Lillian

It's always comforting to find familiar places to eat when out on the road. This particular Black Bear diner is in the town Porterville off Route 65. You can't miss the building, with its whimsical signature black bear statues. I stopped on in for lunch. The customer service was terrific and the food was good, just like the typical Black Bear way. The main dining area had booth seating with some counter seating. I suppose there was table seating but I didn't see any in the main area. I ordered the customized breakfast of a waffle, bacon, and scrambled eggs. The waffle smelled like vanilla. It's a biggum... pretty large size. It has the signature bear claw waffle print which I adore. It could have been a bit crispier still delicious though. The syrup is maple syrup, so no High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). The waffle mix also doesn't contain HFCS. Even the ketchup they serve is free of HFCS. So appreciate that. The bacon was thick cut and cooked perfectly, the two entire pieces were cooked evenly to a perfect crispy doneness. Not an easy feat. Our waitress was great. Big smile and welcoming attitude. We were able to get multiple checks for our table. When it came time to pay the bill with the cashier, there was a long line. Not surprising considering it was the lunch rush. The manager opened up the other register and quickly moved us all along. Very efficient.

+7

Angela Williams

As far as cafe food goes, Black Bear is a 10-out-of-10!! We’re from Texas y’all and needed a good place to eat before heading into the Sequoia National Park. I picked Black Bear and it was well enjoyed by all my kiddos plus the hubby. Service was friendly and place was clean.

+1

Ashish Mohapatra

Visited this dinner early morning on our way to Sequoia National park. Ordered Joe's Hobo Omelette and Shasta scramble with Toast and red potato house fries on the side. Both were quite good. Their coffee is really good too compared to other dinners we have been to.

+10

My all time favorite restaurant is Black Bear Diner. Every time anyone wants to go out to eat I always suggest Black Bear. Every breakfast plate is served with fresh fruit, and they have the BEST fre…

My all time favorite restaurant is Black Bear Diner. Every time anyone wants to go out to eat I always suggest Black Bear. Every breakfast plate is served with fresh fruit, and they have the BEST f…

We ordered Thanksgiving turkey plate and desserts and it really felt festive. Thank you Black Bear!

Honestly best breakfast place to eat in Porterville hands down.. well portion and great hospitality...

A very great place to eat with a loved one. Very great service and I highly recommend the big bear breakfast. The mimosas are to die for especially there freshly squeezed orange juice. Loved how it…

Food is great! Especially the breakfast French toast! Candy is awesome!!! She keeps the coffee coming!!! So good service!!!

Quick and friendly service! Great food for a reasonable price, left BBD full and happy! Will definitely be back if I'm the area

Everything was delicious and customer service was amazing only thing that bothered me was they offer no senior citizen discount and at our age it was awesome when I get a couple of extra dollars off …

Everything was delicious and customer service was amazing only thing that bothered me was they offer no senior citizen discount and at our age it was awesome when I get a couple of extra dollars of…

Everything was delicious and customer service was amazing only thing that bothered me was they offer no senior citizen discount and at our age it was awesome when I get a couple of extra dollars of…

Awesome staff and chefs. Food is always cooked to perfection. Staff is out of this world Awesome. Country fried steak is my favorite the wife love's the avacado toast

Awesome staff and chefs. Food is always cooked to perfection. staff is out of this world Awesome. Country fried steak is my favorite the wife love's the avacado toast

Awesome staff and chefs. food is always cooked to perfection. Staff is out of this world Awesome. country fried steak is my favorite the wife love's the avacado toast

The chefs at the porterville black bear dinner are fantastic. country fried steak and country potatoes cooked to perfection. Gravy is ou of this world awesome. We will drive from bakersfield to…

Honey Chapman

Ordered food for pick up and ordered over medium eggs and got over hard. The home fries weren't cooked all the way and most of it was partly raw and hard. They are supposed to be soft and crispy on the outside. My daughter got the Sata pancake and was happy. I haven't touched the ham, bacon or my pancakes yet. Sausage was good. Was looking forward to the eggs and potatoes... Very disappointed. Especially since those are easy things to cook. Service was excellent and quick... Told her name and offered to show ID and credit card per website. She was friendly but unaware of that policy listed online.

Elenchik K

First time in this chain of restaurants. The interior and menu are all very original presented. There was nothing special about the menu that caught my attention. The potatoes were overcooked. There was a lot of fat. But my friends liked it.

+7

Malina Hunter

Very good American food 😋 I recommend the veggie omelette I'm not a vegetarian so I ordered a hot link on the side but that omelette is so good. Their chicken fried steak and fried chicken is also pretty darn good and I would definitely recommend the bear claw with coffee I haven't tried the blackberry filled but the almond filled warm with butter and syrup to dunk it in is very good.

+3

Manuel Correa

As always the service is great. Nice to visit a place that makes you feel at home. We had lunch and wanted to experience two different sandwich favorites. We chose the Turkey and chicken plates. Both were made just right. I like to spice it up a bit so I experiment with the mama and papa burn. Only a regular black bear customer would probably understand. :)

+1

The food is always good and made fresh to order! It's our go to breakfast spot in Porterville!

