Mel's Diner - Cape Coral — Restaurant in Cape Coral

May2018

Mel's Diner, Pine Island Rd., Cape Coral, Fl., Here is my 2 cents on the food and chatter.

I got here early so I had to do breakfast.

First off staff was nice and attentive.

I order the waffle combo of sorts. The menu stated" we do not make it til you order it". This is

printed above the waffle.

(I knew something was a foot, when my order got here before I opened my magazine.)

I asked for eggs over easy bacon and a sausage patty.

The food tasted OK, BUT, the issue was the waffle, the eggs and meats were room temperature or just plain COLD.

As I sliced into the waffle I expected steamed to arise or the butter melt. It did NOT happen. Plus from the look of the color of my waffle, ( see pics ). I should have known.

The medium sized eggs though cooked to a bit over easy were room temperature. The bacon,was a bit over done, and sausage were just room temp.

The only thing that was hot was my coffee.

After having an outstanding breakfast a few days ago at the Go G* Diner, on Pondella.

I was truly disillusion eating here.

June 2017

Mel's Diner, Pine Island Rd., Cape Coral, Fl., Here is my 2 cents on the food, a rant and rave plus chatter. The food. A mile high corned beef sandwich on rye, w/fries and coleslaw. Plus veggie soup. I enjoyed the veggie soup very tasty. ( small portion) The coleslaw was very good. Not too sour just a bit sweet. But only 2 ounces not enough. Fries hot and crisp. Corn Beef mile high... that's if mile high means 2 inches thick of processed meat , along with about inch thick per slice of rye bread. Bread was not toasted very well. Just enough to dry it out. Corn beef is way too lean and processed. Nothing like this would be found in the 50's. No fat, no flavor per se. Charge more get real corn beef with real flavor. Rave... Service was great... server kept my tea filled. Rant... Too hot in room too many old fogies. Service was very good. Parking is very hard. It is even worst in winter time.

Well after 2 years of seeing the ads and driving by. I stopped in. A Co swimmer recommended the all you u can eat fish.

It was a full parking lot and place. I was seated swiftly.

The order was quick as well as the service through out the meal.

I ordered the 3 buck margarita. A glass with a cactus stem. Tasty . My server, Daphne was excellent. She suggested the Friday special of fish plate. I would get soup/salad etc. for a better price unless I was REALLY hungry for fish. I appreciated the suggestion. It was a better choice.

The clam chowder though not made on premise was savory. chunks of clams & celery served hot. Using Mel's recipe. Cole slaw was fine but a bit too much onions for me. Fries thin..crispy. I prefer thicker sliced but that's me. The fish were in about 9-10 inches by 1 or so wide strips.. I think breaded in panko . I was hoping for more of a authentic English fish & chips. But hey this is Americana Mel's diner. I liked it.

A asst. mgr.,? Jackie stop by and inquired. on my experience so far. Over all a good place to dine I will be back. I'll try the prime rib. ;-).

Live long & Prosper.

11/2/14Well I have not been here for a while. But it was good and tasty food.

My good. Shrimp linguine was flavored just right My wifey enjoyed. My Ruben was surprising good. Good amount of cheese, corn beef, kraut, toasted rye. Beer batter onion ring outstanding. Service excellent.

My only issue was I wish the rye bread was dark. BUT thats me. Definitely...

