The Melting Pot

Amazing experience, so much fun to cook your meal at the table as you enjoy a conversation with your loved ones. Tried the four course dinner, it will give you a chance to try cheese, chocolate and the cooking style of your liking in manageable portions. Customize the appetizer, salad, entrée and dessert, beginning to end to your liking. Cheese fondue with breads and veggies to dip to start you up. They have plenty of salads to choose from. The entrées are varied from veggie, meat or sea food or a combo of a bit of everything that will make you very happy. The dessert was simply heavenly, fruits, cakes, sweet treats to dip in any chocolate concoction you want, yin and yang was definitely the perfect choice for us. The whole evening was entertaining and delicious.
They do offer a half off happy hour at the bar. The whole place is very intimate and romantic. They have private rooms for parties, or booth seating. The staff are very friendly and walk you through the whole experience.
Must try at least once, perfect for special occasions.

This place is fun and delicious. However, it is pricey and slow — so don’t come if you’re in a hurry! But its great for special occasions where you have some time to relax.
The booths are dark and quiet — very romantic. The atmosphere is perfect for a delicious, relaxed, fun dinner.

I had the worst experience here and I will never be coming back. I was wondering why this restaurant was so empty on a Saturday night but now I know the reason. This place stinks and it deserves less than one star.
My husband decided to plan my birthday dinner here and I thought it would be a great idea since it’s unique and a lot of my friends have never tried it before. Unfortunately, once we got there not only was our table not ready but they wanted to sit our group in 2 separate tables. My husband specifically asked for all of us to be seated together and they did not have that room available so we had to wait another 10 minutes while they set it up. Additionally, my husband had asked for balloons to be set up in the room and the hostess said that was possible 2 days earlier but this was also not done.
The food was blah and the seafod did not look fresh. I think I could have prepared a better platter at home for half the price. The service was also blah.
Blah blah blah…

My friend and I ordered the Fiesta cheese fondue, shared the French quarter entrée, and a cookie’n’cream marshmallow. The dessert was good, the other two were just ok. Plus the entrée really took too much effort. It took us 2 hours to finish dinner.
I guess this is a place to come to try new things, more than to have great food. Unfortunately, I’m Asian, there is a very similar thing called «hot pot» in my culture, just instead of cheese/​oil/​chocolate, broth is used to cook the food. So it’s not so much a shocking experience for me.
The service was great. Have to give them that. Bottom line is, if you have plenty of time, lots of money, have a great date to bring, go try it so you can cross it out of your list.

This is a belated review – I was in Austin in late October/​early November and visited The Melting Pot with my girlfriend. I’d been meaning to write a review for the place and a recent conversation reminded me of that fact.
While I enjoyed the food, the real reason this Melting Pot gets 5 stars is because of the service and what they had to put up with.
My girlfriend and I went there for dinner and while we were there, two crazy women came in with Groupons. Now, anyone who has ever used a Groupon knows: 1 per table. Not per person. Per table. It even says so on the freakin’ Groupon.
But oh no, these two were special. And I mean short-​bus special.
They proceeded to lambast the waitress who tried to explain to them the rules of Groupon, and then they laid into the poor hostess. One of them kept screaming that it was ‘Her birthday!!!’ and that the hostess was ‘Ruining her birthday!!!’ like she was…5 and not 45. She was also 450 lbs, but now I am just getting snarky.
To their credit, every single member of the staff handled the situation with absolute courtesy and civility, patiently trying to diffuse the problem while also ensuring that we (my girlfriend and I) were not overly discomforted by the ruckus – they even threw in some complementary drinks to take the bite off of the nonsense from the other table.
So yeah. The staff are saints and this particular Melting Pot is great.
P. S.: The food is also delicious. We had the Cheddar Cheese fondue for the main course, salads (house and California), and then the Ying & Yang chocolate fondue for dessert. Everything was up to par and we were extremely pleased with both the food and the attentive service.

I had a really great experience here. Our server was very helpful with telling us every single thing we needed to know about the menu.
The food was fantastic, and all of the fondu was incredibly tasty. They have a lot of different sauces for the foods.
I came here with a groupon, so it was a little bit cheaper, but not much. It’s quite pricey, but it’s an awesome experience.
The bananas foster dessert fondu was the most amazing chocolate I’d ever had! It was kind of sad though because the other courses had filled me up so much!
Also, the Love Martini was incredible! So yummy!!!

