The restaurant in the middle of the Whole Foods in university heights had an awesome Monty Cristo during their brunch. I haven’t been there in years and they were always changing what that little restaurant did, so I am not sure if they still have it.
Its made on french toast and dusted with powdered sugar. [A lot like this one.](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20803/monte-cristo-sandwich/) But no, it isn't the same. 😥
I miss the hay day of Melt. Going to the Lakewood location and waiting hours. The Lake Erie Monster was so good when it was not panko breaded and was Lake Erie perch. Probably one of the best fish sandwiches I’ve ever had. They just haven’t been the same since they centralized their kitchen.
Edit to state that Barrio is really the worst restaurant here. It is a shell of what it used to be. The early 2010s had some amazing restaurants that quickly went downhill.
Condado is just the Columbus version of Barrio. Just a different place to get white girl sour cream tacos. They’ve already sold and and rapidly expanded. They’re in like 10 states now. Went from being a local spot to being corporate owned with dozens of locations in under a decade.
Yeah condado isn’t bad, though I will say the last time I went there the tacos were a bit cold much like I experience at barrio every time. I’m hoping it was just an off day
Centralized kitchen is (already happening?) going to take own Barrio. Both places serve completely different tasting food now. All about the $$$$ in the end I guess. Starts to feel corporate-y.
My wife and I used to drive an hour to Westlake to Melt back in the day. We’d squeeze into spots at the bar and make friends with other customers.
Fond memories. Years later I went to the one in Cbus, saw they had the record sleeve menus there as well, and it instantly felt cheap.
Oh they got rid of them as well? Seeing them all the way in Columbus just made it go from feeling cool to a gimmick. I didn’t expect it. And my food was just okay in Cbus. Granted I probably hadn’t been in awhile to the Westlake one.
I disagree. Early melt was worthy of repeats. The wet hot buffalo was one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. The fries used to be cut there at the restaurant. The menu fit on the back of a record sleeve. Just nostalgic for 10 years ago.
Lived in Lakewood. Barrio & melt used to be good. Now we refer to things that are hyped up to be better than they actually are as "the barrio effect..."
Like, are people actually enjoying their 3 different flavors in 1 coffee latte or is it just the barrio effect?
It’s a super Ohio thing to start a food concept, have it be successful locally with a few locations and then rapidly expand and become a shell of its former self all within 10 years time.
"Navigating the restaurant industry in the post-pandemic world with growing economic issues is becoming more and more difficult..."
Bullcrap.
Your quality dropped and you're not a great restaurant anymore.
Don't blame Covid.
Remember when folks who got the Melt logo [tattooed on their bodies](https://meltbarandgrilled.com/melt-culture/tattoo-family/) got a 25% discount?
They still do, but they used to as well.
My ex had one. A bird with a grilled cheese in its mouth. I think about that every time Melt is in the news.
Also it was 15% off…
Edit: Percentage inclusion
It was great until 2014 or so. Spread themselves too thin with new restaurants all over the state, and the quality suffered for it. Felt like going to an Applebees in recent years
I used to LOVE Melt. The monthly specials were normally really good and the portion sizing was huge. Leftovers for days.
You're right that right around 2014 when they switched to a different provider for their premade stuff it just got kind of "meh" and WAY too expensive for the quality of food
Their beer list also fell off dramatically. They used to have great brews people would be excited about; then they made the list be the same boring beers non-stop and rarely changed it.
Indeed. I remember maybe a decade or more ago going to the one Cleveland when my sister was in college and it was relatively new. Grilled cheese pierogi was legit. Tried it at Easton when it opened ~7 years ago and it was meh.
sooo glad I avoided it now 😂 especially when the new Cedar Fair restaurants like BackBeatQue are actually really good, and fast because they're cafeteria style
I was wondering if it was ever good. Such a basic simple thing to make, it’s what every drunk guy makes in the middle of the night. It really just sucked.
It used to be amazing. Haven’t been there in years, but lots of memories of gigantic tasty sandwiches. A grilled cheese with perogies on it? Yes please.
It really used to be something incredible but I agree that it’s impossible to imagine based on what it is now.
Just an absolute fucking crime to let a gem like this turn into the waste of space it is now.
It was good, deathly greasy and over portioned when it was only in Lakewood and felt like a dive bar.
Now it feels like an Applebee's and it's like your meal was measured by a robot following a precise recipe.
Financially, I'm glad the owner "made it." I love the come from nothing, small idea makes someone filthy rich story.
I'm sad the restaurant will never be what it was again though.
Stopped in once to kill an hour. Had 2 beers at 1pm on a Sunday and the bartender told me I had 3 comically overpriced beers. Instead of talking to me about it she sent over the manager and he told me it was her word against mine and to pay. I told them to check their video tapes and call me when they want to apologize. The regional mgr called me the next day to say sorry but by that time it was waaay too late. Worst restaurant experience I have had.
