Melt Bar & Grilled

These sandwiches are HUGE. I always wish I’d ordered a half, but never remember in time. As someone who loves pierogi, I was pretty disappointed with the appetizer, both in flavor and size, but honestly no one is coming here for that. They have a great variety of options that can be added to your grilled-​cheese of choice. My boyfriend loves the Cleveland Brisket, it’s the only sandwich in Cleveland that can somewhat satisfy his craving for a good old steak sub from back home (NY). Staff is always friendly. Fries are a bit salty. Restaurant has a cool vibe.

Every time I go to Melt, I am always greeted and served by warm, friendly faces. My overall experience there is pleasant from the quirky décor to the amazing sandwiches. The variety of grilled cheese will make anyone happy and they even have options for those with dietary restrictions. I recently had the Mushroom Melt, which includes garlic, mushrooms, caramel port onions, wilted baby spinach, and provolone. It was delicious! Though the portions are big, you have the great option to get a half a sandwich instead of a full one. I would recommend this restaurant for anyone from families to couples for a great and delicious night!

Great atmosphere. Much cooler than the one in Independence. This was my second visit to Melt. Can’t wait till the new one opens in Fairlawn. I will be there for sure!

i am a Jersey native, and boy do i wish one of these came to jersey! I suggest getting a half because these sandwhiches are so damn big, and full of carbs! i was instantly falling asleep half way through. the perrogi app was a rip off so stay away from it, but their sandwhiches are amazing and i suggest getting the mac n cheese one… oh lord was it good!
Now, i only gave 3 stars because the service sucks. Sorry, had to say it. there were plenty of empty tables and we were still waiting 20 mins for a table, and we were a group of 2. then it took awhile to get things, and receive orders. the table next to us were already seated when we walked in, we were receiving our sandwhiches and they didnt even receive their appetizers.
also they dont open until 4 pm, and it already had people in there by about 410 pm, people deff dont wait to come here.

Went in after a tattoo appointment. Sat at the bar rather than wait a half hour. Had the big popper which was excellent, and the blueberry lemonade which was just awful. The staff was for the most part aloof hence the lower rating. I’ll stick with the laid back Lakewood location this one was too stuck up for my liking.

Best sandwiches ever! I live in Maryland and I make the trip to Cleveland just to come to melt as often as I can. The Cleveland cheesesteak is to die for. The Backyard BBQ is delicious and the Cuban Pig War is one of the best Cuban sandwiches I’ve had. My husband loves the Kindergartener sandwich! Awesome place, great food, great beer selection and awesome friendly service. If your in Cleveland, it’s a must to eat at Melt!

Perhaps a dozen visits since they opened the location at Cedar and Taylor.
Never had a sandwich there that wasn’t excellent. Never had a bowl of soup there that wasn’t subpar. Service is meh, but I feel it’s the volume rather than the servers themselves.
Overall, highly recommended.
But stay away from the soup. I beg you.

Typical Melt décor, vintage kitschy plastic holiday yard decorations, random beer signs, wood and brick.
Huge portions and good selection of beers.

When I moved to CLE for school, I heard a lot of things that were new to me (came from the west coast). Being on a team of hungry AF football players, I kept hearing «Melt this, Melt that…»
After trying it 3 years later, the only thing I have to say is «can I go back in time?» I’m sure this is said a lot, but I don’t know why I never tried it before. The selection and flavors are unrivaled for what they make. The Wake’n’bacon has to be my favorite, with the deep fried Mac’n’cheese at a close second.
If you are new to the area, or still haven’t tried Melt, go and go now! The only positive for waiting that long was that my life expectancy has dramatically increased.

The food is very good with creative takes on grilled cheese, but if you eat here with any regularity you’re going to shave years off your life. Looks like a good beer selection if you’re into that. I try to avoid hipsters so even though I live less than a mile away I only go about once a year at most. That being said if you’re visiting Cleveland, Melt is worth checking out.

Since I’m in the neighborhood I had give this Melt another chance. We stopped by on Monday night and since business had slowed to a crawl it made for impeccable service. The server/​bartender that took care of us, though I can’t remember her name, was incredibly sweet, efficient and quite personable too boot.
The food was as I remembered, oily, HOT and delicious. Also, for the first time ever, our food was brought out in less than 20 minutes! There may be hope for this location after all.

I recently moved to Cleveland and live within walking distance to Melt. It was the very first place we went when we moved in and the beer selection was much appreciated after a long day of box/​furniture moving.
Melt has a great beer list. Decent sized tap list. Delicious beers. Bottle selection. Rotating seasonal taps. Good happy hour. And they have a full bar as well if beer is not your scene. Everything you could possibly want in a neighborhood bar.
Except, that this place is not open that late. The bar closes at the same time as the kitchen, 10 during the week and 11 during the weekend… Additionally, while I understand that they are going for a kitchy concept by showing cartoons or old 80s/​90s movies on their numerous TVs, when we asked if they would show a particular football game on the TV we were sitting in front of, when the place was barely ¼th full, they told us that they «don’t really do sports.»
As for the food… I suppose for the concept that their hugely portioned various grilled cheese varieties are creative, but overall it feels super unhealthy. I really wish they had different bread options. The think cut texas butter toast, while admittedly delicious, ends up making me not only feel like I’m going to have a heart-​attack after my meal, but I can barely finish half a sandwich. The best thing I’ve had their has been some of their seasonal vegetables. I kind of wish they would expand these side options and even offer a veggie plate combo or something.
I will be back when I want to grab a drink without going so far, but if food is in the equation, it is unlikely that this would be my first choice or recommendation.

