Big Bear Lake does not offer many fancy restaurants, but you can certainly find good food here! Like any of the places I visit I was determined to find good comforting food in this town. I would like to share with you my experience and recommendations of some of the best places to eat in Big Bear. Enjoy!
Grizzly Manor Café
The Grizzly Manor Cafe is a tiny and unique restaurant well known for the big portions of American breakfast. The restaurant is considered #1 breakfast destination in Big Bear! It opens as early as 6 AM to 2 PM every day so it is mainly a breakfast/ brunch type of restaurant. Expect at least an hour wait time especially if you come at the peak hours for breakfast, but is definitely worth the wait. This restaurant is famous for their Blob which includes eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy all in one dish as well as their huge packages. The place has an open kitchen so you are able to see the one cook they have preparing your food. Besides the good food the service was great as well. The owner of the restaurant goes to every table to make sure everything is going well and we were satisfied with the food as well as making jokes. This is a family owned restaurant and is very noticeable that the owner enjoys what he does and puts effort in maintaining this place well and customers happy. The walls and décor of the restaurant add to its lively unique character. The walls are filled with color, pictures, notes and dollar bills with messages from all the people that have visited this restaurant. Even the outside of the restaurant shows this unique character on the door, which is also filed with notes and has loss of color. There is a big bear outside as well, which honor the name of the restaurant and town. Another thing l liked about this place is that since the wait time can be quite long, they have a self-serve coffee area at the check in so that you can drinks coffee as you wait outside. That was nice of the restaurant to offer. The restaurant is not located on the Village, center of the town, nor the main boulevard, which is why this is a local favorite spot and not many visitors know about it. I was able to find this restaurant through Yelp, as it is considered a highly rated restaurant in this town and I can see why after visiting and eating here. My recommendations for this restaurant are the blob and chocolate chip pancakes, which melt in your mouth!
Teddy Bear Restaurant
This popular restaurant is located on the Village, the center of the town. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 6AM to 11PM. The restaurant has been in business since 1944 and is well known for American comfort food and their home made pies. Even though I have visited this place for lunch I still ended up getting breakfast as I love breakfast even for lunch! You can't ever go wrong with the egg benedicts here, pot pies and their biscuits and gravy! You can expect some delay getting a table for breakfast, but after 12 PM it s quite easy to be seated right away although the traffic is constant throughout the day for this restaurant. This restaurant is also highly reviewed on Yelp.
The Social Kitchen Restaurant
This restaurant honors its name as it is perfect for social gatherings. Eat, drink and be social is their philosophy! The restaurant offers both indoor and outdoor seating and a variety of dishes. A unique thing to this restaurant by is the live music on the outside seating area. Many locals come to this restaurant and have a glass of wine or beer and enjoy the music. The restaurant is located on the Village, where all the action is in Big Bear Lake. From the outside patio you can see the views of the mountains and all the people walking on the main boulevard with their dogs as this is very typical in Big Bear Lake. This place is open form 11 AM to 11 PM. I have been here for lunch and recommend their dishes. Their salads, burgers and mussels in a wine and garlic sauce are really good!
Bone Side Down Barbecue And Grill
If you are looking for flavorful smokey barbecue this is the place to go! This is a very casual eatery in Big Bear Lake where you can meet the friendly owner. This is more of a fast food type of place with a simple menu and reasonable prices. I recommend to come with a group to this place and choose that family pack, which can serve up to 8 people for only $45 dollars! This is a cash only establishment so be prepared for that if you tend to be like me who does not carry cash most of the time. Also, make sure not to go to late as they ran out sometimes. Hours recommended to come to this eatery is between noon to 2PM. You will find good food, good service and this eatery is also a dog friendly place!
I had a very enjoyable dining experience in Big Bear Lake and can honestly say I recommend these places especially if you like casual places that focus more on the food than anything else! I hope you had enjoyed this post and take some of these suggestions if you are planning to visit Big Bear Lake!
