3 stars but definitely can easily be a 4. Reopened and remodeled after being closed a few years, Mel's Place in the Villas, NJ, is back.
Mel's is a breakfast and lunch restaurant open 7 days a week from 7am. to 2:30pm.
My wife and I stopped in around 1:45 p.m., which was 45 minutes from closing. We were the only customers, but it's a Tuesday, and it's not officially summer, so it wasn't surprising that we were the only customers.
The interior was very clean, as was the restroom. 5 Stars
The following is my star ratings based on what I expect from an NJ dinner
Service: Our waitress was friendly and attentive. 5 Stars
Size of Menu: They have a good selection for breakfast and a decent lunch menu. 4 Stars
Food Tast: Cheesesteak Sub was flavorful, Ham and Cheese Omelet was good, Onion Rings tasted good, we could tell they were cooked in fresh oil, Scrapple was cooked perfectly, and the home fries were good.
4 Stars for taste.
Portion Size: Here was the issue today. Maybe it was because it was close to closing time.
I felt as if my home fries were scraped from whatever they had left. They were very crispy and mostly flakes of potatoes. Reminded me of the bottom of a potato chip bag, it tastes good but only crumbs. The Ham and Cheese Omelet seemed slightly smaller than other dinners I've been to.
The meat in my wife's cheesesteak sub was very tasty, but unfortunately, it was lost in the roll (the roll was very good quality) This South Jersey and all cheesesteak should be bursting out the roll as far as meat content goes. Luckily for me, my wife fills up quickly, so she offered me the other half of the cheesesteak. I prefer my cheesesteak with just fried onions, so I took out the raw onions, lettuce, and tomatoes. After I did that, I cut the half she gave me in half because the meat that was remaining was not enough for the whole half of the roll. So the half of a half Cheesesteak I had was flavorful. 3 Stars for portion size.
Mel's had great service, the place was clean and the food was tasty. My advice to them is they fill the sandwiches up and increase the size of the omelets. Make sure all orders of home fries are as fresh as the 1st order of the day. I'm a big fan of small town restaurants, so I will be back earlier in the day to try them out once again. I will order a cheesesteak and if the meat content is a large as the roll I'll be raising my overall star rating.
Happy to see Mel's open and I wish them great luck! read more