Rome Station — Restaurant in Melba

I’d like to preface this unfortunate review with some good experiences. The owner of this establishment, Joel, is a really nice man with a great business model. My partner and I homestead in the area and frequent Rome Cafe at least 1-2 times a week, sometimes more, generally for lunch or dinner after a hot day. We’ve had excellent experiences with employees like Chris, Steve, and Sherry. Good food, good conversation, friendly smiles. They’re ways happy to see us and happy to fill our water bottles up with ice water on our way out, free of charge, as they understand we live in a desert without access to AC. At a regular stop at the cafe, we buy two meals, a few bags of ice, and tip anywhere between 20%-30%. We think Joel and the majority of his employees are kind, friendly folk and we have enjoyed supporting this small business.

This morning, we stopped in for breakfast. The owner’s son, Joseph, who manages the cafe, was the only one working. On the occasions we do stop in while Joseph is working, he is generally unpleasant. No smiles, no greetings, just few words and some grunts. He acts as though it’s a chore to see us. Despite his demeanor and unhygienic appearance, we’ve been nothing but kind to him. We smile, we tip, we say thank you. While we were eating breakfast today, a customer passing through town made small talk with us and asked if we were regular customers. Before we even had a chance to respond, Joseph butted in with “Unfortunately”. When we went to settle the bill, he charged us for putting ice in our water bottles. We have heard through extensive conversations that most locals do not frequent this business anymore, mainly due to Joseph’s attitude and management style since he took over. The majority of customers now are those passing through town, stopping because gas, food, and bathrooms are another 30-60 miles away. If the manager sees regular customers as “unfortunate”, this would explain why locals no longer stop in.

We have generally enjoyed our visits to Rome Cafe, excepting Joseph’s terrible attitude and hostility towards. We regret to say we no longer plan to spend our money at this establishment. If someone else were in charge, we may be making a different decision. Thank you to the employees who have treated us with exceptional service. We are sorry to have to leave a review like this.

If you’re passing through town, we’d recommend you only stop by Rome Cafe on Weekday Evenings, or on Weekends, when it is less likely you will have to interact...

Stopped here for breakfast on our way to Reno. Was very satisfied with the food here, since there's literally nothing else remotely close, and eating gas stations snacks WAS NOT an option (I wanted REAL food).

The dining area was small but cozy and nicely lit. There are a few tables as well as a couple bar type chairs up front (but are not high like regular bar chairs). I think this place would be very cozy and amazing in the winter time when there's snow on the ground and very cold out. Just has a very warm and cozy vibe to it. There are snacks inside (chips, cookies, beef jerky, etc) as well as some ice cream in a freezer all the way in the back. The bathrooms are not inside, but outside (on the side of the building, next to the outdoor eating area), and are very small and tight. They weren't too bad but could be a little cleaner.

We ordered a traditional breakfast, which came with shredded hash browns, 2 eggs, toast, and chorizo sausage as meat. The other thing we ordered was the chorizo skillet, which came with the same as traditional except with the addition of shredded cheddar cheese and the chorizo sausage was cut up. Both were very tasty, and we happily ate this food over some gas station snacks. The food did take a while to come out, but there was only 1 guy working there doing everything. This would be a bigger deal if this was in a populated area, but this is in the middle of nowhere (with no cell phone service), so I'm just happy there's something hot and fresh out here.

There are other amenities here (YES THERE IS GAS HERE), as well as an RV park and what looked like a couple cabin rooms to stay at.

The 2 negatives for me are there were a TON of flies inside the dining area as well as the bathrooms. Perhaps one of those sticky tape fly catchers in a couple of corners would fix that. And the second would be the longer than usual wait for the food.

Overall, this place is a STRONG 4, and I do recommend this for anyone traveling on 95. Safe travels everyone!

P.S. there wasn't any cell phone service in the dining area OR in the parking lot, but I heard someone mention they got 1-2 bars out back, behind the building....

Where to start? My experience in the Rome area was FANTASTIC! I stayed in one of the on-site cabins for 4 nights, ate every meal at the cafe, and spent time with the locals. I went to Three Forks/Owyhee Hotsprings, Jordan Craters Lava Beds, the Pillars of Rome, and drove up to the historic mining town of Silver City, just across the border in Idaho.

For starters, the cabin was great for the price ($50 a night!). It had a bathroom with shower, 2 beds, a small fridge and even a TV with satellite. When the handle on the shower had an issue with turning on the first morning, the maintenance man immediately came to look at it and said that he would have it fixed before I got back from my adventure to Three Forks in the evening (which he did have it fixed when I got back).

The food at the cafe was very good quality and very reasonably priced (anywhere from $8-$13). Like I said, I ate every meal (breakfast and dinner) at the cafe and never once had a bad meal. The cafe is clean and the wait staff is very friendly. The owner, Joel, is also very friendly and helpful; he even brought out a Forest Service map to show me routes to neat places out there in the High Desert.

Three Forks down in the Owyhee River Canyon was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, rivaling the rock formations in Utah even. Absolutely gorgeous. And the hot springs; what an adventure getting to them! TIP: Know where you are going, have high ground clearance, good tires (with a spare), 4-wheel drive, patience, extra food and water in your car, and be sure to only drive the looooooong dirt roads to the hot springs (about 40 miles in total) only when the road is dry or you will get stuck and there is NO cell phone reception to call for a tow/help. Most places out here are like this; just make sure you are prepared for very remote locations where you may see no other people and have no way of contacting anyone via cell phone.

All in all, a great trip and a great place...