We dined here with the recent Groupon and had planned to just get cheese and chocolate courses with a glass of wine. Having been twice before, I remembered that more than that leaves me uncomfortably full. Plus, it’s much more fun to dip the tidbits into something rather than cook them in brothiness. We ended up changing our minds, but sticking with the lighter veggie main course. The cooking liquid made a wonderfully-​scented steam cloud in the middle of the table, and cooking broccoli in it took this vegetable to a tastiness I didn’t know it could achieve.
The dipping doodads that come with dessert seem a bit low-​quality to me, but I guess that means I need to get better at drowning them in chocolate. :)
I wish the logistics worked out where I could go here for happy hour on a regular basis. Fondue is simply fun.
Ask for Steven. He was great.

Did you know that when you drip melted chocolate on your face, a server will lick it off for you? And, did you know that there is a menu item that involves a nude male server bringing you hot cheese fondue in a bucket hanging from his??? Okay, I’m lying but the employees do attempt to accommodate you when there is a hiccup in the evening.
The food is great. My friend and I selected a tasty Swiss cheese fondue served with green apples, veggies and bread chunks. We both had the lobster, steak and chicken entrée and we opted to use coq au vin for our cooking liquid. Much healthier than oil and it was delicious. For dessert, we had the spectacular chocolate turtle fondue. Our plate contained small bites of cheesecake, sponge cake and strawberries as dippers.
The service sputtered a bit at the beginning when our server did not how to accommodate the fact that our party of four wanted to be able to have two cheese fondues and two desserts but our table had only one burner. I believe she may have been new, so I am giving her the benefit of the doubt. Lisa, the manager of the evening, was great and explained a way for everyone to be happy.
I was planning on lots of happiness anyway sipping champagne and dipping my fork in cheese and chocolate, and communing with my homies. Frankly, I can be happy eating dirt with the right people.

The appetizer and dessert fondues are the reason to come here. The bar is also a great reason to come. The entrée fondues make me feel like there’s a straw in my wallet, so I rarely go to those.
The service is nice and the atmosphere is better.
Yes, it’s a chain, but it’s a unique chain insofar as each location’s building creates its own feel. This location is dark, intimate, and casual. It’s definitely worth a happy hour visit or a dessert stop.

This is one of those places you just have to try to say you’ve done it. The food was good but, it wasn’t anything to write home to mom about. BUT, I will say I left with that feeling of «I need to unbutton my pants right now!»
The activity of dipping the different items into the cheese and cooking your own meat is pretty fun. I must say, at one point I even said that out loud. This place is definitely not without its good points.
The best part for me, was the dessert… OH NOM NOM CHOCOLATE FONDUE! Its great for a date night or a special occasion. The layout is really good for having a romantic dinner because most tables are in their own little alcove and you can barely hear the people next to you conversing. The inside was dimly lit and the I felt a bit under dressed since I was not wearing heels. Perhaps its one of those places that looks fancy just because of the area its in but then you see other diners inside wearing shorts and t-​shirts. Also, another good thing was that our server was very knowledgeable and friendly. She prepared all of the fondue at our table and initiated conversation with us while she worked. A+
Its a bit pricey so be prepared to drop at least $ 70 minimum for two but on the other hand, they give you a ton of food. My BF and I ordered a cheese fondue as an appetizer, the entrée comes with a dinner salad that we both split, and then we got the dessert fondue. We were stuffed and couldn’t finish the dessert which was a bit sad and very unusual. Usually I am known for cleaning my plate. Guess I can scratch «Competitive Eater» off my list of future professions. Any woo, give it a try, I doubt you’ll walk away hungry or dissatisfied!

The Melting Pot is basically a crappy, overpriced novelty restaurant. The food is down right horrible. The prices are absurd for what you get. And the whole experience is cheesy. HAHA! Pun intended.
But, seriously. This place sucks for food. The bread we were given for our cheese appetizer was stale. Besides, $ 32 for 4 people to share a pot of melted cheese with day-​old bread, a tiny bowl of apples, and some crappy salad bar veggies? Lame-​o!
Then, the main course. In short, boiled meat sucks unless it’s shabu shabu. And we tried is all: steak, shrimp, chicken, duck, scallops, salmon. All just tasted bland and chewy. Even though we paid the extra $ 6 for coq au vin. The dips they give you on the side are a nightmare. All tasted like some cheap sauce you might get out of a squeeze bottle at a truck stop diner.
Service was also disappointing. Our waiter had some kind of short term amnesia. We’d order, then he’d come back 10 minutes later asking if we were ready to order. This happened twice in one meal!
Can you tell I’m bitter? Yeah, it shows. Life’s too short for bad meals.

