It’s a twister, a twister!! A little tornado warning certainly didn’t stop last Friday’s happy hour. We were going to venture outside of the Ballston bubble (to Clarendon – not far I know, ha), but given the weather we decided instead to just make a quick run across the street to The Melting Pot. Arriving right around 5pm, it was empty in the first bar (didn’t venture around the restaurant too much, but the hostess mentioned a second bar). We grabbed the largest table and started to weigh our options for drinks and food. Being very adult, one of my coworkers ordered a bottle of white wine for the table (that amazingly filled 6 glasses). It was tasty and priced at $28. Don’t worry; there were cheaper wine prices.
The next challenge- picking fondue. Opting for the cheddar cheese and jalapeño selections, our group was very pleased. With no real rail drink happy hour special, I opted to splurge on a martini for my last drink…but not just any martini, a s’mores martini! I don’t normally go for these specialty drinks, but this was a wise selection. Certainly didn’t need any chocolate fondue with a drink like this. The oreo-covered marshmallows were a perfect topping. As our happy hour group grew to a total of 9 people, we decided to get two more selections of fondue – the spinach-artichoke mixture and the season special. During happy hour, the fondue is half-priced. Now normally all of this still would have been fairly expensive, but luckily one friend had a Groupon that she was generous enough to share :-). It also probably didn’t hurt that we were fairly engaging with our waitress. All together we each tossed in about $10.
Does Melting Pot have a great bar scene for mixing with strangers? No, haha. It was a great place to come with a group of friends though. While I assume the normal demeanor is fairly reserved, our group was a little on the rambunctious side and lived up the establishment. I wouldn’t come here all the time for happy hour due to the prices, but I will definitely be back to indulge in some comfort food and quality drink :-).