The Little Dipper

So much yum! Feasted here on a Sunday night for triangle restaurant week. Our group of 4 loved the ½ price bottle night and splurged on an awesome Italian red!
Pros:
–Good prices for fondue considering that they have local offerings such as Chapel Hill Creamery, bison meatballs, and sausage
–Plethora of dipping sauces and cooking options to choose from
–Everything we ate was super yummy! Especially the smores dessert and the Chapel Hill Creamery truffle cheese.
Cons:
–The restaurant was not very full, but things were a little disorganized in terms of service. We didn’t have enough menus and we only had one burner for 4 hungry adults, which is hard because you are waiting 2 minutes for each bite you take with the size of the pot. The waitress also messed someone’s order up at the table.
–Even though there were 4 of us, they brought the breads and sauces out on one plate, which meant a lot of reaching over the table and passing with a burner in the middle.
–They sometimes failed in terms of bringing out adequate amounts of things to dip with. We got a whole pot of chocolate, but only like 15 bites for 4 adults to dip with! Who eats 4 bites for dessert??? We had to pay extra for more dipping material, which other fondue shops will bring for free. I would expect at least 8 bites each for a small dessert, or about half the chocolate would have been wasted.

The Long: Came here for my second visit ever with my BF and another couple. Although our experience was good here and we definitely enjoyed fondue-​ing, we did run into a couple of annoyances that I wouldn’t have realized if I only dined with 1 other person.
As I said in my earlier review, everything was delicious and filling. I can’t complain about the food at all. The local options were fantastic as well, we really loved having the Chapel Hill Creamery as an option for cheese fondue.
On to the not so great: we had a party of 4 and were sat at a table with 1 burner only. As we walked through the restaurant we noticed most tables only had 1 burner, except for one very large table that probably sat about 8, which had 2 burners. What this means is that your entire party needs to agree on the same cheese, broth, and chocolate for your dessert. If everyone is really easy going this isn’t bad, but I can imagine this might suck if you have some particularly picky people. You’re also getting more bang for your buck if you dine with only 2 because then you have more cheese, broth, and chocolate between the 2 of you.
Secondly, during our dessert portion, our waitress only brought out 1 plate of dippers (bananas, strawberries, pretzels, marshmallows, cream puffs) for a party of FOUR! That plate was enough to serve 1 person. By the time we finished off the dippers, we still had over half of our chocolate left! There was clearly a poor dipper to chocolate ratio. When we asked if we could have more dippers, we were told there was a $ 4 charge to do so. As the diners, we felt like it’s the restaurant’s job to give us an adequate amount of dippers for the amount of chocolate they provide and we felt a bit ripped off. And on the second plate of dippers they didn’t even include any strawberries.
To compare, Melting Pot gives you a great amount of dippers and will not charge for extras.
The short: Most tables only have 1 burner, so everyone has to agree on the same cooking styles. They jip you on the amount of dippers you get and charge for extra.

Ohmygoodness… this was delightful! My girlfriends took me for my birthday and I don’t know if it was a normal Thursday night or the fact that it was supposed to snow later that night but it was pretty quiet inside. We had reservations but were seated right away. Our server was friendly and helpful. We had the Baja Cheese… it was delicious… I really wanted to try them all! Then we all did the undecided (pick 3 meats)…we shared, it was SO delightful. It was slightly dark in there but I guess they were setting the mood… My girls and I had a WONDERFUL 2.5 hour meal and I will DEFINITELY go back. It was so much fun, a new & hopefully repeated, experience!

We’ve been looking for something a little different. Needless to say we finally found it. A friend of ours told us about Sunday brunch at a local fondue place. We were w/​a large group. But with reservations (made through open table) we were sat almost immediately.
We had great service, great food and the atmosphere/​décor was very unique.
Our group stayed a while but were never rushed. Instead the owner chatted w/​us at the bar for a long time after brunch was over. Awesome experience!
For our Second visit it was just two of us. We went on Saturday with no reservation and while we were told there would be a 40 minute wait for a table we were offered a spot at the full-​service bar. And by full service I mean you still get to do fondue!
In short great food, great service & a super enjoyable hands on experience!

