Melting Pot — Restaurant in Charlotte

I ALWAYS come here and the experience is always amazing, but this time we had quite the experience to say the least..... I was there celebrating a birthday and I always request the same table every time I am there. Due to COVID restrictions I wasn't quite sure if I would get the table because of social distancing guidelines, but I was pleasantly surprised with the fact that we did get the table requested. There are a few servers that I get repeatedly and really enjoy, however there was a new server this time that told her entire life story the second she got to the table. First she asked if we had been there before I told her that i had but he hadn't and she said "good so i don't have to tell him what to do, you can" and followed that with "it's just common sense". She was way too comfortable with us, she thought of us as good friends and was making comments about how the melting pot stalks people by putting notes under someones profile, marijuana, her family health history of heart defects and diabetes, and was even saying inappropriate things and making suggestive comments toward my boyfriend which I REALLY didn't appreciate. When taking our drink orders I ordered the whiskey cocktail which is comprised of a bunch of different whiskeys and black cherry flavors, which she then shamed me for ordering making a comment to the point of me having a drinking problem. Other than that she was a mediocre server until we got to the third course- the entree. We were doing the full four courses that night because it was his birthday. About 45 minutes into our entree course it seemed as if the server had disappeared. We got the court bullion cooking style and the broth was curdling at the bottom of the pot and there was no one in site for us to even grab to switch out our pot after waiting around for about 10 minutes. My boyfriend had to go downstairs and get a manager in order for it to be taken care of, our meat and veggies ended up getting burned, which I was not at all happy about since it was due to the servers negligence. She also then accused us of cooking too slow and blaming us for the pot being that way. After the manager came by everything was fine and we didn't think we were going to have to deal with our server anymore. Sure enough, she popped back up and had a HORRIBLE attitude and made it seem like it was our fault because she wasn't doing her job. She brought us the chocolate course and didn't even say two words to us or make eye contact. We were still sitting at the table after we ate and paid the bill for not even 5 minutes when she came to bus the table essentially kicking us out because the tip I gave her definitely reflected the service she gave (the tip was still in the double digits and she was lucky I was even being that generous). I was very disappointed in the fact that this was the service we received when paying $150 plus a tip for dinner and was even more upset considering it was my boyfriend's birthday and his first time at The Melting Pot. I will specifically request to not have her as a server next time we do decide to come back.... if there will even be...

Updated October 2023: Back to 5 stars because we went again and the food and service were fantastic. We arrived early for our reservation and the host offered us an option for seating: there was an available table that was semi private or we could wait for a private table. We chose to wait and the Whisky Business drink at the bar was great. The private table was perfect and our server Evan did a great job. As always the food was great; we chose the Coq au Vin and the Flaming Turtle. Also, my fiancé wants me to note that he wishes anchovies were added to the Caesar salad.

The ambience was great; it was a Saturday and there seemed to be a lot of couples out on dates, so the vibe was good for a date night. 10 out of 10.

Update: edited to 4 stars because they did in fact reach out after realizing no one had reached out after my first review. I have yet to be back, but plan to sometime in the next month.

Edited to 1 star because Melting Pot responded by offering to fix it with no real intent to do so. It's disappointing since I used to love coming here.

I have been to this location of Melting Pot four times now and I think the food and service deserve a 5 star review, BUT today we went for a birthday date and it happened to be Thurs-date night which they promote as a romantic evening for two. We were initially seated at a table next to a couple with two small children watching a tablet and kicking the booth audibly and enough to vibrate where we were sitting. We asked to move and we could still hear those particular children slamming silverware against the table and occasionally shrieking, for almost the entire 3 hours we were there. Around the second course a table of eight with four children four years or under was seated right across from us with just the thin barrier between us. I was playing a YouTube video at full blast with noise canceling music the entire time (which I would never do, but these kids were consistently yelling, and by yelling I mean shrieking) and we could still hear them. It was disruptive and not what we're paying to experience. If management reads these reviews, please consider seating those who are obviously on dates in a separate section and those who are inconsiderate enough to bring young children to a date location in their own section of the restaurant. I understand how seating and alternating sections work, but it isn't that hard to give servers two sections within the restaurant if it will make the experience more enjoyable for your customers. My fiance doesn't want to go back after this experience, but I love coming here and hope they won't disappoint me again. If we do come again I probably won't come on a weeknight in the hopes that there are no children. When we asked to move because of children they should have seated us where they would not have seated large...

Called last-minute to ask if we could make a reservation or simply go and wait until a table was ready. The hostess said their reservations were booked for the entire evening. Again we asked if it was possible to not get a reservation, but hang out at the bar until a table became available, whenever that happened to be. The hostess simply repeated, our reservations are booked for the entire evening. We thanked her and hung up. Then we looked at other Melting Pot locations in the area thru open table, saw a 10p reservation available here so we took it. We called to confirm with the restaurant, and they said they were looking forward to seeing us. We arrived a little early for our reso, and decided to get a drink at the bar. The bartender didn't acknowledge our presence for quite some time, then when he did, it was only to say he would be with us in a little while. When we did get our drinks, they were excellent so he definitely knows how to make great tasting drinks, so he is skilled in that area of his job, no doubt. We were then approached by the hostess to say a table was available early, but to be careful with our drinks walking up the steep staircase. I didn't even trust myself to carry mine in my heels but there was no offer from the hostess to assist. The table was very private but the tall ceilings made a great open atmosphere. The server was painfully new, and while he knew everything about the menu and was able to answer all our questions, the timing of the courses was always off where we had to wait with empty plates for what seemed like an extended amount of time (although we may have just been hungry!) The food was excellent, we adored everything from the cheese appetizer to the salads to the entrees, and of course the bananas foster dessert (not on the menu). We did have some mishaps when the waiter brought out the wrong fondue for the entree, so we had to wait twice, then he spilled the hot oil on himself. Overall, 10 for food, 2...