The Original

I honestly don’t get the bad reviews this restaurant received. Maybe I was just lucky to have such nice service and foods? I went here twice, once with my friend and second time I went in by myself. Friendly staffs and decent foods, I would love to come here again for lunch since I go to BCC.

I believe it used to be called Mel’s Diner and it is a classically styled (think 1950’s) style diner.
Eric, the proprietor, is a cool cat; he shoots straight and we had a real cool, candid chat. Colorful guests and atmosphere (as one would expect on Shattuck) and the actual food… delicious.
Actually, I cannot speak for all the food as I only had and Oreo cookie shake. And THAT was delicious.
THE ORIGINAL (DINER) on Shatttuck, located in Berkeley is a great place to grab a bite and hang out.

Used to love this restaurant when it was Mel’s. The food is okay now, however that’s not what this review is about. I tried calling in a to go order for curly fries and I was told I couldn’t do this. I’ve seen it done many times at this location so I hung up the call. I proceeded to go into the restaurant and place a to go order in person because I really wanted curly fries, which they allowed me to do. Whilst waiting 15 minutes for my fries, they accepted several over the phone orders. Unsure of what their policy is.

Food options were varied but food was mediocre and overly greasy.
they messed up my shake order and we found a hair In one of the shakes and sent it back. Hey didn’t charge it. But no apologies either. Last time ever going here.

This place is actually decent, depending on what you get. I got the SF Burger and a vanilla shake, and my buddy got some curly fries. The shake was delicious! Just the right amount of malt was added, since other places often add too much malt. The SF Burger kind of tasted like nothing, and even though I asked for it done medium, it was well over at best. The curly fries were good, but the ketchup tasted like they added way too much vinegar and sugar to it, adding a strange bitter taste. If I came here half away and fully drunk, I’d probably like this place. Otherwise it’s just okay and cheap when you need it.
The service was nice overall too!

The waitress Rebecca is Super friendly and attentive, the avocado Burger was really good and full of fresh ingredients, and the service was fast (given that it was very slow) but still fast… I will definitely come through again if I’m on the block… Although, I Totally understand all the options nearby make it competitive…

This place gets a lot of hate for being not all that bad. Admittedly, my expectations were low. The only reason I decided to give this place a shot was because after living in Berkeley for 4 years, The Original was one of the few places in the area I hadn’t tried before.
You can’t even find the name «The Original» on the outside of the building, the windows simply have the nondescript word «DINER» taped onto them. If I were management I’d do the same thing, I wouldn’t want any passerby to know the name of the establishment for fear of them looking at the reviews online.
Once inside your experience will be a bit hit or miss. I went with a group of five total and here’s what we thought.
The Great:
— Great service. Our waitress Maggie was helpful and attentive. She handled any customized orders like a champ and took down our orders without even writing them down. We came in just before the lunch hour rush from the Berkeley High School kids, but didn’t feel like our food came out slowly at all.
— Oreo milkshake. Damn that was good.
— The décor is like a fun 70s diner, eating at one of the booths makes for a fun time.
The Good:
— Sandwiches were solid, tasted as you’d expect. Nothing too fancy, but overpriced for sandwiches of this quality.
— Chocolate and coffee milkshakes were good too, but not quite on the level of the oreo.
— Impressive variety of fries that tasted okay.
The Bad:
— The iced tea tasted like bad tap water. I don’t even understand how you can mess up an iced tea.
— The grilled cheese was lukewarm. Again, I don’t even understand how a restaurant can mess up a grilled cheese.
— Sausage patties in the breakfast are definitely frozen or something
All in all The Original isn’t too bad, but given the other fantastic options in Downtown Berkeley I can’t see myself coming here again except for a milkshake.

Service was decent, but the food was pretty bad. Had the French Toast and eggs and turkey links, and now I just feel kind of terrible. Wouldn’t recommend it.

This was our first meal in Berkeley and we enjoyed the atmosphere. The service was good and the food was nice. Was it the best place I’ve ever eaten… no, but it was nice for breakfast.

The food was marginal, I got the corned beef hash which had no flavor and was mostly potato. My toast was cold and the eggs were over cooked-​I asked for over easy. There was a bug in my daughter’s lemonade. Then to top it all off, after I’d pushed my plate away and was clearly finished, I watched the busser leaning against the counter of the wait station not four feet from me, texting for five minutes. I will never come here again.

This is a rather disappointing former Mel’s Diner that is just missing the old name. The chicken quesadilla was okay. The breakfast food was mediocre. They charged extra for toast. Here’s the thing though, those were all third and fourth choice orders. Everything we had originally decided on was «all out.» There was no soup, no chili, no chicken fingers, etc. Still, food would have been up to three stars, but the gross bathroom cost them another star.

