Longtime Fort Myers restaurant has reason to celebrate with franchise of the year award

A popular local restaurant known for hosting special occasions has a reason to celebrate itself.

Of the 94 Melting Pots in the U.S. and Canada, the Fort Myers location won the chain’s Franchise of the Year award.

“We do what we can to be the best,” said Chris Keys, a co-owner of this franchise. “It’s nice to get the recognition.”

“We found out during an awards ceremony when they handed out the award,” co-owner Ian Rupple said, referring to the corporate ceremony held Sept. 20 in Puerto Rico. “Our team did a great job. We are very proud.”

The award is based on several categories including sales growth, guest count growth, completion of training programs, how fast tables are turned, reviews and more.

“We knew we were doing really well overall,” Rupple said. “We donated a lot to the community during Hurricane Ian and to St. Jude. We knew we were in the conversation about the award.”

Melting Pot opened on McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers in 1988. Rupple began as a server in 2006 and Keys was a manager in 2007. They became owners in 2017 with three other partners.

Melting Pot provides an interactive dining experience where customers choose from several fondue cooking styles, unique entrees, salads and desserts.

Much more than fondue

Rupple said his team works hard to go beyond that.

“What we do best is create connections with people,” he said. “We’ve seen first dates, first babies, kids graduating college. We create personal connections with all of them. Yes, we have the technical ability to give a great experience — a clean restaurant, great food. Then we add that personal touch.”

Then there’s the restaurant’s community involvement.

“(Hurricane) Ian shut us down 10 or 12 days,” Rupple said. “We gave over 1,000 meals back to the community and $35,000 to the community, $30,000 to St. Jude. Our team executed at a high level during that time. Seven of our employees lost everything but showed up every day. With everything that happened, our staff still performed at such a high level.”

The Fort Myers location has around 40 salaried and hourly employees.

“Some have been here as long as eight years, five years,” Keys said. “Some have been here five months. Our restaurant has seen some growth over the last couple of years because of that high level of service we maintain.”

Keys said the Big Night Out is the most popular. It’s a four-course experience that includes a choice of cheese fondue, salad, entrée and chocolate fondue.

“People come for a great experience,” he said. “Big Night Out is the biggest and has the most options.”

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And while this is an ideal venue for celebrations and special occasions, it doesn’t always have to be.

“You can come in for just cheese and chocolate,” Rupple said. “You can celebrate wherever you’re at in your journey in life. Every celebration doesn’t need to be a lot of money. We understand that and will give you our personal touch no matter what.”

The first Melting Pot opened in Maitland, just outside of Orlando, in 1975. After a waiter from that one opened another in Tallahassee in 1979 and a third in Tampa in 1981, franchising began in 1985.

And with 93 in the U.S. and one in Canada, it’s our local location that’s the best.

“We have a very good team,” Rupple said. “It’s not Chris and I. We are like bumpers in bowling. We set boundaries, but they execute. Without our team, we would not be who we are.”

Melting Pot, 13251 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers; open 2-10 p.m. Monday to Friday and noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; (239) 932-7346; meltingpot.com

Robyn George is a food and dining writer for The Fort Myers News-Press. Send news to [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Melting Pot in Fort Myers is named the chain's franchise of the year