Question: who played mel on the tv show alice
Answer: ) Alice works alongside Mel Sharples ( Vic Tayback ) , the grouchy , stingy owner and cook of the greasy spoon , and fellow waitresses and friends , sassy , man - hungry Florence Jean `` Flo '' Castleberry ( Polly Holliday ) , and neurotic , scatterbrained Vera Louise Gorman ( Beth Howland ) .