We were staying in Sutter Creek, right outside Jackson, and we found ourselves looking for food at 9:30 in the evening. Mel & Faye's Diner was the first place we found open.
The restaurant is your typical coffeeshop, serving burgers, shakes and other American fare at moderate prices (burgers are around $7-9). The room is quite nice, with booths and tables, and it was still fairly busy at that time of night. It does have the atmosphere of a small town diner, where everyone knows each other (boy, I miss Pring's). Definitely a good place to have a burger.
And burgers we had. I ordered their sourdough cheeseburger, which came with mayo and a thousand-island type dressing in grilled sourdough bread. It was pretty good but too unwieldy to eat by hand - it was definitely a fork and knife burger. The patty itself was pretty small (it must have been a 1/4 lb at most), and while well done it was juicy enough. It was served with your choice of fries, onion rings or something else I don't recall - I had the onion rings and I was surprised both by the substantial size of the order and how good they were. They were crunchy and slightly sweet, and while I missed the lack of ranch dressing to dip them in, I thought they were very good. I'd had a substantial peanut butter shake (pretty good, $3.75), and I couldn't finish all the food.
Lola had the Moo Burger, a double burger with everything, served with fries, and she also thought it was pretty good but definitely a fork and knife burger. She had no complaints about the fries.
Service was good, and the whole experience was quite pleasant. If I was in town, I'd visit again, regardless of the time.
Mel and Faye's Diner
31 Highway 49/88
Jackson, Ca.
209.223.0853
www.melandfayesdiner.com
