Mel's Diner

Taylor provided excellent recommendations and answered all questions. The salad was fresh and crisp. Enjoyed the Philly quesadilla

Great food, fantastic servers, and a really quirky atmosphere for a diner in a little podunk Texas town. Philly Cheesesteak 👍👍 DEFINITELY save room for a handspun milkshake made with REAL ice cream.

Great stop if you are driving through Thurber Texas… I never heard of this place but great stop if you are a film buff, burger lover, and love classic diner feel. Would definitely make this my stop ever time I drive to Dallas. Could not recommend enough.

Rebecca Peters

Quaint little diner in the middle of Mingus, Texas, just a short drive off I-20 W exit 367. Mel's a transplant from Maryland and her fish is different from what we're use to. Staff was very friendly and attentive.

lifesgoodintexas

This place is fabulous! Amazingly good food, fast friendly service in a clean and nicely decorated dining room. All of the food is top notch, but the seafood is exceptionally good. The shrimp and catfish are beyond good and cooked with a Maryland coastal influence. The owner is very friendly and polite. They offer some unique menu items. Our favorite are the Old Bay apple cider vinegar french fries!!

Elizabeth A. Howard

Mels is such an amazing restaurant. Everything we ordered was delightful. The catfish and shrimp were perfectly cooked and flavorful! The stuffed jalapeños were not fried which was a refreshing change from what we normally see on menus. Try the pickle fries! There are so many shake flavors I will need to come back each time we drive by the area, my shake was so good!! The waitstaff were all knowledgeable about the menu and enjoyable to talk with while we ate. We were lucky to come by during the Halloween season and the restaurant was decorated in the spirit of the season!

Special Delivery

🍳🍦 YeeeeeeHaWWW! Found a new place to eat with Semi Truck Parking next door on Wed&Thurs but gonna be a tight fit Fri-Sun in either lot. The staff is an absolute trip. I had fun meeting them. The Burger was flavorful , fresh cut fries, great milkshake with all kinds of flavors, Chicken Fried Chicken with white gravy, chunky mashed potatoes and fresh green beans that taste like they were right from a local garden…….. Cha Ching. You gotta stop in.

BJ Scruggs

We stopped here on the way to a vacation destination and so glad we did! We ordered the Maryland crab cakes, Maryland Philly cheese steak, onion rings, and a crazy burger. Everything was fresh and delicious! The owner is from Maryland, but definitely knows how to please Texans. What really sets this place over the top was the shake and malt selection. Even though they didn’t advertise any peppermint shakes, they made one especially for us. We plan to return on our way back home! Thank you Mel for moving to Texas!

Matthew Strawn

My wife and I stopped here for dinner on our day trip through North Texas and we were blown away. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. I had the small CFC with fried okra and coleslaw. She had the Mackie Cheese Burger with fries. Everything was well served and enjoyed. (The coleslaw was a little bland but some salt and pepper fixed it right up. The decorations were adorable and nostalgic prompting many conversations about all the great movies and characters. The customers were "down home" locals who all seemed to know each other and everyone was completely at ease and in no rush. It was nice to see people who can still talk to each other over good food without checking their cell every two minutes. The best was our waitress Madison. She was friendly, attentive, prompt and just everything you could ever want in great wait staff. Thank you Mel's Diner and Madison for a wonderful evening meal.

Brandi Baird

Oh my gosh, the food is amazing here…. And Mel’s sweet daughter waited on us. She was adorable and had great recommendations. We met Mel on the way out and she greeted us warmly & invited us back! Great, great great experience!

Tiffany Deffenbaugh

OH MY HEAVENS!!! I just got shot back to my childhood!! I felt like a child in ohhs and ahhs. The staff is super friendly, efficient and I felt like I had been there 1000 times ( remember the show CHEERS?!?) The food is TOP notch and hand made fresh and budget friendly! Thank you SOOO much!! Will be back every chance I have. I may just drive the 3 hrs for the experience over and over!

Richard Santos

Had jalapeno poppers excellent, had million dollar Burger with sweet jalapeno bun and fresh cut fries. This is worth the drive a hidden gem.

aaron johnson

Great stop if you are driving through Thurber Texas… I never heard of this place but great stop if you are a film buff, burger lover, and love classic diner feel. Would definitely make this my stop ever time I drive to Dallas. Could not recommend enough.