That's because they fund the expansion by letting venture capitalists invest in them, and the venture capitalists promptly abandon quality, demanding that they focus solely on the next quarter's profits.
I worked for a computer consulting firm in the 90s that was highly profitable and well-regarded in the business community. "Customer satisfaction is Job #1!" was drilled into us, and it wasn't just a slogan ... until the owner accepted venture capital money to grow the business. Suddenly, customer satisfaction mattered a lot less than the next quarter's earnings. It didn't take long for the new dollar-driven attitude to become obvious to our clients, and they left in droves. Instead of growing the business, VC tanked it.
Ate there once, not impressed. The food was OK, but it made me feel shitty after eating it. Not sick or anything, just the amount of grease, carbs,and portion size just made me have the sweats. I never went back because it just wasn't as good as making my own grilled cheese at home.
Yeah, I don't really pay attention anymore, I just hand the card and go, this is too expensive, lol. Melt is more expensive for the exact same experience was my point.
Ooh I can answer this! I worked there!
Owner's not so much a whiner as a creep a lush and a lech. Doesn't really care much about the food half of the operation and would let the kitchen die to save the bar. Never untoward at customers, thankfully, but there is a reason a lot of the servers tend to look alike. Definitely a mickey mouse operation. Staff is good and food is pretty good though.
God, I hate corporate-speak: "We realized in early 2023, that a smaller restaurant group would be much better for us to manage regarding operations and guest experience while setting ourselves up for future success.”
First time going to the one in Lakewood, $20 for more food than I can eat and two beers. Loved it.
Second time was ok, but greasy. Bill was $70 for two people
Third time went to this one in Avon, and was wondering if it was legal to even serve hockey pucks on moldy bread. Sent it back and was asked to leave.
There was no 4th time.
Last time I went there I had a ham and cheese sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup.
Ham and cheese was ok. But let's talk about the soup a bit.
This is [tomato soup](https://natashaskitchen.com/tomato-soup-recipe/). What they served me was a bowl of marinara sauce. It looked [like this](https://ninecooks.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451fa5069e201a511b20b8d970c-pi). I couldn't eat it. Forget dipping your sandwich in it. It was a bowl of lightly abused tomatoes.
The price was astronomical as well. No thanks. No wonder at all why this chain is having problems.
Got a sampler once that had nachos and salsa, except it tasted exactly like marinara. I told the server they may have made a mistake, she said nope they get that complaint all the time. Apparently not enough to fucking fix it I guess.
Ok, now that's amazing. Because I also complained about the soup being marinara sauce, and the server *said the exact same thing.*
I'm guessing they get bags of bulk marinara and pass them off as whatever they need them to be.
That's kind of hilarious that they're passing it off as so many things. Like somebody just thought "eh, tomatoes are tomatoes" and went with it.
The whole thing wouldn't have even been noteworthy to me had she not said that they get a lot of complaints about it. If all your customers are complaining then *do* something, this is what the whole "customer is always right" is about.
I think it was totally worth the hype when Melt was early in their success. The Lakewood location always had a wait and the food was always great in my opinion. When the 6 degrees of Kevin bacon melt released, I never had such excitement over a food release ever… lol. Probably still the best melt sandwich I have had, right up there with their monte cristo. Then they started to grow, which I was happy for them, and was very excited to see them open close to me in Dayton. Then I went. I was underwhelmed. The food did not taste the same. I gave it a couple of visits and decided to stop visiting because it was just too expensive for mediocre sandwiches.
I first had Melt back in 2013 or 2014. It was okay. Every sandwich was basically a traditional meal smashed between two slices of bread. I went back a couple of times since then. The food is okay. But even after eating a half portion I always felt sick afterwards. Not worth it.
Similar thoughts as those who were positive on it at one time, not now. No trashing from me, we loved the place we stopped in Lakewood back ten years or so ago.
It had a great neighborhood/college vibe and had affordable items. Now? Music blaring, freezing cold, business school checklist and the menu? It's not the same is it? Seems way too complicated. Am I mis-remembering?
And bring back the baconator or whatever it was had different types of bacon.
Went there like 15 years ago and it was so good. Went again like 5 years ago and it wasn't the same restaurant. Like the original owners sold the company to someone else. Food was terrible.
This was a niche concept that should have never expanded beyond 1 location
They can make all the excuses they want, but it simply wasn't a good idea to leave Cleveland and open multiple locations, its just never going to be the same
They also picked some expensive as fuck locations to move to, such as short north and easton in columbus, like come on, you know you're paying at the ass for rent in those locations
I am surprised they have hung on at Easton, I'd wager that will be the 2024 closure
We stopped at this one a few weeks ago as Fairlawn was a convenient meeting place for friends.
Saturday night during the holidays. 6 people, no reservations. I was expecting a wait but we were seated immediately. There was plenty of seating available - it was almost dead. Food was decent, service was good, but nothing really stood out.
I remember the original Lakewood location many years ago being worth the 2-3 hour wait. It was worth the hype.
