The Melting Pot

This was my first experience at the Melting Pot – a restaurant that I have been dying to try for years. And, I cannot say that I was disappointed. My boyfriend and I went in on a week night for dinner (celebrating an anniversary). We each got the «Four Course Experience,» which includes a cheese fondue, a salad, an entrée, and a fondue dessert. I got the quattro formaggio fondue to start, the California salad, the French Quarter, and a crème brûlée chocolate fondue. Our waiter was very accommodating and helpful and even decorated a plate and lit a candle for our anniversary celebration. The French Quarter entrée included a filet mignon, chicken, shrimp, and andoullie sausage, accompanied by several dipping sauces. The dessert, which originally came with white chocolate, was substituted per our request for milk chocolate and was incredibly delicious. All of the portions were very generous, especially for the price; I think the total came out to be under $ 40 per person. Will definitely come back.

I’m confused by their reservation system at this location since it’s never full yet Opentable and their own phone system makes it seem like it’s impossible to get into. It’s conveniently located so perhaps they’re saving tables for walk-​ins?
Regardless, it’s a standard Melting Pot with both cheese and broth options. The best part is the chocolate fondue — and if you ask nicely, you can even have a mix of the milk and dark chocolate in the yin-​yang style.

Excellent service and food was tummy too. I made reservations for this location early on Sunday 12÷27÷15 for 7:15pm that night, (and during the winter break which is usually much busier), however we decided to show at 5:30 and see if we could get in earlier. They had us seated within 5 – 10 minutes of arriving. The hosted was very friendly, young and chipper. Our waiter Dylan was apparently new there but overly accommodating and explained everything as if he had been there for years. He was helpful in making sure we got our family money’s worth and had a great experience. The food was fresh and excellent but the service was above and beyond excellent. Thanks for a great experience!

We always have great service here and excellent food. Perfect for special occasions.

My husband and I went in for a last min 4 course meal. They were able to accommodate us at our requested time and the server was amazing! The Manager even came over to check on us. They are doing a promotion for the children’s hospital where if you donate $ 10 they give you a $ 20 gift card to the melting pot. They also have a military discount. That’s guys!

So the melting pots always good. I mean you cook your own food so it’s made the way you like it. I went to this location and the first time in over 25 years of this being my favorite place to eat I was disappointed. Good was good as always but my service wasn’t. She was friendly and nice but didn’t know the history of the place at all. Didn’t know they had them in other states. Got our first course and salads out. Brought our main course but forgot something a asked for when ordering (a spice for my filet) then took over ten minutes to bring it. I sat there watching my friend cook his food. Brought it and we never saw her again. Had to ask A different waitress for a dessert menu. Ordered with her when she came back around. And had to ask her for the check. We had no drinks left and had to wait forever for the check. Very disappointed. We did have a Groupon but with the Groupon and our drinks and dessert our bill was still over $ 100

We had an amazing experience at this melting pot this week. We went to celebrate a friend’s birthday. There were three of us and we were HUNGRY.
Upon arriving on Tuesday night, we noticed that it was unusually busy than other week nights that we had been there. There was a very large party. It took a little while to get seated. Our waitress was super nice (I don’t remember her name but she said she was a student at Pitt) and. Did a great job with our cheddar cheese and the presentation of our fondue. I ordered the steak lovers and my companions ordered the classic fondue. The food was delicious (though the cheese was my favorite). The service was slower than usual due to the large party. We weren’t concerned though because we were in good company.
After our dessert (ying-​yang), the manager came out to ask a questions about our experience. I thought that this was fantastic. What better way to find out what your diners think than to just ask them? We told them that we noticed that the service was slower than usual and that we missed the cheesecake that normally came with the chocolate fondue (can you tell we eat here too much?). The manager was super friendly and explained that the cheesecake was the most thrown out dipper. He also talked to us about the history of the chain in the area and how they’re going to start trying new menu items soon. He then offered to bring us out a sample of their seasonal cheesecake (which is normally more $) and more chocolate.
We couldn’t believe it. MORE CHOCOLATE??? When he came back, he had 3 full size pieces of cheesecake and a flaming turtle fondue. Omg.
This restaurant bends over backwards to please it’s diners. I’ve never had a bad experience and will always attend this location when visiting the Melting Pot.
** Quick note to others after reading previous reviews: this is an upscale restaurant. Dining here takes hours, due to the nature of fondue. This makes it difficult for babies and toddlers to sit through the meal. Also, please read the menu. Cheese is priced per person. This means if your four year old is there, and they eat some cheese, they will be charged. The ambiance of this place is quiet and sophisticated. While I’m not saying to leave the kids at home, you WILL have to pay adult prices for them (and this is an expensive restaurant) and they may tire quickly before all the courses are done**

