By TR Robertson
Advertised as the World’s Meltiest Burger, The Melt is now open in San Marcos in the Grand Plaza shopping area, off Las Posas Road, on the corner close to Sprout’s, in the former Five Guys Burger location. Established in 2011 in San Francisco by Tech entrepreneur Jonathan Kaplan, initially centered as a grand grilled cheese restaurant; currently headed by CEO Ralph Bower since 2016. The Melt is billed as “Feel-Good Food Made with Feel-Great Ingredients.” The restaurant is ranked among the top 10 Best Fast-Food Burgers in Los Angeles and, on Yelp, is one of the highest-rated burger restaurants in San Diego. All of this with only 20 total eateries in California and only three in San Diego, four now with the opening of the San Marcos location. The other three locations are in Del Mar, La Jolla, and the Gaslamp Quarter.
On Thursday, the line in front of The Melt had around 25 people by 9:30, and others were parking to get in line for the free Meltburger or Sandwich after the Red Ribbon Ceremony. Brandy Allen, her mom, Dana Scruggs, and friend Yulissa Hernandez, from Oceanside, were the first in line, arriving around 9:00 am to make sure they were among the 100 getting free Meltburgers. Members of The Melt organization, The Melt employees, members of the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce, the Mayor of San Marcos Rebecca Jones, San Marcos Councilmember Ed Musgrove and other invited guests gathered at 10:00 am to take part in the presentation of proclamations from the City of San Marcos and the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce and to take part in the Red Ribbon Ceremony to officially welcome The Melt to the business community. After the presentation the guests and the patrons waiting in line by The Melt were let in, in an orderly manner, to order their burger of sandwich selection from The Melt menu.
The Melt features no artificial color or flavors, no preservatives, and no high-fructose corn syrup in their food. The burgers feature 1/3 lb. Angus and Wagyu beef, chopped and grilled with two slices of cheese, fresh chopped pickle-jalapeno mix (not too spicy), served on an artisan bun. The burgers and melted sandwiches are referred to as “cheese comfort food”. The burgers are grilled slightly pink and juicy unless you ask for something different. Each entrée is served with a slice of a large dill pickle.
Carolyn and I visited The Melt on Wednesday and were greeted warmly by Manager Alysa Audelo and Assistant Manager Mike Pearce. Each of them has worked for a number of years at other The Melt restaurants. They were hard at work getting ready for Thursday’s red ribbon ceremony as were their morning staff of Angelina, Diego, Valerie and Cassandra. Alysa said they have an overall staff of 25 and many of them will be on hand Thursday for the ceremony. The Melt is open every day from 10 am until 11 pm and until midnight on Friday and Saturdays.
We ordered a single patty Original Meltburger, a single patty BBQ Bacon Meltburger and sweet potato fries. Everything was delicious, prepared just right and served in a timely manner. One of the better burgers I have ever eaten and the fries were a sizable order. Each customer receives a coaster pager, also called pager pucks, that lets you know when your order is ready.
The menu consists of the Meltburgers like the Original, the BBQ Bacon, Swiss & Shrooms and Spicy Mission. Prices range from $10.79 to $17.49 depending on the burger and if it’s a single or double patty. You can add lettuce, tomato, jalapenos or onions for no charge or crispy onions, extra bacon, avocado egg, spinach, mushrooms or caramelized onions for a slight charge. You can also do options such as making any burger with chicken instead, making an impossible burger, gluten free bun or protein style (no bun, lettuce wrapped). Also on the menu are buttermilk-marinated, hand-battered, 100% all-natural chicken breast sandwiches that come as the Classic Crispy or Spicy Crispy. One family in the restaurant was having some Melted Sandwiches, an assortment of gooey grilled cheese sandwiches on crispy artisan bread. There are seven of these to choose from. This includes the Three Cheese Classic, the Patty Melt, Steak & Cheese using Angus sirloin, the Mac Daddy, Avocado Bacon Melt, Egg-In-A-Hole and the Italian Job that is Fontina, Provolone, grilled mushrooms on spicy garlic bread. The Melted Sandwich prices range from $8.49 to $12.99 depending on the sandwich.
Other menus items include 4 Mac and Cheese selections like Melty Mac, Garlic Chicken Bacon Mac, Steak Fajita Mac, and a Mini Mac. Two salads are offered, a Caesar Salad and a Chopped Cobb Salad. You can also order a side Caesar Salad. A classic Tomato Soup is offered along with Grilled Cheese Croutons for a little extra. There is a Kids Menu to choose from that features Grilled Cheese, or a Cheeseburger or Mac n’ Cheese. You can add French Fries, Sweet Potato Fries, Garlic Parmesan Fries or Cheddar Bacon Ranch Fries. If this isn’t enough there are three dessert items to choose from like a Chocolate chip cookie, a dark chocolate brownie or a brown butter marshmallow treat.
The Melt also has an interesting drink selection that includes iced tea, lemonade, strawberry lemonade, canned soda or craft soda. The craft soda is Alameda Soda from San Francisco. This soda uses real cane sugar, no fake flavors and no high fructose. The ones offered go by the names such as Hanger Cola, Cable Car Lemon-Lime, Long Island Ginger Beer, Oaktown Root Beer, Golden Gate Orange and Diablo Black Cherry. Carolyn tried Strawberry Lemonade and said it was good. I went with craft cola and tried the Hanger Cola and the Diablo Black Cherry. I liked both of these.
The Melt is now officially open and shown by a steady stream of customers coming in for lunch on Wednesday and the happy faces of those getting free burgers on Thursday The Melt will be a popular place to have a delicious meal in San Marcos. Word has gotten out that The Melt offers large portions of good tasting food at a decent price and is worth trying if you have never been before. I know we will be back.
