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    Mel's Diner

    2.9 (147 reviews)
    Open 7:30 am - 11:00 pm

    Mel's Diner Photos

    Business Info

    MEL'S DINER ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Good for groups
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Mel's Diner

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    Exactly what I needed for brunch. The waiter was extremely helpful and the food came out quickly.
    Darren M.

    The chicken and waffles was a super good choice for me. The green onions were also a nice touch that added something different! I loved it

    Buffalo Chicken Poutine
    Sarah M.

    Mels has been with us since 1st year Today we wanted to try something new so we chose something different from our usual orders Buffalo Chicken Poutine This one was our favorite out of the two. It had ranch on it and combined with the buffalo chicken was really good. It was a little bit spicy but it gave a nice kick to the poutine. They also gave a lot and we had to take some home! Chicken Waffle Benny This one had lots of sauce on the eggs and waffle. It tasted a little salty and sweet. For those who prefer their eggs more cooked, it might not be for you. Overall a great combo dish

    Interior
    Mary T.

    My rating is 3.5 stars. I seem to visit University Plaza whenever I am in Waterloo. I appear to be eating my way here! For the longest time, I have walked by Mel's Diner, but it always seems extremely busy. There are often folks waiting just inside the doors. On a Sunday at 3 pm, I needed lunch. There wasn't a lineup. I decided to go in. I was promptly seated in a small booth. You get a feel that you are in a 50's or 60's diner. My server was all decked out in clothes from the past. I ordered the spaghetti with meat sauce, which came with garlic bread. I didn't get a spoon. It would have been nice to be able to twirl my spaghetti without having it fly all over the place. However, I tried my best to be neat and was fine. The spaghetti hit the spot. It was yummy and done right. It came with garlic bread. It's not really garlic bread. It's more like buttered bread with a faint hint of garlic. Perhaps I am an extreme garlic person who wants to have everyone pass out when I talk to them after having garlic bread, but it tasted like regular toast to me. As regular toast, it was good. I was still hungry. I ordered the carrot cake. It came quickly. The cake was moist. The icing was sweeter than I had anticipated. I kept the cream on the plate, as it's not my thing. Prices are decent. I am glad that they cater to university student. You can eat great and not break the bank. The washroom has a locker that indicates that Mel was here. Fun! The washroom was clean. I'm glad that I finally ate here. I'd come back here again and try more items off the menu. (272)

    Chicken and waffle
    Linda L.

    Great diner at the University plaza. The prices are fair for the student budget and the food portion sizes are generous. I love coming here to order their steak dishes, because not only you get a large piece of great tasting steak, but it only costs under $20. The eggs benedict with steak is always my go to when I need to de-stress from school. My friend always wanted to try the Godfather burger, which is a gigantic 3lb burger that will cost you $40. But if you're able to finish eating it in 30 mins by yourself then you don't have a pay a cent and you get a t-shirt with it. However, you cannot pack any of it home if you don't finish within the allotted time and you're not allowed to share it with a friend. Hence it is why we never made up our mind to be up for the challenge. The restaurant is definitely really busy all the time, especially during the weekend brunch hours. In terms of service it can be hit or miss, I find that the university student waitresses tend to be a lot friendlier and will come check up on us more often.

    a plate of waffles on a table
    Darlin V.

    It was quiet and a decent vibe. I enjoyed my brunch and the decor. If I went to school around the area I would hang out here.

    Chicken fingers and fries (where's the coleslaw?)
    Becca C.

    Mel's has kinda upped their game. I've had a few not so great experiences but it seems they're trying a little harder. I know it's the standard student food spot but there's still room to improve. I was anticipating a wait on a Saturday morning and called ahead to check availability. They said the dining room was full but tables are available on the patio (a roped off section of the parking lot with picnic tables and cute lights) but there were a lot of bees. She said I could join the wait list online but didn't bother since I was right around the corner. We waited maybe 5 min for a booth which wasn't bad. While the table was being cleaned the hostess offered us a table that would have been too small for our party size that still had dirty dishes on it so we politely declined and waited for the booth. They have a new menu which features vegan and gluten free options! I opted for the Mel's favourite and asked for the fried tomatoes instead of meat. I double checked with my waitress that I could still get home fries and she said yes. Despite that, I still ended up with tomatoes and beans instead of home fries. Similarly, my dad ordered French toast and ended up with pancakes. Instead of putting the correct plates down and grabbing the French toast, she brought all 3 plates back to the kitchen and then returned with the French toast. Our waitress seemed apologetic about the mistakes for both of our meals so we just brushed it off. Mel's is still as busy as I remember it and very inconsistent for food and service.

    Coconut french toast
    Sunny W.

    Super busy all-day breakfast diner in Waterloo. I ordered the coconut french toast, which was recommended as one of the popular options. It was really good, and not overly sweet. The interior has a 60s diner feel to it, and the table comes with fun trivia cards. We came around 11 and the place was packed! We waited about 30 minutes to be seated. We had great service from our waitress, but the host at the front was rude to us, which is the reason for the rating I am giving. A few of our party left the line to go to a nearby store, and when we got to the front of the line to be seated, the host said that he would give our table away if our party wasn't together in the next 2 minutes. I don't understand the issue with seating a couple of us and waiting for the rest of our party to come soon afterwards. Verdict: the portions and food were both decent, so I still recommend checking this place out! The service is just what fell short for me during this visit.

    Poutine
    Shajitha R.

