Mel's Drive-In neon sign cropped and cleaned up

Mel's Drive-In is a term referring to two American restaurant chains, successors of a restaurant founded in 1947 by Mel Weiss and

Harold Dobbs Harold Stanley Dobbs (December 8, 1918 – August 14, 1994) 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 presiden ...

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

. It is closely associated with the film ''

American Graffiti ''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard (billed as Ronny ...

''.

Locations and naming

There are a number of 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're 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. The

Walnut Creek, California Walnut Creek is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, about east of the city of Oakland. With a total population of 70,127 per the 2020 census, Walnut Creek s ...

, location features a history of the original San Francisco Mel's. Some Mel's Drive-In locations are not actually 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. Max Factor Building

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 Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, they opted to include the apostrophe in all Mel's Drive-In signage, literature, and media. After the last original Mel's closed in the 1970s, Mel Weiss's son Steven Weiss and partner Donald Wagstaff opened the first of a next generation of Mel's Drive-In restaurants in 1985. As of 2020, there are 7 Mel's drive-in locations in Northern and Southern California and one Mel's Kitchen. 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. That site was almost demolished to build housing.

Southern California locations

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, California was built as Kerry's coffee shop in 1953. The

googie 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 ...

style building was designed by

Armet & Davis 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' ...

. Mel's Drive-In at 8585 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, California was built as Ben Frank's in 1962. The

style building was designed by Lane & Schlick. Mel's Drive-In at 1660 N. Highland Avenue in Hollywood, California is located in a portion of the former

Max Factor Max Factor is a line of cosmetics from Coty, Inc. It was founded in 1909 as Max Factor & Company by Maksymilian Faktorowicz. Max Factor specialized in movie make-up. Until its 1973 sale for US$500 million (approximately $ billion in 2017 dollar ...

makeup studio. The

Hollywood Regency Hollywood Regency, sometimes called Regency Moderne, is a design style that describes both interior design and landscape architecture characterized by the bold use of color and contrast often with metallic and glass accents meant to signify both op ...

style building was designed by

S. Charles Lee S. Charles Lee (September 5, 1899 - January 27, 1990) was an American architect recognized as one of the most prolific and distinguished motion picture theater designers on the West Coast of the United States, West Coast. Life Early life Simeon ...

and built in 1935. The Mel's Drive-In at 1670 Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica, California was built as The Penguin in 1958. The

style building was designed by

Protest

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 American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s 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 up front.

In popular culture

Restaurant in Universal Studios Singapore - 20120914

In 1972, the restaurant was selected as a feature location by

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the '' Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as c ...

for his

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

film ''

''. The Mel's used was located at 140 South Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. 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 William John Clifton Haley (; July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981) was an American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-sel ...

’s “

Rock Around the Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was record ...

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

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

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 Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

and

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...

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 ''Melrose Place'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex on Melrose Place, i ...

'' (1996, Season 5, Episode 1), ''

Doonesbury ''Doonesbury'' is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, ...

'' comics (December 18, 1989), and the book ''The American Drive-in'' by Mike Witzel. The address for the Mel's Drive-In location on Sunset Boulevard 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".

Gallery

Mel's Drive-In sign in San Francisco.jpg, Mel's Drive-In sign in San Francisco. Bar seating at a Mels Drive-In.jpg, Bar seating at a Mels Drive-In Mel's drive in Hollywood.jpg, Mel's drive in Hollywood Sweet potato fries at Original Mels Diner.jpg, Sweet potato fries at Original Mels Diner The Original Mels Diner at Boomtown in Verdi, Nevada.jpg, Original Mels Diner at Boomtown in Verdi, Nevada Mels Drive-In on Market Street in San Francisco.jpg, Mels Drive-In on Market Street in San Francisco Mels Drive-In sign in San Francisco.jpg, Mels Drive-In sign in San Francisco Breakfast at Mels Drive-in.jpg, Breakfast at Mels Drive-in Original Mels in Fairfield, CA.jpg, Original Mels in Fairfield, CA

References

* (previously published in 1986 as ''Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture'' ) *

External links

Original Mels official website

Mels Drive-In official website

{{coord missing, Los Angeles County, California Restaurants in San Francisco Restaurants in Los Angeles Fast-food chains of the United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1947 1947 establishments in California Theme restaurants Drive-in restaurants Modernist architecture in California Googie architecture in California Googie architecture Commercial buildings in Los Angeles