Melt bar and grill open

mmmmm.....Mercury Tenders

To be fair, Melt's slogan is "Always Get The Half"

We enjoy melt in Lakewood, but I didn’t like the Avon location. Melt seems to work best when it’s a small operation and run/cooked by people who are vested in it. Once it becomes a chain the quality and care drop.

I frequented the original Lakewood location back in 2007-ish. It was obvious that I wasn't a parent back then, because I was willing to wait 30 minutes plus for a table. I think I did the one in Independence in 2010. I just got to the CP location in spring 2022, and it was about what I expected. It was an abbreviated menu, and they didn't have the fresh-cut fries that the stand-alone locations had. The service was fine, the brew selection was OK, and it was infinitely better than the Friday's microwaved crap. It also cost more than the outside locations, but that was expected in the park.

Today's lunch at home; Pepperidge Farm seeded rye bread, very scantily buttered. Two slices of Baby Swiss cheese. A few slices of Boars Head honey glaze ham. Toasted slowly so the cheese melts & the ham gets hot. A mug of good-old Campbells Tomato soup, and some Kellogs Town House Flip-sides crackers. Yes indeed!

Do that every day and you can be a debt-free homeowner while us dang millennials go to Melt for our grilled cheese and complain about rising rent.

That escalated quickly

Being from Wisconsin- it’s adorable how you all think you know how to make a grilled cheese.

Being from Ohio, I never ordered a grilled cheese from Melt. Least compelling option on their menu.

That said, making a grilled cheese isn't exactly difficult; but kudos to Wisconsin cheese makers.

But there are so many ingredients! And at least 2 steps, maybe even 3!

XS NightClub:

Being from Wisconsin- it’s adorable how you all think you know how to make a grilled cheese.

Okay, I admit I had to improvise on the cheese source as Heini's in Berlin OH is a little ways away from my FL panhandle locale.

Kevinj:

Being from Ohio, I never ordered a grilled cheese from Melt.

I lived about 1/4 mile from the Melt Lakewood location until 2006 and never set foot in there, and any of their other locations as well. So much for "Support local business!"

djDaemon:
But there are so many ingredients! And at least 2 steps, maybe even 3!

2 or 3 steps is about my limit for attempting to make a meal. I need to appear on Worst Cooks in America! I did employ the special "scantily" buttered technique though.

I was wondering if I had any food porn from back in those days, and what do you know, 2008. The original iPhone wasn't great in low light. I remember this was blackened chicken, holding the onions and I think peppers. This was the original Lakewood location. The bread came from a bakery nearby, as I recall. The fries were cut there. As far as grilled cheese goes, it was elevated.

Jeff, they got their bread from Breadsmith down the street. Yep, I used to work across the street from the original Melt in Lakewood when it first opened, it was the White Door Tavern before that. A few things killed the Avon location. The recent $20 price point for the whole sandwiche being the first. It's just not worth the cost. ( I can still get a 1 lb. Corned Beef Sandwich from Joe's Deli in Rocky River for 3 bucks less and it's much better. The second was the location. The Avon spot is not visible from the street and sits far back off Detroit Rd by a Cambria (?) hotel. Cost did not equal value any longer. Third, might be the lack of being able to hire staff. The food was still good the last time I went there a year ago. Just my 2c.

When does a grilled cheese sandwich become a chicken sandwich? Or maybe a cheeseburger is really a grilled cheese sandwich with a hamburger on it?

It was elevated and seemed so special. When they came to Columbus there was quite a period of time when you couldn’t get near. The gimmick was simple but unexpected and that may have been the key. Huge portions and things like thanksgiving flavors on a grilled cheese made people want to try it. Many of us got our first taste of Korean barbecue on a Melt sandwich. The bar was busy and the decor was cute with all those illuminated, Cleveland-style porch decorations.
So I don’t know what happened, as the place seemed like a clear winner. Maybe us Ohioans are fickle and things can only last so long. As for Cedar Point, it seemed like an amateur’s way of reproducing the experience. Which was odd, as originally they had Melt managers and employees to get the place started. But it was never up to snuff and I tried it several times. Odd that it’s one of the only ones left.

Actually, I think Alton Brown has it right.

HeyIsntThatRob?:

I don't know if the growth of those individual places into chains made the food less special to me, but I have lost the desire to go back to either of those places.

I always felt this way ever since Quaker Steak & Lube franchised in new locations. Not the same as the original in Sharon, PA.

I say the same about the original Trump Steaks from the Sharper Image. They were originally so tasty straight out of the cryopak, they truly were "The World's Greatest Steaks". It was easy to have them shipped to your house right from QVC infomercials as well. Steaks in the mail never tasted so good. Too bad that man went on to other things, because i really miss those steaks. Maybe he'll go back to his roots one day, and return tender meats to our mailboxes.

Trump steaks were dry aged, and shipped by Buckhead Beef a division of Sysco.

You can order dry aged steaks from Peter Luger in New York, Allen Brothers from Chicago, or you can dry age steaks at home.

Dry Age Beef