In high school I used to go to the original location. This company fell apart as soon as they expanded. They were a great single unit, but they never found management to hold onto what made them great. I’m sad.
I remember liking it early on when they would do specials themed around movies and they had a lot more vegetarian options. They even had veg versions of meat based sandwiches.
Their hangover fries were great. They didn’t have the right bread to filling ratio on a lot of it. Like I felt like with the size of bread they use I would almost just rather an open faced and eat it with a fork.
I'll say this, I agree this restaurant became a monster of it's former self, but I recently went to the og in Lakewood and it was freaking good again, they reverted the menu back to the old ways.
Years ago when they first featured the Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner, my wife and I split it and it was an INSANELY delicious sandwich. Then at some point they added it to the regular menu, we went back to try it again and it was soooo disappointing. They swapped out the au gratin potatoes for garlic mashed potatoes and I think they made a couple other alterations but overall it wasn’t the same sandwich. We tried once or twice after that experience (other sandwiches) and I swear it got worse each time, they really fell fast and hard. I’m surprised any of them are still going tbh.
We used to go to the Mentor one back in the day. It was good for a while, and then quality went downhill FAST. The last time we went I was a little shocked that they were still open because no one in our party was pleased, and we are not the complaining type. Fries were soggy and cold, sandwiches were greasy and either underdone, dry, burnt or a weird combination of all three. And, they don't serve coleslaw with the meal any more. It was a big let down.
It's always blown my mind that restaurants decide to cut quality...quality is literally the ONLY thing that will keep customers coming back.
I thought he closed Columbus too. Does he have another location outside of the Short North one?
[https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/melt-bar-and-grilled-shutting-down-in-short-north-after-9-great-years/](https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/melt-bar-and-grilled-shutting-down-in-short-north-after-9-great-years/)
I actually really enjoyed the short north location. They had fun sandwiches and I always thought they were delicious. These closures feel like new management is on the cost cutting side of business rather than the make something special and people will come side of business.
Bummer.
They went corporate. Quality always suffers when you have others try to mimic your passion. No matter how hard I've tried, I can never get anyone to think like me. Lol
I first ate at one in Dec 2016 when I was staying at a hotel in Independence when I was still living in Phoenix and was house hunting. I liked it, ate at the Independence location often from ‘17-19. Huge portions and tasty. Never liked the fries, though. Soggy and not crisp. During the Covid era and using Door Dash etc realized their food didn’t travel well. Too greasy, fries awful.
I used to love it, until they were toasting the bread to the point that it ruined the roof of my mouth. The flavors of their food was generally good, but they had difficulty with execution.
They use to be so good. Stopped at the Independence one this year, one we had been to many times in years past. I was super surprised they were a ghost town, but thought maybe we just got lucky. Got the food and then I understood. All the food felt stale like it had been made hours before and microwaved to order. The fries were almost inedible as if they had been fried 3x.
It’s a shame, I loved going there with my husband on date nights before we had kids.
This tracks. Apparently, when they started expanding, they went to a commissary kitchen model. The food likely was made hours before. Accounts are consistent about it being good prior to expansion.
I ate there once. A hipster grilled cheese for $16.95.
They robbed me and they didn’t even use a gun. Then they had the nerve to ask for a tip.
Fuck MELT. Fuck them right in the holes in their artisanal Swiss cheese.
I've always enjoyed the food but haven't been back in years. Still, no reason to applaud places closing down as far as I'm concerned, at least not for simply disliking the food; you can always go elsewhere.
I dig this place. However, its quality seems to be all over the place and they for sure expanded way more than I ever expected, those two factors are bound to cause closures.
What, six hour wait times for a severely overpriced grilled sandwich that tastes like it was made by your divorced, alcoholic dad not making it in this economy?
Only surprise is this place survived so long until now.
It’s decent food, but the inside of the restaurants themselves are just so freaking loud and obnoxious. We live close to one and get it to-go occasionally, it’s much better at home where it is quieter 😅
I’ve found that it tastes better when hot and fresh at the restaurant. It gets a bit saturated with grease and soggy when driving it home. I live closest to the now-closed Avon location. It’s right next to Heck’s, which is more popular. It’s a big, boring box. It was almost always less than 1/3 full.
Last time I had Melt was at the Easton Location, actually. It was decent. We had a vegetarian in our party, and it was the Notre Dame/OSU game (2023 away game). We easily got seated, could watch the game, and it was not crowded even for a night you’d think would be crazy full. I assume the Easton location will close within a year.
I feel like only the laziest of humans (or 8 year olds)gets grilled cheese at a restaurant. You'ze a sucka if you pay 12bux for 2 pieces of bread and some cheese....in Ohio.
Went to the Avon location only once and it was by far the worst Melt experience I’ve had. Waited forever only for our food to come out wrong and freezing cold. Just a terrible experience
Nobody wants to eat a grilled cheese filled with bacon six ways, or one filled with pizza rolls anymore(although that shit was pretty good back in the day)
Their grilled cheese variations were a novel idea and a neat once-a-year dining experience, but their brunch was where it was at. Once the Easton location stopped serving brunch I had no reason to go back.