Had dinner with friends. We had groupons which are of course paid for ahead of time. We should have only been charged for drinks and deserts. They charged for salads and then added an additional groupons charge of $ 39.00 per person. The food sucked. Ended up with a 425.00 bill. It was our first and last time frequenting this establishment. Groupon was kind enough to fully reimburse us for our groupons. However Melting pot added extra charges in the name of groupon which were bogus. Have a call into Corporate headquarters. Day two of waiting on a response. I will get to the bottom of this. Major disappointment. Will say dessert was good, but drinks were way overpriced and the food portions were extremely small.
Never ever ever again.

Selecting five stars for this Melting Pot was the easiest thing I’ll ever do! This was literally the best dining experience I’ve ever had!!!
I was throwing my best friend a bachelorette party and decided to go with The Melting Pot in Warrington for dinner. I called ahead of time to let them know it was a bachelorette party and asked for balloons at the table. When we got there, there were no balloons at the table but I just shrugged it off.
We sat down and got introduced to our waiter, Carl. He was hilarious and friendly and just a great waiter in general, not only in the sense that he kept up with our drinks and needs but also bantered with us.
My best friend ordered a white wine, I ordered a Blackberry Sage Lemonade with Bacardi Limon, and the bride’s sister ordered a raspberry lemonade– all delicious! We also ordered two cheeses– the cheddar and the spinach artichoke. Great choice. So fun to have two cheeses to switch between! Two of us ordered one cheese and two of us ordered the other, so it wasn’t overly expensive either.
THEN Carl comes out with a teddy bear with a lace garter tied around its leg with balloons tied to it and presents it to the bride! She was thrilled! After the initial no balloons I was totally not expecting it and the teddy bear was above and beyond. I was so pleased.
For dinner we each got different dippers, so between all of us we had the chicken, the artichoke ravioli, chicken potstickers, and sausage. I tried all and they were all delicious! We also got two dipping broths– the Mojo, and the Coq Au Vin (which was recommended by Carl). Coq Au Vin was definitely the winner, thanks Carl! We were all dying with how good everything was. Would definitely recommend Coq Au Vin as well as all those dippers.
We were so full we decided to skip the dessert portion, but Carl, being the winner that he is, brought the bride a dessert plate with «Congratulations» written in chocolate with some chocolate strawberries and such on it with a candle. Above and beyond.
By this point, we loved Carl so much that we had to get pictures with him. We all got up and asked the manager to get some pictures with our phones. We were a little surprised he also used the restaurant’s own digital camera. Carl was a great sport with posing. After paying the bill, he told us to come hang out at the front and he would visit with us. When we joined him there, we realized the manager had printed out the pictures he took of us on the restaurant’s digital camera, and framed them for us! I mean, could it get any better?!
Honestly. The food was delicious, but the experience REALLY made the night. The next morning we were still raving about how much we loved The Melting Pot and Carl. The teddy bear is now named after him, and everyone loved Carl so much they were trying to get me to ask him to be my date to the wedding. This location really knows what they’re doing! They know how to make a special occasion even better, and I am SO happy with my decision to go with them for the party! Couldn’t have imagined a better night. Thank you, Carl!!!

