Mel & Faye's Diner — Restaurant in Jackson

Updating my review. Apparently it's been over 7 years since my last review and that was when the place was called Mel & Faye’s. I've been dining here plenty of times since then. Not sure what's the story on why Faye's name is no longer on the building's signage. But the food and service is the same. Yummy American diner fare served up by a welcoming well synched wait team in Jackson, CA. Also this place is NOT a franchise Mel’s Diner, the 1950s kitschy diner with jukeboxes.

It’s a poplar place. The dining room gets loud and crowded at peak time. And it's not particularly large. There are booths along the walls and the rest are tables in the center. The neighboring tables were in arms reach of each other. Hubs and I sat at a table at the end, so wait staff and customers buzzed to the right and left of us. Distracting for sure. Hubs hated that. I didn't mind it as much as him, but that's only because I was focused on my meal. Zoning out the world as I ate. So we vowed not to dine there being peak times and avoid that table.

My favorite menu items are the fried chicken, hamburgers, Chef salad, and the prime rib. The fried chicken plate is 4 pieces of fried chicken with cole slaw, fries, and Texas toast $17.50. The chicken is fried to a crisp crunch exterior, moist interior. Delicious. The Texas toast is buttery divine. They have a pretty large burger selection. Classic diner burgers and fries done right. You can substitute other sides for the fries. The coleslaw and potato salad do not particularly wow me though.

Now let's talk about the prime rib. $36.95. It's only served on Friday and Saturday after 4 pm. It's not the best ever prime rib but way better than several of the steakhouses in El Dorado Hills. It's served with a salad, baked potato, vegetables, and a roll. The salad was served chilled cold, the bowl and contents. Great on a hot day. The roll I got on my last recent visit was a pretzel roll. Mmm. The prime rib was a nice substantial size. They seasoned the sides giving it a crust. Flavorful. The meat was tender. But unlikely to be a prime cut so probably a choice or select. Nothing wrong with that especially if it's cooked right which they do. It was served with au jus, horseradish and sour cream. The au jus was flavorful.

Another tidbits: +They have Tesla chargers in the parking lot. +Mel’s has a...

While the service at this restaurant is truly exceptional—easily some of the best I’ve experienced—unfortunately, the food did not match the same level of quality.

I recently ordered a steak and had one of the most disappointing experiences I’ve ever had at a restaurant. The first steak was poorly cooked and lacked seasoning, and when I politely mentioned it, the entire plate—not just the steak—was taken away. I was left sitting empty-handed while the rest of my table continued their meal.

By the time the second steak arrived, my group was nearly finished eating—and shockingly, the second steak was even worse than the first. Dry in parts, raw in others, and again, completely under-seasoned. It was so unappetizing I wanted to drown it in A1 just to make it edible. What’s worse is that the incredible waitress was required to stand awkwardly at the table and wait while I cut into the steak, and if I didn’t approve of it, she had to take the entire plate again. That put everyone in an uncomfortable position: either accept a bad meal or risk holding up the entire table.

I’m now headed home to finish cooking my “raw” steak just to get it to medium rare—because I didn’t want to make everyone wait again. Chef Raylynn seriously needs to revisit the basics of steak preparation: what rare, medium rare, and well-done actually mean, and how to properly season a cut of meat.

I came here for great food and great company, and while the company was perfect and the staff tried their best, the kitchen made it a frustrating and...

I went to this restaurant not long ago and being a recent semi resident I find myself there on a regular basis. The establishment is viewable from the road has a large parking lot, close to 60+ cars, oversize and Tesla chargers available. There is both indoor and outdoor seating, and their is even a larger capacity banquet room downstairs accessible via elevator or stairs. Indoors there is two rooms to choose from when eating, the main dining area or the bar, both have tables. The main area has a sit down counter that fits about 10 people and the main room has about 15-20 tables/booths to sit at. I usually sit at counter as I like to read and talk with the staff. Everyone there from the servers, dishwashers, bus people, cooks will engage you in conversation and EVERYONE is super nice. Bart and his wife Moua are super cool, couldn't ask for nicer people.

The food: Mel's has specials for dinner on practically every evening. Taco Tuesdays, Thursdays - Chicken Parmesan, Friday - Prime Rib or Steak, and the Chicken parm with a drink ran me about $16 very affordable. And it was awesome, it hit everything that I like about in Chicken Parm. This dinner for example comes with a salad, desert, dinner and bread. They have a variety of deserts like pies, Sundays, shakes etc. And the menu is about 4 pages long. They do breakfast, lunch and dinner. Credit cards...