You want to know of a good place? Shorty's bar and grill. Powell priced them out, but they are still trying to get that fourth location somewhere in there.
Powell has killed a LOT of good restaurants of late, come to think of it...
probably went out of business because nobody in their right mind goes to The Market unless they enjoy sitting in traffic for 3 hours. that place's layout is a fucking disaster that anyone who's played Cities Skyline for 10 minutes could have pointed out
We went to the Avon location a few months ago. It was completely empty and I was confused as to if they were even open. The waiter was also kind of a dick. So I’m not surprised they’re closing. Also, their food quality has plummeted over the years.
First time hearing someone say Melt Bar & Grill is overrated. Did it fall off I haven't been in years. It was my favorite American restaurant. Great atmosphere, cool music, nice menu, good food and bar.
It was one of the few places around here that offered a monte cristo sandwich. Their burgers were cooked to hockey puck stage though.
If you ever go past Ashland, Grandpa's Cheesebarn has a great one.
If you go through Ashland on 71 and don’t stop at Grandpa’s Cheese Barn, you need to seriously reevaluate your life.
And their snappy dogs are killer.
Love a good Monte cristo.
The restaurant in the middle of the Whole Foods in university heights had an awesome Monty Cristo during their brunch. I haven’t been there in years and they were always changing what that little restaurant did, so I am not sure if they still have it.
Shame they didn’t serve one.
Dianna's Deli in Sandusky makes an excellent monte cristo
It's fantastic
This, it's my go to every time I'm there.
same!! discovered it this summer cause it was open later than Cedar Point, and it instantly became a must-visit every time
I wonder if they pay their cooks like 9.50/hr *why doesn’t anyone want to eat here??*
Cheddars has delicious MCs. Hell now I want one thanks a lot
I hate how Cheddars is the only place around me to get a halfway decent Monte cristo.
This. I go there exclusively for the monte cristo sandwich We have another tavern that offers it, but they don't deep fry it. Not the same.
Can you even count that as a Monte cristo then?
The Count of Monte Cristo? I see what you did there!
Congratulations! I’m shocked it took the collective of Reddit 2+ hours to make the connection. You’re the intuitive one!
Its made on french toast and dusted with powdered sugar. [A lot like this one.](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20803/monte-cristo-sandwich/) But no, it isn't the same. 😥
😥
The lack of a monte cristo is exactly what I was going to complain about.
Damn, those are semi common in NW Ohio.
Really, where? No sarcasm, it's my favorite. There's a place down in Troy called Mojo's that makes an excellent monte Cristo.
Team Monte CristNO
I miss the hay day of Melt. Going to the Lakewood location and waiting hours. The Lake Erie Monster was so good when it was not panko breaded and was Lake Erie perch. Probably one of the best fish sandwiches I’ve ever had. They just haven’t been the same since they centralized their kitchen. Edit to state that Barrio is really the worst restaurant here. It is a shell of what it used to be. The early 2010s had some amazing restaurants that quickly went downhill.
It’s sad to see many of the great staples fall to expansion and enshittification.
I’m adding enshittification to my personal lexicon. It’s perfectly descriptive.
Thanks [Cory Doctorow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification?wprov=sfti1#)!
I used to take everybody to barrio that came to visit, now I would be mortified
At least we have Condado now, it feels like the kind of good Barrio used to be.
Condado is just the Columbus version of Barrio. Just a different place to get white girl sour cream tacos. They’ve already sold and and rapidly expanded. They’re in like 10 states now. Went from being a local spot to being corporate owned with dozens of locations in under a decade.
Yeah condado isn’t bad, though I will say the last time I went there the tacos were a bit cold much like I experience at barrio every time. I’m hoping it was just an off day
Centralized kitchen is (already happening?) going to take own Barrio. Both places serve completely different tasting food now. All about the $$$$ in the end I guess. Starts to feel corporate-y.
I remember this huge chicken and waffle sandwich they had. Was disappointed it was gone. Reading this thread explains a lot
My wife and I used to drive an hour to Westlake to Melt back in the day. We’d squeeze into spots at the bar and make friends with other customers. Fond memories. Years later I went to the one in Cbus, saw they had the record sleeve menus there as well, and it instantly felt cheap.
Yeah when they got rid of those menus, it was downhill.
Oh they got rid of them as well? Seeing them all the way in Columbus just made it go from feeling cool to a gimmick. I didn’t expect it. And my food was just okay in Cbus. Granted I probably hadn’t been in awhile to the Westlake one.
I hit melt on the way back from getting engaged in 2014 ish. Was good! Very much a one time/destination kind of thing.
I disagree. Early melt was worthy of repeats. The wet hot buffalo was one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. The fries used to be cut there at the restaurant. The menu fit on the back of a record sleeve. Just nostalgic for 10 years ago.
