Mel's drive-in

Solamente sin Ricardo Dreyfuss y Alicia Hyatt



















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_rWlBfGLe0


For a little nostalgic breakfast repast, I went to Mel's drive-in (the one on Geary Boulevard in the Richmond District, not the one on Geary Street at the corner of Van Ness ~ why does this remind me of an old "Seinfeld" routine?). I sat at the counter to get the compleat diner experience.

I was fully expecting to just order eggs, toast, and home fries, but was pleasantly surprised to see some pretty good stuff on their breakfast menu specials. The rest of their menu is actually pretty diverse for a "diner", too ("Red Beet & Watermelon Salad"? That is pretty cool, and sounds very interesting). This ain't your typical greasy spoon any more, Richie Cunningham.

http://www.melsdrive-in.com/











I had the Tortilla Scramble (this is also known as Chilaquiles if you order it at a Mexican restaurant) ~ "Strips of fried corn tortillas, green chilies, scrambled with eggs and Monterey Jack Cheese and served with grilled potatoes. (SPICY)" (I didn't think it was really all that picante, but it did have a lot of chilies in it). I complemented it with a side of corn tortillas. They have Mexican cooks working the grill, so it was pretty authentic (y muy sabroso). Their version was not quite Chava’s or Los Jarritos, but it is pretty good all the same.





They only have Tabasco® sauce as a fiery condiment, though (Cholula® would have gone so much better).

Their coffee was really nothing much of which to speak (that is grammatically correct, but reads so weird), so I made it into a typical Mexican style cuppa josé and added four creams and three sugars to it.

They still have the little jukebox selectors on the counters, so I popped a quarter in the one in front of me and chose (We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock by Bill Haley and his Comets, figuring this is the perfect song with which to finish my last cup of coffee… only to be told by my waiter that they are not working right now. I am sure Fonzie could have easily fixed that, though.













Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Tortilla Scramble ~ 6.7; Coffee ~ 5.3