Mel's Drive-In

Mel's Drive-In in Hollywood, California.

Mel's Drive-In (not to be confused with Mel's Diner) is an American restaurant chain founded in 1947 by Mel Weiss and Harold Dobbs in San Francisco, California.

In October 1963, the Mel's Drive in chain was picketed and subjected to a sit-in by the Ad Hoc Committee to End Discrimination over the fact that while the restaurant would serve food to African Americans and hired them as cooks, they were not allowed to work "up front" where they could be seen by white customers. More than 100 protesters were arrested. The picketing ended when Harold Dobbs, a San Francisco City Supervisor who had run for Mayor and lost, settled with the protesters and began to allow black workers "up front." ^[1]

Mel's was used as a location in the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn are out for a drive and Tracy pulls into Mel's and orders Oregon Boysenberry ice cream, then has a minor traffic altercation with a black man. The Mel's was located in the Excelsior district of San Francisco. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy never actually visited the location.

In 1972, the restaurant was selected as a feature location by George Lucas for his 1973 film American Graffiti. The prominent play given to the location has been credited with saving the company from possibly going out of business.^{[citation needed]} The Mel's used was located at 140 South Van Ness in San Francisco.^{[citation needed]}

Mel's restaurants have since been featured in other media such as Melrose Place (1996, Season 5, episode 1), Doonesbury comics (December 18, 1989), and the book The American Drive-in by Mike Witzel.

Some Mel's Drive-In locations are not actually drive-ins, but rather diners, although the sign still says "drive-in"; none of the San Francisco locations serve food to patrons' cars.

Mel's Drive-in vs. "Mel's Original"

The San Francisco Mel's Drive-In restaurant used in the film had been closed and was reopened specifically for filming. It was demolished after American Graffiti was completed.

Universal Studios built a replica of "Mel's Drive-In" on its lot, pursuant to the restaurant being used in American Graffiti -- this amusement attraction also served as a gift shop for years. There are also a number of "Mel's" located in Northern California that share the same general American Graffiti nostalgia theme and the similarly styled Mel's logo. These restaurants are called "Mel's Original." Their locations are not listed on the official Mel's Drive-In website, although an article from the Sacramento Business Journal shows that they are related. A family rift caused the Weisses to part ways and form two chains. The elder Weiss in 1994 sold his company to Larry Spergel, who formed a group of about 50 stockholders that now owns the chain. The Walnut Creek, California, location features a history of the original San Francisco Mel's.^[2]

References

1. ^ "From Freedom Now! to Free Speech: How the 1963-64 Bay Area Civil Rights Demonstrations Paved the Way to Campus Protest" by Jo Freeman
2. ^ A 24-hour diner, Original Mels, soon to open on Howe - Sacramento Business Journal:

External links

• Mel's Drive-In official website
• Original Mel's and Mel's Drive-in Article