The staff at The Little Dipper ensured my engagement night went without a hitch! They were completely discrete to preserve me being surprised. Our server Alissa was fantastic, funny and attentive. The food was amazing, especially the dessert. The moscato wine ended up being a new favorite. My fiancé requested a quiet corner, so they sat us in the back corner of the restaurant and they even went so far as to delay seating the table across from us so we would not be disturbed for our special moment. This is a crew that will go above and beyond to make your night a great one. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Thank you, Little Dipper!

The Little Dipper makes for a great date night. My husband I like to go on Thursdays which is the date night promotion– $ 65 for 2 for 3 courses and each course comes with wine or beer (smaller than usual sized). The staff are always personable and friendly and the décor feels very unique. We came for our anniversary and they even gave us free champagne!
You really can’t go wrong in your choices, but I prefer to order off the «local menu» which features cheeses and sides from local vendors and is constantly changing (it’s Durham, who doesn’t love local things?) I haven’t checked out their Sunday brunch but it’s definitely on my list.

I recently went back to The Little Dipper after and afternoon of watching Duke win at Cameron Indoor and was excited to have the fondue experience again! My family always went to The Melting Pot for all special occasions growing up and for me, The Little Dipper is the best! I had been once with my girl friends for Lady’s Night which is Wednesday (highly recommend this– $ 11 for cheese and chocolate!). My boyfriend and I split the fondue for one and I was stuffed at the end of the meal. The Little Dipper is in the cutest area of Durham and the restaurant itself has a lot of charm.
For our meal, we did the Baja Cheddar Cheese which was a nice change because it came with tortilla chips as well as your standard fruits and veggies for dipping. It was slightly spicy but not too much as I was a little worried by the habanero hot sauce. We then got small salads which were the perfect size and very fresh tasting. We did our entrée fondue in the chicken broth and ordered The «Undecided» where we got to choose our own meats. I absolutely loved this option! We got chicken, steak and tuna along with the hibachi yum yum sauce, creamy horseradish sauce and thai peanut sauce. We also got the red skin potatoes as our side and added the fresh veggies for $ 1. Lastly, even though we were getting pretty full we ordered dessert. We got the Half and Half which is half dark chocolate and half peanut butter. We did the classic dippers so we got an array of things to dip including marshmallows (my fav), pineapple, strawberries, cream puffs and more. They even add a little cup of graham crackers which are delish to add after the marshmallow especially!
Overall it was such a fun night. Everyone working there is so friendly and wants you to have a great time. I also think the pricing is very reasonable! Definitely check out their nightly specials as they have some great deals during the week. If fondue is your thing or you just want to try something new, I highly recommend The Little Dipper!

It was first time eating at a fondue restaurant, we took my mother-​in-​law, and 9year old (picky) daughter. The place was set up very nice and the staff explained how to use everything, and helped pair up the best combinations for us. I loved it! Even my daughter love it and can not wait to go back!

Loves this place! We went for brunch and were expecting it to be crowded but we got right in! It took about 2 hours to get through all 3 courses but was so delicious. My favorite had to be the french toast 3^rd course. It was so much fun! And messy! But building french toast from fondue, I mean seriously. Who wouldn’t love that.
Either way. Great little spot. Can’t wait to try the dinner there!!! Food was worth every penny. OH and dont forget to spin the sand paintings on the wall by your table! so 1980’s but so awesome actually. Took me back and was definitely a conversation piece!

This was my third trip here. The prior trips were better than this one, but it was still pretty good. Our server was nice and friendly. The ambiance is beautiful in there.
Both my mom and dad said that the food was better this time then last. I think most of that was because they did a better job choosing their sauces. My advice would be if you’re unsure, let the chef pair them for you. To me the sauces are the best part.
Our cheese course was great. I had the mushroom salad. Their balsamic dressing is extremely good. I ordered the filet and it was just ok. The meat had very little flavor. It was very tender however. We used the port and beef broth which should’ve helped the flavoring. My mom was very happy with hers, so maybe I just had a bad cut. I’m not much on dessert p, but we got the amaretto and chocolate broth with some bananas, strawberries, pretzels, cream puffs, marshmallows, and a couple other items. Mom and dad loved it! All in all it was a good experience again.

