Melting Pot Corporate Office & Headquarters

I was a waitress at the Melting Pot in Chicago, IL and I wouldn't recommend this restaurant to my worst enemy. Not only is the price of any meal absolutely ridiculous, but you should see what happens behind those kitchen doors. I complained to my boss that the potatoes for my veggie bowls were all rotten and offered to slice up more - I was reprimanded. My boss told me they were perfectly fine, and rinsed them in what I assume to be an MSG based chemical. Sure enough, the potatoes looked good as new. I told him that was disgusting and I would be pissed if I paid $100 to eat rotten potatoes. He watched me like a hawk from then on. Worse yet, the meats (beef, chicken, shrimp, lobster) all sit out for hours - they prepare everything at noon, and leave all of it (not refrigerated) sitting out for the entire night. Then - they don't discard what's left over at the end, they just package it up and put it back in the fridge to serve the next day. I was appalled. Needless to say - I quit after 2 weeks and never looked back.

I would just like to make someone aware of our displeasure of our reservation this past Saturday, Jan. 28th. Though the host at the front desk was quite apologetic and helpful, the waiting of almost an hour for our table of 10, more than put a huge kink in our evening as my daughters friends had to be home before curfew not leaving any time for the remainder of her party. We originally were planning on dinner and changed our minds to just desert a half an hour of sitting in the lobby pas our reservation time. I understand large parties are hard to seat and situations arise, but that is the exact point for making a reservation I thought. We have come to the SLC Melting Pot the last 5 years for my daughters birthday with friends but this really left a bad taste in our mouth to return next year or for my youngest daughters birthday as well next month. I am guessing this mail will go into the ozone and I don't expect to receive a response, I just was hoping someone would be made aware of the situation and maybe prevent it from ruining someone else's night out in the future.

Having worked as a server for years I can say my experience at melting pot Sacramento was awful. My card was charged twice for $200 and management refused it was error on there part. They did nothing to resolve the issue and mind you this was on new years when $200 was greatly needed. Horrible management and establishment. For a $200 dinner, there are way better and more worthy places of dining at.

Gift Cards ? I tried to buy one for my daughter in New Jersey. Called the Somerville, NJ restaurant, and was told by the manager that I would have to come in person to buy the gift card. Yeah, well, I live in Phoenix. So he says I have to buy the gift card on line. Filling in the various forms, then finally I get to the one dealing with shipping. Cheapest shipping is $8.90. For a small plastic card ? Gotta be kidding me. Have you people never heard of the US Postal Service ??? A gift card can be mailed for the price of a stamp. This is nothing more than a blatant ripoff. I have spent my money at the Melting Pot a few times in Arizona, but never again. Consumers need to start saying no to these huge conglomerates that spend all their time thinking of new ways to milk every dime possible out of our wallets.

Jessica 10/15: You had some money. You spent it on food and ambiance that you could not afford. If you are too cheap to pay for good service, find a drive-thru or a cafeteria. There is nothing wrong with living on a tight budget. However, having no money does not excuse having no class. Former server, John Lewis

First of all, I have been a customer of The Melting Pot for years and have always had excellent service till now. A group of 5 of my friends were with me to celebrate my birthday. When seated at the table every thing seemed to stop. It took 20 mins to place our order. Another 20 for the cheese to come out. we ate this course without drinks. They were ordered just not delivered. All courses came very slowly. Before we ordered our chocolate a couple of friends came by to wish me a Happy Birthday. at this point it was 830pm we were seated at 530pm. While I know this is an experience not to be rushed, this was a bit much. Since we couldn't get a drink one of our friends went to the bar where he was ask if he knew those girls and how could he get them to leave? Now, we had just gotten our chocolate. He had a table for 14 he needed to seat and needed our table. This was uncalled for. We are professionals not rowdy prom going 17 year olds. We were ask if we could move to another table in the middle of our meal (dessert). We accomodated the resturant but our chocolate had gotten cold because the burners were not on. They offered to take half off our bill but added on the gratuity which was not earned. As much as I love the resturant I will not return. My money spends just as well elsewhere. And I bet I won't be ask to move in the middle of dessert. Shame on you Melting Pot and the managers Shannon, Jenna and Marke. I too am a manager and one of my staff would have lost their job for such behavior.

Went to the Pasadena location on 10-8-2011,for my husbands birthday I have never in my life felt duped, we had a large party and spent almost $1000 for each couple to share an entree. One person in our party was by themselves and recieved the same entree as the couples did which is totaly crazy. Why in the world would you spent 50 per person to share a meal.The portions a really small and not worth the money. I love the concept of the meltingpot and the food was fine, but not for waht they are charging. We will never go back there again. Was pleased with the Manager she was very nice. Again the waiter was horrible if i could remember his name I would put on here, but he is at the pasadena location.

