Black Bear Diner, one of the fastest-growing restaurant franchises in the country famous for its home-style comfort food and unique dining experience, announced the opening of its first restaurant in El Paso, Texas at a Petro Stopping Center travel center. In addition to the El Paso opening, the brand announced another new market entry with the opening of its first diner in Harker Heights, Texas. Both openings come as part of the brand’s strategic expansion with a focus in the Lone Star State and follows Black Bear Diner’s recent entrance into new markets including San Antonio, Amarillo, Dallas, McAllen and Pasadena.

“We are thrilled to finish off a year of immense growth in Texas with the openings of both the El Paso and Harker Heights diners,” says Anita Adams, CEO of Black Bear Diner. “Both openings mark our first diners in the markets and the El Paso opening is our second location this year with TravelCenters of America. We look forward to serving our delicious food and family-style dining experience to both the Harker Heights and the El Paso communities, as well as to the TA visitors looking for a taste of home on the road.”

The El Paso diner is located off exit 37 at 1295 Horizon Blvd and is a franchise-owned conversion build at the existing Petro Stopping Center. The diner will seat up to 143 guests within the 7,865 square foot space, and will feature the brand’s new diner model, which includes a third-party pickup window located inside the vestibule of the restaurant. The diner will be open daily from 6am-10pm for both dine in and takeout.

Black Bear Diner’s Harker Heights location, located at 401 W. Central Texas Expressway, seats up to 212 guests between its dining room and outdoor patio space and is open daily from 6am-10pm for both dine in and takeout. The 6,229 square foot diner is a corporate-owned conversion build, which showcases Black Bear Diner’s new design enhancements that focus on building modifications to expedite off-premise business while preserving the in-diner guest experience.

The El Paso and Harker Heights openings finish off a year of revitalized post-pandemic development for Black Bear Diner and bring the company’s total diner openings for the year to 10. Looking ahead to 2023, the company expects to open approximately 15 new diners system-wide, with a continued focus on growth and expansion in Texas.