Omar was my server and was incredible. He suggested the skirt steak with garlic butter and was spot on. The meal was amazing. Thanks Omar for the service and the suggestion.

Excellent service, food and atmosphere. Chicken and Waffles for lunch.. why yes.

Love there breakfast! Their biscuits are delicious 😋

I ordered my favorite taco salad and the Gilroy store did not disappoint. The The presentation was beautiful, the food was all fresh and just the right temperature. They got my order exactly right and we got service with a smile from both Manager Willie and our server Jorge. Couldn’t have asked for a better dining experience! It just shows that you shouldn’t let one bad experience with the chain ruin your good opinion of Black Bear Diner, as a whole. Good food and good service. I highly recommend the Gilroy Black Bear Diner. Marlene keeps a good staff with good customer service skills.

The hugest taco salad!! It was good. I ate about a quarter of it. So yummy. Good service too

They're open for outdoor dining and indoor now! Same delicious food, large servings, and friendly service.

I love going here for breakfast, it is very relaxing and the portions are big.

Love it came with my 3 brothers and mom. We all loved our food it was so delicious and filling. We ended up having 3 take out boxes. The service here is so nice they are kind. The atmosphere is really good too! Will come here again!

Server was very polite after a little bad start. At the end he was very kind . And manage to handle it very well . Thank you

Big portions always and worth the money. Great service.

We love the little dishes, chicken fried steak. And pot roast are the best

we have been to several of these chains - always great food and service - this one tops them all!! Tim and Joseph our servers - friendly and you can tell they truly love their jobs - great sense of humor and so attentive!!

Hey Black Bear Management, Just wanted to drop a quick note to say your team knocked it out of the park during our visit! Our server, Homer, was an absolute gem. The guy had us smiling from the get-go with his laid-back charm and hilarious (but totally respectful!) sense of humor. He wasn’t rushing around like a typical server who’s got 27 tables and a headache — nope, he took his time, made real conversation, and sounded more like a sales pro than a waiter. Turns out, he was a sales guy before joining the Black Bear crew. Mystery solved. He confidently talked us into ordering the ribeye and chilaquiles — and honestly, no regrets. Great food, solid prices, and just what we needed while passing through town on our way home to Santa Monica. This was our first time at a Black Bear Diner, and thanks to Homer, definitely not our last. We’ll be heading back up north in a few weeks, and you better believe we’re stopping in again (and looking for Homer!). He asked how everything went — and obviously, we told him it was chef’s kiss amazing. Then he mentioned we could leave a like or a review, and we were like, “Oh, we’re not just leaving a review… we’re going full send.” Had to make sure it came with a bang! Huge thanks and a big thumbs-up for awesome service! Cheers, Gabbie & Ricky

Good simple food, great service and friendly staff. The chili was fantastic.

The black-beary margarita was an awesome drink! Chicken fried steak, hash browns, scrambled eggs and wheat toast.....filling, tasty and great food!

Two words: big portions!!! There was a 15 minute wait but it was fine. Nothing bad to complain about 😅 Easy to get to. Freeway is near by.

About 7yrs ago, we came by for dinner. The service & staff were polite & friendly. (7yrs later) Last night we stopped by for dinner again. Our Server Wally, was polite, friendly & attentive. Great place, friendly staff, makes for a great dine in experience.

Tasty comfort food in a relaxed atmosphere. Greg took excellent care of us.

Always a great choice! Fun mountain 🏔️ atmosphere, great food and service.

Biggest and best Bear Claw EVAR! It was pretty full when we arrived around midday but they found a table for us. We had a great, chatty server who recommended various dishes to us. I went for the Mini Volcano (which was a "small" plate) which had pancakes, sausage, bacon and egg. Delicious and filling!

The amount of food and the price is unbelievable!!! Clean place, good customer service and good food.

Very Cosy place ..great food & excellent service ..especially from Roselia & Tim..the pies are awesome !we had the chocolate cream pie ..

+2

Black Bear in Gilroy is a friendly place to visit. The food is always fresh and delectable. The staff is helpful, always smiles, and treats us respectfully.

Excellent food and atmosphere. Love da Bearz!!