Don't remember which melting pot it was but Once we were actually seated the experience and food were great!! Too bad my opinion was brought down when I realized the staff there are a bunch of incompetent morons. we had placed a birthday reservation 1 month in advance for 8:00 pm. We got there and being unorganized and slow, they had already assigned groups of people to the tables we needed. an hour and a half PAST the reservation, we finally got seated. we also received no sort of apology and they gave the person whose birthday it was a gift at a COST. Other than that, it was a pretty fun time.

To Jessica from Georgia: Shame on you for going to a restaurant, especially one as expensive as The Melting Pot, and tipping four dollars. You imply that you were discriminated against because of your race, but you were confronted because you technically did not pay for your dining experience. I hate to see that people like you unknowingly live up to the stereotypes that you are complaining about. Do all service people a favor and dine at home please or buy a calculator.

Melting Pot in Savannah, GA is awesome. I go fairly frequently. Consistantly good food and service!

I have had dinner at the Lynhurst area Melting Pot a few times. It was one of my favorite restaraunts. I want to mention I live an hour away. I have four friends that I went to college with and we collectively try to get together at least once every three months, which is difficult to do because we live in different areas, we have families, and demanding jobs that don't make it easy for us to find a date and time that is conducive for all of us. For 17 years we have all remained friends. I suggested we not only get together but we do so at the Lyndhurst Melting Pot, which is located inside Legacy Village. Our reservation was for 5 ,however, one of us had a family issue and wasn't going to be there on time, so I called and told them it would be more like 5:30. We all made it by this time some earlier. We enjoyed our meal and I know the four who has never been to the Melting Pot before would have returned. This all changed once the bill was paid and tips were left for our waiter. We were approach by another waiter who claimed to be nothing more than the senior waiter. He asked to clear our glasses and told us to leave. He tried to say it is their policy that reservations for five have a three hour limit. May I remind you that we didn't get our bill until 8:30. We then talked to their manager Leilani who tried to suggest the same. I looked our reservation up and no where did it state we have a 3 hour limit. As a group we would have had no problem with the manager asking us to take our party tongue bar so they could prepare for the next group, but to be told we had to leave is unprofessional and unacceptable. We dropped about $300 and then were treated the way we were. I along with my four friends will never go back to the Melting Pot. I could add that I also felt because we were black women it made it easier for that so called senior waiter to approach us like he did and that was with no RESPECT.

I have attended many of your establishments and have good times and bad. My concern is with the way in which some of your owners conduct themselves around their employees. I know personally of three owners that have left their wives or fiancees for young hostesses as soon as they started to make six figures or more. Guests see the managers and owners flirting and touching the staff and it is dispicabale! This concerns me because I am aware of the corporations friends and family motto and it seems to be bull! Your franchisees are interested in one thing it seems, well two... making money and living large...not friends or family. I read some of the previous comments and they very wishy washy...could it be because the servers make the experience while the owners are chasing tail and counting cash? Get with it people! Maybe your owners and operating partners should spend more time on the floor checking to see how their guests are doing. You truly don't care if someone has a good time you, you care if they come back and spend more money! If they have a bad experience you throw a few coupons their way from your multi million dollar corporation and go back to counting cash and dreaming up ways to more money in your pockets. I am not sure who the CEO is, but woldn't be surprised to see him with horns and a pitchfork...oh wait..a giant fondue fork. SICK!

The Melting Pot continues to deliver excellent food with even better service. We've been coming to the Portland location for years and it just keeps getting better and better. From the new items & themes added to the menu throughout the year, to the outstanding customer service at the table, The Melting Pot continues to impress. Most recently on Friday March 18, 2011, our server Paul L. was absolutely outstanding! His customer service & professionalism were the best we've encountered in a very long time. He was very accommodating to my husband's fish allergy by bringing extra chicken for his dinner without a request. Moreover, when he observed our young 16 year old friend's penchant for the oreo covered marshmallows for dessert, he went out of the way to bring her several more on the side - which she adored! Moving on, General Manager Sean C. really impressed us with his class, warmth and attention to detail when he checked in with our table during the evening & even knew our last name. He was very polite and surpassed all expectations when he arrived at our table later in the evening with extra strawberries for dessert when we didn't even ask for them. What a wonderful experience. Thank you so much for having such high quality staff and continuing to provide an exceptional dining experience. We look forward to returning for our next special occasion!

