My Diner Melrose

My Diner in Melrose was the second location for this delightful little chain diner. They moved to takeout only and are now back to dine in again. I'm so happy that they survived the pandemic. Turns out they didn't. This was the only place where you could get a Turkey Dinner with all dark meat. No more, all white now. Makes me wonder if they even roast their own turkeys anymore. Let me know if anybody else offers turkey dinner with all dark.

New owner as of 01/25/21, and they don't respond to emails or to the contact form. They are not associated with the Boston location.

They have parking behind the restaurant, and there is free parking across from their parking. There is also outside seating.

It's not a big room, and there are seats at the counter. The staff is super friendly, and nothing is ever a problem here.

Corned Beef Hash with three eggs ($7.95) over-easy was my first dish here dining in. The hash is excellent, well seasoned, but was really crisp. My fried over-easy eggs were cooked as ordered and were actually fried. Look at that nice color on the eggs! A far cry from the steamed eggs you usually get in other places. The homefries are excellent. My Scali toast was only 2/3 toasted as usual since the slices don't really fit in the toaster. Some restaurants manage, don't know how? Bigger toasters? I think I'll have to switch to the light rye that I also like. 06/27/21

I'm starting to use the gift cards I bought for my stimulus money. My lunches are now only costing me a (generous) tip.

Meatloaf & Eggs ($8.95). Three separate perfectly fried eggs. They must have seen my IG post where I complained about the partially toasted Scali bread. The toast is now cut in half and properly toasted! The home fries were a bit darker today but still good. The meatloaf was moist and very tender. It didn't have much texture, but this beats a dried-out meatloaf. I really enjoyed my lunch today. 08/05/21

Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese ($9.95). Do you want grilled chicken or fried chicken? Is the fried chicken previously frozen? No, we cook it to order. The elbow macaroni could have been more al dente but wasn't ruined. There was a lot of the fried chicken that was still crispy despite being in the sauce. And it was not overcooked, so I was pleased. The sauce was tasty, and I was delighted with my lunch (and dinner 😋). In fact, there was so much chicken left that I had one more dinner left. 08/24/21

Turkey Chili Cheese Omelet ($7.50) with a side of Corned Beef Hash ($3.95). The home fries were excellent today. I asked for the omelet to be cooked wet or lightly cooked. It wasn't, but it had a nice color 😊. The turkey chili filling was really watery and tasted just barely of chili. Having had the leftovers for dinner, the slightly reheated chili was actually tastier that way. The hash was very thin and crisped up on the top and seriously crisped up on the bottom, but it was palatable. 09/05/21

Corned-Beef Hash Benedict ($8.95). "Poached Eggs with Corned-beef Hash". The hash was better this way. If you order it as a side or with eggs, ask for the corned beef hash not to be crisped to death. The eggs were way overcooked and had just a smidgen of runny yolk in the middle. There is something wrong when the kitchen can't poach an egg correctly. Cooking 101 failure. You get three eggs. Home fries were still good. The English Muffins were light, and btw, they are not English. I asked for a side of Linguica sausage ($3.75). It was dry, but that might be normal. The Hollandaise was bland and not a very generous serving. 09/23/21

They have a Fried Fish Dinner on Fridays that I was going to try. However, I have decided that fried haddock is a waste of a meal. Even if the batter is seasoned, and it rarely is, the fish itself is too bland. Reheating leftovers will dry out the fish, and it's often dry to start with.

Nobody could tell me what the cut used in their corned beef are, so their Reuben goes unreviewed. I have seen a few go by, and the corned beef is thinly sliced, so no clue there.

Address: 399 Main St, Melrose, MA 02176 Phone: (781) 662-6777

Not all those who wander are lost.
-- J.R.R. Tolkien