For a party of four, including four teenagers, our bill, with one $33 bottle of wine and a martini, without appetizers, came to over $400. Four hundred dollars for $40 worth of raw materials, maximum, that we had to cook ourselves.

Save your money and go elsewhere.

I've never experienced prison sex, but after eating at the Melting Pot I think I've come close. Let's break it down. Every part of the meal was one notch above a grade school cafeteria. Six people were in our party. The food that we were served could have been purchased at a grocery store for $100. Three cocktails and one beer were purchased, let's round that up to $50. The total bill was $400. So what did the Melting Pot do for the $250 difference ? They had a table with burners, prepped their low quality food, they gave us a bunch of sauces to cover up the fact that everything tasted the same after being boiled in their salty Lawry's seasoning fondue. The Melting Pot is NOT fun. Having to eat sub-par food, cook it yourself and then overpay is an absolutelty miserable experience.

This is mine and my husband's favorite place. We enjoy taking other couples because the fun of cooking your own food is always a good conversation starter. We've gone to the one in Seattle and the one Tacoma and have excellent service and great food every time. These other reviews are snobs, I prefer the Melting Pot to any overly expensive, little for your money restaurant in the area.

I'm not sure that summary is accurate. I haven't been to the Seattle location, but the Bellevue one was terrible last night. Costco veggies and seafood, much worse bread and middling bases and sauces. I'm not usually fussy, but at the prices they're charging, the silverware and table were really not clean enough. We were ignored at the door, and the server just did not justify the automatic 22% tip that was added. Something resembling a garlic salt container was brought to the table. I don't know if that's standard, but I haven't seen it outside of Famous Ray's in NYC. At $40 a person, that's simply unacceptable. The cheese service was acceptable, the salads were really awful, the main service was pretty awful, and the cheesecake etc. brought to dip in chocolate was unimpressive (again, could have been straight from Costco). Their wine list is pretty bad, their beer list is ridiculously bad (Coors, Coors Light, Amstel, Heineken, Sol, Sierra, Alaskan, and Pyramid Heif). On a positive note, the music was decent, but it's hard to go wrong with Frank Sinatra. If you think you might like it, then risk your $80 a couple. If you're on the fence, then you will probably leave feeling pretty ripped off. This chain has about three years to make its money. I'd be shocked they have much repeat business. Strongly consider going to Szechuan Chef in Bellevue instead if you want an authetic hotpot experience for roughly a quarter of the price.

I think the interior is nice, they do make you feel special. But the fondue was not authentic and I got food poisoning from some of the meet I at there.

Take your 11-14 yr olds here for a "fancy dinner." They will feel very grown-up and sophisticated. Two stars for adults who actually like food, four stars for fun times with kids.