Mel’s Drive-In

Had a nice burger at the counter with my very young friend. She enjoyed her hot dog in a car. The fries were delicious as was the child size vanilla malted. Delicious. Everything served quickly and just the way we asked for it.

Overpriced diner food. Ordered fish and chips and a turkey sandwich. The fish was nowhere near fresh, and even a deep frying couldn’t mask the taste. The turkey sandwich was piled high but dry. Our waitress was nice enough, but the gentleman who rang up did so without any conversation or eye contact. If you’re in the mood for diner food, do yourself a favor and go to Norm’s.

The food is good and consistent. The eggs are organic, but man is it expensive. Breakfast for 2 can often be $ 30 or more. You really have to wave them down to get service on most occasions, but you can get a higher quality food than any diner I know of. I always see Steve Howey (Shameless) when I go there. I mean like 3 times. It’s uncanny.

Retro feel, late night on Ventura .your up to something with a plate from here! try it if you haven’t.

After living in the valley for over 20 years, I finally went to Mel’s!
The food is what you would expect — it’s diner food. Greasy, artery clogging, taste bud bursting food. It’s delicious, but not gourmet or healthy if that’s what you’re looking for.
What really did it for me was the service. We were greeted as soon as we walked in, given our drinks shortly after being seated, and the food came out quick. Our server, Christian, was so personable, extremely sweet, and very attentive. I’d come back just for him.

I went to Mel’s Drive-​In the other day.
I couldn’t help but notice that the couple sitting next to me at the counter left just one dollar for their server after running up at least a thirty dollar tab.
After assessing my own experience, I understand why…

We finally made it to Mel’s for breakfast. The place is very popular and unfortunately we were seated at the very back by the washrooms. We did not have a chance to use the jukebox which we saw on our way out by the front door. I thought that was a fun touch as are all the old black and white movie star photos and 50’s diner décor.
It was a nice tourist spot to check out for fun. The food was pretty good although I like my breakfasts simple. I ordered the eggs verde which had way more arugula than I was expecting. It was listed on the menu as having a vinaigrette dressing. I asked to hold the dressing and to just have a wedge of lemon on the side. My intension was to put a bit of fresh lemon juice on the arugula. Everyone else got their orders at the same time and a bowl of lemon wedges was put in front of me. The waiter answered my confused look by telling me my eggs would be out soon. Needless to say, this awkwardness was a source of great amusement for my co-​diners. That’s fine. I can take a joke. After a good 5 mins of me staring at my bowl of lemons and watching everyone else eat, my large portion of arugula with 2 poached eggs on top arrived complete with vinaigrette dressing. Clearly there is to be no wavering from the chef’s menu in this place. But if you ask for lemons, you will get them.

So, I like to refer to Mel’s Diner as the Crave Café reject (I only say this because our intentions were to go to Crave, but THAT LINE!) We came to Mel’s instead, Friday night. We ordered burgers, fries & French toast. The food was good, no complaints.
As always, service is number 1 to me. I understand that they are sort of understaffed, but once the food came to us & we devoured it, our server never came back to check up on us. As it so happens, it’s been about 15 mins & we haven’t had a chance to ask for the check… We’re still waiting & my patience is really low at this point. I would suggest once you get your food, ASK FOR THE CHECK. YOU’LL THANK ME LATER.
Atmosphere: Great vibes, oldies music, love it!
Parking: Ample parking

I’ve come to Mels for many years. (I used to go to the old «Cafe50’s» for a long time but they went out of business in Sherman Oaks.) The staff here is very friendly and attentive. I come for the breakfast and it’s always good.
Coffee is a bit expensive, but where can you get a decent cup outside of Starbucks?
I’d give them a 5 Star rating but their free WiFi is a bit to be desired. It keeps dropping in and out and hard to get a good signal, but that’s of little consequence if you are there to enjoy a meal.
Enjoy!

So we coming over here in the last 10 years always happy today zerina toke our order very wrong long story short I think the manager need to be on top little bit more she pickup our food before we finished on top of everything

I’ve been coming here since I was a little girl! This is THE spot to get Oreo milk shakes! My goodness the most delicious shakes ever! And the food, I never know what to get Bc everything is ALWAYS delicious! The burgers, sandwiches, salads, BBQ ribs, fries, pastries, breakfast! And the staff is SO friendly every single time! I love the ambiance, very 50s & the music box is super awesome! Miguel is the best manager, always making us laugh!

