The Melting Pot - City of Rochester

My family and I had a wonderful time celebrating my sister in law's 30th birthday at The Melting Pot! I had never been and was super excited to give it a try. Eating in a mall is always a bit of a crapshoot, but this experience is refined and lovely once you're in the door you more or less forget the fluorescent mall vibes you just left. Our whole family opted for the four course experience where you start with cheese, move to salad, cook up some meats, then eat your weight in chocolate. It is a LOOOTTTT of food we also opted to add on charcuterie boards, which I would recommend (more goodies to dip! The baked potato and Monterey cheeses were excellent. They combine the ingredients right in front of you, which is fun. The main things that made the experience a 4 star as opposed to a 5 is the length of time it takes to get all of these courses prepared. If you're doing this four course thang, be prepared for 3+ hours. Also, if I was ordering a salad again in the future, I would ask for the dressing on the side for sure. It seemed like most folks had salads that were super overdressed, but fresh and yummy. I will be back for chocolate SO SOON and think the cooking at the table is a fun element. The manager brought out complimentary bubbly for the whole table for our special occasion, which was super sweet. Overall, we felt very well taken care of (save the final course which took a pretty extreme amount of time to come out...made worse by a tired toddler and had a wonderful time celebrating together. I look forward to my next fondue experience!

One of the worst dining experiences I have ever had. Made a reservation for the week of Valentine 's Day and we weren 't even seated until over 30 minutes after our reservation. Nothing provided while we waited. After being seated, we had a really nice waitress who made our first fondue which was ok. After that we did not see her again until I asked for the check. A second waitress came by to bring us a second fondue, which was so watery that it would not stay on any of their dipping items. It took 15 more minutes for someone to come by for us to let them know the waitress commented that the fondue was improperly prepared and kindly fixed it, although at this point we had pretty much lost our appetite. We asked for the bill and as we were leaving we asked to see a manager so I could let him know we were dissatisfied with the meal. The hostess told us a manager should have already been sent to our table they weren 't. The manager, Ken, was rude and incredibly defensive about the experience. Our fondues are made with exact portions, there 's no way they messed them up. You probably just didn 't like it. Even the waitress had told us it was improperly made and he wouldn 't back down. He gave us a 20$ credit for the bad experience but honestly I ripped it up on the way home because I would never go back.

Always love date night at The Melting Pot. We usually wait until we have a coupon to go. Saves us $30 or so. We always double order the cheese and chocolate because it goes so quick if you don't. I have never once had a bad server. They are always so sweet and attentative. I really enjoy how you can make their cocktails last a good portion of the meal. They are easy sippers. Our favorite entree picks are the teriyaki sirloin (with the teriyaki sauce) and potstickers (with the plum sauce). Both are so good. It is always fun to learn what the seasonal pasta is. Love this restaurant, but because of the price we go very little.

The Melting Pot first drew me in with its melty allure back during the days of Girls Next Door when Holly Madison asked Hugh Hefner to recreate their pots of cheese and pools of dipping chocolate for her birthday at the Playboy Mansion. Yes, Holly Madison is my birthday role model...and anniversary, new job and night-before-a-holiday role model. I write that unabashedly. For past six years, since Melting Pot opened its chain in upstate New York (Rochester, Buffalo, and Syracuse have locations), it has been my go-to place to celebrate special occasions. This location is located in Marketplace Mall, on the Old Navy side. Sure, it 's expensive and an extreeeemely leisurely dining experience. But people, come on, there are ways to get around all of this to enjoy melty cheese...and who doesn 't like melty cheese?! My most important tip is to join the Melting Pot 's Club Fondue. Then you will receive weekly emails for special events that feature three and four courses for a fraction of the usual price. The best part is that during your birthday month, you can come in and receive 6 fresh dipped strawberries in a fancy box. The traditional four courses feature cheese, salad, entree and dessert. You order the cheese, salad and entree (and cooking style) at once. Then later, you will choose your dessert. My cheese recommendation is to go with the spinach and artichoke...Fontina and Butterkäse cheeses, spinach, artichoke hearts and garlic. The server prepares it right before you in the pot set on the warming plate in the middle of your table. The cheese comes with bowls of dippers including green apples, white and pumpernickel rounds of bread, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and tortilla chips. You could stop there if you wanted to. For the entree, you can order a petite entree (three meat choices) or a regular entree that comes with a variety platter of raw meat. I usually go with the traditional white shrimp, filet mignon, chicken, pork, and strip steak platter. You can choose a cooking style, but the bouillon is free and does a fine job. The server will bring vegetables (potatoes, broccoli, and mushrooms) and explain the cooking times. Usually each bite of meat takes approximately 2-3 mins. The potatoes take the longest and I recommend dumping the whole bowl of vegetables in right at the start. The meat comes with a variety of sauces, but the green goddess (a sour cream and herb based sauce) is so good on the mushrooms. After the entree, they will switch up your fondue forks and ask you which chocolate you decided on. I aways go with the Smores chocolate...it comes with milk chocolate, graham crackers, marshmallow and gets lit on fire right at your table. The show definitely sways me to this choice, but it really is the best option in my opinion for overall chocolate excitment. The chocolate fondue comes with fresh strawberries, blondies, bananas, pineapple, cheesecake, Rice Krispies Treats, marshmallows, pound cake and brownies. Overall, a four course fondue dining experience can run you up to $50 per person, but if you join the Club fondue, you could save up to $20 and still enjoy the same experience. Don 't mind if I (fon)do!

They were offering the Land &Sea 4 Course special. Great meal as always. See our pics for details. Chicken, Shrimp, Beef Tenderloin, potatoes, broccoli, more carrots, celery.