Samantha was an excellent waitress. Everyone was pleasant and efficient. When the main entrée comes out, it doesn’t look like much to eat for the money, but we couldn’t finish our dessert. This is not a cheap dinner. This is an experience and that is what you are paying for. We go about once a year. We took our 12 year old daughter for the first time. She loved it. We had a groupon and including tip for 3 people it came to $ 165.

My boyfriend and I were here just the other night and it was wonderful. Our server was very nice and perky, but a little forgetful. Seeing as my boyfriend and I are both servers we completely understand the forgetfulness, it just happens. The food was delicious as always and luckily we seemed to have gotten extra chocolate for dessert! The only thing that was wrong was our table must have been right next to the kitchen doors, I wish I knew how many times I had to hear the servers yell «corner!» I wouldn’t not recommend sitting in the last two person booth in the back.

For the part when I actually get to the food, skip to the asterisk (*) ;) I’m really excited since this was my first time at a fondue restaurant.
I was killing time with my mom in Valley Square Shopping Center on a Friday in the late afternoon, and we came across The Melting Pot. Neither of us had actually eaten here before, but we wanted to give it a quick try – a snack, since dinnertime was getting close.
We entered through a revolving door that had wider spaces than usual, so you could easily fit two people in each space. Makes sense for a restaurant that caters to couples. For some reason, the door makes it seem like you emerge in a different world – a dimly lit, calm place to relax and enjoy some food. The hostess was on the phone when we went in, but she was very polite after she hung up. We hadn’t made a reservation, so after asking how many courses we were planning on eating, she checked whether they had room for us. We were seated quickly (it was about 5:20 pm) at a cozy booth in the corner. Like others have mentioned, the booths feel secluded and private.
The waiter promptly took our drink order and came back soon after our waters were delivered. We ordered the pure dark chocolate fondue, and I asked if we could share a one-​person portion (the menu was priced «per person,» so we weren’t sure). He said that was fine and quickly returned with a pot of chocolate, two small square plates for us, and a plate of dippers. (After reading some other reviews, I wish we’d gotten something a little fancier so he would have made the fondue at our table. Guess it’ll have to wait until I go back again.) The hostess and waiter was friendly, but the service wasn’t at some level way beyond that of other restaurants.
*Food time :)
The dippers included the following:
Strawberries, banana, pineapple — all fresh and delicious
Pound cake — a little dry
Rice Krispies Treats — I haven’t had the store bought ones in a while so I can’t compare to those, but these seemed buttery or something in flavor.
Oreo and graham cracker crumb covered marshmallows — the crumbs didn’t really do anything other than change the color of the marshmallows, but these were good (I’m not really a fan of marshmallows)
Brownies and chocolate chip blondies — delicious!
And, of course, the chocolate — yum :) It’s much thicker than the fondue-​fountain consistency I was expecting, so it sticks to the dippers well.
Most of the food was rich to the point where dipping in chocolate was overkill, but dip them I did. My mom commented (and I agree) that the plates of dippers really should have more fruit and less dessert foods – those don’t even need the chocolate! Also, as you can see, some of the dippers weren’t of the best quality (I made sure to try each without chocolate), but the chocolate pretty much masked it. I’m really glad I just got water; I really needed it to take a break from the richness.
As we finished the meal, a waitress brought us the check with a couple of mints, which she suggested we also dip in the chocolate. It was a good suggestion – like she said, it tasted like York peppermint patties.
After our dippers were gone, we dug in with the spoon that was in the pot and scraped up as much chocolate as we could – what else were we supposed to do? Warm chocolate is delicious.
We paid under $ 15, including tax and tip. About $ 7.50 per person for dessert, which is a lot, but much less than what I’m estimating the average bill is here. If it weren’t for «the experience» (i.e. having a pot of melted chocolate to dunk delicious desserts into) this would probably be a three-​star rating – average quality food for a high price. As things stand, though, I definitely need to come back to try a cheese fondue. Cheddar or spinach and artichoke? Such a difficult decision…

I was surprised how good it was! Romantic table for 2 and the good food was terrific! then the dessert omg!!! I fell in love it’s worthy the price! The experience is awesome.