The service is amazing. They just don’t quit! Christian is the man. And the night managers are so friendly!
I live right behind this place and go there all the time. The food is consistent, which I like. I only get breakfast, milkshakes, and juice which are all awesome! Try the breakfast slider!

I went to Mel’s Drive-​In yesterday for dinner. The food was decent but the service was poor. My friend didn’t get utensils until he asked for them and I asked for Coke with lemon but the lemon arrived 5 minutes after the Coke! Service was average at best.
I ordered a hamburger and it was good but nothing amazing. I felt like the burger tasted no different that those at fast food restaurants. I won’t be coming back in a long time (if ever).

Still a nice early breakfast place in the valley, but nowhere like the original place on Sunset Blvd.
It is not a «drive-​in».
It is not free WI-​FI.
it does not have the 50’s atmosphere like the flagship branch.
It does have the old 50’s décor and the old (probably original) waitresses from the 50’s…
The food is decent enough and the prices are very reasonable.
I was surprised to see how many tables were empty, what happened to all the old geezers that used practically live here?
Well… at least there is no wait time, service is fast & efficient.
I lean toward a 3.5 stars and if i ever up so early, I’ll come back.

What an experience! This place is liking walking back in time to the 1950’s. I expect to see poodle skirts and sock hoppers…
Go ahead & have that 5,000 calorie signature milkshake… You can balance it out with healthy grass fed burgers, sweet potato fries and even order from their juice bar… then go right back to your tabletop juke box and pretend you’re a character in Grease, chilling with Fonzie.
That’s cool, Daddio.

Mediocre service, bland food, and not very clean. We went there for kicks and it was just awful. I hate Johnny Rockets but they are way better than this.

I came here for a late dinner it wasn’t bad
good for quick late snack if u r hungry and don’t know what to eat around that area

Unfortunately, my first visit to Mel’s will probably be my last. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t that good either. Just average.
Highlights of the meal: the milkshake and slider.
Let downs of the meal: the Sunset Burger served on sliced bread instead of buns, and just the overall «meh» flavors of all the food.
Service was ok, but no more than that either.

After being out and about all day in LA, I needed a quick bite before crashing out, and this was the closest place (walking distance wise) to where I was staying Saturday night. I was so tired I made the order to go, so my review is really on the food and the service.
I have to give the customer service 1 star, and I’m glad I didn’t dine in since the service was so bad from just ordering something to go. I can only imagine how bad the service would have been if I would have dined in. Unfortunately I was so hungry I didn’t have a chance to take a picture of the avocado burger I ordered before I ate it all. The burger itself is a strong 3 and a half stars. They cook the meat to your desire, and it was just so juicy from the first bite I just couldn’t stop till it was all gone.

It’s sort of a nostalgic but fakey remake look alike of a late 1950’s or 1960’s dinner but everything has been redone or brought up to date. But you can trust me on this, the juke boxes didn’t play digital sounds or have selections from CD’s back in the 50’s or 60’s, the menus didn’t include «healthy choices» (we didn’t know what a healthy choice was), there were no artificial sweeteners on your table and the cash registers were manual, not electronic, and when someone paid up, you’d hear a real bell ring.
However, some of the food is very much alike and if you stick with what they specialize in, you really can’t go wrong. I went for their chili special, «Debbie’s Homemade Texas Chili» served with onions, and thought it was really great. It was tasty, thick, full of flavor and the equal of any chili I can remember from the 50’s or 60’s when the chili was the basis upon which the quality of any diner seemed to have been judged.
As for their burgers, again another staple of the 50’s and 60’s, they give a lot more choices than back when a burger was simply a burger and your only choices were with or without cheese. I had «Mel’s Famous» which came on a sesame seed bun, almost unheard of back then, which was OK, but nothing exceptional or anything that I could see that they could possibly claim as being famous.
Overall, though I didn’t find anything exceptional except for their very good chili, I really like Mel’s. I note that a good number of Unilocalers didn’t but I also noted that they seem to have order items that I wouldn’t consider to be typical or basic diner food and on that count I can only fault Mel’s, not the customers, for attempting more than their kitchen is capable of doing well.