From humble beginnings to hometown favorite

Just down the street in Moline from the headquarters of agricultural machinery manufacturing giant John Deere, is a place where a business dream flourishes, and great food is served up every day. Melissa (Meli) Figueroa is the owner of Meli’s Pancake House, a special gathering place where fluffy pancakes and warm hospitality come together to create a memorable and delicious experience.

“I’m very proud of being a Latino in business, especially with parents immigrating from Mexico – very, very proud,” said Meli with a prideful smile. “My dad was a single parent raising five of us, so it was really hard to get food on the table. There was times we had to eat at Grandma’s house. There was times we didn’t have anything for Christmas.”

Those early experiences shaped not only Meli’s work ethic, but also her commitment to paying it forward. “So now, being a business owner, I try to give back,” continued Meli. “Every Christmas, I adopt a family from the church, and we get them gifts. That was my way of thinking back to my dream come true.”

“I love seeing people eat food that we’re making. I think that’s why when people come in and don’t have money, I give it (a meal) to them, because I once was wearing their shoes where we didn’t have anything,” Meli added.

A dream built on determination

“When I was about 17, it was my dream to have my own restaurant,” Meli recalled with a smile. “But I didn’t think that one day was ever going to come.”
Meli’s life took twists and turns starting when she met her future husband. “I said, ‘either I marry a cook or I’m going to die forever of hunger, because I don’t like to cook,’” recalled Meli with a smile.

Her husband’s own story mirrors the same determined spirit that defines their family. “He came (to the United States) when he was eight,” as Meli described her husband’s upbringing. “He had it worse than what we did. There were times where he had to pick from the tree to eat.”

After 25 years in the cooking industry, Meli’s husband arrived home one day with a bold proposition. He said, ‘‘I’m tired of working for somebody else when I can do it myself,” he told her. His confidence was contagious as Meli continued. “He’s like, ‘I know I can do it. I know we can do it,’” Meli recounted that first conversation about opening up their own restaurant.

Opening own her own restaurant occurred at a time of massive economic disruption nationwide — smack in the middle of the pandemic. “I’m like, ‘We’re in a pandemic. Who’s going to go eat? Who eats out? We don’t even eat out,’” Meli explained. “He’s like, ‘we got this,’” Meli recalled the conversation.

Working with their modest savings, they took over an existing restaurant location four years ago in Moline. Meli is proud of what she and her husband have built. He is the chef who is cooking up great food to satisfy hungry customers, while Meli works the front of the restaurant taking care of everyone who comes through her doors.

“We put our unique decorations in and made it to what is Meli’s Pancake House today,” said Meli. “Our life savings is all in here.”

The journey wasn’t without its challenges.

“We did struggle. We had a lot of bumpy roads,” admitted Meli. “Making ends meet for rent, salary for employees, even though they were my husband and my son… I still had to pay them.”

But persistence paid off. When their first month’s sales tax came due, Meli remembered the relief she felt making payroll, which reaffirmed her husband’s promise that “We’ve got this.”

Recipe for success

Meli’s Pancake House has evolved into a breakfast and lunch destination in downtown Moline.

“I think Meli’s Pancake House has been going four years plus, because of my husband’s secret recipes he put in his dishes,” Meli shared with a laugh.
The restaurant truly embodies the meaning of a family.

“We are a family business,” Meli explained with pride. “I have my son. He’s involved with us. He’s a cook as well as my husband,” said Meli. “We have our nieces, nephews. They come and help us. So, like, we’re pretty much all family-owned. It’s all family and that works for me.”

This family atmosphere extends to how Meli embraces her customers.

“We welcome our customers if they were family,” said Meli. “I’m a people person, so I love to meet new people. Everybody that comes in our door, I try to converse with each and every one of them. I may not get to every person that comes in my door, but I try to hit every table.”

