The Melting Pot

This place was so good! The food is delicious, and all of our servers were very friendly and accommodating. My friend and I went for restaurant week, which was a great deal; you could pretty much choose anything from their menu! The strawberry almond salad was not what I was expecting (the menu says mixed greens and goat cheese, but we were served romaine and bleu cheese), but everything else was great. I would totally go back!

I just love this place and my other half humors me.  Our first visit during the pandemic.  The waiter was amazing and made the experience that much better.

We ordered the Classic Alpine and asked for extra bread and veggies.  We love garlic so we went heavy on the garlic.   The only thing that would have made this even better is a touch of Kirschwasser which they used to have but not during this visit.
We got the create you own (filet and shrimp) with oil cooking style.  We love making fried mushrooms stuffed with  green goddess and dipped in tempura batter.

Love the California salad.

Came in on a weekday night with a reservation. We were sat immediately upon arrival. But then we waited... and waited and waited for our server. I think it was bad communication from the host to our server because he didn't know we were sat and we waited honest to goodness 20 minutes to be greeted

Once Jake greeted us he was wonderful. Pleasant, patient, and upbeat. He did explain everything to us like how the menu worked and types of sauces that accompanied our selections.

The food was meh. The pacing of the meal was very slow. We got the Quattro formage (4 cheeses) that has pesto and something else mixed into it. But it was missing something. It needed something else flavor wise to really set it off but it was still good. I really enjoyed it dipped in apple. The salads were forgettable. The balsamic dressing had a strange consistency. Entreee wise we got the steak lover, shrimp, pork and more steak and cooked in mojo. The mojo was very orangey in flavor and I wouldn't get it again. My favorite was the shrimp and pork. A lot of the steak tasted too similar to really differentiate. We ended with the turtle chocolate which had pecans and was flambeed. My favorite accompaniments with that was the strawberry and banana. The cream puffs we added were still VERY frozen in the middle which made it hard to eat.

Over all we'd come back for cheese and dessert but would skip the entree. It was a good experience but a bit pricy for the quality.

This review is specifically for their takeout fondue that they've been offering during the pandemic. I've been a customer for decades now (I swear I'm not that old!) and had really been missing their cheese fondue during covid. Luckily the Gaithersburg location offers takeout! It's not the same as the in person experience but it beats nothing!

HOURS AND ORDERING
If you're ordering takeout pay attention to the times! Your best bet is to call the restaurant directly. I ordered on a Saturday evening (this was in January when indoor dining was shut down) and thought they were open until 10pm because that's what the website said. The takeout menu section of the website says it's available from 4-close. I guess they're not updating their hours on the website as restaurant regulations with covid keep changing.

Anyways! I go to order online at 5:50 and get an error message that I can't order because they're closing at 6pm. That wasn't anywhere on the website! I called them directly and the employee was incredibly nice. He said absolutely no problem and took my order. He was incredibly accommodating. He called us about 15 minutes later to let us know we could come in and pick up the order (since they had locked up). A+ for customer service!

We also got a $10 off coupon to use in the restaurant once they reopen for in person dining. Nice surprise! We look forward to using it once things return to normal (or at least semi-normal!)

FOOD
Takeout options are limited to cheese fondue, salads, and chocolate fondue. We ordered the cheese fondue and a salad. I love their house dressing (if you're reading this Melting Pot, please sell this liquid gold on your website like you do with the seasoning!) The salad was noticeably smaller compared to the pre-covid era. I have gotten their salads to go in the past (it's a darn good salad!) so I know the typical size. This was sadly smaller. Tear. Still a great salad for $5.75.

Now for the cheese fondue. We went with our usual Classic Alpine. It's $24 and served with bread and a variety of veggies and apples just like the in person dining experience. It comes already prepared in a takeout soup container. All you have to do is heat it up which you can either do on your stovetop or in the microwave. They provide instructions which is a nice touch. It was good, not as good as in the restaurant, but still good.

Their takeout menu says it "serves up to 2" but absolutely not. Again, it's not the same serving size you get when dining in at the restaurant (that size does serve 2 people if not more). They didn't skimp on the dippers. Those were plentiful. The amount of cheese was about the equivalent of a cup of soup. so closer to serving one person. Luckily we ordered two orders of the cheese fondue, otherwise we would have been fighting over it. Not exactly $24 worth but hey I'll take it until I can get my in person fondue fix.

