Mel's Drive-In refers to two American restaurant chains, the successors of a chain 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, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. The original chain operated until the 1970s. A new generation of Mel's Drive-In restaurants then began opening in the 1980s, with the business split into two separate groups: one doing business under the original Mel's Drive-In name and the other under the name Original Mels. Mel's Drive-In became closely associated with the 1973 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, Paul Le Mat ...

'' after one of its restaurants was used as a filming location. The film's distributor,

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

, licensed the Mel's Drive-In brand to recreate the restaurants in its Universal theme parks. The signage and menus on the original Mel's Diners did not have a possessive apostrophe in the name, as would be expected. However, Universal Studios opted to include the apostrophe in all Mel's Drive-In signage, literature, and media.

History

The first Mel's Drive-In was founded in 1947 by Mel Weiss and

. It later expanded to several other locations. After the last of the original restaurants closed in the 1970s, Weiss's son Steven Weiss and partner Donald Wagstaff opened the first of a new generation of Mel's Drive-In restaurants in 1985. A family rift between father and son caused them to part ways and form two chains, with Steven retaining the "Mel's Drive-In" name and Mel calling his restaurants "Original Mels". The elder Weiss then sold his company in 1994. The Original Mels locations are not listed on the official Mel's Drive-In website, and vice versa.

Locations

Next generation Mel's Drive-In

, the next generation Mel's Drive-In chain has eight locations, four in San Francisco and four in the

Los Angeles Area Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, ...

. Some Mel's Drive-In locations are not 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. The location near

Downtown San Francisco The Financial District is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, United States, that serves as its main central business district and had 372,829 jobs according to U.S. census tracts as of 2012–2016. It is home to the city's largest con ...

, 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 in 2018 to build housing. All four locations in the Los Angeles area are housed in historic buildings. Mel's Drive-In in the

Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks (founded in 1927) is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, California within the San Fernando Valley region. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population densit ...

neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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 U ...

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 in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

was built as Ben Frank's in 1962. The

style building was designed by Lane & Schlick. Mel's Drive-In 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) * Hollywood ...

is located in a portion of the former Max Factor makeup studio designed by theater architect S. Charles Lee. The Hollywood Regency style building was designed by S. Charles Lee and built in 1935. The Mel's Drive-In in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

was built as The Penguin in 1958. The googie style building was designed by

Original Mels

The Original Mels chain has 22 locations across Northern California and Nevada. There are some Northern California locations that share the same general ''

'' nostalgia theme and the similarly styled Mel's logo.

Protest

Starting on October 16, 1963, the Ad Hoc Committee to End Discrimination organized pickets and sit-ins at the Mel's Drive-In locations in San Francisco,

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, and

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

over the fact that while the restaurant would serve food to

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

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, Mel's Drive-In co-founder who was serving as a San Francisco City supervisor at the time, settled with the protesters and began to allow black workers upfront.

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 and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

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 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

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 reco ...

”. 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 are frequently used in marketing for the film.

has built replica Mel's Drive-In restaurants, resembling the one featured in ''American Graffiti'', at their theme parks in

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. Prior to ''American Graffiti'', Mel's was used as a location in the 1967 film ''

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy drama film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, and written by William Rose. It stars Spencer Tracy (in his final role), Sidney Poitier, and Katharine Hepburn, and feat ...

''.

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 Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the ...

and

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage, career as a Golden Age of Hollywood, Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong ...

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 in West Hollywood, ...

'' (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 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 Mel's 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 Mel's Diner The Original Mels Diner at Boomtown in Verdi, Nevada.jpg, Original Mel's Diner at Boomtown in Verdi, Nevada Mels Drive-In on Market Street in San Francisco.jpg, Mel's Drive-In on Mission Street in San Francisco Mels Drive-In sign in San Francisco.jpg, Mel's Drive-In sign in San Francisco Breakfast at Mels Drive-in.jpg, Breakfast at Mel's Drive-in Original Mels in Fairfield, CA.jpg, Original Mel's 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

{{Greater Hollywood Restaurants in San Francisco Restaurants in Los Angeles Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food franchises 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