The Melt 3rd & Townsend

Not surprised to see this location closed. Sure, there might have been several varieties of cheeses or styles to choose from, but all in all, they were mostly basic grilled cheese sandwiches. Nothing to get exceptionally excited about in my book. Yes, the quality was decent and the taste good, but for the prices you were paying here, you could get more bang for your buck at other casual neighborhood establishments like, say, HRD Coffee Shop or even the American Grilled Cheese Kitchen.
This location was generally worth a stop only if the area was flooded with folks for a Giants game, this being the only place where there wouldn’t be a long wait.

We come here when we want something quick. I like the clean interior and the service is friendly enough. I like their lemonade.

We placed a whole bunch of orders for office lunch on the phone. They told us to come and get our orders in 15 minutes. When we went to pick up our food exactly in 15 minutes, not only our orders were not ready, but they told us «We don’t take order on the phone». But you DID!
They put the sandwiches that are ready all over the cooking counter and leave them till they turned COLD and HARD.
They asked if we wanted chips and pickles on the phone and at the counter TWICE and we said YES TWICE. But they FORGOT to give us any.
I am reporting this incident to their headquarters. They should provide their panicky employees intensive training before taking customers’ money.
Food: Mediocre, Service: Retarded, Location: No Parking
NOTHING IS GOOD ABOUT THIS PLACE.

Had the classic with tomato soup for the first time and it was
! Wow! I’m hooked! Great comfort food and nice staff.

Where to start? Their online ordering system is ridiculous. The order isn’t placed until you walk in and scan your QR code, and then you get dumped in the same queue as everyone else who ordered in store. The point of ordering ahead is so your order can be ready when you arrive to pick it up.
They gave me the wrong sandwich, which I didn’t realize until I started eating, back at my office. I wasn’t about to go back there again and switch.
They messed up my friend’s order. Also, since they don’t charge your credit card until you walk into the store and scan the QR code, you don’t know if your order goes through until you get there. Her card was rejected, so she had to wait in line anyway. Then when they fixed her order, she was at the end of the queue. Eventually, when it was ready, they gave her the wrong order as well.
There are so many good food options around SOMA; I don’t need to come here again.

This place is pretty mediocre. Came here before the OTR concert and the place was packed. I like that you can tell how quickly your order will be up on the screen. The place is fairly spacious but obviously not enough to hold a lot when there are events happening at the Park.
Food wise, I got the shroom. Nothing special. It was ok. Not amazing. The pickles on the side were good though!
Verdict: Meh. I’m not like dying to come back but I’ll keep this place in mind.

Decent enough food but staff are rude and characterless. Their machine was having issues accepting my credit card and they were incompetent and rude at handling it. When I eventually persuaded them to try another machine, lo and behold it worked.
Do yourself a favor and walk two blocks to American grilled cheese kitchen.

if you want a quick cheesy bite to eat, well, this is the place. My sandwich was cheesy and tasty and the same goes for the soup. The décor is very simple and it seems that the furniture is from Ikea. A good place to get your cheese sandwich in downtown San Francisco.

Pretty run of the mill but that’s what you usually get from a chain.
Come here for lunch sometimes because its convenient. Ordering online and picking up seems to be the quickest.
The classic + additional stuff is not bad, but not amazing. Still doesn’t disappoint though.

I started feeling hungry right after coming out of Lucky Strike. There’s a Subway Sandwich, Safeway, McDonald’s and Starbucks Coffee nearby. The Iron Cactus and The Creamery are also nearby. I’ve already patronized these establishments and wanted to try something new. That is when I made the decision to come in.
The Egg-​In-​A-​Hole Melt with a side of potato chips — delicious. I’ll have to try other items on the menu the next time I come in.
Clean modern facility and staff members are also friendly. Their packaging materials are all recyclable and compostable which is a good thing for the environment.
Other pros:
— Outdoor Seating*
— Free Wi-​Fi*
*Props to these amenities!
This restaurant is also within a distance from AT&T Park. If you have time to spare before the the Giants’ game start, then this is your go to spot.

Came here on a Sunday before the Giants game around 11:30. At that time, not too crowded, no line and empty tables. By 12 there was a line out the door all tables were full.
Menu, to me, is pretty limited. If someone in your party isn’t in the mood for some type of grilled cheese, so may be SOL. My brother and daughter ordered the egg and cheese sandwich, I had a ham and cheese. All came with some potato chips.
Sandwiches were OK, really comparable to what I make at home. OK value. Better than MickeyD’s across the street, but honestly there are better eating options in the area, even some in the ballpark. Probably won’t do Melt again.
Oh, free wifi is a plus.

I have to admit, I am impressed with this place. My old office was right next to the first location and it was not good. But they seem to have worked out the kinks.
I had combo. The sandwich was good and the Caesar salad was fantastic. Even the ice tea was really good. I really appreciate that the food is simple and straight forward. There are way too many uppity pretentious hipster filled joints in the area. Keep it simple.
Some folks mention the cost being too high but for Soma it is more than reasonable.
The music is really cool, but in still wonder about the cool factor of the initials versus a name for your order.
I think I have just found a new place to add to the rotation for office days!

;(
When I visited SF in late Jan., I walked around and decided I wanted to try it the following day due to prior plans. This was my second regret during my stay (the first being wrong choice of shoes). It wasn’t disgusting, so I’m not giving it one star, but this is a bad choice considering all the other nearby options. I was a sucker because I like grilled cheese; posting this now makes me slightly sad…

A «go-​to» place for SoMa residents for a reason. The Melt’s menu isn’t huge, so it’s not the kind of place you can revisit too frequently. However, the sandwiches are always tasty and their tomato soup is consistently good.
Note: Their $ 1 PBR with sandwich deal is not valid on pick-​up orders.