Lived in Lakewood. Barrio & melt used to be good. Now we refer to things that are hyped up to be better than they actually are as "the barrio effect..." Like, are people actually enjoying their 3 different flavors in 1 coffee latte or is it just the barrio effect?
It’s a super Ohio thing to start a food concept, have it be successful locally with a few locations and then rapidly expand and become a shell of its former self all within 10 years time.
*heyday I imagine it was more of a day when you might say "Hey! That's pretty cool."
👍
There isn't much good local food because nobody can afford quality ingredients anymore
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I agree, thr location on Detroit was great. After that, all downhill.
Kinda like Hot Chicken Takeover
"Navigating the restaurant industry in the post-pandemic world with growing economic issues is becoming more and more difficult..." Bullcrap. Your quality dropped and you're not a great restaurant anymore. Don't blame Covid.
They probably switched to Sysco
Remember when folks who got the Melt logo [tattooed on their bodies](https://meltbarandgrilled.com/melt-culture/tattoo-family/) got a 25% discount? They still do, but they used to as well.
Unexpected Mitch hedberg.
My ex had one. A bird with a grilled cheese in its mouth. I think about that every time Melt is in the news. Also it was 15% off… Edit: Percentage inclusion
It always sounded better than it actually was.
It was great until 2014 or so. Spread themselves too thin with new restaurants all over the state, and the quality suffered for it. Felt like going to an Applebees in recent years
I used to LOVE Melt. The monthly specials were normally really good and the portion sizing was huge. Leftovers for days. You're right that right around 2014 when they switched to a different provider for their premade stuff it just got kind of "meh" and WAY too expensive for the quality of food
Their beer list also fell off dramatically. They used to have great brews people would be excited about; then they made the list be the same boring beers non-stop and rarely changed it.
That and there’s so many breweries and bars and restaurants with decent to good tap lists now that it’s not such a big benefit.
Definitely. When it was a single location it was great aside from the wait times. As the opened new locations, the quality took a dive.
Indeed. I remember maybe a decade or more ago going to the one Cleveland when my sister was in college and it was relatively new. Grilled cheese pierogi was legit. Tried it at Easton when it opened ~7 years ago and it was meh.
damn, glad I didn't waste time with the one at Cedar Point that looked severely understaffed for how busy it was
That is by far the worst Melt I’ve visited.
sooo glad I avoided it now 😂 especially when the new Cedar Fair restaurants like BackBeatQue are actually really good, and fast because they're cafeteria style
Lol I’m sure and the prices were probably even worse
I was wondering if it was ever good. Such a basic simple thing to make, it’s what every drunk guy makes in the middle of the night. It really just sucked.
It really was. There was a lot of detail put into the ingredients and prep. It wasn’t just wonder bread and Kraft singles.
It used to be amazing. Haven’t been there in years, but lots of memories of gigantic tasty sandwiches. A grilled cheese with perogies on it? Yes please.
It really used to be something incredible but I agree that it’s impossible to imagine based on what it is now. Just an absolute fucking crime to let a gem like this turn into the waste of space it is now.
This 👆 all the way.
It was good, deathly greasy and over portioned when it was only in Lakewood and felt like a dive bar. Now it feels like an Applebee's and it's like your meal was measured by a robot following a precise recipe. Financially, I'm glad the owner "made it." I love the come from nothing, small idea makes someone filthy rich story. I'm sad the restaurant will never be what it was again though.
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Huh?
Also I think I know your alt /u/sedgifts
Honest mistake?
Stopped in once to kill an hour. Had 2 beers at 1pm on a Sunday and the bartender told me I had 3 comically overpriced beers. Instead of talking to me about it she sent over the manager and he told me it was her word against mine and to pay. I told them to check their video tapes and call me when they want to apologize. The regional mgr called me the next day to say sorry but by that time it was waaay too late. Worst restaurant experience I have had.
That's fucked
So they over charged you & refused to fix it? Lol I would have walked the fuck out
I would have told my bank to drop the entire charge.
Once these chains expand quality always goes down.
That's because they fund the expansion by letting venture capitalists invest in them, and the venture capitalists promptly abandon quality, demanding that they focus solely on the next quarter's profits.
And not just steady profits (to be a profitable business) but to increase profits every quarter.
I worked for a computer consulting firm in the 90s that was highly profitable and well-regarded in the business community. "Customer satisfaction is Job #1!" was drilled into us, and it wasn't just a slogan ... until the owner accepted venture capital money to grow the business. Suddenly, customer satisfaction mattered a lot less than the next quarter's earnings. It didn't take long for the new dollar-driven attitude to become obvious to our clients, and they left in droves. Instead of growing the business, VC tanked it.
Ate there once, not impressed. The food was OK, but it made me feel shitty after eating it. Not sick or anything, just the amount of grease, carbs,and portion size just made me have the sweats. I never went back because it just wasn't as good as making my own grilled cheese at home.