Berkeley is full of amazing breakfast places, so you’d think you’d have to up your game to stay in the game. Except the wait list on those amazing places fill up quickly (darned academic early birds…) so when you get the overflow coming in to your restaurant, these are people who don’t want to wait, and are willing to settle for less. Much less. We just didn’t know how much less when we sat down. The fact that this place is called «The Original» when it used to be Edy’s, and then Mel’s (might have also been a Lori’s?) is already a farce. The menu is amateur (mis-​spellings galore) and the wait staff all look like they are keeping a stiff upper lip to face the deluge of vitriol they must face every single day from unhappy customers.
Our particular server either had a hearing problem, or has just stopped trying. Believe the reviews about chocolate chips lacking in the chocolate chip pancakes. Believe the reviews about the use of rancid oil in the kitchen. And believe the reviews about foreign objects in the food (mine was a bit of blue plastic). Fortunately, my order was removed from the bill, which is much better than the pathetic discount some other patron got for hair in her food.
What a crying shame, as it’s a beautiful spot, with a vintage feel: high ceilings with tall windows, black and white tile floor, glittery red vinyl booths and a great sweeping counter. The owners of this business are robbing a wonderful place of its potential greatness. My only hope is that enough negative reviews will force these poor sacks out, or that they get noticed by Alameda County Restaurant Inspectors with the same result. This beautiful spot deserves better. Downtown Berkeley deserves better. YOU deserve better.

Went in for a late night dessert fix/​snack. Lovely staff, super responsive. I had the Black & White Sundae and it was bad: ice cream obliterated by poorly applied whipped cream, chocolate ice cream was the consistency of poorly made diet yogurt, vanilla ice cream had a block of ice in the middle which the waiter gladly replaced with another scoop of «chocolate» (she was nice, I tell ya). Potential bae ordered fries and a milkshake. The fries were too golden, clearly overcooked in old grease so when he salted them, the salt just fell to the bottom of the basket. Womp. The food is as bad as they say, unfortunately.

This place is crap. It was basically something I could have made at home. Not saying that my cooking is bad but there was nothing special about the food. I ordered the dinosaur nuggets for my son which was clearly most likely a Safeway product. I also ordered an omelette, potatoes and pancakes. The omelette was ok with non melted cheese on top. The potatoes were half done. The pancakes were ok but the syrup was too thick and gooey. The food was bland and just really boring. But what made it worse was finding hair in my food.

What was this? No, seriously, what the hell was this? This was a Mel’s Original back in the day, but now it’s not? It sure looks and feels like a Mel’s except someone scrubbed the branding off much like when Martha Stewart bakes something with chocolate chips on her cooking show, but then her producers don’t allow her to show the Nestle’s brand on the bag. So they have her holding a yellow bag with nothing printed on it. That’s me… I’m a yellow bag with nothing printed on it. What’s even more hilarious is that they kept the tacky painting of the original Mel’s Drive-​In from «American Graffiti» over the counter and for some inexplicable reason, painted ‘Mike’s’ where ‘Mel’s’ used to be. Like we wouldn’t notice the difference. Seriously?
Anyhow, I assume from the Mel’s era that the owners decided to keep the high-​gloss red naugahyde upholstery, the red neon lighting, the mini-​jukeboxes and the 1950’s memorabilia (photo:
). Oh, yes and the greasy tabletops since no one seems to clean them unless requested. Jamie W. and I came here out of a whim because we were looking for something sweet to have after our relatively healthy Greek meal at Athineon on University Avenue. I suggested coming here based on some fond distant memory I must have had from my college years. Imagine my dismay when I noticed the Mel’s moniker was gone. Still, we decided to give it a shot against our better judgment since the menu items looked relatively the same. Yes, the same old diner fare.
As if we were pimply-​faced freshmen who have yet to experience life’s bitter disappointments, we ordered the $ 6.99 Beer Battered Onion Rings, an abundant quantity to their credit and festooned in grease much to their discredit (photo:
). We needed something to wash them down, so Jamie went for the $ 3.99 Coffee Milkshake, which frankly wasn’t a bad price even though it was way too heavily sweetened with syrup (photo:
). Mine was marginally better, the $ 3.99 Root Beer Float which featured a mighty big scoop of the most generic vanilla ice cream imaginable (photo:
). Perhaps this was as good as it got here. This could very well be the same quality I experienced lo those many years ago. But back to my original question… what the hell was this?
FOOD — 2 stars… really just dorm-​level food for the undemanding palate
AMBIANCE — 2 stars… what once was Mel’s is now just a dated diner
SERVICE — 1.5 stars… he took the change and never came back
TOTAL — 2 stars… I’ll just leave it at two for nostalgia’s sake but Richie and Potsie won’t be back anytime soon

I used to enjoy this place quite a bit in my twenties, when it was Mel’s Original Diner. That was 20 years ago. I’m not sure exactly when it changed hands, but I now know that it was not a good change.
That being said, I’d rather snort dog vomit than ever step foot in this place again. The staff is curiously incompetent at everything they do. With the exception of ripping out the table top juke boxes, they haven’t changed a bit of the décor (Oh, except they clumsily altered the Mel’s mural to read Mike’s Diner). It doesn’t look like they’ve dusted or cleaned since they took over.
About the food? ya, that was the worst part. Among the flaws, how can you screw up a quesadilla? I mean really? My corned beef sandwich looked like it was prepared by a half blind monkey. We both got served the wrong flavor beverages. The fries were almost palatable, just lacked salt. We both felt nauseous later that evening and the following day.
Given the number of customers that I see in there daily, and my knowledge of cost to run a business like this… I can only assume that this is a cover business. A front used to launder illegal drug money. That would explain the staff… I cant think of any other way that this crap shack could stay in business!