My bf and I came here like all couples do, to celebrate anniversaries :) Im a big fan of melting pot and think it’s ok to splurge on a nice dining experience and meal, after all the price you pay is really for the dining experience.
We got the Big Night Out — France style and give it a thumbs up! Here’s what we ordered:
Cheese:
Fondue à la France
A rich, smooth combination of baby Brie,
Fontina, Gruyère and Raclette cheeses
accented with Nueske’s bacon, onions,
white-​truffle cream and fresh chives
Salad: Didnt go with the one on the menu (Salade Niçoise (ni — swaz)) and went for the california salad instead :)
Entrée: $ 82 per couple
Fondue Feast*
Filet Mignon, Peppercorn-​Crusted
NY Strip, Chicken Provençal,
Roasted-​Garlic Shrimp, Maple
Leaf Farms Duck a l’Orange,
Ratatouille & Goat Cheese Ravioli
and Fresh Vegetables
Broth flavor:
Coq au Vin
Flavors of fresh herbs, mushrooms,
garlic, spices and burgundy wine
Dessert:
Milk Chocolate Crème Brûlée instead of advertised white chocolate
A fondue version of the classic French dessert
including chocolate and caramelized sugar
Our waitress was amazing! Each time we’ve visited melting pot, we’ve always had a consistent, amazing server and enjoyed our dining experience! She gave us extra veggies and marshmellows :)
To top it off, we donated $ 10 to the children’s fund they were sponsoring and got a $ 20 off coupon for our next dining visit. Score! :)
Oh yeah and dedicate at least 3 hours for this restaurant! I came with a group of friends a while ago for a bday dinner while I was still at UT and made the mistake of coming since I had an important exam to study for the next day! No one thought we’d be here for nearly 4 hours! haha

Sure this place is gimmicky, but, to be honest, I really love it. Perfect leisurely (seriously, carve out a couple hours for this) place to enjoy a long meal with great people.
3 of us went for the Groupon special. Was my second time here, the first time being a late Valentine’s dinner with the bf that I also remember enjoying. Both times we did the Big Night Out, and while I don’t remember details about the first one, the French-​themed Big Night Out was fantastic. Good to know: though the BNO is priced per couple, they gave us the option of either adding on half (so 1.5 times the food and price) or just keeping the two. We decided to keep the two (law school budget and all) and added a salad. With the Groupon, we spent about $ 35 a person with tip and one cocktail each, so overall a FANTASTIC value.
Waiting for the table: Highly recommend reservations, for the obvious reasons. While waiting for my friends to arrive, I parked myself at the bar and chatted up the bartender lady. With 15 minutes left in HH, I got the Love Martini (Malibu, Peach Schnapps and cranberry juice, which somehow translated to watermelon flavor to me), which was just tasty. Sweet but not overwhelmingly so. Bartender was quite great as well. Definitely good at her job.
First Course: Fondue a la France– Fabulous. The bacon/​white truffle oil/​chive mix comes in a pre-​made lump, so when we requested no bacon, as the birthday girl was vegetarian, they brought it to us on the side. We couldn’t resist mixing some in however and I have to say, if otherwise there aren’t any protests, it is absolutely necessary to get it all mixed in. Really REALLY delicious.
Second Course: BNO comes with Salad Nicoise, which my friends really enjoyed, but I subbed mine out for the California Salad. Really nice vinaigrette, though may be a little sweet for some, and walnuts and gorgonzola are always a good combo.
Third Course: We did the Fondue Fusion cooked Coq au Vin, subbing out the chicken for extra goat cheese ravioli. Filet Mignon and NY strip were absolutely fabulous, as was the lobster (the spice it comes with is quite nice and you can’t go wrong dipping it in garlic butter.). I didn’t have the shrimp, as I was trying to compromise with my veg friend. The duck (my first time) had an odd flavor to it, which I think had to do with the marinade– some sort of orange juice concoction. I’ll give it another try, but was my least favorite meat. And I think we did the ravioli wrong, as every single one fell apart in the fondue pot (I’m guessing we weren’t supposed to stab it with the fondue fork.). Veggies were good. Favorite sauces were the Green Goddess and the Tarragon aioli.
Dessert: We were def wanting a straight up chocolate experience, so we decided to not go with the BNO dessert. We couldn’t decide between the snickers and the s’mores fondues so we let the waitress surprise us. We got the s’mores, and it did not disappoint. Came with rice krispies, cheesecake, pound cake, marshmallows, and fruit. We even dipped our after dinner mints in there. Really, really great.
Service: A slow start, as we had one of the newbies handling our table before our actual waitress could get to us. He was a bit awkward and never got back to us with an answer to one of our questions. But once the waitress, Brittany (sp?) showed up, the evening was wonderful. She was patient with us and very down to earth. Knowledgeable and accommodating. Good sense of humor (laughed when we asked exactly what the chefs there did). And to top the evening off, one of the managers brought us free champagne for birthday celebrations.
Will def be keeping an eye out for the next Groupon to this place! Also may be hitting up HH, as they do half price cheese and chocolate (and really, what more do you need?)! Also while be starting a lounge concept with actual food pretty soon, which I think is a fabulous idea!