Meli’s serves up a menu that seems to cover all the bases of sweet and savory. Their menu includes a variety of delicious breakfast dishes including a Mexican skillet plate, hearty biscuits and gravy, and ribeye and eggs. There is also a huge selection of great waffles, pancakes and french toast combinations. Stop in at Meli’s for lunch and you won’t leave hungry with their menu of burgers, deli sandwiches, wraps and salads. As for Meli herself, her favorite is the Avocado Benedict on sourdough bread with spinach, tomato, feta cheese, egg. and hollandaise sauce.

“It’s good,” Meli shared.

Despite the typical challenges of launching a business, Meli turned her dream of owning one restaurant into owning two!

“My first location, Meli’s Pancake House is located in Moline, on 5th Avenue. My second location is across the Mississippi River in Davenport, on the Iowa side,” Meli said proudly.

The second location, Links, Breakfast and Lunch, sits just across the river on Utica Ridge Road in Davenport.

“The customers keep us going,” explained Meli. It’s this focus on people — both family and customers — that has made Meli’s Pancake House popular in the Quad Cities.

Business challenges across two states

For Meli, operating restaurants on both sides of the Mississippi River, has provided a unique perspective on the business environment in Illinois and Iowa.
“I want the people in Illinois to know as small businesses, it hurts us paying a lot of sales tax,” Meli explained. “We pay state and city sales taxes. That hurts us as a small business owner. We pay out a lot.”

Meli says higher taxes in Illinois make it more challenging for a small business to stay open in the Land of Lincoln.

“I have a lot of customers that tell me they rather go to Iowa side, because taxes are cheaper on that side,” explained Meli. “So, it’s like everybody’s going to Davenport, crossing Mississippi River, just like go to the Walmart because it’s cheaper. Going to the mall is cheaper. Iowa’s getting all the business from Illinois.”
The challenges don’t stop at taxes, Meli noted. Rising food costs have forced difficult decisions.

“I tried charging the customer credit card fees, but at the end of the day, they’re (customers) mad. So, I took that off, raised my prices, and they’re still mad,” admitted Meli. “So, it’s never a win for us. As small business owners, we try to make things work for everybody.”

Even basic ingredients, like eggs which are an essential for Meli, have seen dramatic price increases. “When we opened Meli’s Pancake House, a box of eggs was about running $20 to $30. Now, in 2024. it’s $65 a box,” explained Meli with palpable concern.

Labor costs also vary significantly between the two states. “Minimum wage in Illinois for (tipped) servers is $8.40 an hour (in 2024), versus Iowa for a minimum wage serving. It’s $4.35,” Meli explained. “On the Illinois side it impacts hard, because imagine you have a full-time employee. 40 hours. That $8.40 plus tips takes a big hole from our earnings.”

These challenges have led to some difficult conversations.

“We got hit hard for two weeks straight. The numbers weren’t looking good,” explained Meli. “So, it even crossed my mind to my husband, like, ‘What do you think about closing Meli’s and let’s keep the Iowa location.’ But her husband’s determination convinced her to ride out the storm. “He’s like, ’We can’t give up yet. We have to keep going,’” Meli recalled. “I’m like, ‘The taxes are killing me right now.’ He’s like, ‘We’ll figure it out.’”

However difficult the challenges, Meli still embraces her beloved restaurant in Moline because the of the joy her family brings to her community.

“I love being a retailer. I love to see people come in my door,” said Meli reflecting on her restaurant journey. “That’s my number one thing. I love meeting new people, new faces that when they tell us the food was great. I love when people walk out of my establishment saying, ‘We’ll be back. It was really good.’”
Meli’s commitment to paying it forward extends to a hand up for startup retailers and restaurant owners.

“If I could give one piece of advice to a new retailer, don’t give up. Don’t close doors,” said Meli with a determined look on her face. “There’s always a solution for everything. Don’t give up. My secret staying around as a business owner is that there’s going to be obstacles. We’re going to jump through them in one way or another. We’re going to try to make it work.”