server

specialist

line cook

server assistant

dishwasher

The Melting Pot Restaurant

I was hired on as a server assistant instead of a server and worked there for four months. I was hoping to be promoted to server but I was constantly told there were no open positions. I was fine with that because it made sense. Well I was fine with it until they hired a new server a few weeks after I asked about it, so I guess there just weren't any openings for me specifically. The pay looks good on paper, but it's really not. The servers earned like three times as much as I did in a single night. You can make a lot of money if you work on Saturday, I made 140 dollars in tips one time because the other SA called out. But if its on another night, you might as well not even come. Its practically 8-10 dollars an hour in tips. I was eventually fired because they felt I wasn't making any improvement, which is funny because I recieved minimal to no training while there. I learned most of it on the fly. Not that I'm complaining because you don't even earn enough for gas on the days you're being trained since you don't receive tips. One day I was promised to be trained, so I wasn't getting any tips and was only making the measly hourly pay for the night. The problem is that they never trained me at all that night and I just did what I normally did. So I got paid 1/4 of what I normally got for the same work for no reason.  Not to mention I barely got to even work as they only scheduled me on two days out of every week. How am I supposed to get experience and improve if they don't even let me work? I should mention that I applied for full time and I probably only worked for ten hours a week. When I was fired, it came completely out of nowhere because the were talking to me as though I had only worked there for two weeks. I felt like a completely different person to them on the last day I was there.

So, let me just start off by saying you definitely shouldn’t work for this place because they barely make enough money to stay open in the first place, and as a server you’ll be lucky to serve more than 4 tables a day. 

This is the lowest compensation I’ve ever received as a server. Servers would constantly go home with only 50-60$ after an 8 hour shift. And speaking of those shifts, if you’ve served before, this is the MOST opening and closing duties you will ever receive as a server. They expect the most out of you while you barely earn minimum wage. 

So if this hasn’t scared you away, this will! 

Management is a nightmare. It was so strange too, because I was close with management, and then one day for seemingly no reason at all, he was just incredibly rude to everyone. On this night we were severely understaffed, and everything went wrong. 

I had a table that vomitted all over their table, management didn’t help me with that at all, setting me pretty far back on most my tasks. This led to the manager threatening to cut my hours because I can’t “multi task”. I’ve served for several years and this place will blame you for everything outside of your power. 

On this same night I was threatened by management, 2 other servers were fired. And might I add, those two servers were fantastic at their job and wonderful people to be around. He made nearly all of his servers cry that night by yelling at them and calling them demeaning names, and that was the breaking point for me. I quit, after hearing him calling us all “replaceable”.

Welp, have fun replacing everyone until your circus of a restaurant finally shuts down buddy.

When I had first started at this restaurant I was excited to work here and gain some what I thought was fine dining experience and be able to make some good money with a flexible schedule. 
I soon learned none of that was true and that the owners did not do well at runnifn the place (when they were even there). They regularly would hire employees that couldn’t pull their own weight around the place causing them to feel the need to over staff on a daily basis resulting in low pay outs at the end of the night. The busboy was useless and would leave as soon as possible every night and generally only cleaned the tables of the servers he favored most. 
Schedules were almost never put out on time and there was constant miscommunication about days off. 
All the kitchen workers but 1 would constantly being doing other things besides their job. 
There was also lots of favoritism within the restaurant. While I worked there one of the Managers wife who also worked there at the time got all the best tables and gradually took away other employees regulars ( not at the guests request). 


After working there I would not suggest it to others for the reasons above and more. 
I also would not consider it a fine dining establishment as I had thought it was before being hired, nor do any actual fine dining establishments I had applied to afterwards. 






Within my four months of working at the Town & Country I knew the job wouldn’t last.

Management seems to spoil the servers, where as they dismiss hospitality specialists. There is absolutely zero communication between management, and servers. Hospitality tends to get blamed for it.

I get many phone calls throughout the day, telling me that management had never called guests back after a bad experience. Listening to upset guests over the phone most of the day is frustrating because management should be able to call back and accommodate after they’ve had a bad experience. 

Management says they’re “working on it” (it being the lack of communication) and nothing ever changes. It’s been a great problem ever since i started working there in the summer. Due to this lack of communication, Hospitality tends to get the blame. 

There is LOTS of unnecessary drama between co-workers.  It will take a toll on you mentally. 

The dining room and kitchen get extremely hot throughout the night. Servers are physically drained along with hospitality. 

Scheduling is terrible. I had asked for more hours throughout the week to be able to pay for my basic needs, such as an apartment, my dogs, and everything else. They have cut me and another co-worker’s hours in half after hiring new hospitality specialists. 

Management listens to servers thoroughly where as they seem to get frustrated when hospitality members ask for the smaller things, such as curtains on the windows for guests who get sun in their eyes. It’s a common complaint. 