WOW! I’ve been to multiple Melting Pot locations, and after having a bad experience at the Philadelphia location, I decided to try this one. The hostess, bartender, server, and manager were all extremely accommodating and nice (and all of them wished me a happy birthday, too!). Our server, Christine, was attentive, friendly, and made sure we had a great experience– she is probably the best server I’ve had at this restaurant, and we’re going to request her the next time we’re there. The manager came over twice to wish me a happy birthday and ask how our meal was/​if we had any suggestions. The food was EXCELLENT as usual, and the drinks were delicious, too (go during happy hour 5−7pm to get $ 5 wine and $ 6 cocktails at the bar). You can also order items not listed on the menu anymore– I got the fiesta cheese, my favorite, which was not on there.
At the end of our meal, our server brought out a birthday candle/​plate with Happy Birthday written on it, a rose, a card from the restaurant, and then she took my and my boyfriend’s picture and put it in a frame for us. Their printer ran out of ink, so she actually went to the trouble of taking our address and promising to mail us the frame. Also, if it’s your birthday and you call ahead (and you sign up for their mailing list online), they can bring out a nice box of chocolate covered strawberries for free! Overall, by far, the BEST Melting Pot experience to date. We will be coming back to this location for our special events in the future.

Great place to go if someone else is paying.
Small portions of very ordinary food. Yes, it’s an experience. Yes, the service is very good. For me, this is the kind of thing I’d do one time only. Fool me once, shame on you… etc.

The customer service was nice, but the food was mediocre and overpriced. I was not a fan of the thin cheese texture with an interesting aftertaste, and the salad was very small for what we paid. We each purchased a $ 20 meal to share a cheese fondue, with a salad each and a chocolate fondue (shared) to finish. I chose the California salad, and it was served on a tiny «house» salad plate. They did not give us very many items to dip in the cheese fondue, so I was disappointed with that. Combining both our meals and a glass of wine each, our bill came to $ 75…at LUNCH, to share 2 fondues and a small salad. That’s just way out of my price league. I could have taken that punch to the stomach if the food had blown my mind, but I was not wowed in the least; minimal flavor profile, unimpressive dipping selection. It’s a fun group experience (if no one at the table has a cold :) but if you are looking for bang for your buck, perhaps this is not the place for you.
Another comment on the ambience: I know this is a personal preference, but I found the restaurant very dark and depressing (PF Changs style). Some people like that, but I prefer cheerful, upbeat surroundings with plenty of light, or warm, homey atmospheres. So, for me, not the ticket.

Underwhelmed… We went as a foursome tonight– my husband, and 2 kids were looking forward to a fun night out before school starts.
We had the groupon, which allowed for 2 entrees and 2 salads, and decided to splurge on the cheese fondue. I had a margarita and my husband had a soda.
We were not told that they were charging per person for the cheese– this was a stretch for our 5 yr old’s palate, and there is no way we would have knowingly paid $ 40 for it. We were also charged for each refill of the soda– so my husband’s drink was more expensive than my margarita. Even with the groupon, the bill came to $ 80, with a suggested tip of $ 30 stuck to the side.
Service wise– I was similarly unimpressed. The table was dirty when I sat down, and when I asked the host to wipe it off, he did so with his hand. Our waiter was nice, but did not alert us to the prices of our order, and our food was very slow in coming.
No dessert tonight– our youngest daughter ran out of patience and we had to leave… Better for our budget anyway!

Really nice experiences here when I dined both this year and a few years ago. Good portions, tasty fondu, and UNBELIEVABLE dessert! The staff is knowledgable and the service is quick. Only reason this gets a four-​star is because of the prices. They are a bit over-​the-​top, but you are paying for steak and premium food after all.
Will be back.

