Ok... don't get me wrong... The food was decent, however, not worth 100 bucks for two people. If I go to dine at a restaurant, and spend $100 on a meal for two (excluding the overpriced cocktails), I wouldn't expect to have to do every thing myself. Cooking your own food may seem fun... and maybe it would be fun, if I were spending twenty bucks. The lobster tail was good.. the steak items were BLAH. Who wants a boiled steak????

Also, our server... I believe his name was Tony.. Was so rude. He went on and on about himself, rather than suggesting what we should order. The menu seems like it should have a table of contents! We couldn't figure out what to do! First, you decide on your entree' to share, then flip 16 pages to pick out a cheese, then back 4 more, to the salad selections, and then... when you think you're seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, Tony looks at us like we're stupid, and wants to know what cooking style we want! Happens to be, he never mentioned it to us... and it's written as a footnote on the bottom of the first page!

We drank a little, but the constant headache, and having to time the cooking times of our food game us more of a headache than our $145 meal was worth!

Not going back... ever.

We had a coupon for a free dessert... Tony, insisted that we could not use it, due to us already ordering a "big night out" which included a dessert. I asked to see a manager, because I felt that even if we ordered a "big night out", we should have the cost of the dessert taken off our ticket! This fragile little man, named Bob... comes around the corner, and explains the situation to us. Turns out, he's the owner of the restaurant. Was also rude to us.

Again, save your money! If you really want to spend $145 on a meal, take your significant other to a place like Shula's or Flemmings...

I've got a bone to pick with the previous reviewer's post. First, she complains because she has to cook her own food...at a fondue restaurant.And if you order a package deal, don't try to use a coupon to make part of the package free.

As for myself, I haven't been to this incarnation of the Melting Pot, but I visited the previous one in Five Points with some regularity, and always had a great time.

[Editor's Note: Post edited for content/tone]

I also have a bone to pick. I have eaten at the Lee Branch Melting Pot twice, and had a great time. Sure Fleming's can give me a good steak and rush me out the door, but I won't have as much fun.
Our food was wonderful, and so was our martini's, and our server.

In respone to the posting by Allison I completely disagree with her take on the Melting Pot. My wife and I dined there several weeks ago and were lucky enough to be served by a wondeful server named Tony. He suggested the route we should go when ordering our meal and went over how to prepare the food and the differenent sauces that were available.
We felt for the price we could not have gotten a better meal or a better experience anywhere else. Granted if you are in a rush or you are an impatient person you would be better suited at a fast food restaurant.
At the conclusion of this posting I will be calling the Melting Pot and getting a reservation for my wife and I to celebrate our 15th Anniversary.

I just wanted to say we went to the Melting Pot this weekend for my bridal shower and had a great time. It is beautiful, private, and fun.
The food was terrific, and we will be going back soon.
It is definately worth the drive down 280.

I was hoping when this place opened that, things would have changed since the 5-points melting pot failed several years ago.

Unfortunately no.

I agree that the menu is complicated. Our service was fine, but we did not enjoy the experience. The cheese fondue was good as was the salad, but after that, things went downhill. This was when the entree's were brought out which was RAW beef, chicken, and seafood sitting on our table next to vegetables and a ridiculous number of sauces.

It was kind of disgusting sitting with raw meats in front of you, and we were all very concerned about contaminating our plates and utensils with raw beef and chicken. We had real concerns about how sanitary this is. One false move and your utensil with raw chicken on it might touch your veggies or plate.

What is even more miserable is trying to cook each morsel of meat, one at a time, especially if you are at a table with several people. Of course everybody wants to be cooking their meats and veggies simultaneously so they can eat their meal, but this is just not possible. Consequently, dinner takes a very very long time.

Considering you have to cook your own food, the place is overpriced.

I would only go back for the cheese fondue.

Well we had the best time last night for a girls night out. I went with 6 of my friends and we thought the cheese and salad were great. Cooking the food was half the fun. We knew it was fondue so we weren't grossed out, and we knew we were cooking the veggies, so we weren't worried about contamination. Just put the food in the pot and eat it.. really how difficult.
We moved here from Arizona where you could not ever get a seat there, and reading this post just makes me realize how uncool Alabama really is.

