Mel’s Bar

There are Mel’s Bars all across the country. A Mel’s Bar in Denver is a multi-award winning restaurant and bar, but that’s a far cry from the Mel’s in Santa Barbara of which this post is about. We’ve known Mel’s since we were in our early twenties, (we being in particular myself, and friends Chris and Sandy) although Sandy was underage at the time. There actually was once a Mel, Mel Price, but that was way back in the sixties, we first arrived sometime in the 70’s, I think. Mel opened Mel’s after ending his partnership in another bar named Pal’s, located across the street where today the Banana Republic stands. Little had changed inside over nearly 40 years, or at least it wasn’t obvious to me. Mel’s does seem to attract a younger crowd, but after 20+ years of stepping inside the same bar, there comes a time when you yourself have become the old fart at the bar… Even after the Spanish style Paseo Nuevo was built around Mel’s, the retro signage (which wasn’t retro in 1963) still remains out front. Maybe as a familiar beacon for those arriving early, Mel’s used to serve a breakfast menu of Bloody Mary’s starting at 7:30am, but I can’t say what time they open now, I just know what time they close. Only in the last year did it appear that Mel’s interior had undergone a makeover. Although still a dive, it just didn’t seem right to see some of the improvements that had been made.

Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke, maybe it’s karma…but I recently learned that Mel’s had lost its lease. Yes, I remember long ago that Woolworth’s on State and Anapamu had posted gigantic window signs that they too had lost their lease…and it seemed that for the next two years whenever I passed the store, there were the signs. I wondered at the time if they were ever going to leave. But Mel’s… as I’m sure it is considered the canker sore of SB’s beautiful shopping mall, appears to be headed further down State, and I’m sure that the only ones sad to see it move are those of us who remember it way back when. The one thing to remember is that Joe’s moved too, and if you think that brought on major changes – just have a drink or two at the bar… somethings just don’t change. [Okay no more mooosehead, but trust me you wouldn’t have wanted to eat a meal seated underneath it].