Mel's has been our "go to" lunch place, since we moved here 2 years ago for a quick good meal with good service, where the price is just as comparable as some of the fast food places. Went out of our way today, June 27 to stop in again for lunch. My husband wanted a grilled turkey and swiss sandwich with fries, and I got the usual cheeseburger. First off, the burger did not look the same, as we usually got over the years. No onion, and the bottom part of the bun was totally soggy and torn and could not possibly hold the burger. The server explained the buns were different and brought me another bun top, since the bottoms were all like that. So I ate the burger with 2 tops, which was fine. The table behind had the same problem. My husband and I joked that they were gonna get stuck with just bun bottoms and whoever thought they'd be saving money on a cheaper bun was wrong or perhaps purveyor delivered wrong buns As retired restaurant owners we fully understood this and did not have a problem with it. What we did have a problem with, is when we got the bill, my husband's special order grilled turkey and swiss sandwich was charged as 1. Grilled Cheese $7.99 and 2. Chicken Breast $7.99. So his sandwich was almost $16.00 and he only got on one order of fries, pickle, and rest of the set up. We questioned the server and told her we thought the charge is excessive and she went to the manager who approached us and told us, that's the way it is and his chicken breast costs him $3.50. We did not even have chicken breast. It was turkey, which we told him, but he simply did not want to listen. Then told him about the burger issue, which we had no plan to bring up. He became extremely rude and defensive. Instead of really listening and trying to resolve the issue at hand, which was very unfair, he kept blaming everyone else. Wrong buns ordered, the server should have told you the price, etc etc, and not being very discreet in the process. As restaurant owners, we were both flabbergasted by his actions and did not want to make a scene, and ruin other peoples lunch out with his bad behavior, so we paid and left, leaving the server the appropriate tip for the bill with the inflated price, because she was upset too and provided good service. We weren't asking for anything other than not being charged for 2 meals and a $16 sandwich. We are very reasonable and fair people and I will never say never, but will have a hard time going back there. This manager has no business being in this position. Got home and really started studying their menu online, because certainly they had to have a turkey sandwich on it, along with the numerous other items they have on their menu. They have several similar, much cheaper items than $16. but one in particular, "THE ROASTED TURKEY STACK", WITH PESTO AIOLI, TOMATOES, PROVOLONE, LETTUCE, TURKEY AND FRIES FOR $11.99. WAIT, WHAT? My husband's sandwich did not have aioli, tomato, provolone, lettuce, only swiss cheese & turkey and he certainly would have enjoyed the pesto aioli, and he paid $ 4.00 more. This manager was simply not thinking straight or does not have the proper training to be a manager and definitely should not be dealing with customers. The only thing he accomplished was to upset good customers, the server, and himself. Just a...

This is going to be a different but honest review!

Imagine pulling up to a 50's looking diner named after a show you enjoyed as a kid while on a quick two day trip out of town. Sounds like a good thing. Right? Well, it was. Even if it was a bit different than what you expected. Mel's diner in Cape Coral is a great diner that really doesn't feel like a 50's diner at all EXCEPT for some of the signage and menu items. You walk in and are greeted by a spacious lobby and immediately, you notice that there really isn't a "diner" feel at all. The place is pretty modern and the art is all modern. The staff was great and we were seated very quickly and our waters came out fast.

Obviously, I needed to ask if any of the waitresses were named Flo or Alice. Sadly, there wasn't but our waitress did have a backup plan She swapped out her nametag and all was right with the world.

OKAY. Let's get to the food. The menu was way bigger than expected. Not as huge as the Cheesecake Factory (which is absurd) but there are over 150 items ranging from Sandwiches, Burgers, Fish platters, Turkey etc. I had briefly looked online at the menu to get an idea of what I might want and what the wife might enjoy. Of course, I asked "Flo" what the top 3 favorites were and she shot those off at me like a pro. Being a diner, you know that a Burger of some sort would be one of the top 3. The other two were a Turkey platter and lastly, the "Mile High" Pastrami sandwich. I opted for the Burger and it was AWESOME! Flo even made sure that I picked a combo platter that was the best deal available. The fries were perfect! The pickle that came with it was awesome. The only item that I wasn't completely impressed with was the coleslaw. It was okay.

My wife had the Turkey Bacon Club and it was a very good sized sandwich. Her fries were great and as usual, she asked for a side of Ranch dressing for her fries and she said it was "GOOD RANCH"...

We finished our lunch and I figured I might as well try one of their desserts. The dessert menu was awesome and since I hadn't had Rice Pudding in a long time, that's what I chose and it did not disappoint. It came with cinnamon and whipped cream on it and it really was delicious.

As we were finishing up, Flo came back with the manager and she asked if it was our first time there and when we told her that it was, she made sure to give us a 25% off coupon for our next visit. She didn't need to do that but we are happy she did because we realized that we travel out that way more than normal so, we will be using that coupon for breakfast next time we are there.

Overall, the experience was awesome. The inside of the diner completely throws you off because you're expecting Formica and vinyl and you're greeted by metal and modern tones. It's a conundrum. The food was Great! The service was Awesome and we will definitely be back.

Side note. They do sell t-shirt but they didn't have stickers and being a sticker collector, I hope they make some soon. I would definitely recommend Mel's diner! The menu is really diverse and there's sure to be something that anyone...