Mel's Diner - Universal City

This restaurant was the worst I have ever been to in my life. If you are reading this, consider yourself lucky for finding this review. It could save your life. This is a 100% honest review of our experience. The service was terrible. The cashier's attitude while we were ordering shocked me. As we waited for our food, we watched the chef cooking and he was moving incredibly slow, like the sloth in Zootopia. We were extremely frustrated. After 20 minutes, we asked how much longer we needed to wait. They told us they were still making the food and there were 3 orders ahead of us. This made us angry as we had already waited a long time. Finally, after 30 minutes, our food arrived. We had ordered 3 hamburgers and 1 hotdog, but they only gave us 3 hamburgers. When we asked about the missing hotdog, the cashier checked with the chef and informed us they were out of hotdogs. This made us even more upset. We requested another burger instead since they couldn't provide the hotdog. The cashier replied, "It would have been better if you had said 'Please'." This restaurant made us incredibly angry. The food was also terrible. The burger patties were burnt on the outside and raw on the inside. The onion rings were soggy and greasy. The only good thing there was the coke.

We were given a premium water bottle without being informed, the cheese on the cheese dog was not melted, the BBQ beef brisket did not look like the picture, and the $15 chicken sandwich was dry, hard, and flavorless- definitely not worth it.

This is the first one-star review I have written on Google. Mel's Diner was terrible in every aspect. I do not understand why Universal does not replace it with something new, considering their other dining options are great. I was the third person in line and ordered a hot dog, only to find out 10-15 minutes later that they were out of hot dogs. I was forced to choose a burger instead, which I did not want. The burger was reminiscent of something you would find in a middle school cafeteria in the early 2000s. It was burnt, dry, tasteless, and the cheese tasted fake and unmelted. I would not have paid even fifty cents for that meal, let alone the actual cost. As a passholder who visits Universal multiple times a year, this was the worst dining experience I have ever had at the park.

Nice hot burger for a cold, rainy day. The shakes were delicious but had too much whip cream. The Caesar salad was tasty also. After placing the order, I waited another 25 min. Between the line to get in and after placing the order, I waited as long as I did to get on a ride!

We visited Universal Studios Hollywood and decided to take Mel's Drive-in for a spin. Since the menu seemed to fit the my 10 year olds kind of food. Well we waited in line for approximately 40 minutes. There was only 1 order taker (it was a Thursday, and busy). After we ordered, we waited about another 20 minutes. Finally got our 2 burger meals and the kids chicken strip meal. The chicken and fries were perfect. The burgers, barely luke warm, cheese was cold and not melted. Took about 2 bites and couldn't stomach anymore. Half tempted to return the food, ask for a microwave or something different. But the staff was getting a little unruly dealing with people coming to the counter. So we tossed it in the trash and went elsewhere. I would highly suggest not eating here if we visit again.