---
title: "Restaurant Business: Looking For Experiences, Consumers Flock to Polished Casual Restaurants"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/c3ce3e58-b4da-485c-9c91-def885eb81e3
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/meltingpot/restaurant-business-looking-for-experiences-consumers-flock-to-polished-casual-restaurants-2718625
category: "Restaurants"
industry: "Restaurants"
published: 2022-05-05T18:13:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T01:37:20.387Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/d1823877002d2bf0d4be7ca8b7f5c4416307.jpg
---

# Restaurant Business: Looking For Experiences, Consumers Flock to Polished Casual Restaurants

**TL;DR:** The Melting Pot has seen a 26% increase in profits since 2019 due to consumers' demand for get-togethers and its focus on weekday sales. The 96-unit chain is experiencing its most successful year to date.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2022-05-05. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/meltingpot/restaurant-business-looking-for-experiences-consumers-flock-to-polished-casual-restaurants-2718625).*

## Story

A recent Restaurant Business article discussed consumers' demand for get-togethers giving The Melting Pot their most successful year to date. The 96-unit chain has seen a 26% increase in profits since 2019.

"We provide an experience," said Bob Johnston , The Melting Pot’s CEO, “An opportunity to escape, and that's something restaurant-goers are interested in right now.”

Along with consumer demand, The Melting Pot also succeeds because of its focus on weekday sales, which brought total sales above pre-pandemic numbers. Communities have a need for get-togethers because of the lack of celebrations in 2020 and 2021. As restrictions are lifted and life gets back to normal, we can expect to see more people dining in, which will lead to continued success for The Melting Pot.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- Melting Pot (company)
- Bob Johnston (person)
- consumer demand (topic)
- post-pandemic recovery (topic)
- weekday sales (topic)
- polished casual restaurants (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/meltingpot/restaurant-business-looking-for-experiences-consumers-flock-to-polished-casual-restaurants-2718625). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/c3ce3e58-b4da-485c-9c91-def885eb81e3).