Black Bear Diner

I’m feeling generous and giving Black Bear Diner a 3 star rating. This was my third time through town and I hadn’t had a notable dining experience yet, so decided to try the Black Bear. For a diner, their dinner menu is fairly small — they’re more like a coffee shop than a diner, comparable to a Denny’s. The meal (pot roast) was fine, but I was expecting more. The staff was friendly and attentive, and it seems locals dine there regularly. The breakfast menu looks a bit more enticing.
There aren’t many dining choices in Willows — the Black Bear Diner is a safe but unremarkable choice.

Wife and I have visited several times in the last year. Wife’s complaint is she never leaves 100% satisfied. Country potatoes felt a bit hard and bland. Chicken fried steak was a bit undercooked and chewy. The garlic fries are way over seasoned and sometimes the regular fries are overcooked. Bread pudding is quite delicious and is something other restaurants in town do not offer. Wife said this place use to be «good.» Some servers seem a bit rude while others make you feel like family. The food is okay at best. Sadly since we have given this place so many chances we will not be returning. If the quality of the food ever improves we will visit again.

Huge portions of delicious food. I had the southern scramble with country potatoes and loved it. Service was great. My coffee stayed full and the food came reasonably quick. Prices are very reasonable considering the amount of food you get.

Had a scramble with a biscuit and it was very filling! The service was friendly and I found them very helpful when I asked what they would recommend.
I would recommend this place to anyone for any meal of the day.

A great meal! Always friendly staff and food is perfectly prepared. Never had a bad dish here. Parking is easy, safe and never a long wait for a table.
Will be back!

First things first. I did not eat here. Tried to go to this place while traveling from Las Vegas to Seattle. Unilocal says they’re open until 10 & when walking in at 9:15 we were told they were closed & and was not particularly friendly about it. If you have a restaurant right next to the middle of nowhere, it would be greatly appreciated if you kept your info on Unilocal current.

They pretended to be closed because they are lazy.
It’s only 9:19 pm? Aren’t they open until 10pm?

I finally got to check out Black Bear Diner on one of my trips to Willows. Right after that trip, we went to Black Bear Diner twice more, so this review is for three separate meals. I’ve come for dinner twice and breakfast once– the majority of the menu is available all day (especially the breakfast items), so it doesn’t make a huge difference when you come. The only negative about coming for dinner is that the pie you want may already be sold out (like chocolate cream!!). I’ve tried:
–Western BBQ Burger (BBQ Sauce, Cheddar Cheese, Deep-​Fried Onion Rings, Served w/​French Fries): Solid burger, and I liked their BBQ sauce and onion rings in the burger. The patty is seasoned and cooked well– recommended.
–Side of Biscuits & Gravy (
): Quantity wise, this is one of the largest «side» dishes I’ve had. For a side, you get an entire LARGE plate full of biscuits and white cream gravy. This wasn’t the most amazing biscuits and gravy version that I’ve had, but it’s solid, especially for the price. Recommended for biscuits and gravy lovers.
–Apple Crumb Cobbler (Sweet Cinnamon Apples Topped w/​Brown Sugar Oats): The whipped cream was really good, but I wasn’t a fan of the rest of the cobbler. I thought it was a pie, so was bummed to see there was no crust. I wouldn’t get this cobbler again.
–Sweet Cream Waffle (Served w/​Two Eggs, 1 Slice of Bacon, 1 Sausage Link,
): The waffle was good, but super dense, although it did have a fluffiness to it too. I liked that it had a good crust on the outside (and the bear paw imprint is super cute too), but I don’t think I would get this again since it was so heavy.
–Prime Rib (Served w/​Salad, Corn Bread Muffin, Mixed Vegetables, Mashed Potatoes w/​Country Gravy,
): Just ok– we figured we should have low expectations for ordering prime rib from a diner, although they only have it available Fridays & Saturdays I think. The prime rib was bland, and the meat was really chewy. The corn bread muffin was good though, and they give you a gigantic muffin. Mixed vegetables weren’t bad, but I wasn’t a fan of the mashed potatoes.
–Bear Claw French Toast (Topped w/​Powdered Sugar, Drizzled w/​Icing,
): Good, but really sweet. I enjoyed trying it once, but would stick to regular French Toast next time.
–Thick Cut Smoked Bacon Classic 2 Egg Combo (w/​Strip Cut Hash Browns, Housemade Biscuit,
): Yum– although this was the simplest breakfast dish I’ve ordered, it was also probably my favorite. Their bacon is nice and crispy, and is delicious with the hash browns and biscuit. The hash browns could have been browned more, but it was still good.
–Chocolate Cream Pie (Rich Chocolate Cream in a Chocolate Cookie Crust, Topped w/​Whipped Cream): Yum– my favorite pie from here so far! There was only one left the night I went, and our server was nice enough to hide it for us until we were ready for dessert. It’s nice and chocolate-​y, and I love the crust and whipped cream– highly recommended!
Overall, Black Bear Diner is a great place to go for breakfast and/​or for comfort food. They have huge portions for great prices, and the quality is really good too. Breakfast and dinner at this location can get quite busy, but they have a good amount of seating so you shouldn’t have to wait for very long if there is a wait. The staff is always friendly and efficient, and parking is easy since they have a big lot.

