It's official: Black Bear Diner and its bigfoot chicken-fried steak are coming to Fresno

Black Bear Diner, the popular restaurant serving chicken-fried steak and down-home charm, plans to open its first location in Fresno.

There may even be reason to hope for more locations in Fresno and Clovis in the future – but more on that in a moment.

First, a Fresno location has been rumored to be in the works for months and the owner of six area Black Bear Diner franchises signed a lease this week to take over the empty Marie Callender's Restaurant & Bakery. The restaurant, on West Shaw and Marty avenues in northwest Fresno, closed in September.

There's still a lot of work to be done before Black Bear Diner can open. Besides dealing with architects and kitchen equipment, the owners say the building needs a new color scheme, murals and, of course, hand-carved black bear statues.

If all goes as planned, the owners hope to have the restaurant open in early November, said Amy Rose, the director of operations for San Joaquin Valley Corporation. That's the company started by her father, Bob Rose, that owns Black Bear franchises in Los Banos, Madera, Visalia, Tulare, Hanford and Porterville. The family also owns Ryan's Place Restaurants in Hanford and Visalia, restaurants named after Bob Rose's son and Amy Rose's brother.

Although there's several Black Bear Diners north of Fresno and Clovis and in the South Valley, fans of the restaurant have often bemoaned the lack of them in Fresno County.

Customers are passionate about the restaurant, known for its big portions and serving breakfast all day. The menu includes options like biscuits and gravy, a tri-tip dinner platter, blackberry cobbler, and, of course, a bear claw pastry.

But it's the chicken-fried steak – both the bigfoot version and a smaller version – that is the main attraction..

"It's massive and it’s very good," Amy Rose said.

Demand for a restaurant in Fresno and Clovis is huge and customers let Rose know it, usually when she's visiting the Madera restaurant.

"When I’m there, they’re like, 'How come you haven’t opened in Fresno yet? Why aren't you there yet?' " she said.

The family had planned to build a Clovis Black Bear Diner on Shaw Avenue near two new hotels several years back. But costs skyrocketed and they changed their minds.

Another location in Clovis or Fresno could happen in the future, acknowledged Rose. Though she added that with her father's 50-plus years in the restaurant industry, the family is particular about getting the right location and the right deal.

"I would love to be able to open up something in the northeast corner of the 168 (freeway) in Clovis where there’s new development, and something directly south, kind of hitting that triangle of the community," she said.

But don't expect anything too soon: "Once I get this one open and we’re showing strength, then I'll consider the next step," she said.

This story was originally published June 15, 2018 at 8:38 AM with the headline "It's official: Black Bear Diner and its bigfoot chicken-fried steak are coming to Fresno."