From Tom Browning:
Mel’s was where the young people that had nice and newer cars cruised and hung out. Hokey’s Burgers came before it and was the original cruise turn-around and hang out. After Mel’s was built, Hokey’s remained the turn-around and hang out for the “OG” cruisers, and the guys that built their own cars, many of which were quite fast at the late night drags on Bancroft Road. I was a Hokey’s guy, and met my wife to be, Sharon (Roberts) Browning, there.
The Mel’s name and Nostalgia remains today with a Mel’s Diner not far from the original drive-in on main Street. MEL’s was split off years back by two sides of the family, one acquiring the drive-ins like the one recently opened near Clayton Rd. In Concord and the others, the ‘diners’ like the one in Walnut Creek today.