My grilled cheese sandwich looked so cute all sliced into cubes… I can’t say it was an amazing grilled cheese though… the cheddar cheese got hard really fast, so it wasn’t as melty-​gooey as I had imagined. The tomato soup, however, was yummy. I got the order that was displayed outside their door.
My faves: the décor of the restaurant. I liked the white brick walls, and white interior of tables and seats. I felt like I was in a very clean environment. The place was filled with bright lighting and natural lighting from the large windows.
I wanted to try «The Melt» and I did. Maybe if I need some soup on a cold day and I was near the area, I’d have the tomato soup again.

Hooray for grilled cheese! Last year when the Melt was promoting I kept that on my list of places to try. A co-​worker and I finally went and I was so excited! So we thought we could save time and order online so it would be ready by the time we get there. A hop skip and leap and we get there. Unfortunately, the online service is not working. So we have to order again. (–Minus star) so we order the grilled cheese+ tomato soup, chips + lemonade. Great combo! We also ordered the s’mores sandwich, YES it is good!
It does get busy during lunch so keep that in mind. Like 3 months later I get an email saying that I have a pending order with the melt. I honestly was scared that someone has hacked my account or something than I remembered I had an online order from the Melt. The cashier at the Melt has reassured me the order was going to be cancelled-​but that didn’t happen. ‘m not quite sure if I recommend ordering online. This might have been fixed, but it doesn’t change my mind about The Melt. I love me some grilled cheese!

This is only my second Unilocal review in five years, but my recent experience at the Melt on Townsend x 3^rd was the worst food experience I’ve ever had.
Walking in, I knew there might be a bit of a delay to get my food since it was 7:15pm on a Giants game day. However, I did not expect it to take 30 minutes to prepare fast food that takes 45 seconds to heat up in a Panini press.
Not only were they out of multiple soups and meats, but they were making the sandwiches and setting them on wet towels (see pictures attached). The ingredients were out all over the counter being touched by the bare hands of multiple employees. Not to mention, the bathroom key was a few feet away on the counter.
If you’re going to open a restaurant a block from AT&T park, hire enough good people and have enough ingredients to support the crowds. This is unacceptable. Next time I want fast food, I’m heading to McDonald’s across the street.

Had the classic grilled cheese sandwich with the add on of short ribs (compliments of the cashier bec it was my first time here). The bread was over salted. Not sure if its all like that but my sandwich was very salty.

So, lemme first start by saying that yesterday was the first time I’ve ever been to the Melt. I was lured in by an ad I seen on
. The melt was offering a FREE grilled cheese, so hell… I was going to get my FREE ON! Anyways, if you live in SF you know that finding parking on 3^rd and Towsend is a pain in the ass and not to mention a quarter gets you only 3 minutes, but hey… I was in the area and I wanted to take advantage of the deal.
I walked in with my printed bar code. I approached the counter where two caucasion (one male/​one female) workers stood. As soon as I got to the front of the register, both workers completely turned their backs. My fiancé then confronted the male worker and asked him for some customer service. Instead of being apologetic or greeting us for coming into the store… he kind of smirked and just told us to scan the bar code on the cashier’s table. Okay, I’ve never been here before nor have I ever had to scan my order anywhere else… so this was all knew to us. After we scanned our barcode… we just stood there. No one told us anything else. So, I then had to approach the female worker and asked her what is to come next. Although she did explain the next step, I still feel they should have explained the process when we walked in.
The joint was completely empty and there were 3 grilled cheese makers available for use. Now why did the male worker only use 1 grilled cheese maker when he had 2 orders to fill, beats the hell out of me! SLOWWWWWWWWWWW SERVICE! Did I mention 1 quarter only gets you 3 minutes of parking?
Anyways, we ordered the «the Italian Job» Fontina & Provolone on Housemade Garlic Bread with portabello mushrooms. I enjoyed the grilled cheese, but hated my experience there. So, 3 stars goes towards the sandwich itself.
I phoned the manager of the MELT this morning. Her name was KIM. She was very apologetic and did offer me a FREE MEAL for the inconvenience. Although, I probaly won’t be back to that spot again… I do appreciate the manager for her kindness and sincerity.

I came by here for a snack after the giant’s game.
I was able to get a coupon to try a free sandwich. I tried the Italian job with bacon, extra cheese, jalapenos, tomatoes and a pickle on the side. The bacon and extra cheese cost more but the other condiment did not.
It was really neat that I just walked up to the counter and scanned my bar code and the order automatically populated in their system. Your initials show up on the board and it tells you the progress of your order. So you can see where you are in line, and when it’s done, the person yells your initial and you go pick up your grilled cheese.
I wasn’t impressed with this grilled cheese. It was cheesy but it wasn’t cheesy enough, the cheese didn’t fall off the side or impress me particularly. I like the garlic bread it was on, I like the seasoning but I noticed it was only seasoned on one side. I couldn’t really tell the other items in my sandwich besides the cheese. I like having the pickle on the side because it counters the warmth of the sandwich.
This place is okay, the price is reasonable (it’s definitely cheaper than The American Grilled Cheese).
I like the atmosphere of this place, it’s very modern. Free wi-​fi, and I like their use of technology. However, a grilled cheese sandwich can be made a lot better than what I had. I don’t recommend eating it cold, I imagine it’ll be even more disgusting.