Melting Pot Pizza — Restaurant in Front Royal

When you find yourself in Front Royal, VA you can expect to hear over and over that the best pizza in town is at Melting Pot Pizza. When my partner Elisabeth and I ended up here with our nephew we confirmed that is for a very good reason.

First, when you walk into the store you might feel like you have gone back in time a bit to simpler days. It’s not a time machine, that’s just the atmosphere Melting Pot drips, it feels like a place that hasn’t changed much since the 90’s and that’s a good thing. There are beer taps flowing, locals laughing and sports playing in the background. It’s a comforting space that makes you feel welcome immediately, and despite the fact that the parking lot was full we were seated immediately by a very cheerful hostess.

When we got to our seats we decided to try an appetizer each, and a pizza each as well. Our waitress came over to take our order and did so with no notes or writing utensils at all! That’s trained skill, and when that happens you know you’re either in danger or in for a real treat.

First the appetizers. I got the hot wings, they came out very hot and flavorful. I would say for this Texas boy, they were a little more on the mild side so I would order xtra hot next time but the chicken was juicy and the outside was crisp. We also ordered the fried pepperonis. We didn’t know exactly what to expect but this ended up being just that, fried slices of pepperoni - like little salty meat chips that you could dunk in ranch. We found them extremely addictive. Finally we got the bacon and cheese fries, I didn’t try these but my nephew said they were good and that the cheesy was an oozy and gooey treat.

In short order we recieved our pizzas. This isn’t some doughy, thick crust that’s going to send you home rolling on your belly. This is flat crust. The crust was simple, you could taste the olive oil; like a crust I could make at home if I had any idea what I was doing. The sauce was just right, tangy and tomatoey and the cheese was stretching on every bite. I got a classic pepperoni, my partner got the chicken Alfredo and my nephew got the All The Way and on each pizza the toppings were fresh and crisp.

This is simple pizza, and that’s exactly what Melting Pot is going for and has perfected. I’m giving it a 5/5 score because if you want a tasty pizza, and a great place to hang out in town this...

So we are frequent diners in Front Royal because we travel through there every other weekend from Harrisonburg and are always looking for new places to eat. We like to try to eat local as opposed to chain places, so we were excited to find the Melting Pot Pizza. The restaurant only accepts cash, but there's an on site ATM. Parking is terrible as they have a small lot on site, but we parked half a block away at a bank that was closed. The place was packed when we arrived, which was around 630 PM on a Friday night. We were seated and greeted quickly, which was lucky because there was a long wait, but there was only 2 of us, so we got sat right away. Our server was very friendly and prompt with her service. My wife ordered a pepperoni pizza (personal size) and I ordered wings and fries. We also ordered fried pickles as appetizers. Everything was pretty decent EXCEPT THE PIZZA!! The pizza had literally ZERO FLAVOR. My wife never complains about food in a restaurant, but she had a look of confusion on her face, because she said the pizza literally had no taste. I tasted it as well, and had to agree. The crust tasted like nothing and so did the sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. It also came out on a pizza pan with cardboard directly underneath the pizza. It looked like a frozen pizza from Kroger, except a frozen pizza tastes better. Oddly enough, the pizza looked good when it came out, but it literally tasted like nothing. The wings were pretty tasty and so were the fried pickles, but for a place with PIZZA in the name, the pizza should be the best thing they make and it was terrible. The only reason I'm giving this place 2 stars is because our server was very good and the wings were ok. I would not recommend this place to anyone who's looking for good pizza. I can only explain all the high rated reviews for this restaurant to be based on 2 possible factors: either no one in Front Royal has ever had actually good pizza or their taste buds have been totally destroyed by some unknown pathogen or drug. Don't be fooled by the 4 and 5 star reviews, this place is not good and we...

At 4:00 today I called to order a small pizza. Spoke with a very friendly female over the phone who took the order and said it should be ready for delivery in 15 mins. GREAT. I'm working, I'm tired, and I haven't eaten all day. A hour goes by so I call again trying to figure out what is going on and where my order is...... I now speak with a male who comes off a very rude with me over the phone and says..... Well our delivery guy doesn't come in until five. I told him that I was never informed of this when I initially called in to place the order and that I wanted to cancel. He assures me that my food is just coming out of the oven and it will be here in a few short minuets. I'm a patient and understanding person so I agree to it. Thirty five minuets go by and still NOTHING. I call back in and speak with a young girl. Explain the situation and request to CANCEL my order. She tells me she wants me to speak with a manager. I say thank you. She comes back to phone and tells me her manager is too busy to talk to me, she won't call the delivery guy to cancel the order, I need to tell him myself and she gets off the phone. I felt horrible not taking the food from the delivery guy. I explained everything to him and I could tell he was just as frustrated about the situation as I was........ I grew up on Melting Pot Pizza. I have never had a bad experience. Always great food and exceptional service. Today I was totally blown away by the un-professionalism of the staff and not to mention the disrespect to there own employee refusing to contact him to let him know I had canceled my order. I really hope that this was just a "bad day" and not a...