Saturday, July 31, 2010

Melt Bar and Grilled

Melt Bar and Grilled
13463 Cedar Road
Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118
216-965-0988
Dinner: July 25, 2010 (takeaway)

Mighty Macaroni Melt


Although it took me a few weeks to get to the Cleveland Heights Melt after it first opened, I've made good use of my Big Cheese Club card in last couple of months. In fact, I visited there a total of five times in July! On my first (July 2) and last (July 30) visits I ordered the sandwich of the month, which is the Firecracker Chicken: hot diablo blackened chicken, cool sliced avocado, sweet grilled pineapple and pepperjack cheese. My second visit I got my usual order of the Big Popper: fresh jalapeno peppers, cheddar & herbed cream cheese, beer battered and served with mixed berry preserves. Both sandwiches blend a little bit of sweet with a decent amount of heat. The cheese in each goes so well with both sweet and spicy elements and truly binds the sandwiches together.

On the third visit, I tried the Tokyo Tuna Melt: Asian marinated grilled yellowfin steak, ginger wasabi dressing, lettuce, tomato, muenster. I ordered the tuna rare, which was probably a mistake since the sandwich was a little too fishy to be truly delicious. It was good, but not great.

Pictured is the Mighty Macaroni Melt that was available for one day only in celebration of Christmas in July. The sandwich is creamy homemade macaroni and cheese that's breaded and fried to a golden brown and grilled with American cheese on thick sliced white bread. It was carb-o-licious!

Whether I order in or get takeout, I always skip the slaw and order double fries for an extra $.25. The slaw is too peppery for me to be enjoyable, which is too bad since I like most coleslaws. On most of my visits I was denied pickles because I was told by both servers and hosts that the pickles come with the slaw and not the sandwich. However, on my last visit my waiter told me that pickles are free(!) and that whoever told me differently was wrong. He gave me a large side of pickle slices for no charge.

My only complaint, which is not really a complaint, about Melt would be the servers and hosts/hostesses. There is definitely a "Melt" attitude that the front of house workers exude. I know they're very busy, and I've been told that they don't get breaks so maybe that's why the staff isn't overly nice. They aren't rude or nasty, just not especially friendly. They ARE all extremely knowledgeable about the menu and make helpful suggestions about drinks, but getting one to smile is like trying to break a guard at Buckingham Palace!

Most people who have heard of Melt know that the wait for a table can be hours long. Even a takeaway order can take over an hour to be ready. I would suggest going mid-afternoon (2-3 PM) or after 10PM if you can. Or head straight to the bar and eat there with little to no waiting.

No comments: