The service was amazing and we loved the interior. There was a retro 80s 90s vibe which we liked. On the other hand, the food wasn’t the greatest. We did enjoy the soup though which was creamy and well flavoured. The food came extremely fast (almost right after we ordered) which was great, but we felt the food wasn’t the best quality. The meatloaf was dry and tasted reheated. The homefries weren’t the greatest, not too crispy not well seasoned. The lobster Benedict wasn’t the best and didn’t have a strong lobster flavour (the lobster was minced). It was a good experience and we enjoyed it, but we wish the food was better.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Jon Rummells
Ordered online and had to create an account to do so. Selected pickup and discovered that part of our order was missing. Underwhelming experience overall, considering the cost.
Update: Angela from Mel's Diner reached out and was very helpful and willing to address the issues we experienced.
Kim Browner
Very fun place to grab a bite to eat. Very busy with great service & food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Susan Morrow
Amazing experience for a night out with the girls... for me, it was a walk down memory lane with decor & old fashioned customer service & even better tasting eats ? I'd highly recommend this diner to everyone of any age!
Dietary restrictions: Something for any diet & they will tailor your dish as you like it.
Parking: Try it for yourselves, enjoy the jukebox & memorabilia
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Burger
Mike SP
I visited last night (November 1) around 9:40 pm. The female server was wonderful and took good care of us!
During our meal, a female entered the restaurant with a small dog and sat at the counter. The male she entered with seemed to be an employee of the store.
A male employee in a red sweatshirt went to go say hi and touch the dog. The male employee then went to the back to grab a ladder, and set it up. He then went and grabbed water for some other guests, and peel potatoes.
The male employee did all these things without washing his hands. He was also touching his hair and neck multiple times, and would bring guests water and utensils without washing his hands. Seeing these things put a damper on the meal and made us question the cleanliness of the food we were served.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Daniel Liu
We waited so long just to get our order taken. When we ordered I asked for a burger with everything except relish and when the burger came there was heaps and heaps of relish on it. We also ordered a mac and cheese. It is just plain noodles with bagged, pre shredded cheese sprinkled on top. Barely melted. We asked for it to be taken to back to be melted and they just added more unmelted cheese.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 3
Summer Winter
It's a blessing to have a diner within walking distance. The indoor atmosphere is also very good. A bit of a North American 80s feel?? Cadillac sensibility.... The food isn't bad either. Braised tomatoes are very delicious.
Stephanie Kraus
Classic spot, I always take my parents here when they visit town. Consistently good service! If there is a wait, it’s never too long, and always worth it - The Hashbrown waffle is my favourite thing to get. The jukebox can be loud at times, but the fantastic staff are always happy to adjust volume upon request.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lee cj
Apple pie was cold and the crust was soft.
I don't mind waiting a while for good food but this was bad.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 3
Michelle Stangler
Great food, great place. Only complaint was it was cold in the restaurant.
This place is always busy and still the service is quick and great. My go to breakfast place in Waterloo!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kathryn Kadel
I ordered some food from Mel's Diner through Uber Eats, one of the items I ordered was a waffle and in the picture on Uber Eats there is whipped cream on top of the waffle, whipped cream is not in the add-ons that you pay extra for so when a person looks at the picture they figure whipped cream is included with the price of the waffle well I received the waffle no whipped cream so this is basically false advertising because the pictures Uber Eats get would be from the restaurant because it does show their food so it's not good on their part for submitting pictures to Uber Eats that is not of what the customer is going to receive. Their menu in the restaurant is probably the same the pictures you can't completely trust so I wouldn't recommend this restaurant just based on the fact that what you see (the pictures) might not be what you're going to get. I also ordered the hot hamburger and it states homemade beef patty on the Uber Eats website so I thought it would be really good something much better than frozen beef patties from a box, well was I wrong, the beef patty was so tough way too compressed together it wasn't a really nice homemade juicy beef patty, it was actually worse than some frozen patties I've had from a box. The one I had was very bland but just way too firm and compacted. It could've been used as a hockey puck, no kidding! The brussel sprouts I had with the meal were not cooked properly they were way too firm. The price of $18.99 on Uber Eats for this meal it's definitely not worth it. Just based on the negatives from my meal from one delivery I won't be ordering again!
Ron Carmichael
Excellent food and service!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Daniel Delattre
Great breakfast and super friendly service!! Happy I visited this place again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Banana Bread French Toast
Shuborno Biswas
I came here when I was in university, and it looks like Mel's has improved over the years! I had a vegan cherry malt shake (they make these with almond milk) and a skillet with poached eggs instead of the normal scrambled. Both were great. I don't like the skillets at most breakfast places but they do theirs with hash brown not home fries and it's a cut above.