Great food, great service, great portions at a reasonable price. This black bear diner hits it's mark on all fronts.

Great service and delicious red velvet cake!!!

We enjoyed our meal in our favorite town 😋

Im not from gilroy but this black bear service makes me wish I was great service and food. Had our plates in probly 4 or 5 mins very fast and great food

Great place still upholding their original family standards and values. Good food, good service, and good atmosphere.

Great place for breakfast. We ordered omlette and steak with egg. All delicious. Very friendy staff. Nice car park. Worth to visit and lat.

Wow 👏 . We absolutely loved this spot. Great tasting food with very sizable portions. The coffee was great, the restaurant was comfortable. The staff and manager was really helpful and kind. I think my favorite thing about this place was that they used condiments that were not full of corn syrup. The ketchup and the jam were made with real ingredients!!! I've never been to a diner that actually cared enough to upgrade those items. We both ate the chicken fried steak breakfast meal and it was so good we came back 3 days later on our way out of town and ordered it again. I've never had better biscuits and it was honestly the best chicken fried steak I've ever eaten. The bathrooms were a bit out dated and the plumbing was stinky, probably because it's old, but that was the only criticism I could think of.

Lunch was delicious! Service was amazing! Our waiter, Omar, was fine with substitution requests too.

Rainy evening with medium congested flow of traffic to Gilroy's Black Bear Restaurant. Well in food originality and service. Brought back memories of a investigation and follow up with actors that met up with a wild bear attack after we left. Movie on file. Family dinner out, great.

Really good dinner, nice place for family with kids 😊 thank you 😊

Everything was raw. I even tasted the furniture, it was raw. Nice food 🍲

Always a good experience here, Gilroy location can have it's slow and busy days. Party of 2 has it easy.

Came here for breakfast and this much older man assisted us. He was terrific and pleasant and checked up on us a good amount. The spicy sausage omelette, which is a special, was so good and is my favorite here. They don’t have it always. Omelette had generous amount of meat and is topped with half an avocado. Would happily eat here again 😀

food fit for a truecel! I appreciate the substitution of water for raw milk and the meat was nice and raw 😋

Consistently delicious with large portions. Gets very busy weekend mornings. Update 03/06/26: Today we went for their Friday Fish Fry, which is an AYCE fish & chips special that happens every Friday after 4pm. The meal comes with breaded pollock, french fries, coleslaw, and hush puppies. Their hand-breaded fish fillets are AMAZING! The outer breadcrumb coating is super crispy and flavorful, the fish filets are fresh tasting and not at all fishy, and the hush puppies are melt-in-your-mouth tender. We've been sleeping on this deal for years but now our eyes are open! We'll definitely be back for another time!

The meat was perfectly raw like i asked! thank you gilroy's! and the milk was also raw so that was amazing! #gilroys #cornersprints

I had the BLTA, lol. Which i enjoyed. Our server was great. He was attentive and has a genuine smile. My husband, and our 2 adult children has a nice quiet evening together. We celebrated a heavenly birthday. We were able to reflect, talk and hear our conversations. We enjoyed our time there very much. Thank you Jesus, and thank you Black Bear.

There was quite a number of people wanting when we arrived but we only had to wait about 10 minutes to get a table. After we ordered the food came quickly. The food was quite good and the portions large. My wife and I are definitely going back. Excellent overall experience

Haley Snyder

Every time I'm in Gilroy I stop by Black Bear diner for a meal 😊 The staff are really nice and our tables are always clean. They have cute merch and a relaxed atmosphere. 10/10! Edit: Have come back to this location multiple times just to see the really sweet staff. Love eating here ❤️

Preston Bond

Here for 5 days for our son’s wedding. We have had dinner , breakfast and food has been very good. Everything we ordered came the way it was ordered , fast and on spot. Thank you.

