Mel's Family Diner

It wasn't a great way to begin the New Year. This was once a decentbreakfast destination for us, and it was a disappointment to discoverhow both the food and service had deteriorated.My wife and I both ordered breakfast mid-afternoon, and my daughter had a burger platter. Though it wasn't overly crowded, the food preparation was long and drawn out. After a wait of at least 15 minutes, my daughter's order arrived first. My wife's "Triple Crown" menu item (eggs, waffle) followed about 5 minutes later. And my bacon/cheddar omelet arrived still another 5 minutes after THAT. A guy from the kitchen finally delivered my meal, but he must have been joking when he said to be careful due to the plate being "hot." That would have been an unusual quirk of physics in that the food itself wasn't even hot.And it was quite possibly the worst breakfast I have ever eaten. The chunks of back bacon were filled with so much gristle that I literally had to eject every one of them into a napkin after each mouthful. The home fries, which were thin-sliced (I had remembered thick-chopped from previous visits), were dominated by too much garlic. The order of wheat toast consisted of only one, albeit thick slice, which had been barely acquainted with a heating source. It was basically warm bread.The coffee was good. But even though I asked the substitute server to"warm-up" my cup at the time he delivered my food, I had to ask the waitressagain later because he never brought the coffee or passed the message along. Nobody ever offered a refill of their own accord during our entire visit. I have crossed Mel's Family Diner off my list for future outings.

Let's start off with the actual menus...old, greasy, crumbly...they would benefit from spending an extra $1 and laminating this bad boys...js You can tell a lot about a diner by their biscuit and gravy...it was okay...food was good...grits were ok...Would come back...love the homey feelTo all my Coke heads they serve Coke products Service was ok...

Read some of the reviews, It's a diner folks, don't get crazy expectations!The service is amazing we had a great server, who went over and above on recommendations! Dont skip the Irish Cheesecake! The Diner decor is americana diner, its what I would expect! The food came out fast and fresh, the kids loved their burgers, I was enthralled by the meat loaf! AS a non local I enjoyed the service and courtesy as I also asked for directions to a grocery store too.

Been driving past this place for years, should have kept driving.... Went in with zero expectations and it's pretty hard to mess up eggs but... Everything came out cold, greasy and parts of our order were missing or wrong... The server was nice enough, and I can understand if the place was busy and the order was complicated but none of those factors came into play... the place was empty and we order pretty basic.The decor was old school diner with cute wall art and the place was very clean so I'll give the place credit for that.I feel bad for the owner, this place could be a gold mine if they just changed some things...One and done

Atmospheres your typical diner. Service was amazing! food was extremely Chantel was our server.

Nice breakfast with fabulous service! Loved the eggs Benedict and the rye bread! Servers were super nice and accommodating

the food was not that good, plus 4.99 for just 1 pancake. will not return, will not recommend

Had an excellent breakfast at Mel's. When is the last time the owner of a restaurant came by the table and asked how service and food are!! Absolutely excellent meal and reasonable price. The servers knew customers by name, and went above and beyond to make our meal great!!! Would definitely visit again when in Florida

September 11, 2024The server was marvelous, attentive and friendly, but honestly I don't think the "cook" knows what he is doing. My daughter & I ordered breakfast - I had the biscuits and gravy and she a pancake breakfast with eggs, sausage and home fries (really just sliced, burned potatoes).My biscuits and gravy was a mucilaginous mass of nearly flavorless "gravy" (I'd guess it was thickened with corn starch, not flour) and and occasional chunk of sausage - usually gravy on biscuits is white in color, but this took on a grayish-brown tint. On the plus side, the biscuits were very good.My daughter's order was no better. The pancakes were the thinnest I'd ever seen (guess the cook doesn't know about baking powder...), the eggs, which were requested 'over medium" were 'over easy' and runny, and the sausage had an odd flavor. The home fries were requested "crispy", but the cook interpreted that as "burned" - very unappetizing. Due to a hair in the potatoes the first order was sent back, but unfortunately the cook didn't do any better on the second order - they too were burned, but minus the hair. One positive was the coffee. Very good, but at almost $ 3.00 a cup it ought to be. The entire order came to over $35, which is far too much for the quality of food served.On their website I saw that "Mel's Diner" is only open from 7am to 2pm - from our experience I'd suggest they consider closing even earlier. I read in the reviews that they are considered "Best In Town" - if that is true, I pity the gastronomic restaurant choices people in Sanford, Florida are given!

$36 for 2 people to eat breakfast!We've been eating at Mel's for years - starting with original owners. Food is pretty much the same - but $36 for eggs, pancakes & coffee. That's ridiculous.