Melting Pot — Restaurant in Arlington

This place was seriously the worst (+ a health hazard). I came here with my mother and sister, We had made a reservation for 6:15 and arrived promptly. We stood at the host stand with no host in sight. It was dead silent, low lighting (but not the ambient kind), and not another person to be seen. It felt like we were walking into a restaurant that was supposed to be closed, but someone forgot to lock the doors. Finally, someone showed up and took us to our table. Mind you, we went on a Tuesday night and it was relatively empty (about 3-5 parties in the entire restaurant). They decided to sit ALL of the parties within the same section, meaning we were surrounded by 3 other tables in an empty restaurant. I used to be a professional server, and if the restaurant was empty, we'd let the guests sit wherever they wanted—especially if it was a special occasion and they wanted a quiet corner booth. NOPE! There was a couple celebrating their anniversary, but the servers (or manager) were too lazy to seat them anywhere else besides right next to one another.

We sit down, and our server comes up to the table. Throughout the night, I felt like they might have been understaffed? However there were only 3-5 tables, which isn't many, so I'm not sure. He asked if we'd been in before - we said no - and proceeded to tell us all about the dishes for 2 when there are obviously 3 of us. So we disregarded that, and he explained the menu and process to us (pointing out the most expensive 4-course options for 2, again... there are THREE of us). The menus were all dirty, btw.

APPETIZERS: Quattro formaggio the cheese for TWO was $25 + $12.50 if you want enough for 3 (theres no reason to price that high - I seriously doubt they're importing cheeses from Italy) the cheese dip was lukewarm at best (we finished it before it even got hot), and our waiter had to add more base to it AT the table before it was runny enough to dip into. Shouldn't they check before bringing it to the table? it came with French bread, pretzel bread (they taste the same), raw broccoli, green apples, and celery - a disappointing selection.

ENTREE: beware - Food Poisoning City over here I was under the impression we would be presented with meat and veggies that had been cooked and prepared in the kitchen by a chef and we'd have a selection of fondues for dipping, however, they literally serve RAW meat to the table for you cook yourself. The server gave us plates and said "This is for the raw meat ONLY, because obviously you don't want raw meat on your plate."... Uhh, correct? If you're not careful, you could get raw meat on your hands, the trays are so tiny the meat is spilling over the sides, and God forbid you touch your eyes or face. The menu also tells you cooking times for each meat (allowing room for undercooked meat??) I was unaware the process was like this, so maybe that's my fault, but I don't want to cook my own meats at a restaurant in a pot of boiling broth...

We ate the food, none of it was good. Everything was bland, flavorless, and felt like a chore to eat. On top of that, the server admitted he hadn’t experienced the cooking process himself, meaning he had no real understanding of what he was serving. What kind of manager doesn't let the servers experience the process and try the food for themselves before expecting to serve others, especially at a specialty place like this. To the manager: I promise you, letting the servers TRY the food will make the experience 10x better, and is not what will put this place under. It will be the lifeless, stale, lackluster vibe of this place.

Conclusion: The entire experience was a disappointment, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. We paid $160 for cheese, 2 salads, 2 entrees, and 1 adult bev., + a charge for club soda from their dispenser (??) I don't mind paying a pretty penny for a lovely outing with my family, but this was a steep price for the quality,...