My Hispanic, cook at home, never dine out dad would have a fit if he knew I went to a place like the Melting Pot.
Dad: my Dej, what you eat today?
Me: some chicken, and vegetables, and shrimp, and duck, and…
Dad: wow! You cook all that?
Me: kind of. I mean yeah I did, but I went somewhere to get it.
Dad: like a grocering store or sunthin?
Me: well it was a restaurant.
Dad: what?
Me: they give you the food raw.
Dad: what?
Me: yeah, then you cook it.
Dad: what?
Me: yeah, on the little stove on the table.
Dad. H’okay. H’okay. You say to me that YOU COOK THE FOOD YOU GONNA EAT at the restaurant. And they charge you a money for that?
Me: uhm dad. My phone battery just died. I love you, bye.
That wouldn’t fly. Because I’ve got most of those ingredients at home, and at $ 22 – 24 a pop, you and your manz/​womanz can forget about tax and tip and keep it in the casa.
We weren’t super hungry. Thank God. We decided on an entrée and a dessert to share, and got the Pacific Rim. It was at this point, while placing the orders, that I realized: our food was coming out raw. And our friendly and efficient server got us to get a pot of the Mojo sauce to cook it in.
Really folks? You’re hungry, and you have to put your skewers in and wait for the food to cook? I had my timer out, counting down the minutes so that my meat would be neither raw nor overcooked. I thought the stuff came out cooked, and you got to dip it in some pot of thick creamy sauce. Had I known what the deal was with the meats I might not have been as disturbed by it.
The saving grace was the pot of chocolate smores with crap to dip in it. It was delicious.
Also, we got our own closed off booth. If they had cameras set up they could make a killing selling footage on the internet. Not to say we did anything. That would be inappropriate.
Overall, I might go again for the cheese/​chocolate fondue happy hours. No worries over meats and the germy raw meat plate you have to avoid. I think HH is 5 – 7 and the last hour the place is open; that’s when you’ll find me at the bar. Sans chicken, or pork, or whatever.

I’ve been to both north Austin and downtown locations a few times and I’ve yet to have anything but a great experience. A few tips on how to have a good time:
1) Get a reservation. They take walk-​ins, but sometimes they fill up. You’ll already spend a fair amount of time here, so don’t make it longer by waiting on a table. Plus, if it’s a special occasion, you can request various additions like birthday chocolate, champagne, etc.
2) Expect a three-​digit bill. If you’re taking a special lady out to dinner here, you’ll likely break $ 100 after the full meal and the bottle of wine and/​or cocktails. So be prepared.
3) Don’t show up starving and plan for a long meal. 3 of the 4 courses (appetizer, meal, and dessert) involve preparing your fondue or broth at your table, and your main course has you doing the cooking. You won’t be out of here in under an hour if you’re having a meal, so do this after the movie, not before. And because it’s a long time, make sure you have good conversation with your dinner mate/​date. I’ve overheard way too many awkward conversations from other patrons.
4) Get the Big Night Out. If you’re gonna do this, do it right. Get all four courses as opposed to trying to piecemeal something together to save cash. It’s a cheese appetizer with fruits and veggies to dip, your choice of salad, various meats and veggies in a broth of your choice for the main course, and a chocolate fondue with fruit, cake, and marshmallow dippers (and don’t be afraid to request extra dippers if you need to). Every Big Night Out meal I’ve had has been fantastic.
All that being said, my actual review is that this place is fantastic for a special evening. The wait staff at both locations has always been spot-​on friendly and helpful when we’ve brought newcomers who ask for help in picking their foods (or for when we ant to try something new). The wine selection is extensive and surprisingly reasonable considering what some places charge. And again, the food is delicious.

