Mel Dog's Cafe — Restaurant in California

Took my 4 year old daughter here to eat. We just moved to the area and were looking for a good burger joint. We were seated quickly and told they were out of kid’s cups with lids. No big deal; my daughter can handle it.

Upon looking at the menu, we realized there were no kid burgers. I was kind of disappointed that this place was recommended as a good burger place without a kid’s burger option but no big deal. I order a regular, plain burger for my daughter. I figured we could smash it down and cut it in half. I ordered the sourdough burger for myself.

The food took a little longer than usual for a lunch rush but nothing alarming. When it came, I could’ve used a refill on my soda but conserved for the rest of the meal. What would have been helpful is if the server offered to bring a knife to help cut my daughter’s large burger. I ended up using a butter knife.

My daughter enjoyed her burger. I tried a bite and it wasn’t bad. My sourdough burger was decent as well but it came cut in half and half of the bun had 3/4 of the burger with 1/4 on the other half. Food was fine. Unfortunately, the food drop off was the last we saw of our server. I never got my refill and had to get up to find napkins. Thankfully, they weren’t hard to find.

The bill was never dropped off to us, but when I went to pay the bill we were made to feel like we were in the way while waiting to pay. In fact, our server came through the line that formed to pay and didn’t push my daughter out of the way, but seemed annoyed that she was standing with me. No, “Excuse me” or anything resembling kindness. I was told our bill was $32 and some change. I pulled out my card to pay but then the girl said, “Oh wait, you got drinks too.” She then charged me for my drink (fair, I did order a drink; would’ve liked a refill to have something to drink with my meal) but she also charged the full adult price for my daughter’s lemonade. That brought the bill up to $40. I only tipped 10% and I’m a die hard 20%+ tipper. Keep in mind, they did not have kid’s cups. I’m not saying we deserved free drinks. But, if you’re not going to offer free refills, have it posted on the menu. If you’re not even going to visit the table to check on your guests, maybe don’t charge them for the drink since they didn’t get their money’s worth. If your restaurant is out of kid cups, still just charge the kid cup price because my daughter had 1/2 her lemonade.

As a whole, service wasn’t great but places get busy. I understand. However, the service or lack thereof gave the impression of not being welcomed. I felt like I was putting them out by being there. The food was okay. Burgers were flavorful. But, I can get a good burger at a lot of places. Next time I’ll go to a burger joint that actually...

Edit to include second attempt at this establishment:

Check Maps for hours. Showed open til 3 on this nice Monday afternoon. Drove across town looking specifically for a hot dog lunch. Arrived to an empty parking lot. Business is closed. Imagine my frustration at this point!!! Business hours on the door list Tuesday-Saturday 7a-2p, closed Sunday. No mention of Monday at all. The map hours reflected 7 days a week from 7-3.

It seems like this is one business in EG that I will be unable to support at any time as I can never seem to get served here. Good Luck to the rest of y’all!!

Couldn’t tell you what the food was like because I never got to a table. I stood inside the door near the big sign that said “wait to be seated” but after I spent 10 minutes waiting, still not one server even so much as looked toward the door.

Then another couple came in…. And then another as well. Here we are, all standing here waiting, and being ignored. That was when the gentleman from the 3rd group to walk in notices a sign in sheet and added his name to it, never mentioning it to the rest of us obliviously awaiting customers in line ahead of him. ((By the way, when have you ever seen a restaurant with a sign in sheet for seating??))

When one member of their staff finally noticed half a dozen people standing there, still zero acknowledgement.

I always try to find new local businesses to support and I had plenty of time to sit and enjoy this place but instead, left to find someplace that actually wanted my money (that’s a whole other story) and ended up late to my next appointment due to the 25 minutes I wasted here.

Can’t tell if the food was good or not, Only that I won’t be returning...

My visit to the cafe was good. Our server was amazing, the food ok and the ice tea was exceptional. So, I came back with a friend ——a senior citizen and her service animal.

The food was better this time but the same server was subtly incredibly unwelcoming. It seemed as it was due to the service animal. We both felt very unwelcome. We were not checked on during our meal. We were barely treated cordially. It was a disappointment to drive several miles out of our way and the spend $35 on lunch to basically be given the bum’s rush out.

I know this is a long time business, but it was a new discovery for me. I was looking forward to having a new lunch spot, but that will have been my last visit. My friend is wise an never speaks ill of others and she also has no...