Mel’s Burger Bar

Loved it! Great burger place. Went with our kids and we could not have been happier. The kids had delicious milkshakes — they highly recommend the Cookie Monster flavor! The burgers were really good — my husband loved the hot mess burger with jalapeños, charred onions and bacon. The onion rings and hand cut fries are amazing. Great atmosphere as well and super clean.

The worst food. I ordered the buffalo wings, 2 cheese burgers and a side of fries. First, the fries were really oily. I wouldn’t eat it. The burgers were small, and the buffalo wings taste like a mixture of hot sauce and ketchup. The buffalo wings were also weird. It had like bruise marks on the wings.
I would never order from here again. $ 50 wasted. Should of took my money else where, where the food would have been worth it!!!

Tried the Nurse Betty. I have no idea what the veggie patty is made of, but it’s literally the best burger I’ve had yet. The patty is tender but firm, flavorful and the bread is toasted just right. I will definitely be coming back to try the other burgers!

Good local hamburger joint. We substituted a turkey burger which was really good and a grilled chicken for the traditional burgers and they were very good. Service can be a bit more attentive. Sweet potato fries were nothing special and would not get them again,

Love this place. Going to get beertized here ASAP. I wish they had 1 in Midtown, but for now I’ll make the troop to UES.

The milk shakes are outstanding. Definitely your 1000 calorie binge for the night. On the burger front, not so much. The buns are standard burger buns with not great taste. Unfortunately the burgers have the same traits. Bland taste, just a piece of ground beef slapped on the grill. What makes them palatable are the trimmings which are mostly good. The onion rings give them some height. The bacon looks worse than Oscar Meyer but the cheese, eggs, mushrooms, sauteed onions, tomatoes are all good. The coleslaw was okay but had way too much dressing. Ice berg wedge was odd. Sundried tomatoes don’t go well with a sprinkling of blue cheese, whether on some lettuce or not. Bottom line is that this is an okay burger at an okay price, but I would not go out of my way to eat there

The burger was average — and I was really hungry! So it’s probably below average on a regular day. Meat seemed packaged rather than as advertised.
The service was good and the atmosphere was cool with the basketball finals on multiple TVs and the front doors open to the outdoor seating area.
Very good selection of local and craft beers.

I’ve wanted to try this place for awhile and today was the day! Everything about the experience was terrible. I’m not the only one that thought so because the other table by us was also complaining.
First of all the place had 3 tables at 12pm that should of been the first sign not to come in.
My friend and I walked right up to the hostess stand where 4 girls were standing none of which said hello where I had to ask to be seated outside. No hello no nothing. That’s the start to the service.
The waitress (Kayla) brought us water and 2 glasses, no ice. Cool it’s 90 out and didn’t even pour it, Kay. I also ordered a Sprite and we started with the fried pickles. The Sprite was flat so I sent it back and the pickles were so hard it’s almost as though they were made the day before and fried again today. Ugh. 10 minutes later I got a Sprite in a can that was super dusty, that was nice she found one for me. Except once I poured that it was flat sure enough the bottom of the can says expires May 23, 2016. Where heck did this Sprite come from?!
I ordered the not your dads grilled cheese or something and the sweet potato fries. The fries were disappointing and were like the pickles dry and hard. It’s hard to mess up fries and even a grilled cheese. My bread was burned so that was awesome I love that burned taste, nope. I didn’t even finish the meal neither did my friend.
We repeatedly had to ask for things and when we wanted the bill the waitress was inside talking for about 15 minutes before she decided to come out and clear the plates and ask if we need anything. For only 3 tables it was super annoying to have to keep waiting and get super shitty food. Less chat more work would be my advice to the staff here.
If at least the service was good or even ok it might of been a better experience. The most enthusiasm we got was when she brought the check and said have a great day! Like thanks for shitty meal and service right back at ya!
I don’t think it’s too hard to pay attention to a customer or make a grilled cheese without burning it. Literally you saw it was burned why couldn’t you just re do the bread? Especially since there was NO one in the restaurant.
I hope the wait staff gets paid hourly because with that service you will never make money off tips.
Don’t waste your time or money here seriously.

