Grab a spot at one of the cozy wooden tables and chairs at Melba’s restaurant in New York City’s Harlem, and you’ll likely be enveloped by laughter, get heaping plates of oxtail with mac and cheese on the side, and, best of all, a hug from chef and owner Melba Wilson. Hospitality is the bedrock of every good restaurant, but at Melba’s it’s next-level—nearly two decades after it first opened, the restaurant just had an outstanding hospitality nomination from the James Beard Foundation earlier this year.
That’s because Wilson, who was born and raised in Harlem, has always seen the restaurant as a community hub. She came up in the kitchen of her legendary late aunt’s nearby Southern restaurant Sylvia’s and went on to work with another legend—Josefina Howard—at Rosa Mexicano, before opening Melba’s in 2005.
Since then, locals have frequented the restaurant in all their finest after church service on Sundays, celebrities like Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have dropped by for lunch, and one of Wilson’s biggest fans celebrated her 100th birthday there.
Through it all, Melba’s warmth hasn’t dimmed even slightly—there are few places like it in this city. For our latest Insider, we sat down with the queen of soul food to talk about why Melba’s is still beloved, her famous chicken and eggnog waffles, her favorite time to be at the restaurant, and more.
Read on and make a booking at Melba’s restaurant on OpenTable.
What do you think your X factor is?
Our ability to be relatable. One of the beauties of being from a community like Harlem—which other people may consider it the ghetto, I consider it the mecca of Black culture—but one of the great things is that it shows people that you can come from what people consider an urban or an undesirable area wherever in the world you are from, and that you still have a voice, that your dreams can still be reality.
What’s the one dish you’ll never remove from the menu?
My Southern fried chicken and eggnog waffles. Chicken and waffles, like myself, was born, bred, and buttered in Harlem. It’s a part of who I am, it is a part of my DNA, and it is an amazing way to represent the community that I love so much.
What’s the underdog of the menu?
I think my smothered chicken is a sleeper. It was chicken that was fried, and because we didn’t come from a household where we had things in abundance, it was a way to repurpose food that was already prepared. If my mother made fried chicken on a Saturday and then there was some left, she would make some mashed potatoes the next day and make some string beans and gravy for the fried chicken. She would make a smothered chicken, and for us it was a whole new dish. It is something I often have on a Saturday or Sunday morning with some grits.
What is the hidden gem among the drinks?
Our sexy sangria. I learned how to make sangria when I worked at Rosa Mexicano. I actually changed my recipe a little bit. I add a little bit of banana liqueur, as well as an apricot brandy, and it just gives it an extra boost, so I always say the sexy sangria. After you’ve had one or two, you leave feeling sexier than when you arrived. It is also a way for me to pay homage to Josefina Howard, who started Rosa Mexicano.
Who’s your longest regular?
We have Dale and Aaron. They’ve been coming since I opened in 2005. I should probably name a seat after Dale and Aaron because they like the first two seats at the bar, which are the seats that nobody else wants because they are closest to the door. They order their way through the menu.
[Also] June Francis, Dapper Dan’s wife. He and his whole family come here.
Who’s your longest serving staff member?
It would have to be Mohammed Fall. Mohammed started out as a dishwasher with us, and he’s someone that I’ve known for many years. Fifteen years before he worked with me at Melba’s, he and I used to work at another establishment, and he was a porter there, so after his engagement ended at the other location he came and there was only one agreement. I said you can start up as a dishwasher but within a year you gotta know everything there is to know about the kitchen. I taught him how to cook, and he is now our head cook in the kitchen. So he has been with us since 2005, and he is a family member at this point.
Did he introduce any dishes to the menu?
His mac and cheese. I always say that Mohammed was the student, and I was the teacher, but it is great when the student becomes the teacher, and that’s what he’s done.
What’s the most memorable request you’ve received from a customer?
There was a woman who came in and her family called and said she was celebrating her 100th birthday. The one thing she wanted most in the world was to meet me. I was on television, and she would always write letters every time she saw me on TV. I was supposed to be traveling that same weekend she was going to be there, and I sent a video message. As the video was playing—her family didn’t even know—I walked in. She started crying, and what makes it worthwhile is to see her having so much joy by meeting me. She could have gone anywhere in the world, but she decided to come to Melba’s. Those are the moments that stand out in my heart and mind.
Of course when Harry and Meghan came, the fact that they chose Melba’s was just heartwarming because we don’t advertise. It is just all word of mouth. We are honored when anyone walks in the door, but 19 years, almost 20 years later, it doesn’t get old.
What’s the best seat in the house?
Table number 4. It is the only seat in the restaurant where two people can sit side by side, and you have a great view of the bar, a great view of who’s coming in and going. Now my favorite seat in the house is table 1, so I can watch everything coming and going out of the kitchen.
Is there a favorite time for you personally to be at the restaurant?
I love being at the restaurant at all times, but there’s nothing like a Sunday after church at Melba’s when you get to see all of Harlem’s finest dressed in their finest with the hats and the colors and the swag. It just takes me back to when I was a child growing up in Harlem.
Tanay Warerkar is a content marketing manager at OpenTable, where he oversees features content and stays on top of the hottest trends and developments in the restaurant industry. He brings years of experience as a food editor and reporter having worked at the San Francisco Chronicle, Eater, and the New York Daily News, to name a few.
