black bear diner

this place is so good! i'm sad i didn't take any photos but i got the chicken and waffles and it was delicious. 
travelers looking for an authentic americandinerexperience this is the place for you. friendly staff, massive meals, and all the american faves. 
also recommend the corn bread, yum!

this is a highly decorated, homeydinerin mid gresham. tons of parking and a menu made like a vintage newspaper. lots of u of o and bear memorabilia. usual breakfast fare.

desserts from hell!

it's been over 2 years since i went to this place...that's how long it takes to get over how awful it was. our family is forbidden to utter the full name of this establishment for fear of a beetlejuice moment and we find ourselves in a similar establishment.

i blame my husband- via urbanspoon, he thought this place would be good. well, probably good for stuff other than dessert as portions are enormous and prices are low.

our aim was dessert. we already had dinner elsewhere and were craving pie. thedineroffered a variety of pies and cakes. we ordered the banana cream and a slice of coconut cream.

sitting at the counter, we had front row seating to watch the guy go to the freezer, come back out with 2 small pie shells stacked under his armpit, a banana in hand and a bucket of no name custard in the other. heading into another room, the "magic" happens and poof - our pies arrive, freshly assembled. i suspect the only difference between my coconut cream and my husband's banana cream is sliced bananas and coconut extract. the whipped cream tasted greasy like dream whip and the custard was gross. i ended up just eating the sliced bananas off my husband's pie while giving him the evil eye for taking us to this place.

verdict - it's our fault. we should have seen if anyone has had dessert here. if we wanted a chicken fried steak the size of our face, this place would have been perfect. alas, it is a fail for desserts.

reliable quality diner. we can always rely on the excellent customer service and quality food of the black beardinerchain.
never been a bigdinerperson, only one i will go to. pastry and pies are wholesome. you can have breakfast lunch or dinner at any time. the ambience is always good too.

talk about big. biggest plates that are more like platters and piled high with food. gooddineratmosphere and a good place to go after a long night, but be ready to be amazed at the portions.

yuck. generally i like black beardinerbut the chili i purchased at the mt. shastadinerwas inedible. i will probably think twice before eating at another.

terrible service. we loved the black beardinerwhile road tripping in california, so we were excited to discover one in beaverton. the beaverton franchise left us disappointed. the last straw was the time we arrived, were seated and then sat for over 20 minutes without being greeted by a waiter, brought water or anything. won't be back.

gotta love comfort food. black beardineris a great fun concept but definitely not the kind of concept you would expect to find in walnut creek. over the years i have been to other locations in gilroy, medford, yreka and even shasta but i never expected i'd be eating at one in walnut creek.

you never really know what kind of experience you'll get at black bear but if it's a good experience the plates are generous and the atmosphere is fun. i must say it's always been one of those places i like to stop off at during a family trip but not as good of an experience if you make it a regular dining experience in this city.

the menu is full of variety and features some great comfort food but i do have my favorites.......

bigfoot chicken fried steak and eggs
homemade corned beef hash and eggs
hot meatball sandwich
bbq pork ribs
fried chicken
meatloaf
fish and chips
stuffed chicken breasts
pot roast
darn good burgers and garlic fries
butterfinger shake

just hope you get a friendly down to earth waitress and not a snotty tweener who hates the black bear outfit and prefers her hot topic black goth duds. it's definitely a place you most try next time your in walnut creek so you can get away from it all for as long as your meal lasts.

unprofessional management, marginal food. the only good thing about our experience at thisdinerwas the waitress. she was attentive and friendly, and when we complained about the pancakes, she immediately took them off our table and off our bill. i wish i had gotten her name!

every other aspect of that meal was a bust. the beef in my tri-tip scramble was tough (did they cook it by boiling it?!), the country gravy was bland and flavorless, and the pancakes were undercooked. to top it all off, the manager wouldn't honor the coupon our realtor had given us. he came to our table and claimed that they had been "getting a flood" of these coupons lately and that they were only distributed to one real estate agent 4 years ago when thedinerfirst opened. never mind that the coupon had no expiration date and was even signed by the owner! he then went on to demean our realtor, insinuating that she must have grabbed the coupons off the desk of this agent after he left the company and started distributing them willy-nilly. we were blown away by his unprofessionalism! even if what he said was true, he should have honored the coupon and taken up this issue with the real estate company that received these coupons. both our realtor and other customers of hers have recently used these coupons without any complaint or comment from the diner. even our wonderful waitress agreed that thedinershould have honored our coupon. maybe the owner should make her the manager and fire the idiot who's currently running the place! obviously, we won't be back, and we'll be warning our friends away from this diner, too.