My friends and I were going to go to a different burger spot but it was busy so we ended up coming here. The place has outside seating, space inside is big, so if you’re in a group of 6 – 8 you’ll have enough room
I ordered the dirty hipster, a combination of spinach dip and onion rings. I ordered mine medium well but it was more like well done. I would say it tasted ok, not sure if I would order it again. One of my friends ordered the classic burger which he seemed to enjoy a lot. The side of regular fries were average.
I would say overall this is an average burger spot, would still come back, prices are good for city standards

Impressive burger menu, great beer choices and awesome staff!
The burgers are to die for…
Nice, clean, well managed place.
When simple classic burger is outstanding — it is an awesome place!

I’m sorry to give this place a poor rating but my last experience dining here was extremely disappointing. I’ve been here twice before, for burgers, and have always wanted to drop by for Ladies Night (on Thursdays) when they offer wine for $ 5. I finally got the chance last week. But when I sat down at the bar, and inquired about the $ 5 wine the bartender told me they no longer offered it, had discontinued it a few weeks before. I was baffled, as I had passed the front of the joint before heading in, and noticed it written on the chalkboard posted on the outside front wall. As it had been every Thursday. I got up off my bar stool, took a quick walk outside, and sure enough — my eyes had not deceived me. The sign said «$ 5 glasses of wine».
I went back inside, and to my dismay, several people were now sitting at the bar where I had sat, among many of the empty seats. I told the bartender the offer was definitely on the outside chalk board, then she left the bar to speak to someone at the reservation desk about it. The bartender then went outside with me and I pointed out the sign to her. So, she had to honor the offer.
I found another area at the bar to squeeze in and sit down. I have to say the wine was served in a rather small glass. I recall being there twice before, and ordering wine for the regular price, and it was a lot more wine; I could barely finish it (one glass is usually enough for me). Okay, onto the menu, which is very difficult to read in the dim light. I recall having this problem in the past. (I wound up having to use the flashlight on my smartphone.) I decided to order the Loaded Nachos, for $ 14. When the large plate finally arrived the bartender placed it down in front of me and warned me: «hot plate!» I was careful touching the plate… hmm, not THAT hot. But worse, my food wasn’t hot at all (more like lukewarm). I hate to complain about food and send it back, but I was unhappy it was barely warm. So I told her. They took it back. Minutes later, what seemed like a new plate (not my first one reheated) arrived. Guess what? Still not hot! By then I was hungry and ate it. It was supposed to be beef, beans, pico de gallo, sour cream, avocado vinaigrette and cheese. Well, it was lots of tacos with beef, beans and melted cheese all over it. Yuk! I have no idea where the pico de gallo was hidden, or the sour cream. Avocado vinaigrette? No idea where that was — hiding under the gooey mess?
This was the worst meal I have had in a while. And for $ 14, to boot! I did give the bartender a decent tip, as the horrible food wasn’t her fault. But I’m not ever going back. (And I took a photo of that chalkboard sign that says $ 5 wines on Thursdays Ladies Night.)

I really wanted to like this place. The concept is right up my alley, burgers and beer in an upscale diner like setting. Heck I even liked the giant light sign… until I sat right next to it. My dinner partner had trouble seeing and I felt really hot. We were strategically placed there due to our two person size even though it was relatively empty on a weekday.
!
I had eaten here once before via Internet delivery services. I thought the food was creative and accepted it’s state (colder and somewhat congealed). I think I got a burger with brisket on top whichever one they call that now. Wasn’t bad.
This time around I opted to try the fried pickles. These were almost fried to the point of burnt. The pickles themselves are actually masked by the overwhelming ratio of darkened batter. Didn’t like these much. I also didn’t enjoy the complete lack of ice in my drink situation. Slightly cold water is no fun and I’m not European!
My dinner buddy got garlic fries which were the best thing we ate. User beware though, there is fresh garlic in there! He had a regular burger and I tried the dirty Mexican? I hope that’s the actual name cuz being from Texas I felt weird calling something that. It’s a burger with jack, fresh jalapeños, avocado. What a great idea in terms of toppings!
I thought my stomach was kind of bloated from the meal itself. Instead of getting fatter on burgers and fries for the first time I lost weight from the aftermath. And I have a steel stomach and always eat my burgers medium in hopes the extra few minutes do something for decreasing bacterial load… First time for everything!
User beware! Although a burger and fries meal that causes weight loss wouldn’t be bad if you didn’t have to be in distress for half a day!

