Melt Kitchen and Bar

Located at 2270 Golden Gate Drive and at 1941 New Garden Road in Greensboro, Melt specializes in paninis but also offers burgers, salads, soups, starters, and sides six days per week (closed Sundays). There is a full-service bar with daily drink specials and rotating featured burgers and soups. This review covers the New Garden location.

It is not uncommon for restaurants to struggle with issues of identity. They may advertise a concept without fully realizing it or blend multiple incongruous visions. Melt decidedly does not have this problem. It is exactly what it presents itself to be – a dressed-up sandwich bar – and it does a damn good job of being it.

Melt’s recently-opened New Garden location is an attractive space with stone walls, a classic chalkboard menu behind the bar, and plenty of natural light. There is a long table for groups as well as what seemed like enough conventional tables. The chairs at the high-top tables are hard and uncomfortable though, so avoid them if you can.

Melt’s menu has no shortage of tantalizing panini options, including a Cuban Reuben (pretty much what it sounds like) and The Granny (turkey, Granny Smith apples, brie, and bacon onion jam). For our first time up, however, my wife and I opted for the Port City (portabella, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, mozzarella, and arugula with a red pepper aioli) and the soup-of-the-day pork pozole and the Duck Club (duck confit, prosciutto, gouda, caramelized onions, and arugula with an apricot thyme jam), respectively, preceded by a white bean hummus starter.

The food was bursting with flavor and largely very well-executed. The hummus delivered turmeric and cumin notes and was welcomingly accompanied by oven-hot naan. The pozole, though marred by a very fatty piece of pork, was still compellingly rich and smoky, and the fries were savory and crisp. Speaking of crispiness, both of the paninis were prepared perfectly: browned enough to preclude sogginess but not to the point of burning or drying out the toppings. The Port City featured some fresh-tasting veggies that played well with one another while the Duck Club, which had the potential to be overly salty, was thankfully not. The sauces are served on the side as dips here, but the apricot jam was so good that I would have gladly slathered it all over the sandwich.

There are two schools of thought as far as Melt’s pricing goes. The first is to look at the $10 to $14 for a panini and a side and declare that entirely too high for a mere sandwich. The second, and the one to which I subscribe, is to consider the taste, execution, and large portion sizes and consider it a worthwhile expenditure. Add to that friendly service – Ayeza nearly talked me into trying Brussel sprouts, which I typically loathe -  and a quick and efficient kitchen and it feels even more like money well-spent.

In lesser hands, Melt could have easily been just another one-trick gimmick eatery. But by offering flavorful and filling food done right, it instead reads like a concept executed to its fullest potential.

8/10