Meli Cafe: User Reviews
Meli Cafe
301 S. Halsted St. - Chicago312-454-0748
Delicious and interesting selection of breakfast foods. Not their fault they are so busy at peak times, so of course they hurry you along. Not cheap, but neither are the ingredients. We put up with a little attitude (hence my title) so that we are not banished from our favorite breakfast spot. Go early in the morning and skip the wait. Great jellies- they have jars for sale and the strawberry and the raspberry jellies are delicious. Hubby likes to open the raspberry and eat out of the jar with a spoon as a meal (hubby is sometimes an idiot)! Try the Meli's omelet- delicious and is the manu manu steak skillet. Yum.
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We were treated very rudely by the hostess. Furthermore, we asked that our sandwich go back b/c it was not cooked enough and they said NO?? Unreal......never had such a bad experience like that in my life.
Will never go back there
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Terrible experience...and NOT child friendly!!!
By sslouie02 from west loop, May 27, 2009
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My husband and I were excited to eat at Meli Cafe, as we've lived in the neighborhood for about a year and have tried every other breakfast spot in the West Loop. Most hostesses greet you pleasantly with a warm hello, but not this one! She did not have a smile on her face, was rude and had a very bad attitude. I noticed that the tables were very close together so right away, I specifically asked if there was a table with room for a stroller. (A small umbrella stroller, not a large stroller system!) We have a 3 month old and we could obviously not use a highchair. The hostess was short with me but said yes a stroller would be fine and there was room in the back room. So we waited for 45 minutes for our table. When we went in to be seated, the same hostess said that there wasn't room for the stroller but we just needed to take out the seat. Again, she was very rude as she told us this. There was also a man standing with her, either the owner or manager, who began listening to the conversation. He watched as the hostess stood there and spoke to us with the worst attitude in the world! She obviously doesn't know the difference between a car seat and a stroller becasue she kept saying we just had to take the seat out. Well, you can't take the seat out of a small umbrella stroller! And that was why I was VERY specific when we first went in about needing a small space for the stroller. When I said that, both the hostess and the man (either the manager/owner) were extremely short and dismissive. No apology from either of them for waiting for 45 minutes when we could have been told it wouldn't work right away. I have never been treated so poorly or spoken to like I was at Meli Cafe. I would NOT recommend Meli to anyone. If you're in the West Loop for breakfast try Ina's, Le Peep or Lou Mitchell's...all which have wonderful food, warm and friendly service and are child friendly.
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Worst Service I've Ever Had...EVER!
By alypaige from Lincoln Park/Lakeview, March 8, 2009
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Our fourth member was refused seating because the hostess kept arguing that we weren’t there. After 3 minutes, she had to just walk past the hostess. Our waitress assured us the check would be split, but later said she couldn’t. When she brought our food, I reached up to grab my plate from her, but she recoiled, gave me a nasty look, and then set the plate in front of me. When we asked for some of our change in quarters, she gave $1, stating their policy is $1 in change per customer, so I asked if each of us could get $1 in quarters. She brought her manager over to tell us no, then they all glared at us as we left.
On the plus side, the food was very good and the ambiance was wonderful except the tables were packed too close. The only real complaint we had was the snooty services from all three employees we encountered. Excellent food is easy to come by in Chicago, so we will never return because of the poor, demeaning service.
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I have been to Meli's a few times and their food has always been EXCELLENT. My only complaint is the service. Because it is so crowded on the weekends, you're practically rubbing elbows with the person next to you, plus every time I've been there, the waitresses try to rush you out and not friendly at all. I was just there yesterday and our waitresses spilled hot coffee on my friend's arm and didn't even apologize! she just looked at the coffeepot and did an "oh well" shrug of the shoulder. Again, excellent food but I think management should have a small talk with their staff regarding customer service.
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Frank Georgacopoulos (where did you find him?)
By Gina V. from South Loop, December 6, 2008
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I have been going to Meli for over a year now. The place is the best, these guys change china, glasses, silverware, decor, every year. They recently changed the tile to this really cool granite or stone pattern. The food though is what makes me and my girlfriends keep coming and coming. Their chef Frank Georgacopoulos (spelled it correctly thanks to copy and paste) is a genius, colors, flavors, ideas that we have their are undescribable. I recently saw one of his recipes featured on a web-site which was pretty cool. And their new cranberry orange marmalade rocks. I dont know where he came from, or where he was hiding but we are all glad he has made his presense known at Meli Cafe.
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I always have a decent experience at Meli, food is great service is ok. This week though I have to admit I have been blown away. Besides enjoying one of the best omelets I have had, (who knew chicken gravy was so good in an omelet). It seems Meli has a new girl up front. She is smoking hot, pleasant always smiling, and knows what is going on. I have been there three times this week, and have not been dissapointed yet, Meli seems to be stepping up its game. Keep up the great work, and don't lose the new girl...
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I truly love Meli cafe. It seems a lot of other people are the same because its busier and busier every time i go there. Weekend waits are over half an hour, but worth it in my opinion. This weekend was no exception...when we were seated we were treated to a new item in my opinion, it was a french toast made from a blueberry muffin. Thats right all the yummy goodness of a muffin made like a french toast. My fiancee enjoyed her chicken pesto panini with pasta salad. Their naan bread is to die for, very crunchy and full of flavor. Also i read a comment about their pasta salad, it is not too much mayonaise, the chef prepares a dressing for it, so maybe is was too much dressing for the previous reviewers taste, but for us it was great. Overall meli rocks!!!!
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Unless you are a relative of the owner or get a kiss on the cheek from him when you enter, do not expect to be seated in less than 45 minutes. Favoritism was evident in this place. Many, many other patrons obviously friends/relatives of the owner were seated immediately even though then came in much later than we did. The breakfast food was very good, but the lunch menu is sort of an after thought. The corned beef sandwich had nothing on it, only the meat. The pasta salad is drenched in mayo. The smoothies are wonderful and very fresh. I will go back just to get those! As for dining in, maybe just on the weekdays. It seems that we are not worthy of a table on the weekends.
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We have been a long time patron of Meli, but unfortunately our last visit there might have been our last. We have been going there every since they open and we go about once to twice a month. During out last visit we ordered a fruit salad plate and when it came out this time there was Mango in it, which I am allergic to. All the other times we ordered it there was never been any Mango in it. So we told the waitress I am sorry but I am allergic to Mango and her responds was you should have told that to me, know you have to pay for this, so do you want me to pack it up so you can bring it home. I was taken back by her responds, I thought she could have been a little bit nicer and had a few more option to correct the situation. When the bill came the fruit plate was still on there even though we did not touch it at all. We called the Manager/ Owner over and he had a talk with him. The he went over to have a long discussion with the waitress and after sometime we final got a new bill with out the fruit plate.
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Review Summary
The following scores represent the average rating submitted by 452 users:
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