A goal to serve the community grows into the diners of today

Born from a desire to bring classic, home-style comfort food and unparalleled service back to American diners, today’s Black Bear Diner delivers on that original goal, and then some.

We are a family diner unlike anything in the market.

Representing the best of the American dream, Bruce Dean and Bob Manley grew their idea of a welcoming place for friends to gather into a prospering, family-focused restaurant that has its sights set on dominating the category. Take a look at where we began and where we’re going.

1995

1st Diner opens in Mt. Shasta, CA

2002

Franchising is offered for 1st time

2006

30th Diner opens, sales exceed $50M

2017

Opened 100th location, named a “disruptor” in family dining by NRN

2020

25th Anniversary,
143 Locations in 14 States

2023

156 Diners in

14 States

2025

169 Diners in 14 states – 30th Anniversary

Two friends, a dream and bears

Born in the small mountain town of Mount Shasta, CA, founders Bruce Dean and Bob Manley created their first diner with a black bear theme. They wanted it to be a place where family and friends could be served home-cooked meals with a focus on providing guests with exceptional service. Their vision also included a community-centered atmosphere, where small-town values like honesty, integrity and hard work were honored. 30 years later, Black Bear Diner is thriving and still serving the same genuine experience.

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Bears that care on a mission to give back

Our Franchise Partners are highly involved in supporting the communities in which they do business. Our giving mission is to support philanthropic efforts — we do this as a company on a national level and within the local community through sponsorship and fundraising events.

Started in 2018, Bears Brew Back supports the Nicaraguan families that grow the single-origin coffee we serve in our restaurants. The program provides support for infrastructure, medical and educational-focused activities. Beginning as an internal program, it quickly gained momentum. Today, our guests can support this important endeavor by purchasing bags of the 100% Nicaraguan coffee at our Diners, with all profits going to fund Bears Brew Back initiatives.

Our projects provide water filtration and storage delivering potable water to the communities and families that grow our coffee. Additionally, we provide supplies that allow area children to attend school.

Save Room For A Wish® is our annual fundraiser to help grant the wishes of children with critical illness. Held each December, funds are raised through limited-time-only dessert offerings and the sale of $1 and $5 Wish Stars. We have currently raised over $2.2 million dollars for Make-A-Wish®.

3Bears is a fundraiser in partnership with Gold Country Wildlife Rescue focusing on providing rehabilitative care to three bears rescued during the 2021 Dixie Fire. Since we announced our support of these three cubs, the Black Bear Community has raised $17,300 which will go toward enclosures and facility improvements. If you’d like to learn more about this project visit goldcountrywildliferescue.org

We love to give back to the communities that support our local Black Bear Diners. Our Dine & Donate is a community/grassroots fundraising program that allows us to partner up with local organizations, schools or churches looking for an idea to raise funds for their cause or purpose.

Meet some of the bears that head up our den

Bruce Dean

Executive Chairman & Co-Founder

Co-founded Black Bear Diner in 1995
40+ years of restaurant industry experience
Former Chair of the Board of the California Restaurant Association

Anita Adams

Chief Executive Officer

Joined Black Bear Diner in 2017 and served as CFO & President
Formerly CFO for American Blue Ribbon Holdings and part of the executive team that grew the business to $1.2B of revenue across 4 brands
Previously Controller for VICORP Restaurants
Prior experience at First Data and PricewatershouseCoopers

Steve Sparks

Chief Financial Officer

Joined Black Bear Diner in 2019
Formerly CFO for American Blue Ribbon Holdings, managing 4 restaurant brands
Previous FP&A experience with O’Charley’s, Inc.
Prior retail and public accounting experience

Chad Corrigan

VP of Franchise Sales & Development

Joined Black Bear Diner in 2021
14+ years of franchise development strategy experience with well-known restaurant franchises, including Jack in the Box, Qdoba, Tokyo Joe’s and Quiznos
Previously VP of Real Estate and Franchise Development for Nashville-based Restaurant Growth Services, LLC
Restaurant industry veteran
Bachelor’s, Texas A&M University and MBA, University of Colorado

Joanna Dean

VP IT & Culinary

Joined Black Bear Diner in 2008
25+ years industry veteran
Key roles of increased responsibility in IT, operations, culinary, training & restaurant management

Camille Chavez

VP of Training & Development

Joined Black Bear Diner in 2019
Formerly Director of Training at Farmer Boys Foods
Previously Implementation and Project Management at Custom Business Solutions
Previously Director of Training at Sweet Life Enterprises
Previously Director of Training at Carrows Restaurants

Art Kilmer

Chief Operations Officer

Joined Black Bear Diner in 2024
Formerly COO for P.F. Chang’s with responsibilities for marketing, supply chain, training & development, culinary & beverage innovation, and operations for 200 domestic units and 95 international & airport franchises.
Previously served as VP of Franchise Development and Operations at Steak & Ale.

Stephanie Kvale

Vice President, Human Resources

Joined Black Bear in 2019
15+ years of progressive HR leadership across corporate, multi-location, and high-growth environments.
HR leadership roles in healthcare, production, and municipal government; focusing on scalable HR infrastructure, enterprise-wide people strategy, talent acquisition, employee relations, performance management, total rewards, compliance, workforce planning, and organizational culture initiatives.