Mel’s Drive-In

If you are hot, hungry and can’t wait to sit down — this place is okay. Overpriced (cheeseburger combo is $ 20.00) & less than average quality foods. Totally made me miss McDonald’s 5 for $ 5 deal. Well, this is what we get at the expensive theme parks like Universal. We paid $ 75 for 5 adult meals. I suggest packing small sandwiches & snacks to munch on instead of spending more $ at this theme park!

We stopped in for a root beer float and a shake. We waited 15 minutes with one person in front of us to get them, paid eleven bucks (or so) and sat down at sticky tables. The float was kinda mediocre, but the vanilla shake was outright awful. Thick, sweet goop that came out of a machine and tasted like chemicals trying to taste like marshmallow crème (which we’d also just experienced at Disney the day before). Utter blech. I went outside and took a photo of the place so I could remind myself to post a poor Unilocal review about my experience.

Really not sure why this place got so many bad reviews. We had a very nice experience. Service was with a smile, food came out quickly, place was clean, food was not greasy and pretty tasty, and we loved the diner feel.
We swung by this place a few hours into our day, right around 2pm, based on its food selection. It was busy, but we easily found a seat for 5 and were able to order very quickly. If you look in from the outside, it may look like the wait is extremely long, but it’s just the way the area is set up. There are several stations for people to order food (like any fast food joint, but many more stations) and the menu is above you on a screen. So you just pick the shortest line and you have a little time to decide on your order prior to reaching the ordering table. You place your order and you move forward to pick up your order by the kitchen.
We spent $ 33 on a double cheeseburger platter (comes with burger and fries), a chicken tender 50s plate (comes with the entrée, fries, and a shake) and a bottle of water and additional drink. Not bad at all especially for a theme park. The food was filling and although it wasn’t the BEST burger or chicken tenders we’ve ever had, it definitely wasn’t bad at all. I loved the vanilla shake I got too. Would definitely come back to this place next time we’re in the park!

Quick and satisfying lunch. Great location from Transformers and Horror Make Up Show. Burgers, fries, and milkshakes were good.

Excited to try a greasy, old school cheeseburger. I suggest passing this place up. In the end, they paid a lot of attention to get the diner feel. However, the food quality reminded me a lot of an elementary school cafeteria. It’s edible but not satisfying. If I’m going to «cheat» and eat a bad meal, it’s going to be worth it. I say pass it up. The food isn’t gross or nasty, it’s just very blah. Shakes taste like McDonald’s soft serve, burgers are just unseasoned patties. Fries are nothing special — no flavor really in anything. Disappointed. On a positive note, Universal Studios is incredible.

The burgers are dry, tasteless and expensive. Ate here with a total of 6 family and friends before reading any of the reviews. We all had the same opinion. Save your money. Check out the cool old cars but eat somewhere else.

Go for the atmosphere, not the food. They are the only place left at universal that I’ve been able to find that sells apple pie a la mode, and it’s not bad. The grilled chicken salad or sandwiches are pretty much inedible, dry and tasteless. You’re going to get the same burger here as anywhere else inside the park, premade frozen patty. Fries are usually hot and fresh. The prices are what you’d expect from a in park eatery, unfortunately the food isn’t worth it. The shakes and floats are good.

The size was decent, the burger was tasteless. The staff looked unhappy, but then again it was 1 am on hhn.
The price was acceptable the place was clean and well kept. The service was simple and fast. The diner was pretty big for being a diner. I ordered a combo, double cheese burger combo, came with a shake and a side of fries. For 6 bucks that wasn’t bad.

They have an odd ordering system at Mel’s. The cashier can only put in two orders at a time so if there are already two people waiting, you have to stand there and wait until one gets their food before you can even make an order. I was standing on line and wondering why the cashier was just sitting there, staring at the people at the counter while holding someone’s credit card in her hand. It turned out she was waiting for someone’s order to clear to finish processing the next order.
Once your order is processed, you walk up to the counter and wait a while for your food. I got a burger which was only slightly fatter than a thin piece of paper. Shockingly it was tasty but I have a feeling that all the flavor was from the grease build up on the grill. My friend had warned me away from this place but I was drawn in by the 50s theme. Next time, I’ll take her advice.

