Black Bear Diner - American restaurant in Boise - 1731 S Entertainment Ave, USA

I should have taken pictures but did not think about it till afterward. I ordered the blackened salmon with pesto, loaded baked potato, green beans, and a salad. The salmon was soso, it was smothered with so much pesto on top that is all I could taste. It was like a paste and covered the entire piece of fish and dry. The green beans were good but cold. I received a baked potato with 3 packages of butter on the side and and did not try it because I was missing all of my sides for it. The salad was good and fresh. My husband had the chicken fried steak with mashed potato and gravy. He ordered an extra side of gravy because there was not on the food. They do give large helpings of food to each plate but the food was not very good. My family and friends have eaten there for years and always gave it such good reviews. However, we were very disappointed. The restaurant was dirty. Needed cobwebs removed and dusted really bad. The booth seats are duct taped, and the carpet is worn down to holes in many places. The waitress was very kind and I feel like the staff is trying their best. There were 3 couples that came in after us and were there maybe 5 minutes and left. We overheard 1 couple say it was dirty and overpriced. For 3 adults, we paid 65 bucks without the tip included. Not bad for the amount of food served. At this time, we will not go back to the overland location. We may visit a different location to see if there is any difference in our experience. The picture I have included is from out to go box that we brought home.

Big diner food. Huge portions. Many options. Friendly staff! Wonderful decor. Nice big clean bathrooms. Fun place to eat casual. Beware. The menu looks like a newspaper. I embarrassed myself by asking for a menu for adults, to my surprise it was already on the table!!! The breakfast all day a great option. Deelish! Pancakes yummi! Real smoked meats. Perfectly cooked eggs with nice runny yolk. Kids loved chocolate milk. I loved that it was made in house and came in a kid compatible cup!

After traveling for the holiday’s it was great to see them open! The service was amazing, and Thomas our server was the best! He was super friendly thoughtful and helped above and beyond. The food was okay, cold but I understand due to it being Christmas. I’m just glad they were open so I can’t be to picky. 10/10 will come back if Thomas is our server.

On my road trip from Portland, Oregon to Denver, Colorado I stayed my first night in Boise, Idaho. In the morning, when I was ready to head out and thinking about food, I immediately did an online search to find out if there is a Black Bear Diner nearby. Lucky me! Within 4 miles there was a Black Bear Diner, and I was going there for breakfast before I hit the road for Utah. Yum! Every server in the restaurant was so nice, friendly and helpful. One of the ladies took me to a booth way in the back (where I asked to be so it would be warm / away from the door). Bryan (from Jackson Hole, Wyoming) was my server. He was awesome. Carried on some great conversation about Jackson Hole, Hawaii, Kauai, Tahiti (I won a trip to Tahiti on the game show Classic Concentration, and a car)… https://youtu.be/IDBXjaNUiw4?si=ZOEJgGVQ3u7PGKSu I usually get eggs, bacon, hash browns and orange juice for breakfast (that’s my favorite breakfast). But I was feeling inspired by Mikhaila Petersen’s TED Talk… https://youtu.be/0ka9WBEijhk?si=uDm_mmZZboSwbz34 So I tried something new: chicken fried steak. It was SOOOO GOOD!!!! I forgot to ask for the gravy on the side, so it came out poured all over the top of the chicken fried steak. I scraped some off, and left some on. The gravy was DELICIOUS! And so was the chicken fried steak! I chose red potatoes as my side; I like them softer (cooked longer), but they were still good. Really good with the scrambled eggs. I took the side of fruit to go, and a little bit of my breakfast that I didn’t finish. Both became snacks while I was driving (when I got hungry a couple hours later). It doesn’t matter what city I am in, when I stop at Black Bear Diner, I am always greeted by a friendly smile and a comfortable feeling of home. Every road trip (and I take many), I look for Black Bear Diner so I can enjoy a great breakfast. Oh, I almost forgot…the FRESH SQUEEZED orange juice was THE BEST!!!! I drank TWO glasses of orange juice; it was so good. It was probably THE BEST breakfast I’ve had out of all of my visits to Black Bear Diner. Truly. Sincerely. And I really enjoyed the staff. They were all awesome!!! Bryan, Nick, Ella and Stephanie. As I left, my server, Bryan said, “Stop back by again on your way home.” “I will,” I promised. Now I gotta remember which one to go back to… The Black Bear Diner on Entertainment Ave in Boise. I drive the Austin to Portland (where I grew up) route a lot, so I’ve had many visits to Black Bear Diner. Black Bear Diner is one of my favorite breakfast restaurants! Always great food and great people. The only bad thing about my breakfast was the horrible coffee (you might wanna bring your own). Get some better tasting coffee, please, Black Bear Diner. Overall, it was five out of five for sure!!! Outstanding! Last thing…no wifi.

The food was amazing same with the fries and fry sauce. Atmosphere was very clean and there was no wait time as it was slow. For the service, I had Regan serve me and my girlfriend. Needless to say, she was very nice and helpful. Overall, amazing place to eat.

Our server Bryan was very nice! He made sure my coffee was always full. The other server that looks like santa 🎅 was very helpful as well making sure we got taken care of and brought us a high chair. I appreciate the friendliness of the staff. The kids loved the bears everywhere as well as the bear pancake! 🐻 it was nice to come here while waiting for our tires to get installed at Costco.

We have always enjoyed the food at the Black Bear diner, but when we visited today we could tell in every way there was a difference for the better. The staff (host/servers) were friendly, professional, attentive, and the food was EXCELLENT. The manager, Sean, stopped by and visited with our table and I gotta say, what a nice guy!! We look forward to coming back, and thanks for having such wonderful customer service!!

Food really sucks now. Management doesn't even care about the customers the parking lot was full of snow a long with the side walks. If someone happens to fall it will be one big lawsuit. People could not even back out they were getting stuck. I hope they figure things out soon because if they don't I really won't be back.