This job is incredibly difficult. There are supposed to be five dishwashers in order to manage the workload comfortably and rotate days off, but 2-3 people are forced to cover 4-5 people's work because they can't retain staff. (On top of dish, which is grueling enough, job includes expo - traying and endlessly running food orders up and down several flights of stairs which was never even mentioned during the interview process.) In my interviews managers expressed frustration with the high turnover in this position, and now I completely understand why. Massive workload, managers totally unwilling to offer any help, and after my coworker and I confronting management to ask for a raise —to incentivize us to continue tolerating the stress instead of just leaving like most others — I was immediately FIRED upon arriving to my next scheduled shift, leaving even less help for the poor remaining dishwashers. This only proves their lack of care for essential kitchen staff, as I showed up with every intention to work my shift and was actively let go for daring to ask for a raise regardless of the already present understaffing issue! I was told I was "not a good fit for the culture". Does management not understand the concept that people are motivated by money, and that simply offering better pay would do wonders to slow the turnover? Instead they would fire quality workers who dare to ask for more. 

I have been with The Melting Pot for about 6 months now. Upon being hired, I was promised a raise within 3 months, to which I still have yet to receive. I have successfully memorized the kitchen and how things are supposed to be done, I mastered all aspects of the kitchen, when I took over as Kitchen Manager, I still got no raise of any kind, regardless of the fact that I was saving the owners over $11k per month in food and labor costs as well as delegating and creating balance throughout the establishment. I even tried to transfer to another Melting Pot location and was offered no increase in my hourly wages. To make matters worse, I was told that my interview wasn't being taken seriously because the current Melting Pot I work for is considered a joke throughout the entire Melting Pot chain. Considering I'm a certified Executive Sous Chef and have been in the industry for 18+ years, that's just disgustingly offensive. This entire chain may want to reassess some of their protocols. God knows I looked up the official Melting Pot website and they're lying when it says they offer competitive pay and growth opportunities. 

You must truly be in the mindset to create an experience for each and every table. The server-guest face time at the table is much more than at a turn and burn restaurant so your conversation game has to be on. You are also cooking at your table so you need to be attentive to your surroundings.
I feel that corporate is constantly trying to save money for themselves (cutting corners) and it puts servers in a jam. I worked at one of the test stores so although we were usually given a few day's notice before a change was implemented, we were always having to deal with troubleshooting so the other stores wouldn't have to.
If you were able to connect and engage with your guests, the financial compensation made it worth it (especially being open only for dinner--no doubles except on certain promos/holidays). 
My only complaint was that if you were good at your job, you were often punished by being put on the schedule much more, in my case one or two days off in a two week period, and constantly have to close. However, money is money! And my managers/coworkers were all super fun to be around. Overall, recommend the Melting Pot.

This is definitely one of the most stressing, and complicated places I’ve ever worked in. At first everything seemed nice but everything started to make sense when people started quitting. It is definitely fast-paced when you have more than 4-5 tables . Is a lot of steps and things you have to do. So you have to be really focused. I’m so disappointed about how my experience was  here. Managers were so disrespectful to me, so unprofessional and  so NOT managers. You really don’t earn the money is posted in here. Is all a lie, to get people interested, and that’s why they are short-staffed.  Tables are given on your sales and how good they consider you are at your job. You end up working pretty late nights.  Some guests complain a lot (specially regulars), making you look bad even if it’s not your fault. Only positive thing there is the co-workers, they are pretty nice and fun people, between all the bad thing at this place they make it better.

No matter what position, you never get breaks. You could be on your feet for 6 hours straight and never have a chance to rest. As a hostess, you're expected to keep everything in check, and if you seat a server out of section/rotation, you get screamed at and treated horribly for the rest of the night. The GM is always concerned about seating every single person that walks in the door but doesn't take into account the amount of reservations for the busiest nights and the number of servers. The servers are usually understaffed on some busy nights as well and if the hostess can't seat people due to double seating and overwhelming the servers, you get yelled at, and if you seat them and overwhelm servers - who will never greet the table - you once again get yelled at. Most servers I worked with would be there at open and would be forced to stay to close because we were so understaffed. I've never seen such a high turnaround rate. Working here is a lose - lose for everyone. You don't get paid enough, which is SERVER PAY, to be yelled at constantly, or to detail air vent, or to scrub toilets as a hostess, you just don't. Oh, and just the best part, they run their location based on favoritism.

A typical day can be tough and busy right off the bat or starting off slow, usually managers will know what time will be busy.
I learned boundaries in  a work environment and how to operate a dish machine.
There was three managers at the time I worked here and two of them were very easy to communicate with and ask questions also very helpful and nice, the other manager was really difficult to talk to or ask questions, they didn't help out dishwashers at all, and was not very nice. They always made everyone nervous
I do not know anything about the work culture.
The hardest part of the job is when other workers yell at you and you are doing everything you can to get what they need, sometimes you don't get a break because you have that one manager who will not cover you for your break even though you legally get a 30 minute lunch or at least a 10 minute break.
The most enjoyable part would be the games they would play with workers, or the giveaways you can be part of.


Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Server 15 salaries reported	$27.84 per hour
Specialist 7 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Line cook 1 salary reported	$18.00 per hour
Server assistant 4 salaries reported	$16.88 per hour
Dishwasher 8 salaries reported	$12.49 per hour

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