To be completely honest, I was sleeping in a van in Berkeley on Thanksgiving day and found this place.
No, really. I rented one for a few days and went to Yosemite, and stopped in Berkeley for the night so I’d be close to San Francisco. I figured their streets would be safer than San Francisco, and I found that on a National holiday and until something like 8am, I could actually park on the street for free.
What prompted my business to this establishment was that it was Thanksgiving night, I’d been eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for essentially 4 days straight, and I REALLY had to pee. I put a different business in my GPS because Unilocal claimed they were open on Thanksgiving, but I walked by this one, saw that it was open, and I thought the décor was cute. Plus, I really really had to go to the bathroom!
I was seated immediately, and the place was maybe ¹⁄₃ full, so not bad for a Thanksgiving night and certainly more full than more people. I just got a classic. A cheeseburger with fries, along with the milkshake. The burger was okay – nothing special. I guess you could compare it to a higher end fast food type of place? And the shake was downright tasty.
But, my main complaint is that they took my food away! I left to go to the bathroom, and half of my hamburger was on my tray and ALL of my French fries. I came out and it was gone. I hadn’t even eaten more than two or three French fries. I was pretty pissed about that. I even asked the waiter where the bathroom was, so he knew I was only leaving for a moment to go there, and he STILL removed all of my food. I hadn’t eaten meat in 4 days people! I was incredibly hungry! I’m the kind of person who often can’t even finish a meal, but I was hungry enough to finish that meal. Oh, wait, I couldn’t. And while the waiter took off $ 2 from my overall meal when he found out, I still paid $ 10 for half of a hamburger.
PROS:
Nice décor. Very neat 1950s vibe.
Good milkshakes.
Open on Thanksgiving.
CONS:
They aren’t very attentive. My water was empty for most of the meal. I think it was only filled once; the initial time it was given to me.
Glorified fast food. Steak and Shake has better – and cheaper — burgers.
They threw out my food before I was done eating it!
They really want you to eat and leave. Not very friendly when you come, and quick to usher you out when you’re done. Which is interesting, since they weren’t even half full.
THE VERDICT:
A solid 3 star tasting food – it’s cheap, and the milkshakes are good. Nothing special, nothing to write home about, and nothing about this place should make anyone a regular unless they can’t afford good burgers elsewhere. The staff is completely inattentive. This seems to be a common complaint, and people should seriously head that they’re treated like a number. They want you to leave as soon as possible, so they can get back to… what? I’m not sure. Not working, maybe? If they hadn’t been the first place I saw that was open on Thanksgiving, I never would have given them a try. I’m actually disappointed I did give them a try, since they threw out my food before I even finished it. $ 10 for half a hamburger is NOT worth it – just go to any other fast food place like Wendy’s or McDonald’s. At least you know you aren’t paying $ 10 and a tip for the same treatment you’re getting at this place.

Ducked in cause of the rain wish I had read the reviews. $ 12 for a burger puck with wilted lettuce, greasy fries and lukewarm coffee not including tip. Menu is limited staff bored and vibe soulless never thought I’d utter these words but you would legit be better off at McDonald’s!

This diner is not as terrible as others make it out to be.
That being said, it isn’t great either. I went here with a friend when another restaurant we were going to go to was too crowded. It was actually pretty hard to find the right place on Unilocal to check-​in, as only the word «DINER» is written in front and on the door. (The menu has the full name of the restaurant.) It seems like the name of this place keeps changing. Diner? Original? Mel’s? Who really knows.
Inside, there weren’t that many people. Actually, it was really empty. The Original is apparently a hang-​out spot for Berkeley High School kids, and that was somewhat confirmed when we overheard discussion of SAT scores at the next table. Of course, since this was a diner, there were red neon strips. Super authentic.
I decided I would skip the burger and get the pasta instead, namely the Chicken Alfredo. It was not horrible per se, but the sauce was too thick/​sticky and the dish itself wasn’t worth the price I was paying. And the cole slaw was… well, cole slaw.
All in all, the food is OK. Contrary to popular belief, eating at the Diner/​Original is not the worst thing that could happen to you. But with so many other options in Berkeley, you could do better.

Tips:
— don’t visit on a weekday during lunch: all the Berkeley High School kids wander in, causing noise pollution and slow service
— remember that this is a diner– the food should be cheap (ish) and greasy!
Pros:
— corned beef hash (tender, greasy beef + crispy potatoes)
— good prices (I always get a lot of meat in my hash)
— friendly servers
— there is always seating available
— breakfast is served all day (who else here likes breakfast for dinner!?)
Cons:
— I can feel my blood vessels clogging up from all the grease. So worth it, though.
Bottom line: Decent diner food. I’ll be back.