Mel's Drive-In

Last updated
Mel's Drive-In
Restaurant information
CountryUnited States
Website melsdrive-in.com
Mel's Drive-In neon sign, Los Angeles, CA Mel's Drive-In neon sign cropped and cleaned up.jpg
Mel's Drive-In neon sign, Los Angeles, CA

Mel's Drive-In is a term referring to two American restaurant chains, the successors of a chain founded in 1947 by Mel Weiss and Harold Dobbs in San Francisco, California. It is closely associated with the film American Graffiti .

Contents

History

The first Mel's Drive-In was founded in 1947 by Mel Weiss and Harold Dobbs in San Francisco, California. It later expanded to several other locations.

After the last of the original restaurants closed in the 1970s, Weiss's son Steven Weiss and partner Donald Wagstaff opened the first of a new generation of Mel's Drive-In restaurants in 1985. [1] As of 2020, there are seven Mel's drive-in locations in Northern and Southern California and one Mel's Kitchen.

Some Mel's Drive-In locations are not drive-ins but rather diners. For example, while founded in San Francisco, none of the locations in the city currently serve food to patrons’ cars.

Mel's Drive-In in the historic Max Factor Building in Hollywood Max Factor Building.jpg
Mel's Drive-In in the historic Max Factor Building in Hollywood

The signage and menus on the original Mel's Diners did not have a possessive apostrophe in the name, as would be expected. However, when Universal Studios recreated the diners at their theme parks in Hollywood, Orlando, Japan, Beijing, and Singapore, they opted to include the apostrophe in all Mel's Drive-In signage, literature, and media.

One location near downtown San Francisco, rechristened Mel's Kitchen, has gone upscale, serving $12 cocktails, $16 burgers with locally sourced beef, ahi poke, acai smoothies, and avocado toast. [2] [3] [4] [5] That site was almost demolished to build housing. [6]

Original Mels

There are several Mel's in Northern California that share the same general American Graffiti nostalgia theme and the similarly styled Mel's logo. These restaurants are called “Original Mels”. Their locations are not listed on the official Mel's Drive-In website, but they have their own website, although an article from the Sacramento Business Journal shows that they are related. A family rift caused the Weisses to part ways and form two chains. The elder Weiss sold his company to Larry Spergel in 1994, who formed a group of about 50 stockholders that now owns the chain. [7]

Southern California locations

The Original Mels - 2009 The Original Mels - 2009.jpg
The Original Mels - 2009

All four Mel's Drive-In locations in Southern California are housed in historic buildings. Mel's Drive-In at 14846 Ventura Blvd in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles was built as Kerry's coffee shop in 1953. The googie style building was designed by Armet & Davis. Mel's Drive-In at 8585 Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood was built as Ben Frank's in 1962. The googie style building was designed by Lane & Schlick. Mel's Drive-In at 1660 N. Highland Ave in Hollywood is located in a portion of the former Max Factor makeup studio. The Hollywood Regency style building was designed by S. Charles Lee and built in 1935. The Mel's Drive-In at 1670 Lincoln Blvd in Santa Monica was built as The Penguin in 1958. The googie style building was designed by Armet & Davis. [8] [9] [10] [11]

Protest

Interior of an Original Mels Diner Interior of an Original Mels Diner.jpg
Interior of an Original Mels Diner

In October 1963, the Mel's Drive-In chain was picketed and subjected to a sit-in by the Ad Hoc Committee to End Discrimination over the fact that while the restaurant would serve food to African Americans and hired them as cooks, they were not allowed to work “up front” where they could be seen by white customers. More than 100 protesters were arrested. The picketing ended when Harold Dobbs, a San Francisco City supervisor who had run for mayor and lost, settled with the protesters and began to allow black workers upfront. [12]

Mel's at Universal Studios Singapore Restaurant in Universal Studios Singapore - 20120914.jpg
Mel’s at Universal Studios Singapore

In 1972, the restaurant was selected as a feature location by George Lucas for his 1973 film American Graffiti . The Mel's used was located at 140 South Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. [13] It serves as the setting for the opening scene of the film as well as the backdrop for the opening credits, accompanied on the soundtrack by Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock”.

The prominent play given to the location has been credited with having saved the company from possibly going out of business.[ citation needed ] Signage and artwork from the Mel's chain are frequently used in marketing for the film.

Universal Studios built a replica of Mel's Drive-In on its lot, pursuant to the restaurant being used in American Graffiti – this amusement attraction also served as a gift shop for years.