To be honest — this could have been a five star review. We will never know.
6:15 PM. We sit at the bar
6:20 PM. Still sitting at the bar, no bartender, no service
6:25 PM. No bartender yet, getting thirsty
6:39 PM No bartender — no sign of one in our future.
Walked across the street to P.F. Chang’s.
We will never know about the food — but my theory is,“if the service sucks — so goeth the food”. So… We goeth!

I ate at the Melting Pot a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, so I chose to come here for a celebratory dinner in honor of my graduation from nursing school.
I made reservations a week in advance which may have not been necessary since we dined on a Thursday night, but nonetheless we were attended to immediately and seated promptly.
Our server was extremely friendly and down to earth. He greeted me with a ‘congratulations’ and a card — a nice touch.
My group decided to skip the alcohol for a few reasons: One — we knew this meal was already going to be ridiculously expensive; two — we had a couple bottles of champagne waiting for us at home; three — we didn’t want to fill up on drinks.
We started right away with the cheese fondue. Because we had a group of 5 we were allotted 2 cook tops which allowed us to choose two different cheeses (jackpot!). We chose the classic cheddar (for the less adventurous at the table) and the spinach and artichoke. The waiter «built» the fondues in front of us, explaining each ingredient as he stirred and we watched, careful not to let drool dribble down our chins.
The cheddar was good, but the spinach artichoke was excellent. My favorite dipper was the granny smith apples — delectable combination with the cheese! You also get bread cubes, various veggies and tortilla chips.
Next we had the salad. The portions aren’t enormous so you don’t fill up too soon, but I definitely could have eaten more. They were very tasty and the house dressing is delicious! I wish I could have bought a bottle to take home.
Onto the entrees. Each guest chose 3 meats (or vege options like the ravioli) to go along with our 2 cooking fondues — we chose the basic broth and the coq au vin. Our entrees were accompanied by 6 different dipping sauces. Other than the teriyaki I can’t say I was crazy about them. While interesting and pleasant, I didn’t feel they complimented my meat all that well and that, at times, I would have been better served with some basic soy and bbq sauce.
My entrée choices consisted of BBQ pork, teriyaki sirloin and duck. The BBQ pork was disappointing — by the time it finished cooking there wasn’t a trace of bbq flavor. I had the same issue with the sirloin which lost all its teriyaki flavor — I might as well had ordered the regular sirloin. The duck was decent but I couldn’t decide on a sauce that complimented it well enough. The server provides you with estimated cooking times for the food, yet it was still difficult to find a balance between under done and overcooked.
Perhaps being underwhelmed by the entrée was a blessing in disguise since I was able to save enough room for dessert.
The hardest decision of the night was choosing our 2 chocolate fondues. After some debate we settled on the chocolate turtle and the s’mores — fun choices since they were both flambeed. The candied pecans in the turtle were sinfully good and the graham cracker in the s’mores lent a nice crunch.
You can’t go wrong with any of the dippers (strawberries with luscious chocolate caramel turtle? Yes please!), although I thought the cheesecake and brownies were a bit much considering how rich the fondue is on its own.
Also with dessert I was presented with a chocolate covered strawberry on a plate on which «congrats» was written in chocolate sauce. Super cute.
After dinner we were stuffed. Each course doesn’t seem like a tremendous amount of food but it does sneak up on you. I definitely recommend staying away from filling beverages and sticking with water like we did.
Our bill was close to $ 300 with tip.
The ambiance of the Melting Pot was perfect for the occasion. The booth had high walls so we couldn’t really see or hear other guests. Our glasses were never left empty and we felt very catered to. Fondue itself takes time, so it was perfect for a long, slow meal where we were able to relax and enjoy conversation and spending time together.
The only disappointment — a sizeable one, at that — was the entrée, hence the 3 star review. It was nothing to write home about and left me wanting something more. I wouldn’t bother with it again, especially for the price.
Next time I’ll stick with the cheese, salad and chocolate. More than enough to get your fondue fix and to leave you happy and satisfied.