Black Bear Diner

Black Bear Diner

Offering the feel of a small-town mom-and-pop shop with affordable country-style favorites

Financing

Black Bear Diner crosses the Rockies

The California-based family-dining chain is taking its expansion east.

Back in 1995, near the ski slopes of Mount Shasta, Bruce Dean and Bob Manley scraped up $30,000 to open a restaurant. Adding in some credit from landlord and vendors, they remodeled a defunct eatery into the Black Bear Diner, a family restaurant with an outdoorsy atmosphere. Recalls Dean, “It was the only thing we could afford.”

The top and fastest-growing chains don’t always align with average total menu items in their sectors.

The chain strives to have a mom-and-pop feel

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