This place is a MUST TRY!! My boyfriend took me and surprised me with flowers on the table, we sat in the most romantic booth for two.
The food was to die for, I loved the cheese fiesta with veggies, chips and bread. The California salad was so good I bought the dressing to use at home, and we also had a great time cooking the food, and loved all the delicious sauces.
The dessert was so yummy. I will definately go back.
Our server was Taylor and he was always on top of things kept our wine refilled, brought us more dippers, and more veggies.
Worth every penny.

My husband and I have been to the Melting Pot in other towns several times and loved it!

Yes, you do cook your own food, but what we do to shorten the cooking time is to just put all the meat and veggies in the pot, let them cook, and then pick them out with our individual skewers or the big slotted spoon when they're done rather than putting each item in the pot attached to the skewers. It's not "fondue correct," but whatever!

It's a really great date restaurant because of the relaxing atmosphere, and it's unique and fun. You can't be in a hurry, but it's nice sometimes to be more European and linger over your meal.

I had no idea the Melting Pot was in Birmingham, and I am so glad I found it.I had more fun there on New Year's Eve than any other I can remember. The food was so good, our service was outstanding, and the owner even bought everyone in the entire place a toast for the New Year. I will be going back really soon.

I thought The Melting Pot was really fun... great for a romantic dinner for two or with a group of people. Love love love the atmosphere and the service was great... however, in my opinion, the food was not as good as everyone says. Don't get me wrong, we ate every bit of it, but it wasn't something that "made it's mark" in my book. I would go back if someone else suggested it, but would never go out of my way to go back. Just my opinion though.

DON'T BRING KIDS TO THE MELTING POT, ok that being said we LOVED it. The best cheese ever, our salads were great, loved cooking the food, and the best dessert I have ever tasted.
The only problem was we brought our kids, BIG MISTAKE!!
This is the perfect place for a night out either alone or with friends, not with kids under six,
We will go back soon and definately tell our friends.

Do not waste your money here! This is not gourmet food, and certainly not worthy of the $120 per couple price tag. I grew up in NY next to the Culinary Institute of America and this restaurant would be laughed out of town.

My boyfriend and I went there with another couple for New Year's Eve. Our server walked us past a crying baby in a high-chair with food all over the floor around him...yikes!

The service was OK, the waiter was a little chatty interrupting our converstation often. It later became apparent he was on management's time schedule, trying to get us through our meal in time to get the next reservation in. I realize it was New Year's Eve, but you should never let your customers feel rushed and you should manage your reservations better.

The cheese fondue was good, but for four people, all they gave us to dip into the cheese was one small teacup sized cup of cut up apple, another teacup full of crudite and a medium sized bowl of bread pieces.

I am not a meat eater, so I asked for no bacon on my salad. When it came out, it was apparent they did not assemble each salad, but had the entire salad pre-mixed because although there was no bacon on the top of my salad, as I ate it, there were bacon pieces in the bottom. So someone obviously just hand picked out the visible bacon pieces - ridiculous.

After that it did not get any better. The entree plates were brought out and I was shocked. For two people to share, they brought us a dinner plate sized tray with five or six small shrimp, TWO ravioli, two small sections of cubed beef and a small section of cubed chicken - this was for two people?? They also brought out a medium sized bowl with vegetables which was for the FOUR of us to share - it contained mushroom caps, about half a dozen quartered squash pieces, some cauliflower, broccoli and one red potato, quartered - for four people.

OK, so I try to make the best and start to try to cook my shrimp - you get two skewers so you can only cook two pieces of food at once. Your skewers are in the pot all together so it is hard to get the slotted spoon in the pot to get out some vegetables, so you sit and wait for your two pieces of food to cook. We actually had timers on our phones out to make sure the chicken was cooked through...OK, so I take out my two pieces of shrimp and put them on my plate. I take out a few vegetables because there aren't many and I want to leave some for the rest of our party. So I now have two pieces of shrimp on my plate that I eat so they don't get cold while I am cooking my other pieces of shrimp. So you sit there much of the time with an empty plate. They do not serve you rice or any other starch to go with your meal either. That would at least give you something to nibble on while you are waiting for each piece to cook. Ravioli is a bad choice for a fondue pot - they boiled up in the broth but fell off the skewers and fell apart when you tried to get them out of the pot.

