The Melting Point

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  Sit upstairs for unimpeded view. Small, intimate venue, non-smoking provides for close encounters with performers.  There is a full menu for dining, but beware: on special events, they ONLY offer a VERY limited menu for dining.

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  Posted on 07.05.13 Lawrence C.

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  Never knew there was a separate Ballroom than the concert venue.  It was cozy.

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  Posted on 04.09.13 Merryn W.

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  The melting point is a beautiful restaurant / bar with an intimate music experience.  
  
  My poor rating is due to the following.
  
  The hubs and I paid $50 to see a show.  We arrived over an hour early for a sold out show only to realize they had really over sold the show as there wasn't even standing room indoors (unless you were to basically stand directly in front of someone eating their dinner).  As it is early in the spring it was really too cool outside to sit outside and honestly who wants to watch a show from outside the restaurant?
  
  We never got a chance to try out the food or drinks (which were quite expensive) as we were never able to get a servers attention.
  
  I don't think we will ever be back as we basically paid $50 to be ignored for 30 minutes before leaving without staying for the show, which is a shame because it's probably fairly nice.

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  Posted on 03.30.13 Heather K.

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  The multi-levels turn a large room into an intimate venue.  The Melting Point has warm acoustics and great bar service.  I have not tried the food but this is clearly one of the best music venues in Georgia!!!

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  Posted on 11.13.12 Jerry C.

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  This is my favorite music venue in Athens. I've seen some of my favorite artists here and you get to sit in chairs instead of stand in a sweaty club. The shows usually start earlier as well. I have liked all the food I ordered there, especially the dip trio.

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  Posted on 03.26.12 Bethany K.

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  I am a professional musician and I have had the pleasure and honor of performing at the Melting Point. The service for musicians is world class. We are treated like royalty, have an entire hotel suite sized backstage area, and the sound people are amazing. The sound going to the audience is superb as well. Not too loud and not too soft. Just a perfect mix.
  
  For the non musician. I have also been to many shows here to see bands of various genres. I will just echo myself about the sound. Superb. And the wait staff are professional. My favorite part about seeing a band is sitting outside on a cool day, and sipping on a drink. Theres nothing better in Athens!
  
  My favorite venue of all time to perform in, and to see a band.

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  Posted on 02.05.12 Joshua W.

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  Food was very good. Venue is great. Music there was crappy on the night we went.
  
  The foundry beside it was a good place to stay.

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  Posted on 07.28.11 Darragh M.

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  I really can not review the music but I can review the meal I have had here. I had the black bean burger with the beer battered fries, and they where both out of this world. When I go back I am going to order the same thing, I am to scared to waste a trip here and not enjoy the burger (black bean) and fries again.

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  Posted on 07.11.11 Stephen M.

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  This is not the place for you non smokers outdoors. Its oct 31 and weather went down quickly . It is freezing and only three portable heaters for the outdoor dinning area. Cover was $20 for a hippie concert no exceptions. If your not a townnie i wouldnt recommend this excesively over priced restaurant.

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  Posted on 02.19.11 Erik C.

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  I'm a lucky girl. Really. I get to do great stuff all the time. My experience at The Melting Point is no exception.
  
  Melissa B and I wrangled some tickets to see Brandi Carlile at the Melting Point. I had heard it was a small venue which only made me more and more uber excited to see her (likely one of the best performers out there).
  
  We showed up about 2 hours prior to the show and were surprised to already see a line extending from the door.  If I'm not mistaken, all tickets are sold as will call which is just something to be aware of before showing up. Once the doors opened people headed to the upstairs tables and seats removed from the stage. This seemed like a total waste to me in light of the fact there were standing spots right next to the very very small stage. We're talking spots close enough to get sweat thrown on you. It was AMAZING.
  
  I highly recommend avoiding the seats/tables and owning your spot as close to the stage as possible. Melting Point is a great venue and the show was outstanding. They also have a couple of open bars (the wait is sort of a pain) and you can order food (although we didn't get any because standing and eating is just difficult).

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  Posted on 03.08.10 Courtney R.

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  I had an earth-shattering experience at The Melting Point when I caught the Dave Rawlings Machine there the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I was a little disappointed to discover the show offered standing room only, but the slight ache that developed in my hips during the 2-hour foot-stomp fest was worth it.
  
  The line for the bathroom that formed well before the opening act was long and slow, since only one stall was available. A multiple-toilet set-up would have been preferable.
  
  But I still had an amazing time, making sure to secure a spot at the edge of the stage, right at Dave Rawlings' feet. During the show, I gazed up at him in a stupor, watching his fingers fly, spit soar and sweat roll down his bandanna. I will probably never be so close to Gillian Welch or Ketch Secor again. What a night!
  
  My experience at The Melting Point had everything to do with the show, not the venue.

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  Posted on 11.30.09 Bobbin W.

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  I went to this place last night for a benefit for The Georgia Theatre featuring The Whigs, The New Familiars, and Dead Confederate.
  
  This was my first time here and I have to say it was really a pleasant time, that I had. I showed up just as they sold out of tickets and so helped to start the beginning of the, "stand-by" line, which was created because there were people who bought tickets with no intention on coming to the show but just to support the cause. As odd a way of going about helping and causing other people to wait in line to see if they can get in, instead of just donating money straight to the cause, it was all handled well with respect and appreciation.
  The lady out front directing people and getting them in the correct lines and problem solving any issues people brought up to them was handled extremely well, with kindness and genuine demure.
  
  In fact, every employee I came across was great. I did not eat or drink anything so I cant comment on any of that but, the whole event was handled seamlessly as far as those things go.
  
