Saturday, March 01, 2008

A slice of Americana

Mel's Drive-In is the sort of place that peddles Americana to camera-totting tourists. Julie and I decided to give it a try when we spotted one just round the corner from my hotel on Fourth Street in San Francisco.

Mel's prides itself as the setting for the cult movie "American Graffiti". The feel and decor was reasonably authentic, although it didn't have the wholesame "apple pie" atmosphere of Happy Days (which is my own interpretation of a diner). This being SFO, the wait staff were reasonably eclectic ranging from Mexicans to Chinese to Arabs. The service was a little patchy and could do with a large dose of "mom and pop" friendliness.

Mel's Drive In @ Fourth & Mission, San Francisco

The meatloaf special

After years of watching middle class American families sit down to dinner on '70s TV, I've been curious to find out what meatloaf tastes like. So when we spotted it on the menu at Mel's, we ordered it just to find out. Julie said that many of her friends from middle America were not very fond of it, having eaten a gummy version of it through their high school years.

When it arrived, I found it to be pleasantly wholesome and tasty, albeit a tad salty. The mashed potatoes and zuchinni added a lovely counterbalance to the slices of baked minced meat. Which is all that meatloaf is. Sigh..the romanticism of television strikes again!

Aunty Jo-Jo enjoying her vanilla milk shake!

Still all is not lost as I thoroughly enjoyed my vanilla milk shake. This was definitely a glass of Americana that I was happy to indulge in.

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