Jose Zamudio

I absolutely loved the atmosphere of the diner. It felt like an old rustic cabin, eating home made food. Great service, they speak English and Spanish. If I were to recommend someone a diner with good service and good food, I’d recommend Black Bears

Nick Maslenko

Dear Black Bear Management, My family and I have been regular patrons of your Morgan Hill location for quite some time, typically dining there once or twice a month, most often in the late afternoons, and occasionally in the mornings. Over the years, we have always felt welcomed and comfortable, and have never witnessed or experienced any form of racism or discrimination—towards employees, guests, or members of the Latino/Hispanic community. In light of a recent review shared by Laura Gomez, we were genuinely surprised and saddened. The statements made in the review do not reflect the environment we have come to know and appreciate at your establishment. In particular, the individual pictured and mentioned has always appeared to conduct himself with professionalism and respect. While anyone can have a challenging day, labeling someone as racist based on limited context is a serious accusation—one that demands care, investigation, and fairness. We kindly encourage anyone reading such reviews to speak directly with your team to understand the full picture before passing judgment. Public accusations of this nature can have lasting consequences—not only for individuals who may be wrongly portrayed, but also for the business as a whole. Moreover, such claims can affect the credibility of the reviewer and contribute to unnecessary division within our community. We stand by the respectful, inclusive experience we’ve had at Black Bear and hope that others will seek truth and clarity before drawing conclusions. Warm regards, The Maslenko Family Morgan Hill, CA

Seppuku HappyMeal

Black Bear Diner in Gilroy is always a great place to eat. The food is hearty, fresh, and full of flavor with plenty of options for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The service is consistently friendly and welcoming, making you feel right at home. The atmosphere has that cozy, classic diner feel with a fun bear-themed touch, which makes the dining experience even better. It’s the perfect spot for a family meal or a casual outing. Highly recommend!

玲蔡

The food is decent and hearty. The decorations are very cute. We got very full with the dinner sets. Shame that we couldn't have one of the pies for being too full. There were a lot of options on the menu and I would love to try them all. For a chain restaurant I didn't expect this level of uniqueness. Would totally come here again.

Ruben Duran

Stopped in Gilroy on our way in from Stanford, I was craving fried chicken but settled for the chicken fried steak. It was very good nice and crispy, only thing is that gravy was kind of cold and so where my mashed potatoes. My Mom got the pot roast and asked for extra gravy in hopes it would be warm but it wasn't. I'm sure it was a long day for everyone and I'm also human so whatever the reason could of been. Our waiter was top notch his service was impeccable.

Jesse

My first impression of this branch was that the staff was extremely friendly and attentative. The food gets 4 stars because my open-face turkey sandwich came out with luke-warm turkey, and they removed the mashed potatoes that come on the sandwich, when we asked for a baked potato as a side, which seemed odd. Then I had to order mashed potatoes and put them on the food myself, 20 minutes later. Had the staff not been so chipper, I probably would downgrade the overall review. All the other food was really good and, once warmed up, mine was tasty. The decor was true to form and looked well kept and clean. Prices are amazing considering the amount of food you get. I don't have one near me, so I'll definitely be stopping back in when we're going through town.

Gina Arigna - Arigna Team Real Estate

Awesome food at this diner. We ordered chicken fried Cobb salad, Chicken Fried Steak and Bruce’s meat lovers omelette which were all delicious. Definitely recommend this place

Jenny Lowry

Great breakfast and came out quickly! This was my last meal before I had 4 wisdom teeth removed. I have no complaints. I enjoyed it very much.

Laurel Cocilo

Very warm, relaxed atmosphere. Great place for comfort food that tastes good. The portions are big enough to split and well priced. The pancakes I had were so delicious and tasted home-made. The staff was super friendly and attentive. I would go back for sure.

+11

Meg Pineda

This place is a perfect road trip stop! The atmosphere of the diner is very warm and home-y, they even have a working jukebox. Their French Toast and Chocolate Cream Pie were definitely my personal favorites. The experience was so pleasant that I had to buy a t-shirt from the gift shop!

+1

Food is excellent, our server was kind of slow, usually it's pretty good.

The waiter was quick to seat me, take order & get food. Unfortunately around noon the next day I felt ill, got chills and had stomach issues. thankfully it went away after about 2 hrs. I am 90-95% sure it was from the meatloaf. After reading some reviews and noting the portions i ordered the smaller dinner which was fairly filling. I don't eat out often but was working nearby. If I go back I will try something different.

Great wait staff. Food is solid.

