Melt – Maybe Just Grab Some Dessert

Date Dined: August 10, 2014

Overall Rating: 2.5 Stars

Sometimes things sound so delicious you have to go try it out. For example, a bacon waffle topped with scrambled eggs and cheese. Mmmmm, can you say decadent heart attack? But like the third Batman movie, things are bound to disappoint.

Décor Rating: 3.0 Stars

Melt is definitely trying to appeal to the yuppie hipster (I call them yupsters) crowd. The place is a mishmash of pinball machines, old random nostalgic items, with just a little bit of wear and tear on everything. The tables have that slightly sticky feeling to them, and the AC can’t quite keep up with the heat. You won’t find a single table with the same chairs, tops, or even salt and pepper shakers on them. Definitely a look, but in my advancing age not my first choice. For the right crowd, this might be the look they’re going for. The chalkboard menu is pretty cool though.

Price: 2.5 Stars

A little on the expensive side for what you get. Waffles range from $8.00 to $12.00 which doesn’t sound too bad except when you think about breakfast joints that also include sausage, bacon, and tator tots for the same price. I felt like you’re paying an extra buck or two for the novelty, which is fine, but after a beer and maybe an appetizer you’re wallet may feel it a little.

Service Rating: 2.5 Stars

I’m not the only one to complain about the service. As you see I’ve rated it a little below average for a couple reasons. One, the servers won’t try to interact with you outside of “what do you want”. I didn’t see a single server smiling at a single person in the place. I actually got sort of an intangible “just tell me what you want and let’s get this over with” vibe. Second, service is slow. About fifteen minutes to greet us after being seated and fifteen minutes until we were asked how our meal was. Again, in execution it was fine, but you might get a slight “screw off vibe” from the staff. Then again, it could have been because they were closing in an hour and they were just done.

Food Rating: 2.5 Stars

I’ll start off by saying, desserts are a yes, but the savory waffles are just meh. If you’re not getting something sweet then you might want to skip this place. First of all, a lot of the waffles will be sort of lukewarm. Not cold, but definitely not piping hot. Which makes me wonder how long they’ve been sitting out. Second, I think they were too invested in the cool descriptions reeling people in, and to some extent it works. Unfortunately, it’s not something that’s going to keep me from coming back. The waffles themselves are fine, but nothing comes together in the way it needs to.

I got a waffle with pulled pork, blue cheese, and onions baked into the waffle. Sounds delicious right? Well eh… You couldn’t taste any of the onion in the waffle, the pulled pork was kind of slimy and was really more like smaller strips of pork with a brown gravy, and the blue cheese was just sprinkled on top. This was just something you could have done so much with. Baked the pulled pork into the waffle and then melted the blue cheese on top, or they could have folded it over and brought it out like a sandwich.

Jess got the wake and bake. Bacon waffles with eggs and cheese on top. Again, unable to taste the bacon and the eggs and cheese were just piled on top. Why not try something new? Add those ingredients into the batter? Otherwise all you’ve done is pile my breakfast on top of my waffle. Likewise, the waffle fries were fine, but not something that I’d necessarily order again. Slices from a waffle baked and then served with ranch. Add some garlic to the fries or bacon or some unique seasoning to make it that much better.

Now the positive, the sweets. Jess’s brother ordered a cookies and crème milkshake and a chocolate waffle with bacon. The milkshake was pretty delicious. It was thick, well blended, and not too sweet. The chocolate waffle was likewise pretty good. Nothing above and beyond something you could easily make at home, but I enjoyed it.

In Conclusion

Don’t ditch your favorite breakfast spot for Melt, but if you want to give it a try then I wouldn’t blame you. You might be a little disappointed if you walk in expecting a mind blowing experience, but if you go in with little to no expectations you’ll walk away satisfied. If you’re going on a Sunday I’d recommend doing after noon.