mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog, is, again, being written by Cathy while Kirk and His Missus are out of town.
I wrote about the "new" Black Bear Diner in May of 2019 and it's time for an update. This franchise has 156 locations in 14 states (primarily in California and all are West of the Mississippi). The El Cajon location is still the only one in San Diego County.
The exterior design is themed.
The interior also looks like you are inside a cabin.
The menu is a printed 'newspaper'.
We took a while to decide on our meals and our waiter was very patient. The coffee ($3.89) is a good quality and kept refilled.
The Mister chose the waffle "Bear's Choice" ($13.79) with the optional upgrade of the sausage patties ($1.99)(the kitchen makes their own). The eggs were perfectly over easy, the sweet cream waffle is more cake-like (denser interior) and served with warm syrup. The sausage patties are wonderful; menu states mild or spicy Italian and the mild flavor is just right for breakfast. 
I chose the Shasta Scramble ($13.99) with grits and added "loaded" ($1.99). The Scramble had spinach, tomato, onion, bell pepper and Jack cheese, topped with slices of avocado. The menu stated it was two eggs, but those must be the extra-large size, since this scramble was quite filling. All of the vegetables were quite flavorful/fresh. The grits were a tasty porridge of cornmeal and the 'loaded' part was cheese and bacon. Sometimes I only want salt, pepper and butter on my grits, but this topping made them special and more flavorful.
A great place for breakfast. I'll be writing a post about the lunch and dinner menu soon.
Soo was also here in 2019.
Black Bear Diner 1025 Fletcher Parkway El Cajon, CA 92020 Website Open daily 6 a.m.-10 p.m.
I loved the chicken pot pie and the fried chicken they took off the menu: https://www.hungryones.com/2019/08/black-bear-diner/
everything looked hearty and delicious:)
Looks good
A lot has changed since this Black Bear opened, Soo. At least it hasn’t closed during the pandemic. (I’ll add your link; knew you had posted but forgot).
Very nice portions and quality, Kat.
It’s really good, ST. Black Bear has a good reputation for consistency.
Thanks for the link! I hope they bring back the fried chicken and chicken pot pie as they were my fav menu items.
I’m thinking the logistics of keeping the fryer/oil separate for chicken and fish and chicken fried steak and fried veggie items made the decision when they were trying to save money to be able to stay open, Soo. The chicken pot pie was good but maybe people weren’t ordering and iti would go to waste. All sorts of business decisions were made everywhere. (Portos still has not come back to offering all of their breakfast choices or bakery items and I always go back hopeful, and am sadly disappointed).