Went: 2:00 Fri Aug 11 2015
Ordered: Double Cheeseburger and Fries
Cost: around $ 14.00
Food in theme parks generally are not that good and the food here was not as good as McDonalds. The 50s diner theme did not captivate or distract enough from the meh food.
Bottom line: I would not go back.

Rock Rock around the clock tonite, we’re gonna rock rock rock til broad daylight.
(Sorry, I had to take a dance break)
Mel’s Drive-​In! Looks like The Fonz should be walking out of this ‘50s style drive-​in.
Typical drive in stuff that no one should be eating on a hot Florida summer day:
Fried Burgers and Fries, Chicken Sandwiches, Fried Chicken Fingers, Fried Onion Rings, Sugary Root Beer Floats and Sugary Frosty Milk Shakes.
Over the years we’ve bought burgers and chicken fingers for the kids. I find Mel’s to be overpriced and crowded, I’m not a fan of this place. It’s been in the park since the grand opening. I gave Mel’s an extra star because I’m a Pinky Tuscadero fan ;)

Pointless, overpriced excuse for food. It was also extremely dirty, floors were sticky and tables were not wiped down. We got there not too long after it opened and it was not even crowded so there, was no excuse for the filth. Chicken fingers yuck, cheeseburger yuck! What a let down because it could be such a nice venue if they cleaned it up and served yummy authentic «drive in» food from the 50s.

Skip this place– the only saving grace was the onion rings. They were crispy. Other than that, my fries were soggy, burger was bleh, and too many people. Should’ve had lunch elsewhere. SMH should’ve could’ve would’ve…

Cute retro place to grab your lunch or dinner.
Went in for dinner and to rest our feet. It was relatively empty when we visited around 8pm.
We ordered chicken fingers along with a vanilla milkshake. They tasted great! Usually I have a really low expectations for food sold at theme parks but this was really yummy. This is way better than Krusty Burger down the road. Prices are alright but portion are rather tiny.
Try to sit near the windows facing the theatre (direction towards Simpsons attraction), you might be able to catch one of the dance performance right outside the diner.
Overall, it is a great place to fill your tummy, rest your feet and catch some light hearted performance.

Overpriced as you would expect at a theme park although the food was good and service was quick.
Much better value than Blondies at Universal Islands of Adventure.

The place is cute. It looks like a 50s diner. The décor is cute. We came in for a drink refill.

The food here isn’t very good… When you’re paying that amount for food it should taste good.
The wife had a burger and fries and I had chicken strips… the food was ehhh… We ate it but it just wasn’t very good.
I suggest paying a little more for some good food at one of the restaurants at CityWalk…

It looks cool, for sure. The food, however… not so fantastic.
We had burgers and fries. The burgers were tasteless, and the fries were… blah. My milkshake tasted more like a Frosty, and although those are good… that’s not what I ordered.
It was super busy, the tables were sticky, it was really loud inside, and the ordering process is bizarre. I wouldn’t go back.
This food is high priced, slow, and not very good. It’ll do in a pinch, but I would wait until you hit City Walk at the very least. There are better options there.

Kid’s cheeseburger with fries and a milkshake cost $ 15.29. The milkshake was good but the cheeseburger was horrible. Not worth a return.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Universal Studios has some pretty darn bad Theme Park food. Not only is it over-​priced, but it is just darn outright bad. I’ve had the burger and fries from here and hubby has had the chicken strips. It was all eatable, but that’s all I can say about it.
The line to order here moves at a very slow place. It’s nearly impossible to find a clean table. C’mon, Universal, hire some more people for goodness sakes!
You’ll pay $ 8+ for a burger and fries here. Screw that. Walk out of Universal Studios to CityWalk and go have an amazing burger at Margaritaville for just a buck or two more!