  My only slight unhappiness is due to the fact that there is just too much down time between bands. Its a constant in most places but, I cant stand it and it often times keeps me from even getting out to shows. If I want to stand around and socialize Ill go to a bar or anywhere else that there isnt an event with the exception of a festival, of course. I end up spending my entire night out and a full half of that time in just waiting.
  
  The venue itself is of the sort where the stage is sunken against the middle of the back wall with a standing and sometimes seated floor. Then there is a landing about 4 above, where you actually enter with small tables and standing room and off to one side is a dining area. Above that is another level that curves around with more seating and standing options.Along with a smoking outdoor section right before you go in with tables and a bar.
  
  Good job done for a good deed.

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  Posted on 06.24.09 C S.

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  It's difficult for me to rate The Melting Point.  I love the atmosphere, which features great acts in the kind of environment that I like for going on dates: good wine, tables for quiet flirting and chatting, waitress service (no standing in line at the bar), and a full menu served late.  
  
  Restrooms: The downstairs potties are in the restaurant section and are pretty darned good, especially for a night spot.  However, there are too few toilets.  The secret potties are up on the second floor and generally have a shorter line.  They could use a few more, I might add.  The downstairs toilet is handicap accessible, I might add.  On that note, one can dine and watch the show on front entry level floor without having to do steps.  However, you can't get to the toilet from there.  On the other hand, if you can do a few (4 or 5, I believe) steps then you can access the toilet and be on the dining and ground floor (side entry).  Odd.
  
  I do appreciate that people often come here with a kid, and the kids can prance around. Before you get scared, the kids are always well behaved, in my experience.  It's a good townie place, and also attracts classier tourists.
  
  That said, here is why it got one star:
  
  On my last visit I got a HORRID case of food poisoning.  
  
  Yes, food poisoning as verified by an RN that started about 6 hours after the meal ended and really was bad by 8 hours.  To make it worse, I ate my meal there right before catching the shuttle (which stops there) to the airport, so I ended up sick in my hotel and missed the national award ceremony where I was to accept a fellowship.  I had no choice but to drag my sick butt out of bed and do my presentation the next day, in spite of feeling horrid. This occurred in June, and we seemed to be the first diners of the evening.  We noted that the service was unusually poor that night and the dishes tasted different.  I should have been in less of a hurry, and more suspicious.  We have not been back since, needless to say.
  
  I might consider returning for wine and a show, but never again to eat.

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  Posted on 08.13.08 Ruth N.

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  What an intimate venue!  The Melting Point is the antithesis of the 40 Watt.
  
  I saw Bain Mattox' Shot From Guns with the Modern Skirts in the summer of 2007 and Preservation Hall Jazz Band in January 2008 and both were amazing shows.  I sat in the balcony both times and have no complaints about being able to see everything on stage.  The balcony even has its own bar and restrooms.
  
  Sure, tickets at MP usually cost $12-$35, but it's such a wonderful venue.  And the acts are probably the most diverse in Athens.
  
  I agree with Janet G. (below) that food quality (and service) is sadly lacking.  We ate supper before the Modern Skirts show in the adjacent Athens Steam Company Pub.  We waited 40 minutes for very mundane food.  There are way too many extraordinary places to eat in Athens for us to ever do that again.
  
  I'm also annoyed at the so-called convenience fee for advance tickets.  This is actually an unavoidable surcharge for a third party to bill advance tickets to your credit card.  I don't consider that a convenience; just call it what it is: a surcharge or uplift fee to a third party.
  
  I'll continue to monitor the MP website for upcoming shows and will continue to sit in the front row of the balcony.

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  Posted on 01.20.08 Neil N.

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  The $1.1 million Melting Point opened two or three years ago in Athens to provide us locals with a fancier sort of joint to see music, a place where, perhaps, people wouldn't be chit-chatting throughout the entire show.  A place where you could sit down anywhere in the house and see the person on stage pretty clearly.
  
  At last night's Yo La Tengo show, my friend and I discovered that MP's claim that there's no bad seat in the house isn't entirely true:  we found a few spots where you couldn't see the performers, and that was before the late-comers crowded our view and got all tudey when we asked them to move.  Did the MP oversell their tickets?  Good for them for making money, bad of them for taking away from the quality of the show for everyone who got there early enough for a seat.  We were crowded and had our view blocked by chatty Cathys who showed up late.  
  
  But that's a concert-specific problem.
  
  Lots of my friends and acquaintances are fond of bitching about the expensive prices of this venue.  But let's face a few facts:
  1. The sound system is really quite nice--music sounds beautiful and layered, and sound checks are done before the show, so you don't have to endure many minutes of tuning as you wait for the band to start.
  2. The place cost over a million dollars.
  3. The venue, excepting the monstrosity that is the huge sign above the stage smearing the name MELTING POINT above the curtain, is fairly pretty and well-designed.
  4. You get waitress/waiter service--no interrupting the show for you to wait in line for a beer.  They come to you!
  5. The MP is bringing in acts that might have heretofore ignored Athens.
  
  We Athenians have gotten pretty slothlike when it comes to our shows.  We're used to paying no more than $5 for a show, yet big fans of certain bands will use 1/2 tank of gas plus concert ticket money and the Ticketmaster payout to see an overpriced show in Atlanta.  And we still balk at the $20 ticket fee at Melting Point.
  
  The food is blase.  Boring selection, mediocre taste.  For all the bucks they poured into the place and for its association with the fancypants Foundry Park Inn & Day Spa, you'd think they might up the ante a little and get some chefs up in there who can make French fries that don't taste like ones from my middle school cafeteria (no, I'm not kidding--the association was so strong that I couldn't finish them).  
  
  I give you four stars.  Get Suzanne Vega booked and add more zest to the menu and we'll negotiate the fifth.

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  Posted on 01.15.08 Janet G.

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