I will love to give a 10 Stars but they only offer 5 Stars.
My husband and I went for dinner and my steak was perfect my husband’s chicken fried was not up to par.
I give the manager a big high five for how her treated us. He gave us our whole dinner, and gave us two tickets for two dinners on him.
And as we walked towards the doors we stop and in return for his generosity we bought 2 Pies and 4 Teddy Bears.
Thank you Willows Black Bear Diner we will be back.

This was a typical run-​of-​the-​mill Black Bear experience. Great service and good food. The bear claws are bigger than your face! Nice little stop if you’re making your way up I-​5.

Hubby and I went last night, Friday, for dinner and this midmorning for breakfast. Good food, great service, they keep the drinks full, provide plenty of ½ & ½ for coffee. Bathrooms were clean.
And those signature hot sauces (4)…oh boy, I could eat those by the spoonful.
I have a few food allergies, so i always ask ‘does this contain…’ and I didn’t receive the typical moan and groan. Very nice AND very appreciated.

Five years ago, my dad ate at this restaurant and I still hear about, «The best breakfast ever. Man, it was good.» After finally eating here myself, I have to say that it is a damn fine breakfast.
The diner is cute, with a very woodsy theme and bear silhouettes painted on large walls. It is clear that the locals eat here (a very good sign) and for good reason. The scramble that I had was absolutely delicious! The waffles all have bear paws embossed in them and were sweet and filling. Everyone was very happy with their meals as well as the reasonable price.
Service was a little slow that morning and we had to flag our server down to get refills, but overall, I was very happy with the meal!

My dad and I are driving from Southern California to Portland Oregon and we stopped in Willows mainly because every other place we called all the hotels were booked. But it’s a good thing we ended up in town because we had a great time at the Black Bear Diner. Our waitress, Shauna, was awesome as well as everyone else and the food was great! If we are ever driving through again we will definitely stop!

Black Bear in Willows seems to be a traveler’s favorite… its always busy here. That being said, we were seated quickly and offered something to drink. We both settled on the bacon cheese butger basket which came out exactly as we ordered with a generous order of fries. Our waitress Brittney had a great sense of humor and did an excellent job.

Traveling from Mt Shasta to SF, we stopped here for lunch. Nice menu, limited selection, so they can focus on quality and speed. We were seated and served quickly.
I had a nice bowl of chicken noodle soup. Daughter had Mac& Cheese and licked the bowl clean.
Their mashed potatoes are spectacular. Red potatoes and they leave most of the skins on!!!
Fresh squeezed OJ refueled me for the remaining drive!
We will be back on our next road trip!
Easy to get to from the freeway.
they also have another location in Mt Shasta, will be trying that next time.

Order your eggs over medium and you get. .. . OVER MEDIUM!!! Yay!
I eat at this Black Bear often, running up and down I-​5 for business and leisure. It’s dependable, busy, efficient, and hospitable. And clearly the cook pays attention to the details of an order.

Hmmmmm… I guess it’s worthy of three stars… I knew meals were big going in, but I wasn’t quite prepared for a 1200-​calorie SIDE of biscuits and gravy. That’s just ridiculous and extremely unnecessary. It was good, but will easily make three or four normal «sides.» I ate a quarter and took the rest to go.

Love black bear and its our Go to when driving to Oregon. This restaurant was not welcoming at all. I have a service dog that wears his tag on his harness. The manager stopped us and asked if he was a service animal and what service he provides. Excuse me sir do you know that you are unable to ask that question?
I just continued to ask him if he’d like to see his tags or papers. He ignored me from this point and the staff proceeded to treat me and my family poorly the entire time we ate our meal. Very poor customer service and quite disappointing.

I would most certainly recommend this place, they are a chain of restaurants and the food has always been good, this one seems a bit older and worn and could use a remodel, the waiter was very friendly and prompt and she made she I had a full glass of Pepsi.
I went with one of their scrambles, and loved it, the potatoes were perfect, and the rest of the food real good! I would most certainly get it again!
The prices are pretty reasonable as well, I would have no problem going into any Black Bear Diner.

I stopped here with my mother for a late lunch today and left feeling very satisfied. The staff was polite, though the service was a little slow today. My mom ordered her Black Bear Diner favorite — a BLT and I tried their harvest salad. Our special requests were honored perfectly and my salad was HUMUNGOUS! I am not sure I’ve ever had a salad quite this big. I thought I would take half home, though I only ended up taking about 20% home — it was that delicious I just kept stuffing myself until past full!
Black Bear Diner boasts big portions and they aren’t kidding. I may have to try to stick to the «Little Less» menu options, though I will also admit my salad was incredibly tasty and I would gladly eat it next time I’m there.
This restaurant was clean and well maintained. There are two restrooms available; they are single-​person rooms and are not gender specific. I was there after the lunch rush, but still had to wait for a little bit before I could get into one of the restrooms. The toilet seat was a little uncomfortable; sort of pointy on the outer edges and not rounded/​flat like I had hoped. The door had a hook for my handbag and there was a baby changing table handy. I also appreciated that they had hand hold bars available for handicap patrons.
Decent service, spot-​on food and convenient locations all make this a restaurant to keep on your list of places to eat at in Willows, California.