Had breakfast, it was OK. The biscuits and gravy weren't that great? Hash browns weren't that great either. Omelet was pretty good. The server was very nice. Went back for a chocolate cream pie to go, and it was excellent. Easy in and out location off the 101 freeway. Was clean and well managed. I would go back.

Very nice place. Good food and ample portions. Huge choice. Check it out.

UPDATE#4 April 2025: I was passing through Gilroy again last month, and I stopped to use another Comp Meal coupon. Meal and service was VERY good. Thanks again, Marlen. UPDATE#3 April 2024: I was passing through Gilroy last week, and so I stopped by to use one of the Comp Meal coupons. Marlen was there, we had a nice talk, and the burger I ordered was hot enough to melt the cheese! The cole slaw was also very good. ---------- UPDATE#2: Marlen the Owner called me last week, saying that she had not heard about my complaint. Corporate didn't notify her very quickly. She and I had a nice chat, and she sent me two Comp Meal coupons and said she would talk to the staff about why there was only one server working on a Friday at lunch time. Also why the food was so bad. Thanks, Marlen! I'll let you know how it goes the next time --------- UPDATE: OK it's been a week since I emailed the Gilroy franchise directly. No reply after the obvious robo-reponse last week. I guess the Gilroy franchise doesn't care much about replying directly to negative customer reviews. I'll try emailing Corporate Customer Service and see if they do any better. ------- How do you serve a cheeseburger so cold that the cheese isn't melted? How do you send out a "Tortilla Crusted Tilapia" so soggy that there is no "crust"? Not that busy on a Friday at lunch time? I should've known why. This Black Bear used to be very good, something has really changed for the WORSE. Update: it looks like they have a Robo Response that is sent out within minutes of them getting a review, good or bad, any location of the Black Bear chain of restaurants. Really lame.

Stopped here one evening on a road trip. We had the fish and chips and sweet cream pancakes. I couldn't believe my eyes when the pancakes came out, each one was bigger than our faces! The fish and chips entree was share-sized too, but I'm a sucker for fried anything so I'm merely mentioning the portion size for other folks... not myself. The food itself was nice, but not great. Pancakes were a little dry, and the fried fish was just alright. Huge menu, so there might be better options we didn't get to try. Love the warm atmosphere and deco though, and it's what brought us in. Like another review said, bears everywhere. It's kinda like you're in a cabin, except that the bears got in right with you. I would return if I wanted something familiar in a warm, comfy setting. Next time I'm trying the chicken and waffles.

Busy place on weekend . Lot of buzz but good food and friendly staff We ordered omelettes . Liked vegetarian omelette very much and California omelette was ok

Good is correct and service is good !

Kind of cheesy stuffed "bear" decor. Salads were enormous, a bit overpriced in my opinion.

My wife and I really appreciated our servers care about our satisfaction across the board along with the manager on duty our food was cooked well. This Blackbear Diner was very enjoyable. We will drop back next t time through..

Areli Lopez

The food remains good. They haven't changed the sauce lol. However, it takes forever to order and get the food. Maybe they need more employees.

+1

A M

The atmosphere and service make this a good place to get a meal, but the food is not rememberable it is to us grown-ups very basic chain food. Our Grandchildren really enjoy Black Bear and is the reason we go is for them and the service is Very Very good!!!

Kate Knight

Edit: NOT a fan of the biscuits and gravy, as there's no meat and the gravy is totally bland. This is a great place to sit down and have comfort food after a long day. Everything we ate tasted good, the service was prompt and the staff was really nice. Also, bears everywhere.

Miguel Lugo

Came in for brunch on a Saturday with the wife and kids. It was pretty busy but the wait was only about 25 minutes. When we were seated we were greeted quickly. Our server brought our drinks out really quickly. We order two kids meals and it was way to much food. Normally when we go places and only order one kid meal for them to share it’s not enough, so we ordered 2 and it was way to much. Kids meals are huge! My wife got the tri tip dip and it was delicious. I ordered the county friend steak breakfast and it was perfect as well. Definitely great food and service. The cost was actually a lot less expensive than anticipated as well.

