The Original Mel’s Diner (Vacaville)

I recently stopped at the Original Mel’s Diner in Vacaville, California. It’s a chain diner. I thought I had been to a location in San Francisco and but it turns out that it was the Mel’s Drive-In, and the two are not related. So when I found out they were different, I decided to go to the Original Mel’s Diner in Vacaville. I’m not opposed to going to repeat diners or restaurants, but I like to try new things.

Original Mel’s Diner Atmosphere:

Each Original Mel’s Diner is slightly different. There are over 15 in the California-Nevada area. I’ve driven by a few, and each one has a different personality. The one in Vacaville is located in a stand-alone building. While the exterior is a simple building, the inside is filled head to toe with all sorts of old diner memorabilia, license plates, and old school trinkets.

From the outside, you might just expect to be a “regular restaurant,” but once you walk in, you know it’s a diner. It’s one of the coolest California diners I’ve been to.

Coffee:

I didn’t get coffee this time around.

Original Mel’s Diner Food: A

The Original Mel’s Diner menu has everything you want in a diner. You can see the entire menu here. There are plenty of breakfast and lunch options. They do have a few salad options as well and even a “crispy chicken salad.” It says online they are only offering a limited menu, but when I ordered, it appeared like they had plenty of options.

They had a lot of options that appealed to me. I had just done a workout, so I was fairly hungry. A couple of options that interested me were the California Omelet which included Stuffed with Diced Tomato, Bacon, Cheese and Topped with Sliced Avocado as well as the San Franciso Mel Burger, which included Grilled sourdough bread, a Melburger patty, cheddar cheese, bacon, avocado, sautéed onion with 1000 island dressing.

This time at Mel’s Orginal Diner, I decided to order the Corned Beef Hash & Eggs. It came with a lot, including Biscuit & Country Gravy, Scrambled, Mels Potatoes. You had plenty to chose from, including choice of bread, eggs, and type of potatoes. It also came with fresh fruit, and I was pleasantly surprised with how fresh the fruit was.

The food was delicious! I always try to remember things should taste good after a run, but everything tasted great, and I would order it again. The meal was also huge. I was shocked that a to-go order meal would be that big, so it was a nice surprise.

Original Mel’s Diner Service: A

The hostess and waitress at the Original Mel’s Diner were friendly. I got a text when my food was ready, and everything was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

Original Mel’s Diner Cost: $

For my meal, it was $17, but the food portion and quality were well worth the price.

Overall Thoughts/Would I Come Back?

I enjoyed Original Mel’s Diner a lot, and I thought it was one of the best diners I’ve been to so far in California. I would definitely go back.

You can see more diner reviews here.

Questions for you:

Have you been to the Original Mel’s Diner?

What is your favorite retro diner near you?