Mel's Diner — Restaurant in Waterloo

Edit: Rating updated to 3.5 stars from 4. Short reason being variance of quality varies. Explaination below the TLDR.

*Last visit: June 13, 2022

Note: I will review exclusively on the Monday burger special. Otherwise, this place is mainly a breakfast diner, which I can't judge fairly due to not liking breakfast foods.

Access: It's close to UW and many student residences, meaning it's a good choice for university student who wants a good meal. On Mondays (excluding holidays), it's open until 10PM, so it's easy to eat a meal there.

Value: On Mondays, with a drink purchase, burgers are half off their regular price (lettuce, tomato, pickles are free and optional, cheese is extra). If you get a burger + side + infinite soda (cheapest drink), it comes out to about (5.99+2.99+2.00) +tax which is only about 13 dollars for a full and fulfilling meal.

Taste: The food is pretty good! Ive often eaten Mel's as my only meal for the day and I've been satisfied, sometimes even induced in a food coma. Decent size with a brioche bun, the burger usually oozes juice when you bite into it, though sometimes the juice is mixed in with an excess of condiments. I am not certain about this, but the burger can come in beef (advertised as halal on their website), turkey, vegan and veggie. While the burger by itself is a bit small for a meal, the side top it off. The sides available with the burger are soup, garden salad and fries, with the latter always being my pick. The fries are reminiscent of Costco fries, meaning they are wide and fluffy. The serving of fries is good to snack on when eating with a friend and make up the majority of the meal. There is also ketchup and Tabasco sauce always available on the side, so you don't need to ask for them. The drink is mandatory, which is a shame, but having soda on the side can be refreshing. There are other options, such as bottomless coffee for 2.50, but they fit more with breakfast foods rather than burgers. The milkshakes and beer are a bit too expensive for me to try.

Service: The waiters are nice. They're usually quick and drop in every once in a while to check if the food is alright and if you need any refills. However, don't be afraid to ask them about prices since sometimes there might be charges you didn't expect (like the cheese being extra).

TLDR: Close to UW campus and lots of student residences, good value meal on Mondays, I get cravings for their burgers and fries. I go there nearly every Monday with a friend when I'm on-term.

*Edit details: Last visit: June 13th

I have probably gone to Mel's at least 15 weeks in the last 23 and many more times before COVID, but the experience today was by far the worst I've had so far. This also reflected badly on me since this was the first time at Mel's for a friend that I invited and I had already given high praises for the Monday special.

Meal: Burger + Homefries + Fountain Drink (Monday Special)

Taste: Yesterday, the undersides of the buns were cooked too much, causing them to be hard. This led to the top of the buns being soft, but the inside to be hard, which was an awkward eating experience. The patty was also extremely dry unlike usual. From experience, the homefries were much drier than previous times I've went to Mel's; they even almost felt old.

Service: After sitting down, the servers usually provide a cup of water before taking orders. Mentioned above, they usually check in for quality and refills, even if you are near the end of your meal. Yesterday, none of that happened. Instead, I was told that there were no fries available, so I decided to get homefries instead. About 5 minutes later, I saw a different server giving someone else an order of fries. Also, the server was unaware that the special could be ordered without a side, causing some confusion with my friend.

If this were my first time going, I would've given this a 2 star rating. However, since I have gone to Mel's so often, I know this is only variance. But this is also variance I cannot ignore.

Current...

Our server today was very very very sweet. However one of the workers working today from about 30 minutes ago needs to work on her customer service. I was with my boyfriend and my friend catching up, sitting at the very first table on the right when you come in through the door. I ordered a candy cane milkshake. This rude worker had brown curly hair and her skin colour was brown (I didn’t get her name sorry for the brief description) she came to the table and offered me a chocolate milkshake however I informed her that I ordered a candy cane milkshake. Although I didn’t want to cause any problems I was willing to accept the chocolate shake, and informed her that it was okay and I can have the chocolate shake so they don’t have to remake it. She then, looks at me dead at my face acting as if this was a burden and talks to me like I was a toddler repeating slowly and rudely “what did you order? Did you order a chocolate shake?” repeatedly. Her tone of voice made me very upset and taken aback, I was appalled by this interaction because I was going to genuinely take the chocolate shake with no issues. She could have handled that way differently, I am also a server and I know that you shouldn’t be talking to customers this rudely. She was very rude and didn’t handle that well at all and honestly if it wasn’t for my kind server (an older white lady who was very funny and sweet and kind and offered amazing service) I wouldn’t have came back. I think the other worker needs to work on her customer service skills because it was clearly lacking and got upset at me for no reason. Which created an awkward tension at my table and made me very uncomfortable. The food was really good though, no...

Love this place. Great to grab a good breakfast at the start of your week or before classes. I really enjoy their simple Mel's Favourite breakfast (eggs, toast, and home fries), which is fairly customizable for their cheapest option. I'm also particularly fond of their breakfast poutine, though I think if they could find a way to melt the cheese better (at least around the edges where it doesn't melt as well as the cheese under the food) before sending it out that would boost it even higher in my eyes. Their other options are all great, but those first two meals I mentioned are my favourites. I always leave full, so I have no complaints about the portion-to-price ratio. They've got a good variety of drinks, but I'm a sucker for their bottomless coffee. Yep, as the name implies, order it once, and you'll get as many refills as you'd like. And with the attentive staff, I rarely find my cup empty and never empty for long. I've ordered it so much they're beginning to offer a cup when I go, too. For its price, you're getting a lot of very good coffee, which gives it a ton of value. Idk what else to end this review on. The staff are always friendly and, as mentioned before, very attentive to refills and asking how the meal is. Food comes out very quickly, but I do note that it could be because I usually go by myself. I feel very welcome here. I love that each booth and table comes with napkins, ketchup, hot sauce, salt, pepper, sugar, milk & cream, and jams, so you always have whatever you'd like to add to your breakfast. It's a good place. I'd highly...