Cooked?Mels Drive-In
- gradeGrade A
- inspection score91 pts
- critical violations1
- last inspectedFebruary 13, 2026 →
- address1670 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica 90404
Is Mels Drive-In clean?
Mels Drive-In is currently Grade A from LA County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health, from an inspection on February 13, 2026. Inspectors wrote up 1 critical violation — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.
What did inspectors find at Mels Drive-In?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on February 13, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- ⚠️PROPER COOLING METHODScritical
- ⚠️NON-FOOD CONTACT SURFACES CLEAN
- ⚠️EQUIPMENT/UTENSILS APPROVED: INSTALLED; GOOD REPAIR; CAPACITY
- ⚠️ADEQUATE VENTILATION AND LIGHTING; DESIGNATED AREAS, USE
- ⚠️PLUMBING: FIXTURES, BACKFLOW DEVICE, DRAINAGE
- ⚠️PREMISES; PERSONAL/CLEANING ITEMS; VERMIN-PROOFING
When was Mels Drive-In last inspected?
Mels Drive-In has 2 inspections on record going back to May 9, 2024, averaging 92 points.
February 13, 2026 A
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View full inspection →May 9, 2024 A
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View full inspection →Mels Drive-In vs City Of Santa Monica
City Of Santa Monica runs 95% clean across 628 tracked restaurants — 598 clean, 25 mid, 5 cooked.
Against the 628 spots Cooked tracks in City Of Santa Monica, this one comes out cleaner than 18% of them.
Other spots in City Of Santa Monica
How Los Angeles grades restaurants
Los Angeles County posts a letter placard in the window, and unlike New York the score runs the friendly way: higher is better. 90 to 100 points earns an A, 80 to 89 a B, and anything below that a C. The county inspects roughly every six months to a year depending on risk, and a failed inspection can close a kitchen until it is fixed. Because LA’s scores are final at the time of inspection — there is no pending window — a letter can be read straight off the score when the placard field is blank.
Read the Los Angeles ratings guide →
Inspection findings and available history come from the authority’s published records. Cooked checks daily, but the authority publishes in batches, so a recent visit may not appear yet. Read the date on each result and check the official source for newer information.
Source: LA County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health via LA County Open Data. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated February 13, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.
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