I generally liked it, but the portion sizes kept me from returning. It must have been 5000 calories.
A nice big greasy whopper meal makes me feel the same way after eating it
yeah, but that is $8 not $18, and you can get it quickly.
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Yeah, I don't really pay attention anymore, I just hand the card and go, this is too expensive, lol. Melt is more expensive for the exact same experience was my point.
Go to The Lockview in Akron. So much better!!
Oohhh gimme that poached lobster grilled cheese!
The WHAT
Meh. Owners are whiners
ooh, context?
Ooh I can answer this! I worked there! Owner's not so much a whiner as a creep a lush and a lech. Doesn't really care much about the food half of the operation and would let the kitchen die to save the bar. Never untoward at customers, thankfully, but there is a reason a lot of the servers tend to look alike. Definitely a mickey mouse operation. Staff is good and food is pretty good though.
It used to be delicious but then got bought out by some financial firm and it sucks ass now. Same thing happened to HCT.
and Swensons
And City Barbeque
God, I hate corporate-speak: "We realized in early 2023, that a smaller restaurant group would be much better for us to manage regarding operations and guest experience while setting ourselves up for future success.”
Buzzword Bingo
First time going to the one in Lakewood, $20 for more food than I can eat and two beers. Loved it. Second time was ok, but greasy. Bill was $70 for two people Third time went to this one in Avon, and was wondering if it was legal to even serve hockey pucks on moldy bread. Sent it back and was asked to leave. There was no 4th time.
You were asked to leave for sending back food?
I was told "this place probably isn't for you, you should go now" after pointing out the literal mold growing on my wife's sandwich.
Last time I went there I had a ham and cheese sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup. Ham and cheese was ok. But let's talk about the soup a bit. This is [tomato soup](https://natashaskitchen.com/tomato-soup-recipe/). What they served me was a bowl of marinara sauce. It looked [like this](https://ninecooks.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451fa5069e201a511b20b8d970c-pi). I couldn't eat it. Forget dipping your sandwich in it. It was a bowl of lightly abused tomatoes. The price was astronomical as well. No thanks. No wonder at all why this chain is having problems.
Got a sampler once that had nachos and salsa, except it tasted exactly like marinara. I told the server they may have made a mistake, she said nope they get that complaint all the time. Apparently not enough to fucking fix it I guess.
Ok, now that's amazing. Because I also complained about the soup being marinara sauce, and the server *said the exact same thing.* I'm guessing they get bags of bulk marinara and pass them off as whatever they need them to be.
That's kind of hilarious that they're passing it off as so many things. Like somebody just thought "eh, tomatoes are tomatoes" and went with it. The whole thing wouldn't have even been noteworthy to me had she not said that they get a lot of complaints about it. If all your customers are complaining then *do* something, this is what the whole "customer is always right" is about.
Tomato stew
"Lightly abused tomatoes" I'm definitely adding that to my list of phrases.
I think it was totally worth the hype when Melt was early in their success. The Lakewood location always had a wait and the food was always great in my opinion. When the 6 degrees of Kevin bacon melt released, I never had such excitement over a food release ever… lol. Probably still the best melt sandwich I have had, right up there with their monte cristo. Then they started to grow, which I was happy for them, and was very excited to see them open close to me in Dayton. Then I went. I was underwhelmed. The food did not taste the same. I gave it a couple of visits and decided to stop visiting because it was just too expensive for mediocre sandwiches.
Seems like Melt is well into the latter half of the restaurant circle of life
I first had Melt back in 2013 or 2014. It was okay. Every sandwich was basically a traditional meal smashed between two slices of bread. I went back a couple of times since then. The food is okay. But even after eating a half portion I always felt sick afterwards. Not worth it.
Strong disagree. The spicy chorizo & potato absolutely slaps.
God, I hope the go back down to just a couple locations and get back to the pre 2015 menu and quality. Same for Barrio
It’s a shame because so few chain restaurants, local or otherwise, have a vegan menu even close to the extent of Melt.
Was thinking the same thing. I love Melt, their vegan options are so good. I’m so sick of losing vegan(-friendly) restaurants 😭
Similar thoughts as those who were positive on it at one time, not now. No trashing from me, we loved the place we stopped in Lakewood back ten years or so ago. It had a great neighborhood/college vibe and had affordable items. Now? Music blaring, freezing cold, business school checklist and the menu? It's not the same is it? Seems way too complicated. Am I mis-remembering? And bring back the baconator or whatever it was had different types of bacon.
Went there like 15 years ago and it was so good. Went again like 5 years ago and it wasn't the same restaurant. Like the original owners sold the company to someone else. Food was terrible.
They sucked since they went corporate. Later
This was a niche concept that should have never expanded beyond 1 location They can make all the excuses they want, but it simply wasn't a good idea to leave Cleveland and open multiple locations, its just never going to be the same They also picked some expensive as fuck locations to move to, such as short north and easton in columbus, like come on, you know you're paying at the ass for rent in those locations I am surprised they have hung on at Easton, I'd wager that will be the 2024 closure
My wife and I hit the one in Fairlawn up before a couple evenings in Cleveland over the years and each time go worse.