The food was great. I brought a friend here from Boston and she loved it. We sat at the bar around 3pm on a Sunday, so there wasn’t a wait for food. Even though it was an off time to eat, the place was still pretty full.
We ordered two different grilled cheese sandwiches to share. The Mac and Cheese one was delicious but I was so full after 3 bites (granted, I eat like a bird). My friend finished her half despite feeling overstuffed just because it was too delicious to stop eating. The Cleveland Cheesesteak was great too, although much easier to eat.
While the food was fantastic, the attitude of the guy at the bar was not. He treated us like our presence was an inconvenience and had other bartenders and staff bring us our food and check up on us. That was probably for the best since they were MUCH nicer and significantly more pleasant.
Overall we had a great lunch and my friend was impressed!

The Monte Cristo is amazing. That was my first sandwich. You can probably split any of these between two people if you factor in the sides.
Second time I came here, I did the MELT challenge, where you have to eat a 13-​cheese, 5 lb grilled cheese sandwich plus cole slaw plus fries without going to the bathroom. I managed to finish the entire sandwich but couldn’t do the sides at all. I pretty much failed to strategize and should have taken a little bit of each thing (sandwich, cole slaw, fries) in circles or just gone kamikaze and eaten the thing messily and manically.
If you end up doing the melt challenge, block out a couple days for recovery. I threw up in the glove compartment on the way home and won’t even get into gastrointestinal issues.

I like melt. I liked it more when they had a burger on the menu. I would say that the burger was probably the best thing on the menu. I find this location is really easy to get a table /​seated, and is usually pretty dead during the week. Which is good and bad — good because there is no wait, bad because it makes the place feel kind of lame.
They have a great beer selection too — lots of TV’s, the place could easily market itself as more of a bar too — but it doesn’t.

I’ll be honest, it took me a while to get on the «MELT-​Train.» I initially found in overly kitschy, the portion sizes too overwhelming and some of the sandwiches rather pedestrian. But, I kept coming back – trying new sandwiches, exploring their apps and salads – and began to appreciate this place more and more.
Their sandwiches are massive and it’s easy to «stay safe» here, like with the Monte Cristo or the Wake & Bacon, which are both good. There are a number of sandwiches, however that merit a try. The Korean War Pig is so good. It’s adventurous with kimchi slaw and pear onion relish, but mixes in familiar flavors like pulled pork and muenster cheese. The Mushroom Melt is an incredibly «meaty» option with complex flavors from the very sweet port onions and the spicy, fresh arugula.
I’m not a fan of the sweet slaw and was happy when they moved away from automatically including it with your meal. I know people like it, but I prefer my slaw to be more vinegary.
The fries are decent, treading that line of crispy and soft and always well seasoned. I prefer them in the Hangover Fries! Poutain with pork belly and a fried egg? What more can you ask for? Also, their Fried Green Tomato appetizer is delicious. Crispy, slightly spicy with a little freshness.
I also like that this place can be enjoyed by those erg dietary restriction and limitations, offering many vegetarian, vegan and gluten-​free options.
This is a Cleveland institution and rightly so, so I highly encourage you stop in and try something ADVENTUROUS. You won’t be disappointed.

Huge portions. I couldn’t finish the grilled cheese. Love the concept.
I think they should do a half sandwich concept with soup. That would be amazing. I had the Korean BBQ sandwich. I saw pictures for the burger one and was sad they didn’t have it on the menu anymore.
Anywho, it was a really heavy sandwich but a great experience.

We came to Cleveland on a quick spring break trip and picked Melt due to a Great Unilocal rating. This place is different from anything we have in Indiana a refreshing change from chain restaurants.
I had the Big Popper my husband had the Godfather. So delicious and so much food.
The fries were amazing. You could eat here often and not repeat meals. I do not eat meat so this restaurant is perfect.
It also helps the staff is easy on the eyes.
The restaurant is decorated festive as well. If you live in the area and have not eaten here u are missing out.

I know, I know. «Only 3 stars for Melt? WTF is wrong with you?!» Well, it’s not anything major– but rather a bunch of minor things. Put them together in one place and it gets annoying.
1) Something is ALWAYS COLD. Today, despite seeing my item appear in the window– and not sitting there too long, mind you– I dug into the admittedly huge meatball on my Dude Abides, and the middle was cold. I was expecting it and in too crappy a mood to care enough to bother the waitress. Figure out how long it takes to microwave the thing to 165. The fries, while not cold, had been sitting around for a while; they were mushy– as usual.
2) The waitstaff, while always personable enough to do a passable job, never do anything or act nice enough to get more than about 15% (again, as a former waitress, I round up). They were not busy enough to be under any pressure today.
Will I go back to Melt? Sure. It’s an institution. But these problems are constant, noticeable, and fixable.

How do they expect I, a mere mortal, to eat this entire sandwich? I ordered «The Dude Abides», a miraculous grilled cheese sandwich, that according to legend stands at least 3 ft tall, filled with homemade meatballs, fried mozz wedges, marinara sauce, and provolone. If I was a better man I would have eaten the second half too, but I came up short and embarrassed my family name.
Someday I will return. And next time I’ll be ready.