Mel's Raspberry Patch - Sanford

Food was disgusting ordered omelet with cheese an onion eggs so dry no cheese no onion omg so dry could not eat it never wasting money there again

First time to Mel’s. This was the best breakfast I’ve had in a long time! Basic American breakfast at a high quality and great taste. Even better was the service! The wait staff knows everyone by name seems to genuinely enjoy their job and the community they’ve built around them. Wish I lived closer so I could be a regular too!

This is a difficult review to put together fairly. When arriving, It’s a quaint little small town feeling diner atmosphere with pleasing aesthetics. I liked that instantly upon walking in. The only thing missing were some more comfortable seating like a couple of booths. Sadly, no booths. And then the dining experience began. The food is actually quite good. Eggs and pancakes were good and the sausage and bacon were excellent. Bacon usually comes as soft or crispy. No one seems to know what medium bacon is anymore but this place nails it. Here’s where it started going downhill though. The pricing isn’t bad at first glance. However, you quickly realize that the menu is stripped down with more side order pricing options than there are main course options. Home fries and toast aren’t included in the breakfast meals. Who the heck does that? It’s all to give you a fairly priced menu experience just to quickly ramp the pricing up because you have to order side items that are included in 99% of diners… but not here. Seems like a somewhat scummy revenue strategy. The service wasn’t great. The lady who took the order was not accommodating or very friendly at all. She wasn’t rude, just bluntly matter of fact. Like I said, their breakfast samplers do not include toast or homefries. I have never seen this in my 44 years. When asked if you could do a substitution, we were told it depends. We asked if we could substitute eggs for home fries and she sharply said no. When I asked what COULD be substituted, she said they really don’t do substitutions. So then why say that they do substitutions depending on what they are? Tough for me to review because some stuff was great and some stuff wasn’t. I wanted to be fair and give a 3 or 4 star but that menu strategy to force people into inflating their check by adding sides which are typically included everywhere else in the breakfast world just simply cannot be ignored. It’s 2 stars for me. Fixing that menu inclusion into breakfast meals would catapult this place to a 4 star rating. Add a booth or two and throw some home fries in your breaks Fast meals and this place would even flirt with a 5 star because the food really was THAT good. The food and the pleasing aesthetics is what is saving it from a 1 star. One last thing. Avoid the chocolate chip pancakes/waffles. They don’t mix it in the batter. They cook them plain and dump a croaload of chocolate chips on top. Thank you for the generous amount of chocolate chips. But it turns the whole plate into a hot fudge gooey mess which it wouldn’t be if it were incorporated into the batter.

Wonderful little breakfast and lunch place. Definitely a hidden gem. Menu and daily specials. Can't go wrong. Staff is friendly.

Was there the first time wasnt over impressed with food or service. Went a second time to give a chance they were busy. Again no exciting. Service was slow and food cold when arrived. Everyone has own opinion but me personally will not return