To the editor: I feel that the constructing that homes the Mel’s Drive-In in Santa Monica ought to be saved, however the restaurant ought to go (“Mel’s Drive-In, Santa Monica’s landmark Route 66 diner, faces demolition. Can it be saved?,” Oct. 13).
I’m a giant fan of diner-style eating places like Mel’s Drive-In, Bob’s Huge Boy and Norms, and I’m actually upset when a location closes (as a number of Norms and Bob’s Huge Boy areas have closed through the years).
Nevertheless, I’ve been to all 4 Mel’s Drive-In areas within the Los Angeles space and I’ll by no means return to the Santa Monica location. I’ve been there 3 times and each time, the service was horrible. Additionally, I ordered the very same merchandise at totally different areas and it’s been the worst on the Santa Monica one.
Plus, saving that Mel’s Drive-In location is like combating to avoid wasting a Starbucks. There’s one other one not too far-off.
Because it’s the tip of Route 66, it ought to be made into a singular diner with Route 66 integrated into the theme.
Andrew Saidi, Los Angeles
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To the editor: The long-lasting Mel’s Drive-In diner ought to be preserved and celebrated as a result of it sits on the gateway entrance to the legendary seaside city of Santa Monica. In reality, for many years this intersection has been the official termination level of Route 66 and Mel’s has signage proclaiming that historical past.
Getting off the Santa Monica Freeway at Lincoln Boulevard, newcomers and locals are greeted with the blissful, midcentury Googie structure of Mel’s that represents a super of this metropolis that’s disappearing sooner than the ebbing tide. Large, tall residence blocks are going up throughout city, changing the laid-back, low-rise seaside vibe we loved simply a short while in the past. This type of barracks residence constructing now threatens Mel’s Drive-In with demolition.
Mel’s is an excellent image of what Santa Monica was once however sadly, perhaps an eight-story wall of flats greeting guests exiting the freeway higher represents the Santa Monica of the longer term.
Richard Orton, Santa Monica
