pot industry restaurant founded april 1975 1975 04 headquarters tampa florida united states number of locations 142 franchises as of august 2009 update area served united states canada mexico services casual dining specializing in fondue website www.meltingpot.com the melting pot is a chain of franchised fondue restaurants in the united states canada and mexico . the tampa florida based company had 142 locations as of august 2009 with 28 more locations under development . the melting pot menu contains various cheese fondues wines salads entrees of meat and seafood served with dipping sauces and oil or broth to be cooked in and chocolate fondues . it is part of front burner brands . 1 the melting pot restaurant in tallahassee florida contents 1 history 2 design 3 headquarters 4 menu 5 criticism 6 community involvement 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit the first melting pot opened in april 1975 in maitland florida a suburban city of the orlando metropolitan area and served only three items on its menu . with permission from the original owners mark mike and bob johnston opened the melting pot of tallahassee in 1979 . as the restaurant expanded its franchise the menu grew larger . in 1985 the johnston brothers purchased all rights to the melting pot brand . on june 1 2008 the original location in maitland closed . 2 the company currently has one location open in canada in edmonton alberta . their richmond hill ontario location closed in march 2013 . design edit the restaurants interiors are designed using dark red and black colors . they are dimly lit ; all seating is mostly in booths with private booths away from the main room . headquarters edit its headquarters are located in tampa florida . spinach artichoke cheese fondue and caesar salad menu edit a complete meal features a cheese fondue a salad main course and a chocolate fondue for dessert . the four courses are offered individually or as a 4 course experience . the 4 course experience includes one of several preset entrees one serving of cheese one salad and one serving of chocolate . main courses are still fondues but include more typical entrees of meat poultry pasta and seafood . as you are cooking your food in a designated type of broth it becomes more interesting . the franchise also produces special occasion packages for anniversaries weddings and other events . criticism edit the company is criticized for its prices but praised for its food . 3 the price of its food either per person or per portion is acknowledged to be in a high range . 4 however the franchise continues to draw customers thus its success may be attributed to the unique dining experience of fondue and the overall quality of its food . 5 community involvement edit it supports the st. jude children s research hospital in the fight against childhood cancer . the company sponsors annual fundraising programs and local special events whose proceeds are contributed directly to the hospital . the company also contributes a portion of proceeds from designated in store purchases . each individual restaurant also sponsors many different charities throughout the year . see also edit companies portal food portal united states portal list of companies of the united states references edit 1 dead link history of the melting pot . the melting pot restaurants inc. 2007 . retrieved august 15 2008 . the melting pot restaurant review . the good wine guru . 2009 . retrieved september 12 2010 . the melting pot dip into confusing dining . the phoenix . 2008 . retrieved september 12 2010 . the melting pot awesome dining experience . epinions.com . 2000 . retrieved september 12 2010 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title the melting pot restaurant & oldid 727636641 categories restaurants established in 19751975 establishments in floridacompanies based in tampa floridarestaurant chains in the united statesrestaurant franchisesrestaurants in floridahidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from may 2011articles containing potentially dated statements from august 2009all articles containing potentially dated statementspages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 30 june 2016 at 07 40 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view