Michael Fox

We had the Philly cheesesteak and my mom had the shrimp and chicken salad. The cheesesteak was really good. It had Great flavor and the bread stayed toasted and didn’t get soggy, which is a huge texture thing to me. The shrimp and chicken salad was well displayed and my mom said one of the best she has eaten. I recommend the ranch platter for dipping fries that has 5 flavors of Ranch… Dill was my fave. They also have good burgers and about 53 flavors of milk shakes. The waitress and owner were super inviting and the Christmas decor was fun. Aparently, besides the 60’s theme, they decorate for both Christmas and Halloween. Looking forward to my next visit and having some good food!

Chuck Ham

Taylor provided excellent recommendations and answered all questions. The salad was fresh and crisp. Enjoyed the Philly quesadilla

Great little stop just off I20. Quirky atmosphere. Friendly service. We had the chicken fried steak, okra, fries and chicken fried chicken, with toast and unsweetened tea. Quick service. All homemade all delicious. Would stop here again.

So happy we saw the billboard for Mel’s! Taylor was a great server, we asked for recommendations and she delivered! We tried the BBQ burger, catfish, onion rings and fries- it was all exceptional! Our favorites were the onion rings and catfish. Really enjoyed chatting with Mel and hearing the history of the restaurant. Wish we lived closer but looking forward to coming back when we can!

My lady and I go probably every other week. She absolutely loves the macky burger and I like the million dollar burger. Mel's has never disappointed in it's service and food quality.

The food is so good! And the decor is really cute. They have a bunch of different flavors of milkshakes. I had a s'mores milkshake and loved it!

Hyrum Roundy

Loved the decorations and the food was great ! Warm an friendly place not far off the highway and well worth it !

Meredith Harris

The food is so good! And the decor is really cute. They have a bunch of different flavors of milkshakes. I had a s'mores milkshake and loved it!

Kelly Davidson

The atmosphere is warm and wonderful. You get a lot of food for a little $. We can't wait to get to go back again. It's a real treat.

Sydney Rowland

Great little stop just off I20. Quirky atmosphere. Friendly service. We had the chicken fried steak, okra, fries and chicken fried chicken, with toast and unsweetened tea. Quick service. All homemade all delicious. Would stop here again.

Kelli Russell

So happy we saw the billboard for Mel’s! Taylor was a great server, we asked for recommendations and she delivered! We tried the BBQ burger, catfish, onion rings and fries- it was all exceptional! Our favorites were the onion rings and catfish. Really enjoyed chatting with Mel and hearing the history of the restaurant. Wish we lived closer but looking forward to coming back when we can!

One in our party, got his burger after we had nearly finished eating. They didn't comp it, or take any off. They put it to-go, so he could take it with him. Soooo, the shrimp is delicious, the fish is okay, the FF are good, didn't care much for the bread! Others had Burger's - good Burger bowl - delicious. Nice little place to go and eat. Will have to try the other dishes on the menu.

Food was all fantastic, very good. Chicken fried steak is really good. Other reviews make it sound like a seafood place, that is not the case although the seafood is great.

Brenda Doss

One in our party, got his burger after we had nearly finished eating. They didn't comp it, or take any off. They put it to-go, so he could take it with him. Soooo, the shrimp is delicious, the fish is okay, the FF are good, didn't care much for the bread! Others had Burger's - good Burger bowl - delicious. Nice little place to go and eat. Will have to try the other dishes on the menu.

Gabriel Wood

Food was all fantastic, very good. Chicken fried steak is really good. Other reviews make it sound like a seafood place, that is not the case although the seafood is great.

This places was a little gem, great food and atmosphere. I would recommend. But, unfortunately sometimes this happens and it's not very often, I found small clump of hair in my fries, I did tell the waitresses, from that point it seemed like we were to blame for that, after I notified her, she seemed to have a bad attitude towards, tossing the check book at us as we requested for the check, now, we paid for our ticket of $55 dollars but, I was expecting to at least get something complimentary bc of the hair. But we got none of that or a apology, and even on out way out, we said our thank you and she looked at us and said nothing... I am to say, I didn't leave a tip bc of she acted towards us after we heard so much about MELS, which is way we went to this location, but after that treatment, I don't think we will be making a return trip.

JOHNJOHN “Spooki Boi” Montelongo

This places was a little gem, great food and atmosphere. I would recommend. But, unfortunately sometimes this happens and it's not very often, I found small clump of hair in my fries, I did tell the waitresses, from that point it seemed like we were to blame for that, after I notified her, she seemed to have a bad attitude towards, tossing the check book at us as we requested for the check, now, we paid for our ticket of $55 dollars but, I was expecting to at least get something complimentary bc of the hair. But we got none of that or a apology, and even on out way out, we said our thank you and she looked at us and said nothing... I am to say, I didn't leave a tip bc of she acted towards us after we heard so much about MELS, which is way we went to this location, but after that treatment, I don't think we will be making a return trip.