Photo by James Conrad
Just before dawn on Tuesday, 3 February 2026, a fire broke out at the Mel’s Drive-In restaurant located at 2165 Lombard Street in San Francisco.
Located between Fillmore and Steiner Streets, the diner has been a popular location in the Marina District since it opened in 1985 as part of Steven Weiss’s effort to relaunch his father Mel’s titular chain of diners, which itself was originally established in 1947 with the charter location opened at 140 South Van Ness Avenue. In 1972, filmmaker George Lucas used the South Van Ness restaurant as a shooting location for American Graffiti.
The one-alarm fire was called in at 4:14 a.m. In the report, members of a cleaning crew stated the fire started in the ceiling and spread to the kitchen. After putting out the blaze, firefighters determined that the fire was caused when an accumulation of grease in a flue vent had overheated and ignited. These types of fires require specific chemical agents in order to be extinguished, as water stretches the oil, causing the fire to spread. Applying water to a grease fire is extremely dangerous. Because water is denser than burning oil, it sinks beneath the surface, where temperatures can exceed 570 degrees Fahrenheit. The water then rapidly boils and expands into steam, triggering a violent steam explosion that spreads burning oil and flames outward.
Photo by James Conrad
San Francisco Fire Lieutenant Mariano Elias elaborated, “What ends up happening is a lot of grease gets trapped in there, and the restaurants are supposed to clean it, but sometimes all that grease, that sticks on the inner walls of the metal piping, [and] ignites once it gets hot enough.”
Elias also stated that the team of firefighters had to cut a hole in the roof in order to make sure no flames were hidden in the ceiling. Though the blaze was contained quickly and no persons were injured, extensive damage was done to the kitchen with much of its ceiling being melted or burned away. Nearly twelve hours after the fact, an odor of smoke could be picked up near the front door, and through the window, debris and water could be seen on the floor in the vicinity of the kitchen.
In a conversation with ABC7 News, the owner stated he plans to reopen the restaurant as soon as possible. However, Lt. Elias related to the San Francisco Chronicle via email that he doesn't expect the restaurant to open “for some time.”
