Mel's Southern Diner — Restaurant in Arkansas

Riding through the area, we decided to stop for lunch at a local haunt. It was between this place or Mr. Whiskers down the street as we had a soccer game nearby. After deciding on Mels because they had all day breakfast, we made our way to the restaurant to arrive around noon -- 2 hours before their posted closing time.

Entering the teenincy dining room, the first thought was 'is this place even open?'. The AC wasn't working and there weren't any other people in the restaurant. Oh well. The server came out and said all they had on the menu that day were burgers. Bleh. I can get a burger anywhere. But, we were here and I didn't feel like getting everyone loaded back up to go down the street so we made the best of it.

I ordered the patty melt, my wife and daughter and her friend each ordered a cheeseburger -- in my wife's case, a double. The burgers came out and were of decent size. The flavor is about what you would expect from a greasy dive like this. My patty melt was anything but. It was more like a grilled cheese burger. To me, a patty melt is a patty in between two slices of rye bread with swiss and grilled onions. No more, no less. What I got was a small patty between two pieces of white bread with melted cheese and a few onions on it. It wasn't bad, just not a patty melt, and for $12.50, it was seriously lacking. I could have gone to whataburger and gotten a $12.50 patty melt that is not a patty melt, but I digress.

Midway through our meal, around 12:45, they decided to close the restaurant. No big deal, I suppose, but the advert out on the street even said open until 2. At no time were we told they were closing early or short staffed, so we just assume this is the way they do things here. As I was cashing out, I noticed they charge extra for credit card transactions. 50 cents for tickets

Nice little place, and I mean little. I think it can seat around 20 people and I wish they could seat more. It's a small, tidy mom-n-pop diner with the nicest people I've met in a long time. My server was so attentive and nice. I honestly believe she was glad I came in 😃. I thanked the two other ladies in the kitchen on my way out, and they too were genuinely thankful I stopped by. Super nice people. The food, chopped steak with homemade mashed potatoes and a side of delicious macaroni and cheese. Just so very good. The only reason I didn't go 5 stars is that I arrived 10 minutes past the cut-off for breakfast and had to choose from the lunch menu. I was looking forward to breakfast, but wasn't disappointed with lunch. If you are in the area, do yourself a favor and stop at Mel's Southern Diner. You won't be disappointed. Thank you ladies for a...

Lady taking orders looked like she had been outside working with a soaking wet shirt. Should of walked away then…… but wanted to give them a chance. Burger was to go, got down the road and found my bun was soggy like the lady held it under her arm. My tomato was melting it was so hot like the microwaved it and my lettuce together. Then when I got my bank charge see it was for more than I paid. So called and was informed they add $.50 to cards, which wasn’t discussed when I paid with card. Then was told well should a used cash and you wouldn’t have that problem. It wouldn’t of been a problem if it was mentioned when paying. Which means you changed the price of my bill with out informing me. Will...