After two years, the original Mel’s Grill at the corner of Sashabaw Road and Pelton Road is back and open for business.
‘We’re very excited to be here,? said Cindy O’Hearn. ‘We’ve been open for about two weeks now and it was almost like a no brainer for us to come in here, once this restaurant became available for us.?
O’Hearn co-owns the restaurant with her son Joe, who took over as the owner Mel’s Grill 2 in the Gateway Plaza off White Lake Road, two years ago.
‘What we wanted to do was duplicate the great food, the great service, the great staff on the other side of town, so that’s why we came in here,? Cindy said. ‘The people that work with us are great, the public has been awesome.?
Joe said many customers have been waiting a long time for the restaurant to reopen.
‘It’s fun for myself and a lot of the employees who use to work here too,? he said.
Joe was hired in at Mel’s Grill under the original owners in 2001.
‘I just ran the toasters on the weekend. I didn’t know anybody, I didn’t talk to anybody. I was just the ‘toast boy,?? he said with a laugh. ‘Now it’s fun to be back in not the ‘toast boy? role.?
Cindy said the nice thing about working with Joe is not only are they family, but she knew he understood the food side of the business while she handles the financial end.
‘The partnership between the two of us was strong because we knew we could trust each other,? she said. ‘And we could handle something that the other one didn’t have to handle.?
The new restaurant has the same layout, but has been redecorated, with flat screen TVs, is completely non-smoking, and they take credit cards. Joe said getting the restaurant going has been a ‘total team effort.?
‘It’s taken an army, really,? he said. ‘People that don’t even work for us, friends and family were helping out.?
As with the other restaurant, Mel’s Grill will be open on Thursday and Friday nights.
‘We’re hoping to catch people on to that,? said Joe. ‘People who want to go out for a quick, affordable meal will come to us instead of going to a higher end, more expensive restaurant, especially in these times.?
Joe’s main focus is customer service, making sure customers come back again.
‘The big thing with our restaurants is we can’t guarantee human error won’t occur because mistakes happen and that’s just part of any business, but what we guarantee is we will correct anything that goes wrong,? he said. ‘You will walk out of here happy.?
With times getting tough, Joe said he’s noticed two major changed in restaurants, lack of quality service, and smaller portion sizes.
‘It blew my mind because to me, when people have less money to spend, you need to make it twice as worth their time and their money,? Joe said. ‘That $3.75 for breakfast, that’s worth three times as much as it was a few years ago, to give me less food or worst service for the same amount or more money with the price raises. That was not a formula for success that I saw.?
That’s why he has told his staff to increase portion sizes and has gone with more expensive quality products, but kept the food at affordable prices for the customer. Joe believes no matter what business you are in, you are in the ‘people business? and happy satisfied customers should be top priority.
‘Our customers are absolutely the best people,? said Cindy. ‘I enjoy so many of them, they’re just nice people.?
Mel’s Grill is open from 6 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon-Wed.; 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Thurs-Fri.; 7 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sat; and Sun 8 a.m.-2 p.m.