these 1 star reviews.

I unfortunately didn't get her name but can describe the women as blonde, hair pulled back into a ponytail, white, wearing a hot pink shirt on Monday, October 28th. We arrived around 945ish AM.

Employees truly make or break the business. We all know if you've worked in the resturant world the saying, " if you got time to lean you got time to clean." Or in this case check on your tables and provide the serve we are paying for.

We were so excited to try something new. (We usually go to Western Cafe.) Even though the food was great, I do not think I'll be back.

Praying yall can get some better staff because the concept is there. Loved the limited & healthy ingredients in the butter, syrups, hot sauces, farm fresh...

My husband and I had a wonderful experience at Black Bear Diner in Yucca Valley. We were greeted upon entering and brought to a table within only a couple of minutes. If you've never been, the diner name says it all when it comes to decor! Black Bears everywhere. A very quaint atmosphere, great for families and a quiet meal with your significant other.

Our waiters name was Danyll, and he was very warm, welcoming, and knowledgeable about the menu. Service was quick and he checked on us multiple times throughout the meal. He neded up being the one to check us out at the register as well as and was just as efficient and friendly.

Since we'd never been, we both ordered smaller meals to try their food....both meals were wonderful! They have a great section of their menu that offers some of their plates in smaller portions - it's called the 'Little Less' section. My husband ordered The mini Volcano (2 cakes, 1 link sausage, 1 slice of thick-cut smoked bacon, 1 egg), and was surprised that when he ordered his egg over-medium, it came as ordered (soft yolk but not runny). He always orders over-medium because most breakfast joints when ordering over-easy, don't cook the white enough and though the yolk is runny the white is too - gross. When you order over-medium you tend to get a runny yolk and thoroughly cooked white. The pancakes were tasty and the sausage was delicious. I ordered the Bear Paw Chicken Fried Steak (5 oz of tender beef, breaded & deep-fried, with country gravy, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob). Holy cow, absolutely delicious! The chicken fried steak was juicy and crispy, and the gravy was full of flavor. One of the best I've ever had.

The only disappointment was their being out of a few dessert items, most importantly their apple pie. Danyll was kind enough to recommend a couple of other dessert items and boxed them up for us to take home.

I would recommend trying Black Bear Diner if you haven't already, and if you're lucky, you'll have Danyll as...

This isn't an indictment of the Black Bear Diner chain, but rather feedback on our poor experience at the Yucca Valley location.

On Saturday, October 12th at 7:30 AM, we visited this location. The diner was empty, and no staff was visible when we entered. Liz eventually seated us and brought coffee, but then disappeared for about 10 minutes. Throughout our time there, staff were frequently retreating to the back, leaving customers unattended.

After a long wait, Liz finally took our order—Country Fried Steak for my friend Al, and "The Grizz" for me. I asked to upgrade my sausage to patties. The service was slow and disorganized, with the table next to us receiving our food by mistake. When my plate finally arrived, it included raw hash browns and cold eggs. Al’s order took even longer to show up.

The sausage patties were undercooked, and I could barely manage a few bites. Liz explained she wasn’t familiar with the cook, which did nothing to improve the situation. By the time I asked for a box to take my meal home—just to feed it to the birds—Liz was nowhere to be found.

Despite apologizing repeatedly and taking a few bucks off the bill, the damage was done. This wasn’t our first bad experience here; on previous visits, we've been turned away for having a party of eight and told of 45-minute waits when the restaurant was half empty. This third strike sealed it— we won’t be back.

To make matters worse, over the weekend, I heard similar complaints about this location from others. I hope my Google and Yelp reviews help steer people away. In a town like Yucca Valley, where other businesses have come and gone, I’m surprised this diner is...