To Whom it may concern: First, I would like to make the point that after nearly 2 decades of dining-out, this will be the first time that I feel absolutely compelled to write a letter of severe dissatisfaction to a company. This evening (February 19, 2011), my girlfriend and I decided we had an appetite for some fondue, and having dined at The Melting Pot on multiple occasions, we decided it would be a perfect place for a night out together. We called in around 8pm to find out about reservations and potential wait times; we were informed that there were no open reservations until 10pm, however, if we chose to walk-in, we could be immediately seated in the bar or patio areas. When we arrived, we were informed by the General Manager that there was a wait of approximately 10-15 minutes for the bar area, or we could be immediately seated on the patio – please bear in mind that it is approximately 45 degrees out, and raining. Based on how famished we were, we decided that the patio would be our best option (despite the aforementioned weather conditions). My first point of contention: We waited for not less than 40 minutes to be seated. In the time that we stood and waited, I took note of a family that was seated in the bar area; it took nearly 15 minutes for their server to greet them, and then an additional 10 minutes to return with their drink orders (2 waters and 2 coffees). My second point of contention: Once seated (40 minutes after being told there was no wait time for the patio), we waited for over 15 minutes until the General Manager appeared, and while offering apologies for the waiter's slow response, asked if we wanted anything to drink. Not wanting to miss this precious opportunity to get our full order in, we decided on the 4-course meal for two. Before leaving, she said our waiter would be out within a couple minutes to get everything set up for us. 20 minutes later, they arrived. My girlfriend and I are no strangers to the hospitality industry – we both pay our rent with tips. With that said, we were curious to hear our server's opinion of the evening. After agreeing to be candid in their answer, they informed us that the horrendous service was due to poor management. Upon further questioning, they relinquished the fact that the General Manager had significantly under-staffed the restaurant in order to boost the sales-to-labor ratio. Once our server left, I felt compelled to get a second and third opinion from the other servers passing by.... My third point of contention: What kind of company employs a manager (much less a general manager!) who is described by her employees with such adjectives ranging from “greedy” to outright “horrible?” My fourth point of contention: When all was said and done, my and girlfriend and I spent just under 3 hours at The Melting Pot. I will concede that that amount of time is nowhere near unreasonable under reasonable conditions – bear in mind, we were still seated on the patio where the temperature was nearing sub-45 degrees. Not once were we offered a seat inside; even when the dining room and bar area had plenty of booths and tables to spare. Retrospectively, the wait time was bad, but does not even compare to the overwhelming feeling of injustice and helplessness felt when I considered what action to take. If my dissatisfaction was going to be reflected in my tip, our server was being punished for something entirely out of their control – which I am certain had happened already this evening. However, if I tip generously (as per usual), I would feel as if I were being “taken” by the restaurant. I am sure you can imagine, neither choice felt good. Again, having worked for tips, I tipped a reasonable percentage of our bill. My girlfriend and I have walked out of The Melting Pot having paid 30% gratuity on bills well exceeding $200, and we were thankful for the wonderful experience. Tonight, our bill was just under $80, and we feel gouged. I am sorry that your wait-staff is treated so poorly by your management, and I am sorry that we no longer feel inclined to dine at your restaurants. Chris G.

Here is an e mail I sent both Mr.Holder and Ms. Wells of the Virginia Beach,VA. I can not express how dissatisfied...I have not received any response form either of them. Is this any way to run a business? Mr.Holder and Ms.Wells, Just a note to let you know how disappointing our evening was last night, February 13th. Around January 26th I made reservations for my husband and I to celebrate Valentine’s Day at your establishment. We have never been to The Melting Pot and were looking forward to “The Big Night Out”. When I made the reservations I spoke to a gentleman. He did not mention that there was a Prix Fixe menu for this holiday or I wouldn’t have made reservations. We arrived 10 minutes early for our 6:15 reservation. Initially the hostess could not find our reservation. She did finally find it, on Tuesday the 15th. She said no problem, she could still seat us however you had a Prix Fixe menu for Valentine’s Day. We came specifically for The Big Night Out. We had been looking forward to this evening for 3 weeks and I had told all my friends about our plans. We ended up at another Virginia Beach restaurant. Regards, Theresa Bell City of Virginia Beach Department of Human Services, Personnel Pembroke 3, Suite 312

