Melvyn's At The Ingleside Inn

We had an amazing dinner to celebrate our 30th anniversary. Sat at Franks table!!

I am sorry to report that I had a bad experience at Melvyn's for dinner this past Saturday evening. I made the reservation weeks ago and called several times to let the restaurant know that we would be celebrating a special occasion. I even connected with the GM, Dan, who never came over to table. The service was extremely rushed. I was very surprised that the waiter brought our dessert out with no candle and made a joke about how he forgot. It left a really terrible impression and took the charm out of our evening. I will not be back.

The ambiance at Melvyn's is always perfect. Imagine the glitz and glamor of 1960's Hollywood having a love-child with the relaxed and less pretentious early ought. The food was excellent, service was impeccable, and the staff friendly. There's plenty to keep you engaged, including a lovely variety of all the things you might hate about the RHO(insert city initials here) club including enough botox and juviderm to float a ship across the Atlantic. There's also lots of cool folks who couldn't care less about parking their Jaguar on the curb. I had the Steak Frites, my wife the Steak Diane. I enjoyed a Negroni which had the most potent pithe bite, but was well balanced to the sweetness of the drink. I chased that with a glass of the house Zinfandel. And, I've got to say, it was perfect. My wife had a glass of the house Bordeux and quite enjoyed it. For dessert, she had the creme Brule, and I the coffee. To me, creme brulees are all the same, but coffees are not all created equally. The coffee here was good. Really good. Dark, rich, and clearly not some knock-off Don Francisco- Sysco Foods swill. The perfect finale to a wonderful dinner.

Not a great experience. We were looking forward to going based on the reviews but I can only think this place, while once iconic, has sunk pretty far down. Service was not good, they literally tossed plates on to the table. Food was mediocre, certainly not worth what they’re charging. Dress code was not enforced, folks were walking in with flip flops, cargo shorts, and graphic tees on a Saturday evening. Amazingly underwhelming experience for which I cannot recommend and would not return.

Best restaurant to celebrate a birthday ! Go there every birthday if I’m in town.