+2

CC

A good old style comfort American food restaurant. Better than Denny's by far. The chicken pot pie had at least a whole game hen size chicken in it, lol! The pic is after we ate a ton of chicken out of it already. The cherry pie was good, not super special, but almost broke a tooth on a cherry pit :-( Salad was fresh and clean. We would return. Bathroom was nice and clean :-)

+2

My bf had the cinnamon roll French toast (where they basically smush down a cinnamon roll flat) and said it was just okay - and a lot smaller than what he remembered from years ago. I ordered the eggs Benedict with the Spanish meat. It was my first time there and I enjoyed my meal. The place felt a little run down but the service was good and our food was fine. Everything is decorated with a black bear theme. 😉

Service was great. Environment is nice. Breakfast was ok. First coffee came out delicious, second round tasted burnt. My omelette was greasy. House potato was ok. Skirt steak was good.

Food was avarage, portion was smaller, price bigger. For being us and another table service was slow

Ordered chicken parm and spaghetti, it was the worst, chicken looked liked like something else and tasted like something else, spaghetti was tangy, sent the whole thing back and walked out. Server was very nice and polite.

Hostess wanted to seat us by the bathroom. No thanks! Once seated at a better table and waited and waited. I had to flag someone to ask for our waitress. After our order was taken all was ok. Should cover the hole in the ladies bathroom in-between the two stalls.

Food was pretty mediocre here and pretty expensive for a diner. Vibe was definitely very old...too old for us and we're in our mid 60s. Wife had her rueben delivered on cinammon toast :)

donna mayle

It's a bit run down and the music is always WAY too loud. Service is ok but it used to be a lot better, the people used to be warm and friendly but they seem to be doing by rote these days. It's really due for an overall refresh. The food is okay but it's pretty obvious it's mad produced and heated up. The music is too loud for conversation. The tables and booths are old and worn.

Today the service was slow. I noticed they were short staffed. But that’s not the worst of it. The coffe was lukewarm, and my breakfast was cold. I took a bite of my food and a sip of my coffee and left. I paid for my meal because I know they have to make a living and I didn’t feel like making a big deal, but I was disappointed. This place used to be my favorite, now I’ll be going a few blocks further to the Long House. Their breakfast is way better.

I ordered a western cheeseburger added bacon and a fried egg. Came with your choice of salad, fries, coleslaw, soup or potato salad. The server asked how I wanted my burger cooked I said “and I quote” PINK IN THE MIDDLE BUT NOT BLOODY. (Server) So Med well? (Me) better make it Med, just make sure it’s pink in the middle and NOT BROWN Pleeese. 15 min later the burger arrives my initial thought was... looks good. Well until I cut it in half, what I got was not “med rare, med or for that matter a med well burger but a dried up hockey puck!!! And when I say dry I mean DRY!!! 3 min later walks up “how’s your burger?” (Me) remember I said I wanted a burger that is pink in the middle but not bloody? (Server) yes that’s what I told the cook. (Me) look at this burger, does it look pink in the middle? It’s well done and dry and I’m not happy! (Anger in my voice) Now here is where my server gets 5 stars. (Server) I’m so sorry I did tell the cook to make it pink in the middle. Can I make you a new one? (Me still angry) no thank you we need to be in San Jose in an hour, I don’t have time. The server ended up taking $6 off the bill. (Again he gets 5 stars for good service) The quality of the burger (forget that it was over cooked) is sub standard and for $16 I expected a far superior burger. I ended my day with burger reflex in my mouth. Over all the service is great but sadly There is no way I can recommend this place.

+6

It had been a while since I've been here but decided to try it...which was disappointing. I ordered an omelet and it was burn:( Wouldn't recommend the omelets.

Childrens' chicken tenders were served with raw center. Manager made it right by taking kids' meals off the bill. I don't know what else they could do. My kids ate most of it before I noticed.