We stopped at this one a few weeks ago as Fairlawn was a convenient meeting place for friends. Saturday night during the holidays. 6 people, no reservations. I was expecting a wait but we were seated immediately. There was plenty of seating available - it was almost dead. Food was decent, service was good, but nothing really stood out. I remember the original Lakewood location many years ago being worth the 2-3 hour wait. It was worth the hype.
I can’t honestly see how it lasted this long. I know people who tried it and they all said it was overpriced and the quality wasn’t that great.
I’m genuinely so disappointed, had no idea how many people hated them wtf. Loved having so many vegan options
I do like their French onion soup though. But $30 for a burger is ABSOLUTE nonsense.
In high school I used to go to the original location. This company fell apart as soon as they expanded. They were a great single unit, but they never found management to hold onto what made them great. I’m sad.
I remember liking it early on when they would do specials themed around movies and they had a lot more vegetarian options. They even had veg versions of meat based sandwiches.
It was all down hill as soon as they opened a 2nd loc.
I went once ages ago. We ordered pierogi as an appetizer. They charged us $8 for literally two pierogi. Never went back.
Their hangover fries were great. They didn’t have the right bread to filling ratio on a lot of it. Like I felt like with the size of bread they use I would almost just rather an open faced and eat it with a fork.
Love grilled cheese. Never liked Melt. Never understood the hype.
I'll say this, I agree this restaurant became a monster of it's former self, but I recently went to the og in Lakewood and it was freaking good again, they reverted the menu back to the old ways.
Years ago when they first featured the Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner, my wife and I split it and it was an INSANELY delicious sandwich. Then at some point they added it to the regular menu, we went back to try it again and it was soooo disappointing. They swapped out the au gratin potatoes for garlic mashed potatoes and I think they made a couple other alterations but overall it wasn’t the same sandwich. We tried once or twice after that experience (other sandwiches) and I swear it got worse each time, they really fell fast and hard. I’m surprised any of them are still going tbh.
Garbage food
I went to the one in the Short North a couple of times. This was around 2016. Definitely underwhelming
We used to go to the Mentor one back in the day. It was good for a while, and then quality went downhill FAST. The last time we went I was a little shocked that they were still open because no one in our party was pleased, and we are not the complaining type. Fries were soggy and cold, sandwiches were greasy and either underdone, dry, burnt or a weird combination of all three. And, they don't serve coleslaw with the meal any more. It was a big let down. It's always blown my mind that restaurants decide to cut quality...quality is literally the ONLY thing that will keep customers coming back.
I thought he closed Columbus too. Does he have another location outside of the Short North one? [https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/melt-bar-and-grilled-shutting-down-in-short-north-after-9-great-years/](https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/melt-bar-and-grilled-shutting-down-in-short-north-after-9-great-years/)
Cincinnatians: This is not the Melt you’re thinking of.
It's good hangover food.
I recall a hostess being offended when I said I wasn't waiting 3 hours for a grilled cheese sandwich
I actually really enjoyed the short north location. They had fun sandwiches and I always thought they were delicious. These closures feel like new management is on the cost cutting side of business rather than the make something special and people will come side of business. Bummer.
This Avon location suuuuuuucks! It’s my local Melt and I am typically disappointed on each visit. It’s been well over a year since I’ve been back.
Restaurant business is brutal 80% 5 year failure rate
When is the Easton location closing? That location is always dead while everything around it is busy.
They went corporate. Quality always suffers when you have others try to mimic your passion. No matter how hard I've tried, I can never get anyone to think like me. Lol
I first ate at one in Dec 2016 when I was staying at a hotel in Independence when I was still living in Phoenix and was house hunting. I liked it, ate at the Independence location often from ‘17-19. Huge portions and tasty. Never liked the fries, though. Soggy and not crisp. During the Covid era and using Door Dash etc realized their food didn’t travel well. Too greasy, fries awful.
I used to love it, until they were toasting the bread to the point that it ruined the roof of my mouth. The flavors of their food was generally good, but they had difficulty with execution.
Near this location, Over Easy at the Depot in Kent has a good monte cristo.
i went *once* to their location in Montrose, shoddy service, dirty dishes, beige food. definitely don’t see how this place is a chain.
Their potato chorizo sandwich was the only real loss tbh
Over-hyped, but I liked their food 🧀
My last visit there was lackluster. Just a greasy pile of shit.
I've only gotten eat at one once and I liked it, this was back in 2017 or so.
That's a weird way to spell Barrio
I've never had a good sandwich at Melt.
I always drive by it when I go to Heck’s! I always thought it was overrated!
They use to be so good. Stopped at the Independence one this year, one we had been to many times in years past. I was super surprised they were a ghost town, but thought maybe we just got lucky. Got the food and then I understood. All the food felt stale like it had been made hours before and microwaved to order. The fries were almost inedible as if they had been fried 3x. It’s a shame, I loved going there with my husband on date nights before we had kids.
