There are some places that I have gone to eat prior to starting my blog. Melt Bar and Grilled is one of those places. The first time I tried Melt it was in Columbus with our cousin Danny. It was okay, I had heard so much about it that I guess I expected something different. When my husband, Bobby, and I went to Fairlawn recently, he suggested we go to the one there. I didn’t know that Fairlawn had a Melt, so I figured it must be pretty new. Since I haven’t written about it previously, I agreed to try it again.
The atmosphere of Melt is one in which a group of people can have a good time. The floor plan is open and inviting. I would warn you that it isn’t a place that you would expect to have a nice, quiet, romantic dinner. Because of the openness there isn’t anything to damper the noise. But if you don’t mind conversations mixing about in the air, then you should be able to enjoy yourself.
When we got there, I decided that we should try an appetizer. Bobby had stepped away to use their facilities, so it was up to me to choose. Since we were at a place that has cheese, and a lot of it, I was tempted to try their mozzarella chunks. However Bobby is a big fan of macaroni and cheese, and since they had deep fried wedges, I chose them.
When the dish came out there were four huge wedges of deep-fried macaroni and cheese. The wedges were sitting on top of a layer of cheese sauce. It looked quite yummy! It did not disappoint. Bobby says that good macaroni and cheese includes a bit of pepper. This had just enough to make it good. The batter also had a nice flavor, too. The macaroni itself was very cheesy and the additional layer of cheese sauce made it extremely cheesy. Which if you’re going to eat macaroni and cheese you definitely want to have plenty of cheese.
Bobby ordered the seasonal Firecracker Chicken. This sandwich is served only July 1st through July 31st each year. We had a chance to speak to Phil, the assistant general manager, who told us that this Melt restaurant opened on July 6th last year. He remembered that the sandwich was served at that time.
Bobby said it was definitely hot. The pepper seasoning of which were not sure what it included, made the sandwich very spicy. He likes spicy so that was good. It also comes with avocado on it. Bobby is not a big fan of avocado and he was tempted to ask them to keep it off. However he had heard or read recently that it is good to try a dish as it is prepared so that you get everything the restaurant is expecting to give. He tried it, he still doesn’t like avocado, so he took it off after a couple of bites. Other then that, the sandwich was very good. The chicken itself had a nice flavor and he decided that the heat came from a type of chili pepper. Phil agreed. He did try to find out more information of the pepper seasoning, but the recipe in their kitchen must have only indicated a flavoring packet.
I got the Melt cheeseburger. I typically get American cheese on a burger, but I have seen my mother and my father put provolone on a hamburger. I thought I would give it a try this time. Let me tell you about Melt, if you like hearty bread then you’re going to like Melt. I’ve typically eaten hamburgers on a bun and not two slices of thick toasted bread. It was a lot of bread for me, but the toasted part made up for it. The crunch added dimension to the burger that I don’t normally get. Phil told us that they use melted margarine on the bread to toast it. The reason for this is so that vegans can enjoy a sandwich at Melt. They have both vegan and gluten-free options available. The burger was pretty good, except that they cook it medium well, which is a bit too done for me. But hey, I’m a rare meat kind of girl. I know they do the medium well done so that people won’t get sick, but I’d rather take my chances and have a juicy burger.
The portion sizes at Melt are quite generous. From the appetizer to the sandwiches to the amount of fries you get, there is no way you can go away from Melt hungry. In fact Bobby had said that we had to try their deep fried Twinkie, since it was a seasonal dish. But after our appetizer and just half of our sandwiches and a few fries we were stuffed. There was no way we would have enjoyed a dessert even if it was as tempting as a deep-fried Twinkie!
Because I am married to an amazing guy, who is not afraid to ask for permission to do things other people might not consider, he got a chance to go into the kitchen and take a couple of pictures. I chalk that up to his day job of being a reporter and getting up-close-and-personal to the action. Phil checked with the kitchen manager, Lenny, who agreed to have pictures taken while the guys cooked. Everyone at Melt was very nice from the hostess to the waitress to the managers.
If you like grilled sandwiches, with plenty of cheese, then Melt is a place for you. If you go, tell Phil, that you came because of my blog. It won’t get you anything, but I’d appreciate the shout out.