2/1/24 arrived to a wonderful woman who had excellent customer service. We ended up talking with her later on during the visit. Our Server had horrible customer service to what seemed to be only to our table, but when at others tables excellent customer service. Steak, Shrimp Alfredo & a BBQ Cheeseburger was ordered. Steak was tough & over cooked in some parts & raw in others. BBQ Cheeseburger had hardly any BBQ sauce on it. Potato salad had no flavor what so ever. Shrimp Alfredo was changed to Chicken Alfredo just before the food was brought out due to the lack of shrimp. They could have let us know prior to our food being brought out. Only thing that was good was the Blackberry Margarita & the garlic toast with the Alfredo plate & garlic cabata bread & green beans with the Steak plate. Our bill was $90 & we left unsatisfied & still hungry. Not sure what we did to deserve that kind of service, but one thing for sure is that I will not be spending my money at this restaurant again.

Great costumer service server (Letty)was amezing!! Food was great!! But the cook was very loud and disrespectful

This was an unappealing and sub-par breakfast experience. The employees were loud and the food was dry and bland. The workers were speaking really loud amongst themselves unmindful of the seated customers, so much so that it overpowered our conversation. We ordered a vegetable omelet and your typical pancakes with eggs, bacon, and sausage. Unfortunately, the food was basic, I really thought it was going to be country style but the food was just bland and dry. I credit the bacon and sausage: those were good. Also, the diner was well-kept, clean, fresh, and the wait time was fast. But if our experience couldn't get any worse- when we finished eating-an employee was staring at us as if to say, 'Leave already we have people waiting'. First, their loudly obnoxious conversations and noise making to then being rushed out of the diner? What a headache! And what a rambunctious lot of employees and expensive meals. All in all, I will definitely not recommend or visit again.

They should change hours to closing at 830pm. Will not serve you if you arrive after 830 because their kitchen people want to go home. The place stinks like sewage anyway.

Disappointment. I ordered the tri tip dip. All bread. They forgot the ay juice. In Spanish I overheard the staff refer to it as shoe juice. I lost my appetite. Too bad.

We used to love this place. The service was so slow, my kids pancakes were very disappointing. They were hard, no whip cream or sprinkles and they were out of fruit. Not to mention our food came cold. It was a very sad experience for us all. Looked like little to no effort was put in. I work at a restaurant as well and this was horrible service. I understand they are busy but they seemed to skip out on presentation, service and overall good quality. The worst part was all the flies on the window seals that my kids were sitting right next to. A few dead flies even fell onto our table in the middle of us eating. So nasty! We let them know about the food and all we got was “ok thank you” no apology or something to make it right. This is our second bad experience in the past few months. I felt bad for all the people waiting for a table because I knew the food wasn’t good.

Out of all the restaurants I’ve visited worldwide, the worst server I have ever encountered was an Asian woman named Anna at this establishment. We felt like we were about to be physically assaulted just for trying to order. She had absolutely no knowledge of the menu; she even asked us for the 'size' of the steak, which was the only option available. Then, she claimed they were out of every single side dish we requested. Most alarmingly, when we asked if a dish contained pork, she initially said 'no,' only to come back later and admit that it actually did. I have never seen a server so ignorant of their own menu. She took our order as if she were scolding a child. I truly detested both the restaurant and this woman. I strongly suggest you think twice before stepping foot in this place

Leticia Moura

the waiter was very nice but the food is so expensive for no reason. everything taste so industrialized, not even the “fresh orange juice” like it said on their menu is real, it says they squeeze their oranges every morning, but they gave me orange box juice in a cup for the price of a whole gallon. do not recommend

Laura Gomez

This was the 2nd time I came here with my family. The first time we sat down and this same manager at 845pm was changing a lite bulb over our table. We all thought it was awkward because dust started to fall from the ceiling fan. That same night he started yelling at the cooks in the back, making it really obvious. Luckily that night it was a Friday night and it wasn't packed. Today we tried to get seated and this time he helped us get seated but was really rude, loud and felt empowered. Not sure if he feels as its a power situation or he's just prejudice against Mexicans/Latin American people When our my husbands food came out. I happen to ask the server the man with the purple shirt is he the manager? He said yes. We both asked if he's normally always mad and treats workers and costumers bad? The Mexican sever said yes. Sometimes he's happy and sometimes he's mad at everyone. The server was awesome 👌 however the man with the purple shirt walks around loud, not friendly and just made our dinner experience bad. I'll still go back because the food was good and the servers are nice but I'll try to avoid the man with the purple shirt. Horrible Horrible customer service