Now for the dessert - they brought out the dipping chocolate and each couple gets a small tray with cubed up pieces of food to dip. Never in my life have a paid so much for a meal and been given cubed RICE KRISPY TREATS and MARSHMALLOWS for dessert. Are you kidding me?? Did they go to WalMart to get the dessert?? The rest of the plate had literally FOUR slices of banana, some strawberries, some cubed pieces of brownie and a tiny sliver of cheesecake in the center.

My boyfriend and I are not big eaters, we are both athletic and watch our diets, and this was the first time in my life I have ever left a restaurant feeling hungry. Oh yeah, the best part was that after finishing our meal, we were sitting at the table continuing our conversations and relaxing a bit and the waiter came up and told us we had to get going because he needed the table.

There are several outstanding restaurants in Birmingham where you could spend a comparable amount of money and get 100 times the quality and quantity of food with a much nicer atmosphere as well. Try Cafe DuPont downtown or Table in Mountainbrook just off the top of my head.

Are you kidding? We go there almost every month for girls night out, and it's delicious and very filling.
We are never rushed or unhappy, and we always get the unlimited free refills of cheese dippers and at least 2 or 3 veggie plates. It's free and included. I love going to southside too, but the melting pot is one of our favorites.

To all the bad.reviews... ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????
First of all.. the melting pot is a FONDUE restauraunt.... which means you fondue your entree. Duh.

If this four course meal doesn't fill you up... then you either did not order appropriatly or you have the appetite equivelent to 3 cows.

And the third thing I will address is that the melting pot is entirely obsessed with giving their guests the perfect night out. The servers are very pressured to give you the best service possible and 99 percent of the time they will.

Another thing......

DO NOT BRING CHILDREN. This is an adult restaurant. Your babies do not like to eat samual adams lager cheese or red wine filet. Trust me.

The melting pot is appropriatly priced and if you cannot grasp the idea of culture and fine dining that is not run of the mill.. then just don't go and waste everybody's time.

And lastly... how would the health inspectors miss the cross contamination for the past 30 years that the melting pot has been running? Obviously the restaurant has it figured out. If you are capable of following no brainer instructions...then you are fine.

I totally agree with you amy! The melting pot is qworth every penny.

Well, I'm going to try it soon so I came here to get all different opinions. I'm glad that there are mixed reviews because I get to see why people like it and why they don't. It's ridiculous to attack someone else's opinion just because you don't agree with it. Tell us about your experience and move on. Why are you guys getting mad?

After reading these reviews, we were reluctant to bring our two small children, 2 & 3, to the Melting Pot but we knew they would enjoy it. We selected an early reservation early in the week to avoid the crowds and give the melting pot a try. It could not have turned out better for our children.

We ordered the 4 course big night out. The spinach artichoke cheese course was just good, not great, for me. I thought it needed a little something else for flavor. It essentially was similar in taste to many chain restaurant cheese dips. The Caprese salad was fantastic with a high quality balsamic vinaigrette.

The main course had outstanding variety, lobster, shrimp, chicken, steak , and pasta. Our kids loved cooking their food. They were competent enough to understand the platter->pot->plate rule our server explained. I don't understand how anyone would be confused/grossed out by the raw food on the table. I thought that was the point of a fondue restaurant.

The dessert course was equally fun and similar to a camp fire cook out. We had the cookies and cream dip with strawberries, bananas, cheesecake, marshmallows, rice crispy treats, and pound cake. It was fun and the dark chocolate was very good.

Our dinner lasted two hours and our children enjoyed every minute. I agree with Amy on every point except the kids portion. Kids are welcome (coloring menus, etc.). If your children can behave and follow instructions regarding the heat, take them. Our waitress complemented and talked with them throughout the meal. She (I believe it was Chris) made every effort to ensure our meal was great.

This is not a Frank Stitt restaurant. We think of it as dinner and a show in one. The food is not the absolute best in Birmingham. My vote would be Highland's in that category. However, the entertainment aspect is worth the trip on special occasions.

We also used a restaurant.com discount coupon to drop the price. I am not sure if it is still available but is certainly worth the planning. With the coupon, our meal was under $100.

I love this place. The most fun I've had in a long time. This is not the BEST food, but definately very good and so much fun.

What an outstanding dining experience! Have visited the Lee Branch as a date night and girls night out - both times were equally enjoyable and fun. The service is remarkable, food is fresh,and the atmosphere is unparalleled. Highly recommended for a special time!