I drove in record time from West Virginia to Washington DC (19th Street NW) to get to the Melting Pot before it closed, we had an appointment in DC the next day. I was excited about taking my two co-workers to eat there. I have eaten at Melting Pots for years and without a doubt this was the worst dining experience ever had and an EMBARRASSMENT to me for taking my two co-workers. HORRIBLE service, rotten lobster on my plate- slimy and strong smelling, very very very small portions (ie....desert for three; 1 tiny piece of cheesecake, 2 marshmallows a small bowl of strawberries, 3 slices of bananas and 2 tiny tiny pieces of brownie....it was terrible! The service was just so bad, we sat in between courses for 25-35 minutes, he kept telling us the had to wait for the pot (which was steaming) to get hot. My family (10 of us) goes to the Melting Pot every year on vacation in Myrtle Beach and has a blast, we go to Pittsburgh PA and Columbus OH very frequently, I've gone a few times to the one in Detroit (great service like Myrtle Beach) and even Indianapolis. Honestly, I never found the food portion to be so different as in Washington DC and the complete ignorance of the staff and their ignoring us....we couldn't get refills. My $48.00 meal had one gross tiny lobster tail,and all the meat was about 3/4 inch by 3/4 inch. 2 pieces of beef, chicken, salmon, 2 small very small shrimps and one gross ravioli - less than a cup of meat. It was terrible! Even the drink I ordered had a rotten lime in it...black on the outside. we got out of there at about 11, and they refused to call a taxi for us (we asked just as a courtesy since we were in a new town)...It is not handicap compatible and that is discouraging as one of the ladies recently had knee replacements. The music got louder as everyone else left and the staff was playing around - just around the corner. It seemed that our first waiter was replaced by a second waitress and then they must have fought and then we had NO waiter for about a half an hour. This was a complete fiasco from the minute we sat down till we finally left.....the worst part is I am supposed to go Pittsburgh TH night for my niece's birthday - 4 of them 6 of us...and I am bitter! I do not want to go...and why have I signed up for the Melting Pot card when there are no benefits? The people in DC didn't lnow what I was talking about....Ahhh so disappointing, I use to love the MElting Pot...right now I get sick thinking of that old slimy lobster...Oh and veggies...for three women we got a small bowl of about 5 sliced potatoes 3 broccoli's and 5-6 mushrooms, when I asked for another bowl of veggies our waiter was appalled and it took about 15 minutes- we were done eating when they came. What a shame! Also - the place had about 4 other tables - so being busy can not be an excuse- I've been to a busy Melting Pot- that place was practically empty.

After receiving a gift card (not coupons) from a friend, my husband and I made reservations for a Saturday night at the Richmond VA location. We both had never been but were anxious to go and enjoy an evening to ourselves. The dining experience was okay,(our waitress was very busy and we did not see her again once our dinner was served; we passed on the dessert b/c of the time) but what really surprised us both is when we presented the gift card with our check and were told we could not use it on a weekend! Gift cards could only be used Mon-Thur! I can understand if this was a coupon but a 25.00 gift card should be redeemable when you choose and not when the restaurant chooses! Why would the restaurant limit the days that the gift card could be used when that money has been pre-paid to the company?

The person who posted above is borderline illiterate. If you managed a restaurant for 20 years it must have been some german concept that burned books! LOL

Made reseravation on 12-13-10 for 5pm on 12-14-10 for my daughters sweet sixteen birthday dinner called them at four to confirm on 12-14-10 get there they said a big party came in and i have to wait they wanted to seat us at the bar they new i was with teenagers and they kept on insisting we sit at the bar i do not promote drinking even around my kids i am so pissed off im here now still waiting angry as hell they had my number they could have called me back i managed a resturant for twenty years and never pissed off a customer like melting pot did with me today my # 321-274-8440 this place is unorganized they could have called im f pissed we got sat at 5:40 that is bullshit with a 5:00 reservation and the hostess were not accomodating at all i did not get too upset but they couldnt answere my questions sandr a munroe not a happy customer

I felt the need to write and let you know of my experience at The Melting Pot. It was my Birthday yesterday, my Husband, my two sons and their girlfriends and my Mom were looking forward to our dinner at your establishment. We traveled 30 miles and were so looking forward to dinner. We had SEVEN people in our party, the employees must know that we are going to drop $500. - $600. on dinner and drinks. We were seated at a table that much too small for our group. IT WAS APPARENT, we couldn't even open our menus all at the same time. After looking around I could see that this table seated 3-4 people comfortably. The woman who seated us had no problem with us being all smashed together, and then the server brings are drinks and there is hardly room for them. This made me cry and want to leave, we had traveled all that way and spending a lot of money...I would have been more comfortable and felt more welcome at AppleBee's. My son finally got up and asked to speak with someone about another table. The woman begrudgingly gave us a table more suitable. We did enjoy the food, but the overall experience was NOT GOOD! It ruined a perfect day that my family had planned for me.