DragonFire Steakhouse

They closed in December, 2013. Even the sign is gone.

I bought a Groupon for Dragon Fire for a pretty decent price. Against my better judgment I decided to try it out, despite most of the bad/​so-​so reviews I read online. The location isn’t ideal or really intimate to dine in, considering that it is in the mall and not sectioned off (my view was of a women’s clothing store and a movie theater).
Many items from the bar menu were also sold out at the time, the Robata grill was broken, and they only had one option for dessert. The worst part of the restaurant was the food unfortunately, which seemed to all be finished in butter. Going to a place that serves hibachi, I expected dishes with bold Asian flavors and spices, not an overpowering rich butter aftertaste. The food was rich (not in a good way), and hard to stomach much of in one sitting. Our server was friendly and upbeat and the dishes were presented well. But the restaurant overall gave off a uncomfortable vibe, I probably won’t be back.

My wife and I made 8pm reservations at this restaurant. When we arrived there was no one at the host station after several minutes someone finally came up and told us our table was not ready. After 10 minutes we approached the host again and asked when our table would be ready. Again we were told it was almost ready, we then had to ask to sit at the bar. While we were at the bar the host would come by every 10 – 15 minutes and tell us it was almost ready. Finally at 9:15 we were seated at the hibachi.
Our waitress said that she would get us waters upon return she was carrying all 6 glasses at once including one which she carried in her arm pit. We moved passed that and order sushi which was ok at best. Next the waitress came back with unwrapped straws, holding them in her hand and personally placed in our water by the drinking tip. A second waiter had already attended to half the table, bringing them plates and silverware wrapped in cloth napkins, our waitress brought us individual forks, again unwrapped and held in her hand. A buss boy brought plates to our half of the table, several of which were crusted with food and debris. When one of the patrons at our table asked him for a new plate because her’s was dirty, he responded «this is all we have… sorry». My wife addressed this issue with our waitress, who apologized and directed the buss boy to remove the soiled plates and bring clean ones out to us. When he returned with clean plates they were wet, so he obviously just rinsed off the same plates.
Our miso soup and ginger salad was brought out to the table, which could best be described as inedible. The soup was luke warm and tasted like fishy water and the salad was so bitter no one at the table ate more than one bite. The other couples at the table were all voicing the same opinion but we decided, because we had the Groupon to move past this first course in hopes that the meal itself would be redeeming. It was now 9:40 and there was still no hibachi chef at our table, the waitress was apologetic however did not know when a chef would be out to start our meal. There were only two hibachi chefs in the restaurant, both of which look to be Caucasian young men in their twenties, which, not to sound stereotypical, is not what you expect at a restaurant claiming to have «authentic» Japanese cuisine.
Several of the women seated at our table had begun chatting about the experience thus far. One had commented that when she had ordered a vodka drink at the bar, she was told by the bartender that they were «out of vodka». She asked the bartender if the restaurant was closing or something and he responded, «let’s just say, I’m looking for a new job.» We were left wondering if we were going to be served old food that they were trying to get rid of, judging by the fact that ¾ of the tables were empty, clearly business was down.
The worst part had to be when the bus boy came to take our soup and salad bowls. He picked up a woman’s fork and used his fingers to remove a piece of lettuce on the fork and then returned it to her for use during dinner! At this point my wife and I decided to leave and go to a different restaurant, most of the other patrons at our table also left at that time.
Not only will I never return to this restaurant but I will be contacting the health department to get it shut down. I am also contacting the Galleria, who should be embarrassed, to have this in their mall. As well as Groupon who needs to stop promoting this establishment.
I have the «owners» info if anyone needs it.

This was our second trip to dragonfire… wow. I am completely disappointed. The Robotu grill chef is the worst. I ordered lamb the 1^st time and she undercooked it 3 times.
This time I ordered steak because I like steak a little rare. It came out RAW! This place is horrid and we will never be back.

