Melting Pot — Restaurant in San Diego

It pains me to write this review since MP is a place we go annually with the family for special occasions. My family and I have visited multiple locations across CO and CA. The last several years because of closure we have driven to San Diego from Orange County to have dinner here. A couple nights ago we sat at table 45 with Juan as our server. Every time we have eaten at MP the servers were very helpful, light hearted and happy to serve and were rewarded at the end of the meal. This night however Juan didn't even introduce himself, the only way I know his name is because of the receipt. From the get go, he seemed annoyed with my family and our questions about the meal. When we asked for extra sauces, he didn't want to get it until we were finished with what we had on the table. Ok, I get that but he should have checked back with us more than once in 30 mins. He also brought out the first course (cheese fondu) already made. In the past they have made this at the table for us, I only bring this up because we ordered extra cheese for the first time ever and it didn't seem like anymore than usual. Three times I had to ask another server walking by for refills, extra veggies, potatoes and sauces. At the end of the meal, we stacked up all of our plates and waited for 25 mins (I timed it) before he stopped by to grab them. Then he was annoyed again Honestly I think the whole night he only spoke maybe 50 words to us. I waited tables all through college, it was a very good experience for me and I believe has helped my professionally many times over. You have to have a certain personality to make money as a server, if Juan has it he didn't show it. When you pay this much for a meal, I expect a certain level of service. All I can say, when you say here and Juan is your server be aware he isn't what you expect from MP. I still tipped him 13% which in my opinion was too much but again I waited tables and I know what it is like. If I handled my professional career this way dealing with clients I would make any money.

I hope management reads this post and works towards making it a better environment for families who spend $300 on dinner.

One question for management, why do you sit families only upstairs? We have been here 4 times and only sat up stairs. When requested to sit downstairs they said no. We don't have crying babies with us ours are in middle school.

Crossed posted on yelp

Updated 2/22/22 The GM Ike reached out to me, listened to my concerns, acknowledged them and provided feedback and a way to try to correct the situation. I am happy to say I will go back because of his follow up and willingness to listen and provide great customer service. Thank you Ike, we will see you soon.

**After a follow up dinner with my wife in the next couple months, if it goes as good as my past meals this will be a 5 star review....

TLDR: the service where we were seated was verryyy slow. It took about an hour before we began eating from being seated, and every course was at least 20-40 minutes lead-time. For an AYCE service, it was not a good value for the price. We empathize with the 'historical location' (meaning the servers had to hike a flight of stairs for every run) but that, coupled with a busy floor, made for a disappointing date night.

My girlfriend and I went here for a 7pm Wednesday date night to take advantage of an all-you-can-eat (AYCE) event. It was my first time at a Melting Pot but she had been to a few before including this location. We arrived about 5 minutes after our reservation so we had to wait about 10 minutes before being seated (which is totally understandable).

When the host informed us they were ready, we were beginning to climb the stairs when my girlfriend asked if we could get a seat on the ground floor; later she told me that we'd receive much better service downstairs but I thought she was being considerate of my mobility. I wish we had waited in hindsight as after we were seated in the upper corner of the restaurant we had about 30 minutes to review the menu, though we knew we wanted the AYCE options and were ready to order after a couple minutes. By the time we ordered and received the 1st course cheese fondue (which was very tasty) it was about 8:30pm and the restaurant closes at 9pm.

We weren't asked to hurry and we were too polite to ask the servers to try and tackle those stairs any harder than they already were, but we were starving when we received the 1st course (the cheeser fondue is probably the best thing on the menu) and didn't have time to order more than 2 rounds of the entree portion. The entree was very salty given all the marinades in the entree meats and the seasoned broth, and I don't think I would order again for the cost.

By the time our dessert portion was ordered the time was after 10pm and about 1/3 of the patrons remained in the restaurant; only 2 tables were upstairs still and they looked about as enthused as we were. This is when I snapped the pics which showed the servers are also looking forward to clocking out as they can be seen chatting (again my main complaint is the stairs they must climb dozens of times a night with food). Our dessert arrived around 10:20 and was alright, you can't really go wrong with chocolate, and the spectacle of the flambe was cool but not enough to rouse us to finish the round. We ended up dousing our treats with chocolate and asking for a box to go (really defeated the purpose of the fondue though).

I'm giving my review 2 stars mainly because the food ranged from great (cheese fondue) to average (entree and chocolate). The meal was overpriced and the service for an AYCE is untenable if the servers have to contend with the stairs to reach stranded guests on the...

A quick review of my worst experience at any of The Melting Pot locations...

Last Tuesday, my fiancee and I showed up to the downtown San Diego location at 6:40pm for our 6:45pm reservation to celebrate a birthday. We walked in and checked in with the hostess, who let us know they were working on the table and that it should be ready shortly. The next time we were spoken to was at 7:15, 30 minutes after our reservation was set for.

The hostess then apologizes, and walks us to our table upstairs. At this point we are a little irritated with the wait, but hey that happens. We were just focused on the delicious food that was to come. Sadly that did not happen on this trip.

We sit down and have to wait about 10-15 minutes for our server to come introduce himself. He was very nice and again apologized for the delay.

We then ordered two cocktails and let our waiter know what courses we wanted when it came to the cheese, salad, meat, and chocolate.

After placing the initial order, it took about another 25-35 minutes to receive the first round of food. This trend continued for almost all of the courses and when trying to get another drink we ran into a headache just trying to get someone's attention.

When the cheese came out for the bread, vegetables, and fruit, it was nearly room temperature and seemed like it had been sitting in the back for some time before being brought out.

By the time we were wrapping up the meat portion of the night it was nearly 9:15 pm!

It took almost 2 1/2 hours from the time we showed up, until the time we finished what we thought was going to be the second to last course of the evening.

However, because it was now so late and the restaurant was now closed, we didn't feel comfortable making the waiter or anyone else stay any later for our chocolate course. Which is, if we're honest, mainly the reason we come to The Melting Pot!

We were very disappointed with our experience overall, and if the service had just been faster, than the food would've been more appetizing (warm) and we would've felt comfortable ordering our last and favorite course!

I know things happen and certain nights can just be rough and i am not sure if they were understaffed as i do think our waiter himself was trying his best. But my Fiancee and I have been going to the Colorado locations for over a decade and every time it is absolutely superb.

This last trip at the San Diego location fell way short of our expectations and past experiences and we are not sure if we would return at this point.

Which is very disappointing as we just moved...