This was one of the worst experiences I’ve had in Manhattan, the only reason I’m giving them two stars is because our waitress was so nice and apologetic about the whole situation and she comped our drinks.
First we arrived for dinner around 9pm and requested to be seated outside (there was about 5 open tables, so we thought we’d be seated quickly). The «manager» told us to wait by the bar while he got a table ready. About 20 minutes later we nicely asked how much longer it would be, to which he rudely answered «well we had to clean the tables off, didn’t we?». Well okay then…
After being seated, we ordered an appetizer (Mac&cheese balls) and meals (adult grilled cheese and Asian salad). During the 25 minutes we waited for our food, we were brought about 3 dishes that didn’t belong to us. Then when our actual food did arrive, it was our main meals and not our appetizers. We asked the waitress about the appetizer we ordered and she said she was sorry and would get it to us ASAP. I told her I didn’t want my main meal to just sit under the warmer while we were waiting on the appetizer and she assured me the chef would remake it.
Our appetizer then arrived about 10 minutes later (yay!) along with our food again (boo since we asked for the appetizer first). The balls were amazing, but the grilled cheese was ice cold and had obviously been sitting while the appetizer was made (exactly what I thought would happen and was assured wouldn’t). I told our waitress my food was cold and she took it away. It was then brought out about 5 minutes later with a quarter of it missing!!! I had taken one bite before they took it away and they obviously cut that section off and just threw it in the microwave! To top it all off the grilled cheese wasn’t even good (and, how do you mess that up?!)
This was one of the most disorganized place I’ve ever been with one of the poorest attitudes from a manager. If the food was good it would’ve been a redeeming quality, but it really really wasn’t (with an exception of the mac and cheese balls, which were great, and the waitress who was super nice).

This place is GREAT. You have to sign up for their «Beer Club». As a guy who loves craft beers, I hope this place lasts. If you check off all the beers on your card, you have lots of benefits at the bar.
The brunch menu is super filling… the breakfast burrito is enormous.
Adorable aesthetic and the menu lends itself to adults and kids.

Better than Bareburger in a more grown up atmosphere. But it’s really the same idea. Food is passable but nothing too special. This kind of concept seems perfectly suited to be replicated in strip malls across the country as a more upscale Ruby Tues. The middle of the road flavors certainly have mass appeal. But for me there are better burger options in the hood with far better quality.
I almost forgot that the Mac n cheese was so bad my kids wouldn’t even eat it. It was like a watery Kraft mac n cheese. They really should stop serving it… embarrassing.
The staff is always really nice though and there are good beers on tap so that’s a start.

Great casual burger and other messy French fry creations and drinks spot with friendly service, a fun lively vibe good for kids, tweens/​teens (saw all these varied groups at tables), Bros and gals with cravings for creative burgers messy carbs and deep fried chocolate .
I read about Mel’s on Unilocal and having cravings for messy burgers fries and chocolate insisted on going despite my ultra healthy sons objection
The atmosphere is chill, casual lively with an interesting menu and creatively named burgers — a menu full of burgers loaded with all kinds of different «stuff…» Also loaded French fry options including chili, garlic, gravy /​cheese … And what I ordered –fries with sour cream bacon and chives.
Didn’t have a heart attack yet? For dessert they have fried Oreos and twinkles (or a combo of both) — oh my !
What we had:
— whiskey mule– fantastically made Mmm
— fries with sour cream, bacon and sour cream. Wow. When it first came out I said good but where’s the bacon, as there were only a few traces. She had more added, not a problem. The French fry portion was so ginormous I was full from it before my burger arrived and it still looked like I hadn’t even put a dent in the basket of fries. (Me: Please take these away so I don’t gain 5 pounds picking at these delic fries)
— dirty hipster burger with a giant onion ring and oozing sauce … the initial appearance of ooze was a little unsettling looking like my burger was getting ill… but I have to credit having just eaten 4 potatoes worth of (delicious) oozing with sour cream fries and being full. The crunchy onion and hint of sweetness from the cheese paired well and was very good. I read a couple reviews commenting on the burger being small but I think the appeal of Mel’s burgers is on the burger with all its stuff /​toppings not on the actual actual burger itself. If the burger was any bigger they would have to have to make stretchers available for patrons having heart issues after French fry and burger attacks.
— fried Oreos !!! I’ve only had these at festivals years ago and it completed the craving list for me … Chocolate… deep fried ?? Ummm so horribly sinfully yum. Fab. I had one, my son had a couple, and a friend who came by later had the remaining two and (even unheated) simply said, «wow.»
— my very healthy son ate his burger and all his fries … Two fried Oreos … was upset with me after doing so– insisted on guilt running home– burning off calories — but he recovered just fine.
I joked with the very friendly attentive server about it meeting my special cravings and she agreed 100% pointing out they even have fried pickles to start — she said some people say it’s a great place for the bros but she says no this is a perfect place for the gals, once a month. Totally agreed.
Highly recommend as a great casual restaurant Ues great for kids, tweens /​teens, families, guys and gals who have cravings for burgers and fries loaded with all kinds of interesting stuff.