I’ve only been to the Little Dipper for Ladies’ Night, and I would say that’s the only night that it’s worth it (you get a cheese and chocolate fondue). You get fondue for $ 9/​lady, and it does surprisingly fill you up. I’ve always thought their cheese tasted a little funky, but every time I go I’m so hungry I get over it. It’s not really creamy cheese, it has a bitter/​vinegary taste to it that I’m not a huge fan of. The dippers they give you are seemingly straight out of a grocery store vegetable platter.
For dessert I’ve gotten the s’mores every time, which is really good, but again the toppings are just thrown on the plate. Perhaps this is how all fondue is, but I’m left wondering why anyone would ever pay more for the meal when it seems SO easily reproducible at home. My issue is that Little Dipper’s fondue isn’t fantastic, but it is crazy expensive. Their tiny salads are over $ 10!
Like that they have ladies’ night, would never go here besides that.

Beautiful atmosphere and even more amazing food! I ordered the scallops, filet, and sashimi grade tuna. Everything was so fresh tasting and delicious! The owner was very friendly and even came to our table and poured the wine for us. For dessert, we had the double your pleasure, which was chocolate, white chocolate and grand marnier mixed together. Best fondue restaurant I’ve been to by far!

Beautiful little place downtown. I went for a birthday dinner and we had the 4-​course menu. The highlight was the first course of cheese and bread. Downside: why are you giving me fruit and raw veggies?! so I quickly threw those items to the side. Unfortunately, there were a small number of bread chunks, and they were cut up in HUGE pieces! I would ask next time for the bread to be cut in smaller pieces because you can’t possibly fit that whole bread piece in one bite, and neither can you double dip in the cheese. so it’s a lose/​lose situation. If only they didn’t give me fruit/​raw vegetables and gave me more bread.
next course: salad/​soup. pretty good not memorable. who cares, its a fondue place!
main course: meats! The tuna was delicious. pork tenderloin was a little too thick cut for me. i believe that one took forever to cook in the broth. so go ahead and leave those in there and keep eating something else. my favorite dipping sauce was the au poivre sauce, surprisingly.
peppery gravy, basically. but perfect with the meats.
dessert course: HECK YES. this is where it’s at. I love the cheese course, but since it was ruined with the raw veggies, points were taken and the dessert course wins overall. We got the cookies and milk one. I love the cream puffs, bananas, strawberries. pretzels were awkward to dip (do it with your hands?) I just wish I wasn’t so full from the previous courses because I couldn’t finish the chocolate fondue, regretfully.
Cute place, a fun experience. Probably would only go with the groupon though.

Not good at all. I know a lot of people say if you cook it yourself, so you can’t blame it on the restaurant, but this is different.
We ordered the guinness beer cheese fondue to start and it was horrible. How could you ruin that? Way too much worcestershire and not enough beer. The bread they gave us to dip was really hard and stale.
For the main course, we got a mix of different items with their classic oil fondue. The chicken was way too dry, even though we cooked it at the exact time we were told to. The steak was ok, but the portion size was tiny. The sauces didn’t have any flavor to help either.
Then we got to dessert– s’mores fondue. I figured this would be their chance to redeem themselves. How could you ruin chocolate fondue? It was basically chocolate syrup and fluffernutter. What. the. hell.
We used a Groupon and STILL overpaid. Next time I’ll go to the Melting Pot.

Quite simply this place has the best fondu I have ever had. I went here as part of a food tour and every aspect of the experience was perfect. The cheese surpassed my expectations in taste and texture. The view from our table was simple yet beautiful at the same time. The interior design of the restaurant was filled with no end of wonderful TLC fueled character. Homemade lite fixtures, Homemade star wall, rotatable sand art frames, etc.
Plus all of the beers and cocktails were craft respectively.
Basically this place sings quality and style at a molecular level. I would recomend giving this place a try for both fondu fans and non fans alike.

