The Station Grille at Melillo’s — Restaurant in Lowellville

Went to Melillo's for the first time on a weeknight in early November 2023, with a friend who used to go regularly but hadn't been in a while. He said the building used to be a bank decades ago, so it felt historic and rustic, though very plainly decorated and not really unique. We requested a table in the small middle front room, which was empty and quiet so we could easily talk. But it filled up quickly, so it became hard to hear each other due to the high ceilings and lack of anything to deaden sounds.

The food we ordered was disappointing, except for the appetizer and side salads. The sesame tuna sashimi (rare cooked) appetizer we shared was fine and served with lots of pickled ginger and wasabe -- not something you'd expect from an Italian restaurant. My friend had wanted fried calamari instead, but they were out of it, which I was secretly glad about.

Our side salads were all tasty and filling, even after I removed all of the croutons. I don't eat most bread or land animals, so I also ordered the black bean burger without bread. They served it with some anemic looking romaine lettuce and onion, but no tomato or cheese, which I expected to at least be offered and didn't think to ask for. It was so bland and dry that I had to add lots of mustard which was plain yellow, not the spicy mustard I prefer. Overall, I've had better veggie burgers from frozen store brands than this sad $14 bean burger. I would have ordered something else, but that was the only non-meat option except for more fish: I think the dinner menu only had less than 10 options.

My friend ordered his usual favorite pasta with shrimp, but this time he was disappointed in the taste and size of the shrimp. I don't think his dish included vegetables. My elderly mother got the breaded chicken parmesan, which she didn't complain about, but she likes anything salty and cheesy. It was large enough for leftovers, but came with too much cheap white pasta, and no vegetables either. Whenever I cook Italian food, I always add steamed buttered cauliflower, yellow squash or zucchini. I don't understand why most Italian restaurants here find it so hard to do that, like restaurants do in Italy? Some colorful veggies make dishes more appealing and healthy.

So for the disappointing food and loud room, I'm giving just 2.5 stars. The service was average: our server was friendly but not super personable or very proactive. Maybe this place was just short staffed as most places are now. But for their prices, I'm glad that I...

Loved this place when Tiffany & her husband ran it but now that it's leased out everything was subpar to just downright terrible. Went to Melillo's tonight for dinner Saturday high top table in the bar area we started off with four in our party but as a group came in with two adults and about six kids that decided to sit in the bar area and put two high top tables together after we arrived, things just went downhill from there. We waited about 20 minutes just to get menus and then we proceeded to wait longer before a server came to our table. As we waited we kept asking the lady that then proceeded to serve the table with the two adults and children that came in after us if anybody was going to wait on us and she kept telling us our server will be with us shortly no one was getting a drinks we just sat there and waited. After receiving her menus we waited there for probably about another 30 minutes before a server came to our table. At this point one of our guests was so irritated that he didn't want to be there anymore and when the server asked him if he wanted anything he said no and then said can I at least get you a drink he replied to her yeah that would have been nice over 30 minutes ago and then he decided he was just going to leave. We placed our order and almost an hour later from when we placed our order we finally got our food. And again the table that got their food a good 30 minutes before us but the waitress that was seeing them in the bar area would not attend to us at all wouldn't even bother getting us a drink. We were there for almost 2 hours to get food and sadly I wish we would have walked out like our other guest did. I hope your service gets better because this was a...

Ordered what I thought was a great meal. Chicken P. I cannot recall the name. I know when the owner reads this she will figure it out. I got a half portion of this dish, which was described as such; half chicken breast with tomatoes, capers, in a white wine sauce. Sounded good. When I got the meal there was a tiny piece of pounded out chicken, as flat as the table. The tomato portion looked liked spaghetti sauce. It fact, the chicken was covered in some form of tomato puree. I ate the bland pounded out piece of chicken. Mind you there is only me. Waiting for her to come back to check on me took forever. When she finally gave me my check and cashed it out , a whole hour had gone by. Fifteen dollars for one piece of pounded out chicken. The waitress let me sit there with my thumb of my a####. Chef Ramsey would have thrown up eating this dish. I got heart burn real bad. This place needs to teach there waitresses more manners. By the way, I was sitting in the bar area last night. Maybe you guys can figure out what waitress left me...