North Las Vegas is set to get its very first Black Bear Diner, with the family-friendly chain confirming plans to open a new restaurant at 4388 W. Craig Rd. by the end of October. The location sits at the intersection of West Craig Road and Valley Drive, near North Mesa Plaza, in a growth corridor that has become one of the valley's busiest commercial strips.
The opening was confirmed by Black Bear Diner Chief Operating Officer Art Kilmer, according to WhatNow Las Vegas. Nicole Durham-Mallory, the chain's vice president of development, said the new diner will welcome both longtime fans and first-time guests, per the same report. She added that the restaurant is meant to feel like a welcoming community gathering place, and that Black Bear Diner is known for generous portions, warm hospitality, and classic comfort food.
The new building itself is substantial: a 4,625-square-foot structure. The supplied CityFeet page, however, shows a different property at 5602 W. Charleston Boulevard, measuring 600 square feet and listed for $1.75 million. The Craig Road corridor is an area of commercial and employment activity, and Foresyte describes decades of growth and development.
Filling a Gap North of the Strip
Black Bear Diner already operates four locations across Southern Nevada, according to the chain's own location directory: three in Las Vegas proper on South Las Vegas Boulevard, West Sahara Avenue, and West Tropicana Avenue, plus one in Henderson on North Green Valley Parkway. Foresyte describes growth and development around the corridor that includes North Las Vegas.
The new Craig Road restaurant will become Black Bear Diner's eighth location in Nevada overall, per WhatNow's reporting, and its first inside North Las Vegas city limits. Menu staples expected at the new site include Angus burgers, sandwiches, salads, slow-roasted pot roast, homemade meatloaf, and chicken fried steak, along with breakfast items like Bear's Choice and the Grizz, the outlet notes. Guests can sign up for Black Bear Diner's eClub to receive opening updates, and the chain is expected to hold a sneak peek before the official opening, according to the same report.
A Chain With Deep Roots and Big Backers
Black Bear Diner was founded in 1995 in Mount Shasta, California, by Bruce Dean, Bob Manley, and Laurie Manley, per WhatNow. The company grew from that single Northern California location to 30 units, then surpassed 100 locations, and now has at least 171 locations spread across 14 U.S. states, the outlet reports.
Much of that recent growth has come under Chief Executive Officer Anita Adams, who assumed the top job in January 2020 after joining the company as CFO in 2017, according to Black Bear Diner's franchise site. Adams has spearheaded national expansion backed by private equity firm GreyLion. That growth has been financially validated: Nation's Restaurant News reported in January 2024 that the chain reached an Average Unit Volume of $2.8 million systemwide, with off-premises sales climbing to 15% of total revenue after roughly doubling from a pre-pandemic level of 7%.
Franchise Deals Fuel a Multi-State Push
Nevada is one part of Black Bear Diner's broader footprint. In northern Nevada, the chain was preparing a location inside a new travel center in West Wendover in November 2025, developed in partnership with LV Petroleum, the Elko Daily Free Press reported. The project was still in preparation at the time of that report. Travel-center co-location has also been part of the chain's expansion strategy.
The chain's footprint extends beyond Nevada, with locations in California as well.
For North Las Vegas, though, the immediate story is arrival rather than departure. With a target opening before Halloween, the Craig Road location gives residents north of the Strip their own stop for the chain's signature comfort food, in a corridor city planners expect to keep growing for years to come.