Great place for a romantic outing. Although we normally don’t go to fondue due to its prices, we had to give it a try after getting a groupon for 4 course meal.
We had a reservation and had gotten a beer each while we waited the servers to get our table ready. They actually had Aviator beer on tap! We both got a porter and they were amazing! Off to a great start.
Our server, Josh, is extremely nice and helpful in aiding us finding the best things through the menu. We even chatted throughout the meal, which was quite enjoyable.
Onto the food:
Tuscany sundried tomato cheese fondue: really good, could use a bit more spices, but it’s cheese, so it can’t really go wrong. The bread, veggie, fruit to cheese ratio is definitely skewed, since we didn’t have enough cheese to dip in, but we didn’t mind because the bread is yummy even without cheese.
Chef loaded salad and soup of the day: creamy and so good. Half full around this point already.
Main course: we had port and beef cooking style with 2 sides of filet and 1 side of scallops. The portion is smaller compare to the other courses, but it is understandable. We had so much fun cooking the beef, but the scallops really stole the show. If you don’t mind shellfish, definitely get the scallops! It’s so fresh and so good with broth cooking style.
Dipping sauces: love all three! We had the mushroom traditional one, spicy habeno fire, and cognac dijon.
Dessert and 2 more beers: we had the triple play chocolate with dark chocolate, caramel and peanut butter. It’s a bit too sweet for my taste, but my date loved it. We couldn’t even finish the whole pot because there is just so much food. We end up just playing with the chocolate like we were 5 years old…
Anyway, great food, great service, great atmosphere. Compare to Melting Pot, this place is WAY superior. At Melting Pot, we did a similar 4 course meal, but we were so hungry afterward we went to get a burrito. We will definitely come back to Little Dipper next time when there is a fondue craving :)

The Little Dipper is tucked away inside Durham’s Bright Leaf Square, but it’s not to be missed! The atmosphere is inviting and romantic. Exposed brick greet you when entering a beautiful restaurant where you can’t help but feel that you’ve entered someplace great! They have great specials throughout the week including Ladies Night, «Date» Night and their Tuesday Tasting menu (as well as $ 3 local draft beers!). We visited on a Tuesday night (five in our party – shout out to Susan Z. & Ron W.!) and the restaurant was pretty empty. Our service was stellar although I did feel a little overwhelmed initially at all the options and how quickly our waiter was going through everything. I distinctly remember my parents taking us to The Melting Pot when I was in junior high, however that was my only fondue experience up until this. However, with help from those much more well versed in the art of fondue, we slowly chose our food for the evening.
We started with the Cheddar Ale (with Guinness) which was delightful along with the Fontina. I would recommend that you either sit in the middle of the two pots if you’re looking to try more then one fondue bowl. It’s really hard to fondue into pots on the other end of the table. We chose the white merlot & vegetable for our broth as well as the seasonal broth (although I can’t for the life of me remember what it was. Honestly, you can really fill up from just a cheese course, so take it easy if you’re trying to do a FULL meal (I DIDN’T do that!). The lobster ravioli were incredibly as were the bison meatballs and tuna, plus you’ve got to throw some veggies in the pot along with some shrimp. The meats are all served by ounces, but don’t be nervous to ask how much on a plate – you don’t want to get too full. While I really enjoyed all the components we ordered, I think the sauces that were served with the broth course left me hanging (or I ordered the wrong ones, there were a TON!) The broth course was my least favorite, still delicious, don’t get me wrong, but not as hit you in the face 5 star amazing as the other two courses. Honestly, by the end of the entrée I was SO full. But good old Ron W. said we HAD to get dessert, which brings me to the Fluffernutter fondue, I ate one bite and God was it good! It’s served with a large plate of fruits, pretzels, cream puffs, etc. as well. By that time I was stuffed, BUT my birthday was the day before and we’d mentioned it to our server. NOW he brought out a round of champagne AND a large piece of cheese cake for me, all on the house. It was such a treat. DEFINITELY come here to celebrate special occasions if you want to feel special!
Honestly, I don’t think I would recommend The Little Dipper on a first date UNLESS you know how to control yourself and you know you’re going to like the person [fondue is a process, you’ll be stuck with that person for at least 1+ hour]. It is VERY easy to become overly-​full. However, this is a wonderful spot, a true gem of Durham. I think our meal averaged out to about $ 40/​person and that included beer! This is a great place for a long night of enjoyment and conversation.

