The original Lakewood, Ohio location of Melt Bar and Grilled was also the last to close this week. | Photo: Shutterstock.
The once-13-unit Melt Bar and Grilled chain is no more.
After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2024 and attempting to relaunch and rebuild the Cleveland, Ohio-based concept, owner Matt Fish said he has decided to permanently close the last remaining location in Lakewood, Ohio, which was also the original unit.
In an emotional Facebook post on Wednesday, Fish said the decision to close on New Year’s Day was not made lightly or without years of incredible effort and stress.
“The process to save Melt Bar and Grilled started in 2020,” he wrote. “The world and the restaurant/service industry changed drastically during the pandemic. Hundreds of difficult decisions and countless efforts were made to put the company in a position to survive and thrive. Unfortunately, these determined efforts were not enough to save the company.”
Founded in 2006, the grilled-cheese-focused concept at its height reached 13 units and won national attention on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” and Travel Channel’s “Man vs. Food.” By 2019, the chain had annual sales of more than $18 million.
Then the pandemic hit. Fish said drastic changes were needed to save the company, including closing units, cutting staff and trimming expenses.
Despite taking advantage of Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan support in the post-pandemic era, according to court documents, the number of Melt units were reduced to four locations by the time Fish decided to pursue bankruptcy to shed the company’s debt.
“This was strategically done to give us a fighting chance to re-organize and re-build the company,” Fish wrote on Facebook. “With the bankruptcy, the decision was made to focus solely on the original Lakewood location to reimagine and improve the original concept, while maintaining a semblance of work/life balance.”
Fish invested in an ambitious renovation, he said, relaunching the location in September.
“All aspects of the relaunch succeeded according to plan, except one,” he wrote. “The projected robust business levels never happened. The financial burden of bankruptcy, combined with the lack of robust sales have proved to be completely devastating.”
Still, Fish wrote that he had no regrets, and he expressed pride in building “the little restaurant that could” over 18 years. He thanked supporters, particularly members of the “1,000 Melt Tattoo Family.”
And, to haters, he wrote: “Fuck you. Seriously. I put every ounce of myself into what I created every day for the last 18 years. Every decision or move we made as a company was publicly scrutinized and second guessed by many. It is a well-known fact that the restaurant industry is one of the hardest to survive in.
“I not only survived but thrived and grew my business from nothing to 13 total locations,” he continued. “I employed thousands of people in Ohio who supported themselves and their families. Melt Bar and Grilled helped to put Cleveland on the map and reignite the culinary & independent restaurant resurgence. For that I am incredibly proud.”
Fish noted that running a restaurant is “not for the weak.”
He added that his next steps are unclear, beyond taking some time off to be with family, especially after his wife received some bad health news last month. That was also a factor in his decision to close the restaurant, he said.
“I am bowing out of the fight for business survival at the end of 2024 to focus on the fight for life and family in 2025,” Fish concluded. “I have thankfully learned what is most important in life, while I still have time to enjoy it.”
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