While I have fond memories of the practically free Hungry Mel a few decades ago, now the menu is good enough that I'd recommend this Diner to anyone!
The service was amazing and we loved the interior. There was a retro 80s 90s vibe which we liked. On the other hand, the food wasn’t the greatest. We did enjoy the soup though which was creamy and well flavoured. The food came extremely fast (almost right after we ordered) which was great, but we felt the food wasn’t the best quality. The meatloaf was dry and tasted reheated. The homefries weren’t the greatest, not too crispy not well seasoned. The lobster Benedict wasn’t the best and didn’t have a strong lobster flavour (the lobster was minced). It was a good experience and we enjoyed it, but we wish the food was better.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Ordered online and had to create an account to do so. Selected pickup and discovered that part of our order was missing. Underwhelming experience overall, considering the cost.
Update: Angela from Mel's Diner reached out and was very helpful and willing to address the issues we experienced.
Very fun place to grab a bite to eat. Very busy with great service & food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Amazing experience for a night out with the girls... for me, it was a walk down memory lane with decor & old fashioned customer service & even better tasting eats ?
I'd highly recommend this diner to everyone of any age!
Vegetarian options: Veggie burgers, salads & awesome fries :)
Dietary restrictions: Something for any diet & they will tailor your dish as you like it.
Parking: Try it for yourselves, enjoy the jukebox & memorabilia
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Burger
I visited last night (November 1) around 9:40 pm. The female server was wonderful and took good care of us!
During our meal, a female entered the restaurant with a small dog and sat at the counter. The male she entered with seemed to be an employee of the store.
A male employee in a red sweatshirt went to go say hi and touch the dog. The male employee then went to the back to grab a ladder, and set it up. He then went and grabbed water for some other guests, and peel potatoes.
The male employee did all these things without washing his hands. He was also touching his hair and neck multiple times, and would bring guests water and utensils without washing his hands. Seeing these things put a damper on the meal and made us question the cleanliness of the food we were served.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
We waited so long just to get our order taken. When we ordered I asked for a burger with everything except relish and when the burger came there was heaps and heaps of relish on it. We also ordered a mac and cheese. It is just plain noodles with bagged, pre shredded cheese sprinkled on top. Barely melted. We asked for it to be taken to back to be melted and they just added more unmelted cheese.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 3
It's a blessing to have a diner within walking distance. The indoor atmosphere is also very good. A bit of a North American 80s feel?? Cadillac sensibility.... The food isn't bad either. Braised tomatoes are very delicious.
Classic spot, I always take my parents here when they visit town. Consistently good service! If there is a wait, it’s never too long, and always worth it - The Hashbrown waffle is my favourite thing to get.
The jukebox can be loud at times, but the fantastic staff are always happy to adjust volume upon request.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Apple pie was cold and the crust was soft.
I don't mind waiting a while for good food but this was bad.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 3
Great food, great place. Only complaint was it was cold in the restaurant.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
This place is always busy and still the service is quick and great. My go to breakfast place in Waterloo!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
I ordered some food from Mel's Diner through Uber Eats, one of the items I ordered was a waffle and in the picture on Uber Eats there is whipped cream on top of the waffle, whipped cream is not in the add-ons that you pay extra for so when a person looks at the picture they figure whipped cream is included with the price of the waffle well I received the waffle no whipped cream so this is basically false advertising because the pictures Uber Eats get would be from the restaurant because it does show their food so it's not good on their part for submitting pictures to Uber Eats that is not of what the customer is going to receive. Their menu in the restaurant is probably the same the pictures you can't completely trust so I wouldn't recommend this restaurant just based on the fact that what you see (the pictures) might not be what you're going to get. I also ordered the hot hamburger and it states homemade beef patty on the Uber Eats website so I thought it would be really good something much better than frozen beef patties from a box, well was I wrong, the beef patty was so tough way too compressed together it wasn't a really nice homemade juicy beef patty, it was actually worse than some frozen patties I've had from a box. The one I had was very bland but just way too firm and compacted. It could've been used as a hockey puck, no kidding! The brussel sprouts I had with the meal were not cooked properly they were way too firm. The price of $18.99 on Uber Eats for this meal it's definitely not worth it. Just based on the negatives from my meal from one delivery I won't be ordering again!
Excellent food and service!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great breakfast and super friendly service!!
Happy I visited this place again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Banana Bread French Toast
I came here when I was in university, and it looks like Mel's has improved over the years! I had a vegan cherry malt shake (they make these with almond milk) and a skillet with poached eggs instead of the normal scrambled. Both were great. I don't like the skillets at most breakfast places but they do theirs with hash brown not home fries and it's a cut above.
While I have fond memories of the practically free Hungry Mel a few decades ago, now the menu is good enough that I'd recommend this Diner to anyone!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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