Mel's Drive-In — Restaurant in San Francisco

Given the state of San Francisco has gone downhill since the internet bubble burst (plus the many crisis that followed, not to mention covid), it's an eye opening experience to come back to a dump. It's heart breaking to see homeless people everywhere, closed shops scattered around the city and a ridiculous inflation of everything. A $100 could easily feed a party of three to four a few years ago. Nowadays it's just merely two lunches and a drink on the side. Things have gone so out of hand and no matter where you go, a meal is easily over $30+ these days. I understand Mel's has long been a 'classic' diner and honestly a lot of people's favorite, I have other thoughts. I went there late Wednesday afternoon, the lunch crowed was gone and too early for the dinner crowd to arrive. Half of the restaurant was closed and dark, I thought the restaurant was closed at first glance. I stood at the entrance for a good two minutes waiting to be seated. Then it wasn't another ten minutes or so before a waiter would come over to take my order. The whole time there were only three tables with customers, and they were already in the middle of their meals. I ordered the southern fried chicken, it came out nice and hot. On the other hand it's way over salted. The French fries was a generous portion but the bun wasn't anything to write home about. Interesting enough, a soda was close to $4.75 or so, but a mimosa was a close match of $5. It certainly wasn't an earth shattering mimosa, it's still ok to drink. The overall experience was ok, given the food was just ordinary so called American classic. It's perhaps another way of saying it's a big pile of over salted deep fried food that leaves you really thirsty for hours. As comforting as it sounds, it's by far better than Denny's, even that is a big stretch. Was there a lot of food? Yes. Was there great service? There's plenty of room to debate. Was it great food? Only if you consider over salted deep fried food your golden standard, then it's great. Otherwise, it has no nuance or wow effect. I wouldn't mind going back again, but it's only because there aren't too many good choices in the area currently. If I had to pay the same price to dine at a bunch of less than average 'restaurants', I'd accept the slightly better one, in this...

Update: 12/9 I gave this spot another try and it wasn’t as bad as my first time. The service was much better. The food was decent. The only thing was their slow service. Manny was amazing super helpful! Sadly the food order was wrong twice.

2021 Review: My wife and I went to this spot yesterday after reading the amazing reviews little did we know that we would be greatly disappointed. When we arrive we were dotted within 5 minutes. Our server took our order and even though he was in training he was doing a good job. The problem arrived with the food. My food was good. I got the Mel’s burger it was big and juicy. My wife order their Portobello mushroom sandwich and chicken soup. The soup was very bland almost like it came out of the can. They brought her a mushroom sandwich and we informed the server that it was the wrong one. The server then brought the main server and he accused us of not reading the menu correctly. Both servers then took the sandwich back and said they will bring out the black bean sandwich. We were ok with that and I waited for my wives food. After 10 mins and no food we asked and both servers said that our food will be out shortly. Another 15 minutes go back and then we ask again and the sever mentioned that the order for the new burger was never put it. At this point my wive and I were upset and we just paid for what we had and left. I then approached the manager, just to let know to use this as a training opportunity but the manager was rude and said well everyone did their best I can’t do anything. If the manager doesn’t care then the staff can never be fully trained. I feel sorry cause Mel’s is an amazing chain but this one will start to see a decrease in business because of their...

Delicious, fun, friendly, immaculate diner! Step back in time and enjoy the nostalgia at Mel's Diner. Apparently, this chain of diners was made famous and featured in the movie, American Graffiti. My colleague and I decided to visit this Mel's Diner, located near Union Square, after reading interesting and great reviews. I'm happy to report, the reviews are correct! Mel's looks and feels like you have literally stepped back into the 1950s. Fun atmosphere with loads of nostalgia throughout the dining room. Extremely clean restaurant, the dining room was spotless. Mel's has a large, diverse menu with many selection options; including burgers, chicken, salads, melts, shakes, dessert and much, much more! My colleague and I both had the patty melt with fries. Fantastic! Our patty melt and fries served hot and fresh. Our server was excellent; friendly, knowledgeable and efficient, she is the perfect server, especially with "newbies" like my colleague and I. Customers dining at the same time of our visit included singles, couples, business colleagues of all age ranges. Mel's is perfect for all ages. Excellent diner for families and large groups. Pricing is moderate, obviously expected in downtown San Francisco. My patty melt and fries, plus a lemonade had a check total of $30.00. Again, Pricing not bad considering the large food portions and diner location. If you're in the mood for excellent comfort food, served in a fun, causal, laid-back atmosphere, I highly recommend you check out...