Went there as we had a Groupon. We won’t be back. The place was deserted except for one other table of two. Our server came over promptly, but didn’t like that he also brought over with him the used dishes from another table too. Drinks came, soup and salad were close behind… and even before we could finish our salad and soup came our entrees. Kinda felt we were rushed. Our dish was supposed to have shrimp and scallops, but we both swear there was one scallop that was cut up and 2 shrimp — all cut into pieces. That’s it for $ 25!!! Oh, some noodles and some veges and some good spicy sauce. But for $ 25? If I didn’t have a Groupon I’d be really REALLY disappointed. Very over priced. We won’t be back. But from the other reviews on urbanspoon etc. and news that staff aren’t paid… seems as if the business won’t be there for long.

We called to make reservations after purchasing a Groupon and had to leave a message because they don’t open until 4pm. That I didn’t mind because there was a nice guy who called back within a couple of hours and confirmed my reservations.
We ended up being about a half hour late due to traffic. I called to push our reservation back and the guy really wasn’t happy I wanted to move the reservation. He didn’t tell me I couldn’t move it, but was very cautious in his wording.
When we arrived, the place was dead. There were only 3 other tables full for Hibachi. The family we sat with was lovely. They waited 45 minutes to sit down. Mind you there were only 2 hibachi tables full.
We waited for almost 10 minutes for water and iced tea. The waitress immediately started off telling us we couldn’t order Robata (charcoal grilled style) because the grill was broken, and said that they were out of Vodkas and all wine. This is not a great start to the meal.
There were 2 cooks on duty. Our chef was great. He really entertained us and paid attention to incorporate the 2 kids.
The one thing I did like that the other places like this don’t do is that when you are offered a squirt of Sake, they offer the kids a squirt bottle of lemonade. I love that the kids weren’t forgotten.
If it wasn’t for a Groupon, we wouldn’t have selected it. I doubt we will be back.

Really good food and service. Surprised by some complaints I read on here!
My boyfriend had been here before and recommended it for dinner. I was a little surprised when I saw it was actually in a mall. The place was pretty empty when we arrived which was great because our food came out pretty quickly. We decided not to sit at the hibachi table, but they do have quite a few if you’re in the mood for that. Our server, Monique, was great. She was very friendly and took great care of us.
The food was excellent. I’ve had some amazing sushi in Philadelphia and this place really held its own. We sampled a little bit of everything. Onion soup, Miso soup (my favorite) and house salads with ginger dressing. I usually prefer the creamy ginger dressing, but this stuff was good!
For our entrees, we split two sushi rolls and a hibachi dinner with steak and scallops. The scallops were gigantic. Seriously, I thought it was a piece of chicken when the plate first came out! The platter included vegetables and fried rice which were both delicious. The rolls were decided on were the Spicy Double and the Black Dragon roll. I was very impressed by both, the taste and the presentation.
I would definitely go back!

Despite the fact the place was only a quarter full, we had the slowest service ever. Food was served and we hadn’t even received flatware yet! Refills were hard to come by. Food quality was ok and quantity seemed bigger than Saga, but quality and flavor didn’t make up for it. The meat and veggies were good, but hibachi fried rice was not that good for a place that specializes in hibachi!
Also, our waitress made unnecessary trips with long waits in between for leftover containers, bags, and checks. Not sure why there was such a lag time in between getting these items. At least our chef was funny.
Oh and they were not going to let my 2 year old share my meal without a sharing fee!

The worse hibachi experience ever. To start, the hostess was more interested in her personal phone call then recognizing us. It took her 3 minutes to finish her personal business. The chef was dull not like the other chefs this evening. The food was just okay. I do not think the taste would have made a difference on the chef. I would chose another place for hibachi. I can not rate this place on anything else but will not be returning. We were seated (only 2 of us) around 7:05 and were done, paid and in our car on the second level at 8:05.

I went here on a Thursday night with my husband & 2 year old son. We chose to just sit at a regular table, not a Hibachi table. Our waitress was friendly and offered to bring my son’s food out first (which was only noodles). That is very helpful when dealing with an impatient, easily bored, 2 year old. My husband orded sushi rolls… can’t remember what kind. They were okay, but nothing spectacular. I orded the seafood treasure with lobster, shrimp & scallops. It also comes with noodles & veggies. The scallops were excellent, but the shrimp & lobster were way overcooked… too tough to enjoy. Too pricey for what you get.
Restaurants in that exact location seem to have a very high turnover. Not sure why, since all the other restaurants in the Galleria have been there a very long time. I doubt this one will be any different.