    Cheap food, friendly staff, and definitely a go-to stop as it's walking distance from both universities! Went here to start off Home Coming with friends to grab a quick meal and it was packed! It's a relatively small restaurant that fills up quickly on weekends and special theme days but it's worth it. Food is cheap and they have all the staples of good breakfast foods that are served all day, as well as lunch meals that they start serving after 11 AM. My usual order is the Bang Bang Chicken with a basket of fries and it's a great amount of food for about $15. The chicken is super crispy and the fries are one of my faves compared to most restaurants. I also tried the Poutine recently which is a pretty good sized portion for just $7. The atmosphere of the restaurant is definitely an old diner type vibe. There's a jukebox, along with tons of old pictures on the wall. Check it out if you're in town, and definitely try a milkshake!

    a glass of soda and a glass of water
    Anirban K.

    Liked the Service and the food. Thanks Nikki for being a prompt and courteous server. Turkey burger was juicy and tasty, so was the soup of the day.

    Ali J.

    This is place is famous among waterloo students there probably isn't a single person around who hasn't heard of Mel's diner. I've been going here for roughly 3 years now and in terms of service it's always been a pleasant experience. On my most recent visit I ordered a Mel's classic along with cinnamon French toast.in terms of the Mel's classic I got two eggs fries and toast which wasn't anything spectacular however the cinnamon French toast was amazing! I can't believe how good it tasted it was just so flavourful. Overall this is a good place for brunch but tbh if you're just going to get the typical eggs and toast your better off making it at home as it is much cheaper. But for specialty breakfast and lunch this place is perfect just kind of pricey.

    If you zoom, you might even be able to tell how grainy and weird the texture of the eggs are.
    Virginia H.

    Did they change management within the past year...? Mel's has always been slightly above mediocre at best. I find myself coming back from time to time because of the convenient location being a UW student and craving breakfast foods at night. It's pretty hard to screw up scrambled eggs and bacon... or so I thought. I really don't have high expectations for breakfast diners like these. But I do expect the eggs to be fresh. I got the Mel's favourite and the eggs were DISGUSTING. They were grainy (?!?!!), HARD, overcooked, and definitely reheated... I have never experienced this at Mel's or ANY place that serves eggs in a restaurant. To be honest, I'm not even sure if they were 100% real eggs. It wouldn't surprise me if they came from a carton or were powdered eggs. Needless to say, won't be coming back especially with the price hike. I'd probably have a higher utility eating breakfast at Burger King in the same plaza.

    Danielle N.

    Came here with a few friends for breakfast since I was visiting Waterloo for the weekend. Super cute place with nice decor. Place was relatively busy on a Saturday morning around 10am so I would say to get there earlier. Food was pretty good but nothing special. I ordered the buttermilk pancakes with strawberries and not too heavy which was nice. I also tried the cinnamon roll pancakes. Really good but super sweet. Overall, it's a cute place to go for breakfast/brunch and would return!

    Mel's breakfast special
    Katie C.

    Came to Mel's on a Saturday morning for breakfast. There is always a line-up every time I come here, so expect a bit of wait time. I ordered the Mel's breakfast special ($5.99 on weekends) which is not on the menu! It's the best bang for your buck, and comes with toast, potatoes, 2 eggs, and your choice of meat (sausage, ham, bacon...). Everything on the dish was pretty standard and nothing out of the ordinary. My sunny-side up eggs could've been fried a bit longer, and the potatoes were room temperature when served. I got rye toast which costs $0.50 extra, but tasted pretty good with butter. Service was extremely slow! It took at least 15 minutes after we were seated for the waitress to come around to us to even take our drinks order. Our food also took a long time to come out after we finally ordered. Would come back for the special if I wanted a sit-down breakfast meal in a restaurant close to the Waterloo campus.

    Florentine Benedict

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    13 years ago

    Great food and atmosphere. Waitresses were extremely friendly. Service is really slow though

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    16 years ago

    Great little diner. Good prices. Their breakfast specials are very tasty.

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    10 years ago

    Pretty standard diner food with unique interior design and layout.

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    10 years ago

    Awesome place to spend the Saturday morning with friends! classic brunch place I'd say, nothing too special but just the way it should be.

    Business owner information

    Photo of Jerry S.

    Jerry S.

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    Johnny Be Good Diner

    Johnny Be Good Diner

    3.0(1 review)
    36.6 km

    Reasons I would go here is the retro theming of the place and the good service. The interiors of…read morethe place are decorated with pictures and posters from years passed. The seats also have the old school retro look. There is also a jukebox inside the diner; but unfortunately, it is just for display purposes. I asked the lady over the counter if it works, and she mentioned that it does not. While the value of the $10 promo ($10 for 2 burgers or footlong) is great, the taste of the food served is disappointing. Many of the food items and ingredients are not premium and seem like something easily available to purchase at everyday supermarkets. The burger and hotdog buns also look like the cheaper grocery kind. Good thing there was at least some level to personalizing the sandwich stuffings and sauces. What was surprising was that they did not have a veggie option. Almost all food places these days have at least some soft of vegan or meat substitute protein available in their menu. Johnny Be Good does not have any. My companion, who is a vegetarian, had to settle for a footlong sandwich without a sausage (or veggie sausage) and just compensated with it having a lot of the garnishes stuffed in. The last thing I want to mention is that when placing my order, I went with the $10 mixed burger & footlong as well as a peanut butter and chocolate sundae for dessert. Shortly after paying for my order, the server already called out and gave me the sundae. They should have at least waited a while before preparing the sundae. People should at least have time to eat their meal first before going for desserts. By the time I finished eating my burger and sandwich, my sundae had already almost melted.

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    Johnny Be Good Diner
    Johnny Be Good Diner
    Johnny Be Good Diner

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    Mel's Diner - diners - Updated May 2026

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