We have been to different melting pot locations multiple times. We go every year for our anniversary. We went to the Arlington location last year, and although not our favorite, there was nothing particularly wrong so we decided to celebrate there this year as well. We went on 12/27, which is typically a slower night but they were packed. The first thing we noticed was most of the staff, managers included, were wearing very casual, loose, sort of "thrift store" look clothing. Doesn't set the tone of the atmosphere for the style or price of dinner. We were also sat a little late, although that wasn't a huge deal. We waited for ten minutes after being sat for our server to see us, which was slightly annoying. However, this gave us time to look over the drink menu. This is when the problems started. Our drinks didn't arrive for 35 minutes. And they definitely did not taste correct. I always order the Bees Tea, and it was definitely missing ingredients. Our cheese came, along with our charcuterie board. The mustard and brown bread was missing-not a huge deal-but it wasn't told to us beforehand. I was also handed a wet plate fresh from the dish pit. So I asked for a new one. Which arrived at the very end of our cheese course. Why she didn't notice she had handed me a wet plate in the first place I have no idea. We ordered a second cheese, which was a bit of a wait, and it arrived already prepared. The whole experience at melting pot is they prepare the food/broth etc. Right in front of you. So I have no idea who made this cheese or how long it sat, and I didn't receive the experience I pay a good amount of money for. Additionally, they never brought out the second plate of dippers for our second cheese. If we're being charged a la carte pricing for a second cheese, which includes dippers, then we are supposed to get a second round of dippers. Also, the cheeses were definitely smaller than usual. Then our server disappeared. Someone else cleared our table and brought out the broth for our entree. In the meantime, my fiance ordered a glass of wine which never came. We had our dinner, which was fine, except our server forgot our slotted spoon until halfway through. Then they brought out dessert. A different person made our dessert than our server. I though melting pot got rid of pineapple for chocolate fondue dippers, since we haven't seen them the last few times we went. Well, here they were. PLEASE get rid of pineapple. Nobody likes that in chocolate. Our server eventually came back (first time since making the entree broth) and asked if we needed more dippers for chocolate, to which I requested pound cake. Dipping ice cold pound cake in warm chocolate is not exactly a fine dining experience, or even a pleasant one at that. At the end, when we went to pay, our server mentioned how busy it was tonight. I agreed, saying I was surprised as it's usually not on this particular day. To which she commented: "Imagine how it was for us". Really? Because you're still getting paid to do a poor job meanwhile imagine how it is for me paying $150 for all of these things to go wrong. Such an unprofessional tip baiting comment. We were appalled.

The biggest slap in the face was the complimentary chocolate card we received, valid on next visit at that location. Every table received this due to the wait that night. EXCEPT the card ONLY gives you free chocolate fondue IF you buy a cheese, two salads, and two entrees. For the record, 4 course for two is $95. Buying all of those things a la carte just to get free chocolate is $110. What a scam! Not a great message: "We will fix our mistake if you spend more money with us". Worst melting pot experience ever. Never had these problems before. I highly advise against...

On 6/10/2025, we ate at the melting pot. The food was good and the service was great. It wasn't very busy when we went so food came out with great timing. The environment was cute and it was a nice experience.

Our server accidently charged us for another table. This was about $220. They stated the $220 would be refunded immediately and we paid for our actual bill. The bill was about $150. The manager on duty at the time gave us thier number and ensured us the money would be put back on in to our account.

I had seen this been where the charge is off in a few days or so. I called back 5 business days later because the charge had processed and finalized and i had been charged the 220 for someone elses meal plus the 150 for mine and there was no pending refund. I couldn't get in touch with the manager who was there that evening or anyone on the store number.

I called on 3 different days and at different times. I was told to hold and no one returned. And I was told twice they would call back and no one did. By this time, it is 10 days after this transaction, and I still have no refund. I call the store, and again im promised someone will be I touch. We finally get in touch with the manager who was on duty who gave his personal number out. Kindly, he said he'd look into it and follow up. We didn't get a follow-up as pormised. The following day, after calling the store again and not being able to speak to anyone because they were "too busy, " we did get a text confirming the refund. This receipt shows that this refund was promised on 6/10/2025 was actually processed on 6/18/2025. So for 10 days I was waiting for a refund that was never going to be processed and I only got my refund because I was calling back every day.

Remember, I am requesting this refund of 220 dollars because the server charged us for the wrong check. I didn't not want any of this to happen to begin with.

It's 6/21/2025 and the refund is still yet to be fully processed to my account. I am posting this here, since no one still ever followed up with me so I could give this feedback to you as it was a not so great experience and could happen to...