Mel's Diner — Restaurant in Fountain Valley

I've been on a chicken fried steak kick lately, so after years since I've been here, I thought I'd give them another try.

I used to come here pretty regularly, however I stopped when I realized that my chicken fried steak was not really a steak at all. After I pushed aside the gravy, I realized that there were about 3-4 pieces of breaded steak under there. It kinda freaked me out, cause I was thinking that they were giving me other people's leftovers. I asked our server about why there were small cuts of meat, and not one large steak, they didn't seem to know what I was talking about. Not wanting to make a big deal about it, I just stopped going here, and it's been about seven years since I've been back.

When we returned this time around 9:30am on a Friday, they were busy as usual, but the wait wasnt too long. The staff were the same nice people from before.

I ordered the chicken fried steak with home fries, eggs over easy and of course biscuits & gravy. To my surprise, the chicken fried steak came with three to four pieces covered by gravy. I thought, maybe this is just how they do their CFS? 🤔🤷‍♀️ My husband thinks that maybe they just used smaller higher quality cuts, so I just went with that suggestion and didn't fret over my breakfast.

The CFS was perfectly breaded, crispy, seasoned and the meat was tender. The traditional white gravy was delicious with perfect consistency and flavor. My eggs were perfectly cooked. The potatoes were more like thin largely shredded pieces, and a bit too burnt for my taste, however my husband loved them.

The biscuits were delicious and stayed soft & fluffy from start to finish. Many biscuits that I've had elsewhere start of soft, but as soon as they start to cool off a bit, they're like cardboard.

My husband had two eggs over medium, two sausage patties, cottage cheese and a side of biscuits & gravy. His eggs were cooked perfectly and he was pleased with his simple meal. Of course I shared my CFS with the hubby and he loved it!

The service is prompt & efficient, so much so that you might feel a tad bit rushed by the server. When she takes your order, you might want to know exactly what you want before she gets to you or you may feel the 10mph energy emanating from her smack you upside your head. Lol. She's nice, but dont do anything to slow her down. 😅

All in all, we left happy & satified. We'd likely come back when I'm craving CFS and we're in the area, but I'm still on the hunt for the...

Came here as Yelp suggested we try it. Plenty of parking as it's in a strip mall behind Del Taco. Was a little concerned with the Cash Only sign, but then noticed a small Venmo sign on the door. Upon entry we verified that they did accept Venmo and they do. Hooray! Bonus, when paying on Venmo, you enter the bill total, then it asks you separately for the tip. Love that new feature. Ordered steak and eggs, which came with home fries and biscuits and gravy. The steak was cooked perfectly at medium, as requested. It was juicy and full of flavor. Ordered egg whites and they did not skimp on those like other places. They had a decent selection of tea bags for the hot tea and they offer free hot water refills for your tea bag. The gravy with the biscuits was flavorful and loved the sausage pieces in it too. Hubby had the Works omelette with egg whites, home fries and toast. It had so much food, he had to get a to go container at the end. This place is small, but does have plenty of regulars. Server was very attentive and friendly. We will definitely return to this hidden gem. Huge portions and...

I would say this is my favorite diner in Fountain Valley. It’s a no fuss, traditional, American diner, specializing in breakfast and lunch. It’s fairly small on the inside, but it is very homey and the sort of place that you’d want to stay a while. Our server was very polite and everything that we ordered arrived very fast. It’s important to know they don’t accept credit card, only cash or Venmo. It’s in a small shopping center, so there is plenty of free parking right out front.

I had read many reviews about their award-winning Chicken Fried Steak so had to order that for myself for my first visit. I will say that the steak was fantastic and it had a great sear on it. I would definitely say it’s one of the better Chicken Fried Steaks I’ve had in a long time and would highly recommend ordering it. Pricing is also very fair so I would recommend to anyone in or visiting the Fountain...