Hubs and I recently joined a few friends for dinner at Dragonfire on a recent Friday night. Our party of 6 sat on the patio which was empty except for one other table. We knew the night was off to bad start when our server took 15 minutes to get our drinks and made three trips rather than waiting and asking everyone what they wanted. Hubs and I ordered
the edamame app. Standard. Not much to say. For dinner, I decided to try the Robata. It seemed a little different than typical japanese food. The server informed us that it was cooked at a very high temperature so the meat was very juicy. I ordered the zucchini, chicken, pork and fried rice. Everything on the Robata menu is a la cart and is individually priced. The price quickly adds up. A few minutes later our server came out and informed me that they were out of the pork. I decided to stick with just chicken and save room for dessert. After quite a long wait, our entrees were brought out individually. I had my dishes but two people at the table had to wait over 5 minutes for there meals. I also quickly realized that we had never received the silverware and napkins we had asked our server for when we first sat down. I guess it didn’t matter that I had to wait and stare at my food because half our party didnt even have food to stare at. Overall, the robata was very good. The chicken was juicy and I really enjoyed the sweet chili sauce. The zucchini was also tasty. After finishing our meals, we waited again to have our plates cleared. Our server was then going to present us with the check when I interrupted him and asked for dessert. I ordered the fried bananas with chocolate sauce. They came out fairly quickly but yet again I had nothing to eat it with. Our server was nowhere to be found. I ended up poking them with leftover chop sticks. They were rather slippery and would have been a challenge for even the most skilled chop stick user.
Overall, I would return to Dragonfire solely for the food. Although the service was subpar the food made up for what was lacking for an acceptable rating.

OK, I’m going to give 2 reviews right off the bat, BF and I went here for the first time on Friday, and we had a great experience so I talked my girls into going back on Saturday night, with it being lent there were some meat dishes I wanted to try and I fell in love with their pinot noir!
Friday…
We were quickly seated by a friendly hostess and greeted pretty quickly by a friendly waiter. I had the robata salmon and Japanese noodles (warning they’re Udon noodles even though Udon noodles are also an option on the menu?) The salmon and noodles were both delicious. BF’s shrimp hibachi was also very good. I also very much enjoyed their house pinot noir!
Saturday…
From the start I could tell our waitress was annoyed that she was sat with a party of 7. And her behavior shined through all throughout the night.
Our lettuce wrap app was good, but it sat for about 10 minutes while we waited for her to bring us silverware. My grilled angel food cake was so amazing, I can’t wait to try it at home.
OK, that was the good, the bad, the new style sashimi was supposed to be seared in white truffle oil, which as noted in my bio, I live for, sadly, very sadly I couldn’t detect the truffle oil AT ALL! –100 000 points from me. Also, we were given the more expensive pinot even though we did not specify and sadly all I really wanted was their house pinot because it was great!
The takeaway, I guess I would go back here with a small group but NEVER again with a large group. Be warned.

I was part of a 10 person party celebrating my friend’s birthday last Saturday. This was the first and last time I will ever go to DragonFire. Following our mediocre meal (that was over $ 50 per person) we were immediately asked to move over to the bar because they needed our table. When we arrived at the bar we were called «little bitches» by the bar tender (Tara) as she rudely told us we were in her way. Horrified that my friend on her birthday was verbally harassed by the bartender we complained to the manager on duty. He didn’t seem to care since she continued to work at the bar while gesturing to every co-​worker who would listen about how much of an inconvenience we were. She then swore at us again. If we were in her way, there were a hundred ways she could have asked us to move. Instead she decided to be completely inappropriate and got away with it. Needless to say this was completely offensive. I will take my money elsewhere (in my opinion there are so many better places to go in the Pittsburgh area, don’t waste your time with this place)!

After having been to DragonFire Twice now i can say with full confidence they have great foods. The Chefs at the table can be a little cheesy but it’s a very fun experience.
Personally I love their Sushi, and Hibachi! Very few places can you find California rolls with real crab and that makes it a winner in my book!
The meals can are defiantly on the pricey side but I have come to expect that with these types of restaurants.