OVERALL
I'm super thankful that the Melting Pot figured out a way to do takeout during the pandemic. It's expensive but it's also not the kind of meal you order every week for takeout which makes the price a bit more acceptable. It was a good experience and I will likely do it again as I eagerly await being able to return in person!

I came here last month, I got to for 2 package for ninety something.
The restaurant inside seems a little out dated. The host was nice and quick to seat us. The restaurant was clean and followed strict social distancing measures.  Our waiter Randy explained the menu further. However IMO,

Its very expensive for what you get.  I would pass on the salads. Absolutely dreadful.  The cheese and bread is good. The pretzel bread was my favorite.  Through the 4 course meal, the meats n veggies were my favorite.

The meats are very skimpy.  I got shrimp n meat. They have gone down in quality and definitely cutting corners to maximize profits.  Ill probably pass this location.  They really need a makeover and do better for what they charge.

The dessert was too "cheap".
At your table everyone must agree on the same menu. As far as our waiter, he seemed to over worked, too focused on the larger party on the otherside of  the restaurant.  Often times our glasses were empty or we were ready for the next course

This is my first time back here to my favorite restaurant in over a year. I've been coming here for 20 years. I'm so angry and disappointed. We come for ladies night and they had to check if it was going on then we had to have them find us a menu. Then when the menu comes it says $32. It was $27 or $29 for years. We would have paid $32 though. However, then we're told the new price is $37 per person. That's $10 more than the last time I was here and $5 more than the menu has printed. That's quite a price hike. So then we ask about doing happy hour at the bar. We figure we'll get some half priced cheese and chocolate. We're then told the bar is full and we'll have to wait for something to open up or we can sit at our table and pay full price. Other restaurants I've been to make exceptions for happy hour prices when the bar is full. I'm supposedly a VIP on their computer (so they've told me) so I'm really disappointed that no compensation was offered. My friend ordered a coke and paid $5 for it and we left. The worst thing is that they just let us leave, didn't even have a manager come talk to us about our concerns about the hefty price increase or not giving us an exception for happy hour when there were no tables with burners left.

(3.75) ~ Good Overall Takeout.  Note: Leave the Cheese on your oven burner on the low setting to allow it to stay at the correct consistency for dipping;)

MENU:
** White & Dark Chocolate = (4) very good, although we failed trying to do our own "Ying / Yang" at home, so we would recommend keeping them seperate;)lol  Note: They did allow us to substitute for our two favorite dessert dippers = Oreo Marshmallows & Belgium Waffle(w. Pearl sugars;)
** House Salad = (4) very good, especially with their Garlic Wine Seasoning;)
* Chocolate Strawberries = (3.5) good, but not great.
*  Alpine Cheese = (3.25) pretty good, but it needed some of the added ingredients/flavors you get at the Restauarant, such as galic & shallots, b/c it was alittle bland...Note: They did allow us to substitute for our favorite cheese dipper = Soft Pretzels;)

We came here on a Friday around 5:30 and sat at the bar. It was pretty quiet. We got cheese fondue and chocolate fondue. Everything was delicious and fondue is fun! Our server was Kevin (who I presume is the bartender) and he went above and beyond. We told him we were celebrating a career milestone for me and be brought out a little piece of cheesecake with a candle in it. Overall, it was a great experience.

Alexis our server was fabulous. Made up for having to wait an hour after our reservation time.

I've been to this melting pot several times as a teenager and I finally brought my friend here for the first time as a grown adult! It was her first melting pot experience and her birthday celebration!

Our waitress, Alexis was AMAZING! She truly made our night great! There were some other waiters and waitresses around that would have dampened our day if they were assigned to our table so we are very grateful for Alexis!! Thanks girl! She was so professional and explained everything so well! She had the best upbeat attitude!

We ordered the Wisconsin cheese, caprese salad, shrimp, salmon, and mushroom ravioli! For dessert we ordered the hazelnut chocolate! Everything tasted soooo good!

We originally went to the Melting Pot in Columbia, MD but left due to availability and drove to Gaithersburg (since they have better reviews anyway)! Worth the drive! Can't wait to go back!