After 78 years, classic SF diner expands outside California for the first time

"Mel's Drive-In just opened a new 10,000-square-foot restaurant in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, the ninth outpost for the chain that was originally founded by Mel Weiss and Harold Dobbs in 1947. Its now-shuttered location on Van Ness Avenue became San Francisco's first drive-in restaurant, after Weiss noticed the popularity of the concept skyrocketing in Los Angeles. He was doubted due to the Bay Area's notoriously foggy weather, but nonetheless, Mel's soon expanded across Northern California and became a symbol of carhop culture."

"The new Nashville location in the former B.B. King's Blues Club space at 152 Second Ave. N. features familiar staples such as an all-day breakfast menu, cocktail specials, booth-style seating and glowing blue jukeboxes. In a 2024 interview with the Nashville Business Journal, Weiss' grandson Colton - who opened the restaurant with his brother and business partner Chasen - said plans for the expansion had been years in the making. (The outlet was the first to report the news.)"

""We've been looking to open a Mel's out of state for a while and just fell in love with Tennessee," he told the outlet, noting his family has a property there. "We really wanted to be in downtown. We really wanted to be where the country music scene is," he continued, adding that "we love going into historic buildings that have a story to tell.""

Mel's Drive-In opened a 10,000-square-foot restaurant in downtown Nashville, its ninth outpost and the chain's first location outside California. The chain was founded in 1947 by Mel Weiss and Harold Dobbs and became known for its Van Ness Avenue drive-in, San Francisco's first drive-in, and for cherry-topped milkshakes. Weiss expanded across Northern California despite skepticism about foggy Bay Area weather; the original location once accommodated 110 cars. The drive-in model was later retired except for a brief pandemic comeback. The Nashville site occupies the former B.B. King's Blues Club and features all-day breakfast, cocktails, booth seating, and glowing blue jukeboxes. Colton and Chasen Weiss led the expansion plans.

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