DH and I ate twice at Mama Melrose. The plan our first night was for the kids to go to Pizza Planet (one is 19, so we're not sending toddlers out alone) while we went to Mama's. Our ps was for 6:20, and it turned out Pizza Planet was already closed for the day. They tried Backlot Express -- same thing. They ended up at ABC Commissary. I think it is really strange that MGM was closing all those restaurants early -- we were not the only ones we saw turned away -- when it was Star Wars weekend AND there was a Fantasmic at 10:30!
Here's our reviews:
Mama Melrose dinner -- DH and me. This was a very nice meal with a wonderful server. The meal starts with an interesting vegetable bread and butter, which we always enjoy. DH had some kind of fish and I had the steak with a peppercorn sauce and a bleu cheese. My meal included some kind of unusal vegetable I had never heard of that was a bit like broccoli and quite tasty. DH also had a greens salad with balsamic vinegar dressing. We had told our server that we had escaped from our three children and he brought us a piece of tiramisu on the house in honor of our "annivesary." All in all a very enjoyable meal for around $60 including wine.
Mama Melrose lunch - DH and me. Since the kids didn't get to go to Pizza Planet the first night, they headed there another day, and we just headed back to Mama's. The menu was the same as the dinner one -- that did not used to be the case. We ordered two of the flatbreads to share -- tomato and four cheese. They were both good but one (can't remember which) was really garlicy. After eating the vegetable bread first, then all that pizza, I felt like we went a little overboard on bread and that the meal was too heavy for lunch. A better choice would have been for each of us to get the salad and then to split a flatbread. Live and learn. It was about $35 including one glass of wine.
Prime Time Cafe -- all 5 of us. Waited at least 30 minutes for a table, but the wonderful meal and experience was worth it. We were at a roomy corner table and our server was Uncle Dale -- the best we've had in three visits to this restaurant. He immediately named our 8-year-old "Opie" and, to the family's delight, our 15-year-old "Harry." The latter is a skateboarder and has not had a haircut in months -- he has to kind of swing his head back to get his hair out of his eyes. Uncle Dale had lots of funny things to say, while, at the same time, delivered outstanding service. Three of us got the meatloaf, one the fried chicken and the other the pot roast. Everyone was pleased with the meal. This is the first time we have been offered the home-cooking items in children's portions --I had planned to share a meatloaf plate with the 8-year-old. I had hoped to talk some of the family into sharing the s'mores with me, but they all decided they wanted shakes/root beer floats. If you are into shakes, this place makes them the old-fashioned way with ice cream and brings you the whole metal container full. You easily get two shakes. The bill was around $100.
Snacks
Thanks to a tip on this board, I went to Starring Rolls and got a piece of the Brown Derby's grapefruit cake for us to share. One of the kids didn't like it - found it too tart -- and one said it was just okay. DH and I both liked it a lot, especially the bites with pieces of grapefruit in them. We also got a gummy worm cookie at the bakery. It was a big sugar cookie sprinkled with chocolate with gummy worms on top. DS said it was the best sugar cookie he had ever eaten. I noticed that this restaurant offers a kids' meal that would suit a lot of children: an uncrustable pbj, a big cookie and chocolate milk. I think it was around $3.
The ice cream fanatic child got chocolate soft serve at Dinosaur Gertie and pronounced it the second-best he had at the world -- and he had a lot!
Here's our reviews:
Mama Melrose dinner -- DH and me. This was a very nice meal with a wonderful server. The meal starts with an interesting vegetable bread and butter, which we always enjoy. DH had some kind of fish and I had the steak with a peppercorn sauce and a bleu cheese. My meal included some kind of unusal vegetable I had never heard of that was a bit like broccoli and quite tasty. DH also had a greens salad with balsamic vinegar dressing. We had told our server that we had escaped from our three children and he brought us a piece of tiramisu on the house in honor of our "annivesary." All in all a very enjoyable meal for around $60 including wine.
Mama Melrose lunch - DH and me. Since the kids didn't get to go to Pizza Planet the first night, they headed there another day, and we just headed back to Mama's. The menu was the same as the dinner one -- that did not used to be the case. We ordered two of the flatbreads to share -- tomato and four cheese. They were both good but one (can't remember which) was really garlicy. After eating the vegetable bread first, then all that pizza, I felt like we went a little overboard on bread and that the meal was too heavy for lunch. A better choice would have been for each of us to get the salad and then to split a flatbread. Live and learn. It was about $35 including one glass of wine.
Prime Time Cafe -- all 5 of us. Waited at least 30 minutes for a table, but the wonderful meal and experience was worth it. We were at a roomy corner table and our server was Uncle Dale -- the best we've had in three visits to this restaurant. He immediately named our 8-year-old "Opie" and, to the family's delight, our 15-year-old "Harry." The latter is a skateboarder and has not had a haircut in months -- he has to kind of swing his head back to get his hair out of his eyes. Uncle Dale had lots of funny things to say, while, at the same time, delivered outstanding service. Three of us got the meatloaf, one the fried chicken and the other the pot roast. Everyone was pleased with the meal. This is the first time we have been offered the home-cooking items in children's portions --I had planned to share a meatloaf plate with the 8-year-old. I had hoped to talk some of the family into sharing the s'mores with me, but they all decided they wanted shakes/root beer floats. If you are into shakes, this place makes them the old-fashioned way with ice cream and brings you the whole metal container full. You easily get two shakes. The bill was around $100.
Snacks
Thanks to a tip on this board, I went to Starring Rolls and got a piece of the Brown Derby's grapefruit cake for us to share. One of the kids didn't like it - found it too tart -- and one said it was just okay. DH and I both liked it a lot, especially the bites with pieces of grapefruit in them. We also got a gummy worm cookie at the bakery. It was a big sugar cookie sprinkled with chocolate with gummy worms on top. DS said it was the best sugar cookie he had ever eaten. I noticed that this restaurant offers a kids' meal that would suit a lot of children: an uncrustable pbj, a big cookie and chocolate milk. I think it was around $3.
The ice cream fanatic child got chocolate soft serve at Dinosaur Gertie and pronounced it the second-best he had at the world -- and he had a lot!