Close-up of tuna melt sandwich
a hamburger and french fries
The icinic sign. Excellent neon.
outside
a toy car with a burger in the back
Avocado Toast Breakfast
Tuna melt with fries, Yum!
My burger at Mel's. 12/17/23
Short rib grilled cheese
outside
The cool sign...unfortunately that was the only cool thing about it
Exterior
a burger and fried chicken
Short rib grilled cheese
Fresh banana milkshake
Mels Drive-In diner
Menu
French Toast
outside
Outside
Classic American diner styling
Sarah S.
Feb 6, 2025
I'm a Mel's Drive In fan and this location is also awesome. The neon sign outside? Iconic.This location is right off Hollywood Blvd and I haven't ever had a wait. So if you need somewhere way better than fast food to dine while in the area, it's a good option. And it's good diner vibes for days! Some people played Otis Redding and I was bopping Sitting on the Dock of the Bay while chowing down. One of the best songs of all time playing while I munched away was heaven. Total diner vibes. Plus they have a parking lot, a rarity in Hollyweird for sure.Staff was kinda slow but it's a diner so you shouldn't come here to rush. They were very friendly though and incredibly attentive, hellos, goodbyes and friendly banter.Now the food is great at Mel's! It's pretty consistent across locations and the menu is huge. I'm not going to say I was sober here and the options were so plentiful that I was having a hard time deciding. But, I went with breakfast for dinner and had an amazing omelette which I'll recommend called "Steven's Favorite"...I hope it's some Steven I like.It had ham, avocado, cheese and a bit of sour cream on top with hash browns, really tasty and ended up making 3 meals for me. It was a huge portion but I like Steven's style and would get it again. My friend loved his chicken & waffles, as well.I'm always out and about around Hollywood so I'm glad to know this is a viable, no wait option for dinner. I'll obviously be back --- but when the adjoining Hollywood Museum is open!
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Christina W.
Dec 27, 2024
The ambience of this place is so cute, and really feels like a diner out of the 90s. We were immmediately greeted by a nice lady who seemed very happy to be there, which is always a nice change in LA. The food was pretty expensive for what it is, and not the best quality compared to other spots in the area... but they did have all the classic diner breakfast options. It's a fun place to take someone who'd not local and wants an old school experience. I would skip the "juice" as you can see from my picture.... But other than that it's a nice cozy place for an easy breakfast.
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Vincent C.
Oct 28, 2024
Mel's Drive In, in the historic Max Factor Building is an upscale dinner serving excellent food. The dinner room is a big airy space that adds to the dinning experience.The customer service staff is welcoming and do their best to make sure everyone is pleased. The restaurant has their own off street parking lot.I dined on their braised short rib dinner served with mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley, the dinner was a generous portion.The braised short ribs were delicious! The meat was tender and flavorful enhanced by the gravy. The mashed potatoes were fluffy and buttery, a pleasurable to eat. Vegetables medley was very good with the vegetables cooked Al denti.Over and an excellent meal.
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Jay T.
Feb 9, 2025
Mel's was a lot of fun, a real nice throwback type place with friendly staff. They've got some different heating areas for variety and amazingly, a full bar! Cool history to the building and nice selection of items to choose from on the menu. Sandwiches were pretty good and our waiter was very helpful.
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Alexis M.
Feb 10, 2025
Honestly this place isn't as bad as everyone says. It's definitely touristy but I think the food was pretty good for the price. I came when it was pretty empty so our waiter was pretty attentive. He went over some of their most loved meals so I went with the smash burger which was really good! The only thing I was disappointed by was I ordered a beer and it never came but thankfully I didn't get charged for it.
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Carmen S.
Nov 14, 2024
The food here is okay--nothing too extraordinary--but the nostalgia of this place is what keeps me coming back. The chicken noodle soup was the main reason on why I would come in time after time.
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Bruce N.
Nov 3, 2024
The eclectic menu is performed perfectlyThe sandwiches,shakes breakfasts are all great and the prices most affordable
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Magnolia B.
Jul 7, 2024
We came around 2pm on a Sunday, expecting it to be busy. There was no wait.We were waited on promptly and received our food and drinks within about 10 minutes. Our waitress was attentive and pleasant.We ordered the "favourite" tuna melt and the short rib sloppy joe brunch special. The tuna melt was good, served in thin rye bread with okay fries. The short rib was flavourful and served in hearty chunks, but the heft and sauce made the bottom bun too soggy to eat as a sandwich - a knife and fork were required.We both got Mel's Margarita, which, though tasty, was unusually flavoured heavily with orange juice.We'll come back to try more menu items. Parking was easy - we parked at the Highland mall, saw a movie at the Chinese, walked to Mel's, and made it back in time to only pay the validated (at the cinema) charge of $3.
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Raegan N.
Feb 10, 2025
Fun little diner and a great location if you want to cruise the Hollywood strip. Nice open space with a cool centered bar area to eat and some cozy booths along the wall for a view. Some memorabilia you can purchase & fun jukebox to play. David serviced us and was very helpful. I had a cucumber martini which was nice and strong. Then I moved on to the Reuben sandwich which had plenty of corned beef in it, but even though I requested extra sauerkraut there still was very very little sauerkraut on it and very little thousand island dressing, so it was a bit dry, which was disappointing. The potato salad was OK Just wasn't seasoned well at all so I had to salt and pepper it up. He had the tuna melt, which was delicious. He asked for the fries to be well done so they were perfect. Parking is not cheap so you might as well make a day of it and walk up and down the shops and see the interesting Hollywood stores on Hollywood Boulevard. Or park on the street if you can find a spot. The separate bar area was very cool.
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LaTerica M.
Jan 15, 2025
We stayed at Lowe's which was walking distance from Mel's and went around brunch. Our waitress was extremely nice and patient, the food was amazing, and the inside gave dinner in the 70's and was super clean! 10/10
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