Prior to American Graffiti, Mel's was used as a location in the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner . Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn are out for a drive, and Tracy pulls into Mel's and orders Oregon boysenberry ice cream; he then has a minor traffic altercation with a black man. The Mel's was located in the Excelsior district of San Francisco. Hepburn and Tracy never actually visited the location.

Mel's restaurants have since been featured in other media, such as Melrose Place (1996, Season 5, Episode 1), Doonesbury comics (December 18, 1989), and the book The American Drive-in by Mike Witzel.

The address for the Mel's Drive-In location on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood is listed at the bottom of the signed headshots found in the VIP packages for the band Ghost's "A Pale Tour Named Death".

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Googie architecture</span> 20th-century American architectural style

Googie architecture is a type of futurist architecture influenced by car culture, jets, the Atomic Age and the Space Age. It originated in Southern California from the Streamline Moderne architecture of the 1930s, and was popular in the United States from roughly 1945 to the early 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of California</span> Culinary traditions of California

The cuisine of California reflects the diverse culture of California and is influenced largely by European American, Hispanic American, East Asian and Oceanian influences, and Western European influences, as well as the food trends and traditions of larger American cuisine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denny's</span> Restaurant chain established in the United States

Denny's Corporation is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,700 restaurants in many countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theme restaurant</span> Restaurant based around a concept or intellectual property

A theme restaurant is a type of restaurant that uses theming to attract diners by creating a memorable experience. Theme restaurants have a unifying or dominant subject or concept, and utilize architecture, decor, special effects, and other techniques, often to create exotic environments that are not normally associated with dining because they are inaccessible, no longer exist, are fictional or supernatural, or taboo. The theme may be further extended through the naming and choices of food, though food is usually secondary to entertaining guests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnie's Broiler</span> American restaurant in Downey, California

Johnie's Broiler, originally known as Harvey's Broiler and currently operating as Bob's Big Boy Broiler, is a restaurant located in Downey, California. It first opened in 1958 by Harvey Ortner, a former partner in the Clock Broiler restaurants chain in the Los Angeles area. Due to its 1950s Googie style, the restaurant became featured in several films and TV shows. The restaurant was then renamed Johnie's Broiler in 1968 before closing in 2001. From 2002 to 2006, the building and parking lot housed a used car dealership. The building was largely demolished illegally in January 2007 by its then-lease-holder without obtaining the proper permits. The restaurant was reconstructed in 2009 with the help of preservationists and other supporters and re-opened as part of the Bob's Big Boy chain while retaining the original building's look and design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norms Restaurants</span> Southern California restaurant chain

Norms Restaurants is a regional chain of diner-style restaurants in Southern California, plus one in Las Vegas, NV. Founded in 1949 by used-car salesman Norm Roybark, some restaurants are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As of September 2024, the company operates 23 locations in Greater Los Angeles, as well as a newly opened one in Las Vegas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob's Big Boy</span> American restaurant chain

Bob's Big Boy is a casual dining restaurant chain founded by Bob Wian in Southern California in 1936, originally named Bob's Pantry. The chain's signature product is the Big Boy hamburger, which Wian created six months after opening his original location. Slicing a bun into three slices and adding two hamburger patties, Wian is credited with creating the original double-decker hamburger.

Harold Stanley Dobbs was an influential civic leader in San Francisco, California. He was a lawyer, businessman, politician, and leader in the Jewish community, founding Mel's Drive-In and serving as president of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors.

Armet Davis Newlove Architects, formerly Armét & Davis, is a Californian architectural firm known for working in the Googie architecture style that marks many distinctive coffee shops and eateries in Southern California. The firm designed Pann's, the first Norms Restaurants location, the Holiday Bowl and many other iconic locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wich Stand</span> Restaurant in California, United States

Wich Stand was a '50s-style coffee shop restaurant and diner in Los Angeles, California, featuring a tilting blue roof and 35-foot spire (11 m), designed by architect Eldon Davis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Fall</span> American chef, restaurateur, and entrepreneur

Jeremy Fall is an American chef, restaurateur, and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and former CEO of J. Fall Group. Fall is also the founder of the media company, jfall. Fall founded and operated restaurants and bars in Los Angeles, California and Chicago, Illinois. He is the first chef and restaurateur to sign with Jay-Z's entertainment company, Roc Nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gott's Roadside</span> Northern California restaurant chain

Gott's Roadside is a Northern California restaurant group with seven locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a family-owned diner concept restaurant with influence from California cuisine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruby's Diner</span> Casual dining restaurant chain primarily in California, USA