This takes me back. When I was growing up (in the 70s) my parents would have parties, and they would always serve big bowls of fondue. They would send me to bed early, but I would sneak out to grab a meatball and dunk it in the fondue. This place gives me that same thrill.
Wear a nice shirt, but not nice pants. You are going to get goo in your lap. Other than that I wish I could sneak in some Ikea meatballs, then it would be perfect.

I want to move here and bathe in melted cheese. I know that’s strange to say, but once you’ve tasted the Spinach Artichoke Cheese fondue, you’ll think it too.
It’s admittedly pricey for melted stuff and dipping stuff, but it’s really really good. The desserts were amazing. Try and get in before March when the seasonal menu changes, because the White Chocolate Apple Streusel fondue is INCREDIBLE!

This is a happy hour review.
My friend and I went to the one up north for our birthdays and we had a good time. On a recent Thursday night, she and I decided to do a happy hour crawl downtown and when we arrived at the Melting Pot, we discovered their cheese and chocolate fondues were ½ price all night in the bar. So, for two fondues, she and I paid $ 16. That is a steal! The drink specials are limited and only $ 3 off, but my friend and I had plenty to drink before we arrived and so we were starving and wanting to eat and eat. Well, we did and felt so full afterward that we felt like we would burst.
At this point, I have to put in my two-​cents about fondue. I think that cheese fondue is great; in order to enjoy it fully, we need more vegetables than the Melting Pot provides, such as broccoli (that would be 10 times better than cauliflower). Chocolate fondue is from heaven, so don’t dismiss it as a novelty only. I highly recommend fondue for nights when you aren’t rushed and you want to enjoy your time and the company of your friends; you really interact more over a dinner of fondue than any other meal. Oh, I guess I should say except for fishing, but that is kind of the same concept.

Every few months or so, my lady friends and I get together for a girls dinner and this month we went to the Melting Pot.
The Good:
1. Busboy — Totally adorable and sweet and fun and did his job!
2. The food smelled divine and tasted great.
3. Cheese! Chocolate! Cheese! Chocolate! Meat! Deliciousness!
4. Big booths that allow ten people to sit together!
The Bad:
1. Menu is too extensive, you feel as though you are being sold, and there are too many instructions.
2. The restaurant needs some personality. Colored bottles do not art make.
The Ugly:
1. Glass in my mouth. Yeah, you heard me right. There was a piece of glass in my water. The manager came out and apologized and while I didn’t expect to have my meal comped, I did expect him to offer.
All in all, I don’t think I will plan on making The Melting Pot a regular stop, but I wouldn’t object to going again with a group. You definitely make it fun by who you bring with you!

I used to not like the MP. It all started with an impromptu run in at the San Antonio location after being soaked at Sea World all day in not great clothes. The hubs and I were broke, so that kind of started off our MP experience badly.
My best friend is obsessed with MP. Because I adored her, I’d go with them. After the third or fourth time the place started to grow on me.
My taste buds matured and I learned which meats to get. For example, why get the plain chicken when you could have the garlic marinated chicken instead? Ah yes, the marinated tastes loads better, trust me.
Anywho. My first experience to the downtown Austin MP I was hooked. It all started with Leah, our waitress. This girl is absolutely amazing. Attentive, hilarious, personable and «one of the girls.»
She helped me pick out an appropriate salad since I’m not a salad person. I ended up really liking it. She introduced the table to the Snickers chocolate (oh yes, it’s not advertised, but tell the staff you want the Snickers chocolate, it tastes JUST like the candy bar and is fabulous), gave us extra dessert platters and a round of champagne on the house. We all left very happy.
Just last month we went for a friend’s birthday party and had Leah again. She completely remembered us, how could she not, we are so memorable and fun! Not only did she throw in an extra chocolate pot for dessert but we received champagne, again. The girl is awesome! Good food, awesome service and great fun!