The Irvine Spectrum outpost of The Melt–a San Francisco-based grilled cheese chain founded by Silicon Valley types and James Beard recipient Michael Mina–was the first in OC. Now a second has opened in the Tustin side of The Marketplace.
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As I described in a review of the Irvine Spectrum spot:
“The Melt operates in a fast-food-minded assembly line. Three industrial-sized panini presses that resemble repurposed Wall-E robots do most of the hard work. They automatically flip open, beeping, when the sandwiches are done. The sandwiches are then halved, placed into a basket with a fistful of potato chips that taste suspiciously like an off-brand knock-off of Lays, then served in a white room with metal stools. A single spigot dispenses three flavors of cane sugar-sweetened soda.”
Tustin's The Melt is located next to Which Wich and Starbucks at 2943 El Camino Real, Tustin, CA 92782.
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.