Mel's Diner — Restaurant in Mountain Home

Came here for lunch. I wasn't going to get anything because the food is mid, and I've never really had a good experience here. Sometimes it's just the only place in town that's open. This time, I came with someone but I had no intention of getting anything to eat. I decided to last second to grab something anyway. When our waitress came, she seemed annoyed, which we can ignore because food business can be difficult. While we're waiting for our food, our conversation keeps being interrupted by our waitress sitting on the opposite side of the section yelling her personal business. Here's some tidbits of their conversation: (Talking about how her dad ain't s...) "We just spent $1500 on the cowboy for you guys. What are we supposed to do with it now" "I went into the store anyway because I was in a hurry and needed chocolate milk. They told me to leave and that they weren't open yet, and I said no. Then I'm in the refrigerator isle and they don't have any chocolate milk. When I asked the associate about it, she was rude." Well, honey, if you want them to cater to you, maybe don't become full Karen before 8am. Now. I'm not one to air someones dirty laundry, but the whole time they're gossiping, our drinks are empty, we're waiting for food, and can't have our own conversation because they're being too loud. The person I came with asked them to speak quieter, and they did which we appreciated. Still, some time later, our drinks are still empty and we still don't have our food. We caught the attention of the hostess who got us more drinks. And eventually we got our food. We were paying our bill and trying to talk to the lady at the counter just about the waitresses attitude when she comes to the counter. This conversation is why I decided to leave the review. Not only did she try to argue with us, turns out she's the manager. AND her mom that she was talking to is the owner. That made everything make so much more sense. Having conversation like that on the clock and neglecting your customers are fireable offenses unless mommy and daddy own the business. Again, I don't leave reviews but this "manager" made it personal when she "came to my defense" and called my friend disrespectful. Her reason for that was that he ordered before me. Yet another fireable offense, but we all know nothing will come of it. Just know that everyone in this town will know the Karens that own and run Mel's Diner, and that whoever this waitresses dad is "ain't s..." according to these two absolutely crucial members of the Mel's...

Mel’s is literally a family run business. Working there is mom (Mel), her daughters, her sister-in-law and best friends among everyone. This matters, especially since everyone gets along. You see, when people work well together, the shared objective in providing excellence in quality service comes to fruition. The end result is a fun atmosphere and the best food you’ll find in, or anywhere near, Mountain Home, Arkansas. Speaking of food (remember, this really is a family run restaurant), the dad runs the books and doesn’t skimp when it comes to purchasing premium ingredients. There’s plenty of breakfast and lunch options all over town, but choosing Mel’s Diner is a wise decision. Since the dad refuses to buy low level ingredients, like many places around here, you can look forward to a plate full of surprisingly great food, prepared by overqualified chefs who have a whole lot of industry experience, and served by kind folks who love their jobs!

If you’re reading this review, trying to decide where to go for a good breakfast, lunch or early supper, stop here! Stop over there! Stop in at Mel’s! There, you will find THE BEST breakfast to be had within hundreds of miles of town. You can get anything from a simple plate scrambled eggs bacon & toast, to some unbeatable delicacies, like their famous stuffed mushrooms. The menu is vast with options. I mean, there’s absolutely something for anyone and everyone! There’s daily specials, too. Here’s some of what I’ve tried and enjoyed: the chef salad, bacon-cheese burgers, chicken fried steak, roast beef dinner, chicken fried steak &eggs, etc… there are plenty of omelet options as well… they’re all great, it just depends on what you prefer. I could go on and on! One thing you don’t want to miss out on is the biscuits and gravy. I’m not sure what they do to make it a practically magical event for the pallet, but they do. If you’re lucky, you’ll arrive to chocolate gravy. This sounded absurd to me at first, “chocolate what??!!??”. However, a scoop of this treat over your biscuits and bacon will leave you astounded!

Finally, there’s the pricing 😂. It’s quite reasonable, and considering the quality, everything on the menus is actually pretty cheap.

They open early and the last order of the day needs to be placed before 2 in the afternoon. So, stop at Mel’s!

Btw, my only qualm with this place is the same as with any other 🙄, I don’t get to eat for free. Oh well 🤷‍♂️,...

So..I am gonna be brutally honest here. I have no idea how this place has such a high rating. Maybe I ordered the worst thing on the menu or maybe there is something suspect going on but truth be told; It was average. Nothing great and it wasn't terrible either but it felt very much like a run of the mill, slap something on a plate and and that's what you get. There wasn't anything WOW about it. This was also the consensus from my wife and friend that visited this place a couple weeks ago after church. It was one of the only places open on a Sunday around here so maybe that's why they get higher ratings but I really think that should up their love level and flavor. I know being cost effective is a thing but so is quality. I laughed when my friend ordered fruit as a side dish and he actually got a dole fruit cup. That was pretty funny but very low brow too. C'mon guys! I know you can do better than that. Build it and they will come..Don't know if I will ever return unless there is nothing else open or hear better things about it. The overall rating is.."meh". Service was...