The Melting Pot

"My wife and I have been talking about trying out a dinner at Melting Pot for many years. This year my wife decided it was time and looked at booking a reservation during the Valentines Day holiday week. Unfortunately their prices were doubled during that time, so we had to wait until last night (2-19-24) to visit. We arrived for our 4:30 reservation a bit early. The tiny lobby's floor was damaged and the overhead lamp appeared to be broken. They made us wait to be seated until the reservation time even though there was nobody else waiting, and the restaurant was pretty empty. Our server was very nice and attentive, and that's why I'm giving them two stars instead of one. The menu was confusing, and the restaurant was very loud, so it was hard to concentrate enough to figure out what to order. We managed though, and ordered the four course meal experience. The first course was a pot of melted cheese with bread and veggies to dip. This seemed ok, but the cheese was delivered cold and it took awhile for it to heat at the table. The second course was a salad, which was also ok. The lettuce was not very fresh, and the dressing provided was very scant. Next came the meats, served with a side of disaster. One of the meats I received was tuna. The server warned me to not eat it raw. What she didn't say is that it was poison, and I should not have ate it at all. (BTW, boiling my meat isn't really my preparation of choice. Grilling seems so much better that I'm not sure why this place is popular and so expense?) Even though I cooked the tuna chunks for over five minutes in the boiling soup provided, and it was the consistency of pork when I ate it, I quickly knew eating it was a big mistake. Less than two hours later I was really sick, and I knew why. It is has been a long time since I've had food poisoning, but boy did I get it from this meal! Desert was some melted chocolate with various fruits and desert bars to dip. It was actually the best part of the meal. Dinner for two here with no alcohol was $170 with the tip included. As an added surprise, they added a 3% kitchen surcharge, "for our kitchen staff to provide a sustainable living wage." I think a restaurant that charges this much for a meal should be able to pay their kitchen staff without an extra charge. Maybe if they did, the staff would be more professional in their food handling, and I would not have been poisoned by the meal they provided. We will not be back."

"It is good. The catch is the fondue atmosphere but if you are looking for good value for your money this is not the place. Party of 2, $250. I have had much better food and meals for less elsewhere. I think it would be great for a party of 6-8 people where time can be spent talking and laughing. Be weary of the seasoning they put on the table and recommend. You open it, you buy it....."

"We have dined here several times and always have a fantastic experience. The last time we went was for my husband's birthday and the staff made it a wonderful experience. We had Karissa as our server and she made sure that his birthday was memorable. They decorated the table with rose petals which made the night that much more special. We always have great service from both servers and kitchen staff. They always make sure we have enough dippers, and are fantastic about making modifications if needed. They are also great about getting the food out in a great timely manner, making sure we never wait too long between courses, but also never rushing us. The food- whether we go for just cheese and chocolate or all 4 courses- is always delicious. We love dining at the Melting Pot and highly recommend!"

"Thursday Date Night was much needed and Caitlyn did a fantastic job! She was attentive, personable, and always made sure we had what we needed. She also offered more dippers if we needed them which we didn't know we could do! Perfect service! :)"

"The atmosphere was awful, the service was horrible and the food was not so great. The waitress with red hair a falsies was stingy with the items for the cheese and chocolate fondue. Putting 2 pieces of each item when the table next to us had theirs full of items. We were not given enough chocolate to dip the couple items she served us. We purchased the larger option for a night out. Totally a bad experience. Probably never going back"