After her husband, Donald, was killed in a truck accident, Alice Hyatt and her 12-year-old son, Tommy, moved out of their home in New Jersey and headed for Hollywood. Alice's dream was to become a singer but for the time being she got work as a waitress in a greasy spoon, Mel's Diner after her car breaks down in Phoenix. Mel was gruff and demanding and constantly bossing his three waitresses around.