Mel's Drive-in - Mission St.

Great throwback diner near the W hotel downtown San Francisco. Service was outstanding and cordial. Ham and cheese omlet was decent, along with the bottomless cup of decaf coffee. Side of french toast stole the show. Just wish they had real maple syrup. Great atmosphere and worth the walk from the hotel.

Nice to visit a classic like Mel’s. Even though this is a “Next Generation” Mel’s (the last original location was demolished in 1976) it still retains all the charm and character as the originals. The staff are clearly used to bustling traffic as the food comes out fast and hot. Great for groups or solo dining at the counter. Food is good. And yes, the chicken soup is as good as they say.

You can't go wrong with diners but I gotta say their traditional milkshake(vanilla malt) not a whee bit different from when I first tried it as a teenager in college to now, an adult in her mid-30s 👍🏻👍🏻 and of course they serve you the rest in the mixing tin with almost a whole other glass worth of milkshake! We ordered the Tuna Salad sandwich to share and we were stuffed. They definitely didn't stinge on any of the filling. The coleslaw side was delicious, not sour not it's sweet, dressed very balanced.

11/2023: Highly recommend this quaint little place that certainly tries to emulate old fashioned diner. Service was fast and very friendly, prices aren’t wholly unreasonably for downtown San Fran, and the food was good. The Mel’s Quesadilla was surprisingly small but tasty - definitely recommend a side to go with it.

Another amazing authentic American Diner experience!! The service was friendly and efficient with a very warm welcome. The atmosphere was vibrant and fun. We picked a table with a jukebox and our server happily changed some dollar bills to quarters for us. This made for good fun while awaiting our food. We both opted for the classic burger, I had blue cheese and himself had pepper Jack - both were absolutely delicious and cooked to order which is one of my favourite things about burgers outside of Europe. Himself tells me his malt was the best he has ever had!! We had great fun and great food and would suggest it’s definitely worth a visit for lunch or dinner.