The food is always good and made fresh to order! It's our go to breakfast spot in Porterville!

The food is always good and made fresh to order! It's our go to breakfast spot in Porterville!

The Black Bear Diner is an institution in parts of California. Nothing fancy here -- generally tasty enough, with no frills. Huge menu. Very friendly service. prices are reasonable for what's deliv…

We went here today after church and my father-in-law had liver and onions it was way over cooked and service was bad will not go back again.

Very nice waiter and the restaurant environment was super welcoming. On the other hand the food could have been a bit better.

If you want a hearty breakfast, decent burger and fries, hot turkey sandwich, meatloaf, type of meals they nail it. Pleasant ambiance, lots of Bear decor, nice wait staff. They have daily specials.…

Carrie

My experience was unfortunately disturbed by a strong odor coming from TWO homeless inside the restaurant. Their behavior had me uneasy as one was having an episode @ the counter and the other got awfully close to my child…The staff did nothing to kick them out but rather entertained them. Those around me were on the same page as me.

Nataliya Kuperman

Everything was great but the food... Very nice and clean place, cozy, kids friendly... The food was nah... All meat dishes were swimming in tasteless gravy, so ask to have gravy on a side, seriously!!!

Food was edible, pretty expensive for a breakfast, the portions are large. The staff is a bit on the rude side, other than that it's just ok.

Food needs a lot of improvement! Dry no flavor. The stake was like piece of plastic chew toy. It just had no flavor. The service and ambience was excellent!

Food needs a lot of improvement! Dry no flavor. The stake was like piece of plastic chew toy. It just had no flavor. The service and ambience was excellent!

Came here when they first opened and got seated right away. Service was slow and we had to keep asking to have drinks refilled. The restaurant didn't seem that full as we were surrounded by empty t…

The fruits were clearly not washed, there was leaves and stems , took forever to take our drinks due to gossiping and chatting with each other,

The fruits were clearly not washed, there was leaves and stems , took forever to take our drinks due to gossiping and chatting with each other,

Alex

I been having issues with a particular worker at the porterville black bear diner for quite some time now, and after careful observation I found out the name of the cook that has been giving me issues when I visit, his name is Jerry. This worker has been the cause of me having to wait longer than normal to receive my food, having a terrible demeanor, and I seen it myself on how he's causing arguments with the servers. The sad part about this is how each time this problem reoccurs, the servers are apologizing to me for the mistakes of Jerry when the servers haven't done anything wrong. It's also sad that the servers have to be dealing with inappropriate work behavior since this place pushes the ideal of "family friendly environment" in which I don't see when Jerry is involved. I feel bad for the servers because I know it's not in their control what Jerry does, however, I am sick and tired of terrible workers making it harder for the good workers. I'm not sure if the manager is aware of Jerry's inappropriate behavior, but he's my driving point to no longer dine in when I see him in the kitchen.

Aliviah

Everything was fine until a manager started yelling and cussing at a worker that asked for help. I found it very disgusting, disrespectful, and VERY unprofessional that the manger was cussing out this worker in front of all the customers like that. It ruined the mood and I feel very bad for the poor girl, she looked very shaken up and didn’t deserve that. I hope she gets an apology from that rude manager.

Kaito Limon

Manager yelled at a poor worker, poor girl just needed help and the manager cussed her out in front of customers…..was very disgusting to witness such behavior from a manager, never eating here again…. hope the poor girl gets an apology:( deserved so much better treatment she looked very destroyed with such negativity that was thrown at her face in front of customers….

Molly Pickett

The service to even get a table was terrible. No staff communication and a lot of excuses and still couldn't get sat after being quoted 5 to 10 minutes and waiting 15. The "hostess" then showed up and then proceeded to claim no responsibility and still wouldn't seat us. We bounced and got Chipotle

Kyle Sanderson

Let me start off by saying this was one of our favorite spots to eat for the past 20 yrs. Today me and my wife went here for our anniversary with two of our children. The service sucked. Once we finally got seated we sat for 20 minutes before we got asked what we wanted to drink. Then we ordered our food I had a New York steak dinner and my wife had the tri tip platter as we’ve gotten every year for the past 20 yrs. Our two little one got a 3 mini pancakes kids platter. We got our food and the kids had to wait like 10 minutes after to get their little pancake platter. Once they got their food we started eating. They forgot a few items with my wife’s plate and then we also had no silverware had to ask for that then asked for extra napkins which we never got those or the food we ordered and never got any refills never got a ticket ect. Our waitress never came back the whole time we were eating. We eat here so much. We even have had at least 2-3 bday dinners every year with around 30-40 people at a time. Idk if they got new managers or what but the customer service sucks here now. The lady we had looked like she wasn’t happy to be there. Also the food wasn’t the best either. Really was disappointed. When I walked up to the cashier to pay I seen my waitress and two other employees just hanging out talking no wounded why we never got anything. Pathetic. This was around 11:20am. Honestly don’t know if we will be returning. Applebees has a really good shrimp & parmesan steak dinner. Gotta do better black bear. On receipt servers name is (Estefania . W)