Ruby’s Diner is a California-based U.S. chain of casual dining restaurants founded in 1982. The original location was a converted bait shack at the end of Balboa Pier in Newport Beach. The restaurants are designed with a retro 1940s/1950s atmosphere. As of 2024, most locations are in Southern California, but there are also locations in Atlantic City, New Jersey and in Harry Reid International Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doggie Diner</span> Fast food restaurant chain

Doggie Diner was a small fast food restaurant chain serving hot dogs and hamburgers in San Francisco and Oakland, California that operated from 1948 to 1986, owned by Al Ross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe</span>

Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe is a diner in northern California named after the Clash song, "Rudie Can't Fail". Rudy's is part-owned by Mike Dirnt from Green Day, and was featured on the Food Network show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Liu Fong</span> American architect

Helen Liu Fong was an American architect and interior designer from Los Angeles, California. Fong was an important figure in the Googie architecture movement, designing futuristic buildings like Norms Restaurant, the Holiday Bowl, Denny's, Bob's Big Boy, and Pann's Coffee Shop that helped usher in an era of boomerang angles, dynamic forms and neon lights. Fong became one of the first women to join the American Institute of Architects, and worked with Armet and Davis on many of her most well-known projects. Many of Fong's best-known building designs feature large glass fronts and bold colors on interior walls, designed to stand out and entice potential customers.

Googie's Coffee Shop was a small restaurant located at 8100 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles next door to the famous Schwab's Pharmacy at the beginning of the Sunset Strip. It was designed in 1949 by architect John Lautner and lent its name to Googie architecture, a genre of modernist design in the 1950s and 60s. Interest in the style was revived by the 1986 book Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture by Alan Hess.

W.W. "Biff" Naylor is a retired restaurant owner in Los Angeles, California. He was born in Oakland, California in 1939 and graduated from Pennsylvania State University. His father W.W. “Tiny” Naylor started Tiny's Waffle Shops in Central California in the 1920s, and operated a chain of more than 40 Tiny Naylor's and Biff's restaurants in Southern California. Biff Naylor took over operations of Tiny Naylor's after his father's death in 1959 and was still operating at least one location in 1999. The Biff's restaurant chain of the 1940s was a "forerunner to all the modern coffee shops," Naylor told the San Jose Mercury News in 2016. Those restaurants employed modern architecture in the googie style, and innovations that would be adopted widely through the restaurant industry including open exhibition cooking kitchen, stainless steel counters, refrigerated pie cases, and plate "lowerators" that warmed or cooled plates as needed. In 2017 Los Angeles magazine food critic Patric Kuh called the longtime restaurant operator "Diner royalty". Saveur magazine wrote that Biff Naylor created "The best damn coffee shops ever" in their "Saveur 100" list

Ben Frank's was a restaurant in West Hollywood, California, opened in 1962 by Arthur Simms and Bob Ehrman. The location, surrounded by the famous nightclubs of the Sunset Strip, led to a celebrity clientele, and the 24-hour restaurant became a popular late night destination. The distinctive googie architecture and eye-catching neon sign helped attract musicians like Jim Morrison and Frank Zappa, as well as patrons of the nearby music venues. The youthful patrons that frequented the restaurant inspired the producers of the Monkees TV show to place an ad seeking "spirited Ben Frank's types" when casting the show in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Misfit (restaurant)</span> Bar and restaurant in Santa Monica, California, U.S.

The Misfit is a bar and restaurant in Santa Monica, California.

References

  1. Eng 2010, p. 103
  2. "Mel's Drive-In revamps its Van Ness location with cocktails and dry-aged, locally sourced burger". SFGate. 2018-09-19. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  3. "Mel's Drive-In Transforms into Swanky Destination for Avocado Toast and $12 Cocktails". Eater SF. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  4. "SF's shuttered 'Mel's Drive-In' to reopen with new concept". SFGate. 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  5. "Avocado toast and cold brew … at Mel's Drive-In?". The Mercury News. 2018-09-19. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  6. "In unusual twist amid development boom, Mel's Drive-In will not be torn down for housing". The San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  7. A 24-hour diner, Original Mels, soon to open on Howe - Sacramento Business Journal:
  8. "Santa Monica's Penguin Coffee Shop Is Being Restored". Los Angeles magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  9. "Mel's". Los Angeles Conservancy. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  10. "Mel's Drive-In". Santa Monica Conservancy. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  11. Hess 2004, p. 113
  12. "From Freedom Now! to Free Speech: How the 1963-64 Bay Area Civil Rights Demonstrations Paved the Way to Campus Protest" by Jo Freeman
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-01-27. Retrieved 2014-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)