I cannot comment on the food because I was refused entry to this restaurant. In one of the most bizarre customer service experiences of my life, the hostess asked me after I requested a dinner table for two at 8:30pm, «What do you want?». To which I confusedly replied, «I would like to eat dinner.» She then glanced at the hibachi chef who was sitting at a table texting behind me, and he shook his head no. She basically told us that we’d better not request hibachi. We then left, having been denied the ability to eat and give this restaurant our money. I am honestly still aghast at this place, utterly flabbergasted. I give this place 6 months.

I have been to a few Hibachi steakhouses in my day, and by the looks of it, this one seemed like it was going to be the most luxurious and delicious out of all of the ones that I have tried. Not so. It was good, but it was not as good as I thought it would have been.
I got an Ahi Tuna appetizer which was very delicious. I do not know how much you are supposed to get for the price of $ 11 dollars, but I was happy with it, though I think they slice it so extremely thin to give off the illusion that you have a lot on your plate.
My food was pretty good to. Noting extraordinary. I did like the calamari very much, but I feel that for a main portion of food, this place has their measurements off. Whoever was last to get their helping of steak, calamari, or chicken was absolutely receiving the short end of the stick. The chefs might need to work on making sure that all the plate receive the same amount in the future.

Fire in your face, good food in your mouth — what could be better than that!!! Went here recently and had the hibachi (chicken and scallops). Portions are generous and service was decent.
If you are in the mood for hibachi then this will definitely satisfy your craving. A few things that made me subtract a star — the scallops were slightly overcooked. I never thought I’d say that b/​c usually I like my seafood on the well done side, but scallops are best when not overcooked.
Also, there was a «check-​in» offer through Unilocal where you get a free edamame appetizer… which is awesome, but our waitress seemed real confused about it. If an establishment is going to offer something like that then the staff should be informed — it was a slight annoyance.

I don’t know what’s happening in the Mt Lebanon area, but there must be a huge demand for hibachi restaurants, or there are so many unemployed hibachi chefs that the government stepped in and instituted a grant program to open more restaurants. Whatever the case, Dragonfire is one of four hibachi restaurants that opened in the last four months within 5 minutes of my house. With all that competition, and it’s location in the Galleria, I expected this restaurant to have something special or be really good, but frankly it’s pretty pedestrian when it comes to hibachi.
First off, I went there twice, and both times the services was at or below my expectations. For instance, my wife ordered sushi for her dinner, and when we inquired about it 10 minutes after the hibachi chef had finished the rest of our meals, instead of apologizing, the waitress got defensive and said she put the order in, which the sushi chef said he never got. Our cook was very good, and prepared the food well, but there wasn’t anything that made the food stand out from other hibachi restaurants. I felt like it was very good hibachi, but compared to all the other ones in Pittsburgh, it was just middle of the road.
One thing I really enjoyed was the robata grill. It’s a Japanese grill with these coals that go up to something ridiculous like 1500 degrees (they must have made a deal with the devil to get that hot?). The coals are smokeless and cook extremely fast, giving the food this awesome seared flavor that holds in the juices. We had scallops, and they were the best scallops I’ve ever had, but you got three for $ 16 dollars, so like cookies, this will be a sometimes food.
Two more thoughts. When we went there, the Galleria fire alarms were going off, and our waitress explained that this happens once or twice a day due to the steam from the restaurant (the fire company must love these guys). Also, we went within a two week span from our first visit, and noticed the prices had gone up. We thought we were imagining it, but we checked the website and it had the old prices. Tricky, tricky Mr Roboto!

Very disappointing. I can’t remark on what the food was like for the hibachi seating/​grill, but the a la carte menu left much to be desired. The pepper appetizer was downright repulsive. Everything else was so-​so. The sushi was decent. They were out of sauvignon blanc and served the wine in crappy wine glasses (major pet peeve!) Our waiter was horribly annoying as well. Blah all around.

Dragon Fire just open recently. Great looking with dark wood paneling, dark ceiling. Lots of options; Robata, Hibachi, and large Sushi bar. So many choices so little stomach… will have to come back to try some of the options.
Stopped in for lunch and had a really friendly server. She said there would be a patio in May. There are about 10 draft beers available. The Sushi bar was crowded.
Ordered the Robata Grilled Salmon salad which was on mizuna greens, with candied cashews, mandarins, red pepper, and sweet soy vinaigrette. The salmon was grilled perfectly and the salad was delicious and the vinaigrette was a good match.