The Chain Gang

The Next Location of The Melt: 557 Howard

Howard Street between First and Second, right in the heart of what will be the new Transbay Terminal District if it ever gets constructed, is to be the next location of The Melt, at a former sign shop at 557 Howard. The quick-service grilled-cheese chain has quickly opened eight Bay Area locations so far, making this the ninth, along with that fleet of grilled cheese buses it launched in the fall, of which there now three in town. The plan all along, from CEO Jonathan Kaplan, has been to open 500 brick-and-mortar locations and 100 buses nationwide, and they still have a ways to go, having expanded already to Los Angeles with two stores and a bus last year.

For those not yet familiar, the restaurant works with the aid of online and by-phone ordering, off this basic menu of five grilled cheese varieties and five soups. If you order by phone you get a QR code that you then scan at the store for pickup. The idea, obviously, appeals to those people who crave a little cheesy comfort and have exactly zero minutes for a lunch break.

To recap, the brick-and-mortar Bay Area locations are below:

One Embarcadero Center
115 New Montgomery Street
345 Spear Street, Ste 126
710 Third Street, at Townsend
2400 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley
1401 Burlingame Avenue, Burlingame
835 Middlefield Road, Redwood City
Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto

See all the bus stops, and the L.A. locations, here.

Earlier: The Melt Launches a Fleet of Grilled-Cheese Buses Next Week

The Next Location of The Melt: 557 Howard