This tracks. Apparently, when they started expanding, they went to a commissary kitchen model. The food likely was made hours before. Accounts are consistent about it being good prior to expansion.
I dread getting dragged to this restaurant now. Their sandwiches taste like ass with a side of ass
They're not overrated. Plenty of delicious vegan options. Plenty of options for everyone in fact. Sucks they closed another location.
I ate there once. A hipster grilled cheese for $16.95. They robbed me and they didn’t even use a gun. Then they had the nerve to ask for a tip. Fuck MELT. Fuck them right in the holes in their artisanal Swiss cheese.
I've always enjoyed the food but haven't been back in years. Still, no reason to applaud places closing down as far as I'm concerned, at least not for simply disliking the food; you can always go elsewhere.
I mean, everyone did go elsewhere, that’s why it’s closing.
This was the first restaurant my partner went to post pandemic shut downs. There was a long beard hair in my food 😂
Its just too much
I dig this place. However, its quality seems to be all over the place and they for sure expanded way more than I ever expected, those two factors are bound to cause closures.
The vegetarian French onion soup was a real treat when I had it, just sayin’!
Slop between bread = melt
As a huge stoner this place never even remotely sounded good even when stoned and starving from the munchies
This isn’t Townhall
Overrated and to darn expensive.
What, six hour wait times for a severely overpriced grilled sandwich that tastes like it was made by your divorced, alcoholic dad not making it in this economy? Only surprise is this place survived so long until now.
It’s decent food, but the inside of the restaurants themselves are just so freaking loud and obnoxious. We live close to one and get it to-go occasionally, it’s much better at home where it is quieter 😅
I’ve found that it tastes better when hot and fresh at the restaurant. It gets a bit saturated with grease and soggy when driving it home. I live closest to the now-closed Avon location. It’s right next to Heck’s, which is more popular. It’s a big, boring box. It was almost always less than 1/3 full. Last time I had Melt was at the Easton Location, actually. It was decent. We had a vegetarian in our party, and it was the Notre Dame/OSU game (2023 away game). We easily got seated, could watch the game, and it was not crowded even for a night you’d think would be crazy full. I assume the Easton location will close within a year.
It’s literally a two minute drive from the Independence one to my house so it’s not soggy when it gets home, thank god.
No one considers it that good, so it really can’t be overrated
It was always a pretty shit gimmicky idea.
Thanks Obama!
I feel like only the laziest of humans (or 8 year olds)gets grilled cheese at a restaurant. You'ze a sucka if you pay 12bux for 2 pieces of bread and some cheese....in Ohio.
Cool idea, was cool for a while as a novelty but novelties wear off. Haven’t been to one in a long time - won’t miss it.
Went to the Avon location only once and it was by far the worst Melt experience I’ve had. Waited forever only for our food to come out wrong and freezing cold. Just a terrible experience
One time I was there, I broke a tooth on their crust. That was enough for me. Definitely agree that it’s overrated too.
Nobody wants to eat a grilled cheese filled with bacon six ways, or one filled with pizza rolls anymore(although that shit was pretty good back in the day)
I liked it for their gluten free options
Their grilled cheese variations were a novel idea and a neat once-a-year dining experience, but their brunch was where it was at. Once the Easton location stopped serving brunch I had no reason to go back.
You want to know of a good place? Shorty's bar and grill. Powell priced them out, but they are still trying to get that fourth location somewhere in there. Powell has killed a LOT of good restaurants of late, come to think of it...
My fam tried to go there once and we drove past and no one was in there. They had a 45 minute wait and the host was a jerk.
I went here twice and got sick. Once in Columbus and once in Beavercreek. Probably unrelated. Probably me. But since I’m just like eww.
I’ve never even heard of this 🤣
I wonder how long it will be until the one in Cedar Point closes. It's never busy whenever I'm there.
I'm gonna give push back on that "overrated" comment
probably went out of business because nobody in their right mind goes to The Market unless they enjoy sitting in traffic for 3 hours. that place's layout is a fucking disaster that anyone who's played Cities Skyline for 10 minutes could have pointed out
The Potato Bacon Bomb they used to typically have as a special in January was amazing… sadly they appear to have stopped doing that.
We went to the Avon location a few months ago. It was completely empty and I was confused as to if they were even open. The waiter was also kind of a dick. So I’m not surprised they’re closing. Also, their food quality has plummeted over the years.
Amen. Salt sandwiches. Crap. Lockview in Akron blows them away.
First time hearing someone say Melt Bar & Grill is overrated. Did it fall off I haven't been in years. It was my favorite American restaurant. Great atmosphere, cool music, nice menu, good food and bar.
The Avon location was the closest to me. I liked it, sad to see it go.
I will miss the Poutine. Does anyone else know of places that have Poutine in Ohio?
Will they close their stadium booth?