Community News & InformationRestaurant Reviews September 30, 2019

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Melrose Grill in Downtown Renton

If you like a great steak, this place is a gem!

Dear friends: One of my favorite pastimes is trying out new restaurants with my husband Alan and other friends. This review is my way of sharing that with you as well. Enjoy!

Caution my vegetarian friends, this review is not for you!

Melrose grill is a steakhouse in downtown Renton. The atmosphere is casual and cozy, but the overall feel is high-end. You don’t have to dress up to go here, but you’ll feel like you are in a nice restaurant.

The building was established in 1901 and has hosted many businesses over that time, including a tavern and a card room during prohibition. Carefully restored, the building houses the original mirror-backed bar with its rich, dark woods. The walls showcase vintage photos that highlight the transitions this old building has gone through.

With wainscoting on the walls, low-slung lamps and high ceilings the space feels as open as the West was when the Melrose Building was built.

The service has been impeccable every time we have visited, and the food is consistently good. Being a creature of habit, I always get the filet. It is perfect every time. The entrees come with potato of your choice, or rice, vegetable, and a salad. I have been with friends that got some of the other entrees and they were equally pleased.

The prices are moderate, and I think that the steaks are every bit as good, if not better than the Metropolitan Grill in downtown Seattle for a fraction of the price. Downtown Renton has lots of street parking, but it can all fill up on the weekends. Melrose Grill takes reservations and I recommend making a reservation. The wait without reservations can be 1 ½ hours on the weekend. You’ll find that unless you book the reservations a month or more out, you will only be able to make your reservation before 5PM and after 8:30PM on weekends.

We sometimes go during the week for our birthdays or when friends are in town because it is so hard to get in otherwise. I say to plan early if you want to go on the weekends. If you like a great steak, this place is a gem!

Melrose Grill
819 Houser Way South
Renton, WA 98057
425.254.0759

Do you have a favorite South Seattle eatery you’d like to recommend? Give me a shout!