Diner makeovers: Down Home and the Melrose
One's closing for a major renovation, while the other is being transformed.
Diner makeovers: Down Home and the Melrose
Michael Klein, Philly.com
After 23 years in Reading Terminal Market, Jack McDavid will do a top-to-bottom, front-to-back makeover at Down Home Diner this summer. Most of the construction will be done during off-hours, but the diner will shut down for two to three weeks while the kitchen is stripped down and redone. The result: the diner will add modest-priced, BYO dinner service, the takeout operation will be improved, and on-site restrooms will be installed. Eventually, McDavid hopes to get a liquor license.
And if you haven't noticed, the Melrose Diner at 15th and Passyunk is in the middle of a renovation, which is being accomplished amid the usual tumult of the 24-hour operation. While you may notice new finishes here and there, there's been a policy shift of late that's positively earthshaking: Patrons no longer have to share booths with strangers, a forced intimacy that many found irksome.
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How dare they change The Melrose. Sharing a booth was fine by me.— richw38- It's tradition at the Melrose to share a booth.— samsmom
Melrose Diner sucks. It hasn't been good since the 80's- Comment removed.
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- The one time I ate (or tried to eat) at the Melrose it was disgusting. The floors were dirty, my table was sticky, and my french toast was raw in the middle. Needless to say, I haven't been back, nor do I plan to. Oh, but we didn't have to share our booth!— abbylyn