We made a reservation for 7 people here on a Tuesday night and got a large table right next to the window with a great view! Our waiter was awesome and very attentive/​helpful with suggesting a cheese and how we should order fondue for the 7 of us. We ended up ordering 2 of the «Fab Four» 4-​person set courses which was WAY more than food than we anticipated. We ended up having lots of food leftover that we couldn’t really bring home with us.
1. Soup/​salad. I tried the havarti tomato soup which was delicious.
2. Cheese appetizer with veggies and grapes. Our waiter suggested the Fontina cheese for the fondue ($ 3 extra): Italian cheese in white wine with basil/​garlic. This was creamy, not too salty, and super addicting. I was sad when the waiter brought it away so that we could start on the main course.
3. Main course: we chose the seasonal broth which came with raw beef, pork, shrimp, and chicken. You use your skewer to cook the meats in the broth then dip into 1 of the 17 dipping sauces. The mushroom/​gravy sauce was the best dip for the meats. I like how this course came with laminated cards suggesting how long to cook each type of meat in the broth. I think this was my least favorite part of all the courses.
4. DESSERT. Definitely everyone’s fave course. We chose 2 different chocolates: Milk and Cookies (White/​milk chocolate and oreo); Turtle (caramel and dark chocolate). Each fondue came with a plate of pound cake, marshmallows, strawberries, pineapples, and cream puffs. In the middle of each plate was a small bowl of nuts to dip into after dipping into the chocolate. This was really decadent and the Milk and Cookies fondue was my favorite. I couldn’t really taste any caramel in the Turtle fondue.
The whole 3-​course meal was quite pricey per person ($ 55 each) which is comparable to Melting Pot, although it felt a little more intimate/​local than the Melting Pot chain. They do have other daily deals listed outside the restaurant including a Ladies’ Night on Wednesdays for only $ 9 per person!

I love this place! It has great fondue and you can definitely see some similarities to the Melting Pot Chain, but Little Dipper does «local» which makes it unique.
The location is great-​in BrightLeaf area of downtown Durham. It is a great area to walk around in before having dinner (also very cute shops around as well). They bring in breads and cheeses from local bakeries and farmers around the area. I love the cheddar cheese fondue. The grapes and roasted rosemary potatoes are really unique items for them to add to their dippers, but very delicious choices. They offer SO MANY sauces for their meats, so be sure to tag team your ordering with others at your table so you get to try them all. My favorite is the creamy dill mixes with a touch of the horseradish sauce. I also really like the honey BBQ sauce for my chicken.
Their dessert selection is AMAZING! My favorite is the triple play – chocolate, peanut butter, and caramel fondue. SO GOOD! Go ahead and spring for the supreme dippers – you get crème puffs, Oreos, blondie bars, and so many other goodies in addition to pineapple, strawberries and bananas. If you can’t go for dinner, just go for dessert because Little Dipper takes the cake on this one.
I will say that although their wine and beer selection are great, I think they lack in the cocktail list. I generally like sweet cocktails and last time I went I tried three different drinks on the menu as suggestions from the bartender/​wait staff as being sweet and I didn’t really care for any of them or think they were sweet enough for me. It’s definitely a personal preference. Also, be careful in the women’s bathroom when washing your hands – the hot water can get scalding!

Halfway through our Saturday night experience, Husband looked at me and said «5-​stars?» Mouth full, I nodded.
Thanks to a Living Social, we have had our first experience here, and it totally blew out previous fondue experiences. Obviously we have been missing a lot! Quality, prices, ambiance, flavor… all were much better than what we have experienced before at the only other fondue place we’ve known.
My $ 9 Italian Chardonnay was delightful. Husband’s $ 10 Orion was liked very much (Makers Mark with Grand Marnier). Feast began with our cheese choice of Baja Cheddar. This involved a yummy amount of beer, fresh garlic, salsa, hot sauces, white cheddar… served with tri-​color tortilla chips, grapes, tomato, carrots, broccoli… yum yum yum!
Each of us then got a salad… mushroom with zucchini and bleu cheese for Husband… Romaine for me with a rich dressing, fresh cheese and tasty anchovies… sigh…loved it!
Our choice for entrée was the White Merlot With Vegetables: with Pork Tenderloin, Filet and Scallops. For dipping, we chose habanero, creamy horseradish and Asian Ginger. Side of Potatoes. They give you a guide to know how long to cook each, and we found it to be pretty spot on. As a saucy gal, my only teeny complaint would be that I would have loved to try more dipping sauces (we were limited to three, but then again, I didn’t ask if we could purchase more).
If all that wasn’t enough, we had our choice of chocolate desserts. We went with Turtle: dark chocolate, caramel, with nuts. This came out with (oh my gosh!) small cream puffs, banana slices, strawberries, marshmallows, pineapple, even an edible flower! Then there was a small dish of graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar to dip into to add a bit of crunch.
Through it all we had enthusiastic, enjoyable service! The only thing missing was the wheelbarrow to get us to our car!