I’m genuinely kind of surprised at all the negative reviews… maybe its a hit or miss sort of thing, but I’ve been here 3 times since this location opened and every time has been great!
First off, great beer selection! They recently started a stamp card challenge– when you drink every type of beer on the stamp card, you join the «Brew Crew.» The perks? 4 free oz of beer every time you order, and you’re eligible for some nightly specials? (Thanks for encouraging the continued torture of my poor liver, Mel’s!)
I’ve gotten the Cadillac Burger (bacon cheeseburger) and the California burger twice (avocado/​monterey jack cheese in burger) and it was always cooked to perfection. I also recommend the garlic fries– sprinkled with grated garlic, its stinky but OH SO TASTY.
Also check out their desserts! The Fried Oreos are AWESOME

Mel’s burger bar is your typical second Avenue restaurant blaring music Budweiser commercials on the wall and the Sunday football games on the flat screen televisions. Yet again another restaurant trying to appeal to the younger upper Eastside millennial crowd.
As for the food it is a much different story here in this somewhat typical second Avenue restaurant. It seems these days everyone is trying to capitalize on the New York city burger craze. Mel’s burger bar has an eclectic menu of different variations of hamburgers and they seem to do them quite well. I ordered a medium burger and guess what it came out medium! as for the appetizer I ordered chicken wings which seems a little bit on the anemic side although the blue cheese sauce seems very good thick and authentic.
As for the service it needs to be worked on I was three wings into my appetizer when the burger arrived
Over all if you’re looking for a burger place which does burgers well this is your spot

I love this place ! The service was great! I ordered BBQ wings, classic sliders, sucker punch drink and fried oreos. The BBQ wings taste really good! I’m usually picky when it comes to the BBQ sauce but their sauce was perfect! The classic sliders were very delicious. OMG and their fried oreos were to die for! It came with a little cup of vanilla ice cream and lastly their sucker punch drink was OK, it was really sour but still alright. Our server Kayla was really good! She kept coming to the table just to see if we wanted anything else and if our food was okay. Their service was great I tell ya! I would definitely go back here!
I was reading some of the reviews before my friend and I walked in and ppl mentioned that they waited for there food for a long time. But we got our food no longer than 10 minutes. I mean the place gets really packed around 7pm but we still got our food really quick.
The guy that brought us our food was really adorable and funny! Every time he brought us the food he would say it in a way it would make us laugh. He caught me taking a picture with my fried oreos and ended up jumping in lmao.

So previously it used to be burger 21 here — which was much better. Mel’s burger menu is similar but definitely a downgrade. If you’ve ever heard of the current slang: #basicb*tch this would be it.
The turkey burger was so bland and boring, nearly tasteless. I bet there was no seasoning used on it. They give it to you with Kraft sliced cheddar cheese. If you want to be competitive in NYC you should have options for fresh tasty cheeses on our burgers. The price is the same as other places and not worth it.
I also ordered chicken tenders which I was expecting those crispy typical light brown tenders. This was unseasoned, barely breaded and fried chicken. It also lacked taste. The sauces available are also basic: ranch, honey mustard, buffalo, and bbq. Very boring.
Overall we spent about $ 20 before tip. The staff was nice. I feel bad they have to represent bad food. Won’t be trying here again! Sorry, Mel.