Fire Pot — Restaurant in Fort Worth

I went here during their soft opening with my husband and I wasn't really expecting much because I knew they were just testing everything out. I'm just happy there's a kbbq and hot pot on this side of town so for all those people who are hating on this place, I think it's best to give them more critical feedback rather than hate. We want them to stay here, but just improve their service.

With that being said, yes, the wait staff and the hosts are very young and could use some more training.

As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by a nice young man and he explained the concept of the restaurant, which was nice. It's good for those who've never been to a kbbq/hot pot spot.

The place is massive! Bigger than what it looks like on the outside and it was clean. There were two sides. The side on the left had some arcade games and a bar/lounge area where people can wait. The right side was more restaurant and not as bright. Towards the front is the kitchen. There were cute little Bella cat robots roaming around, taking food to the respective tables.

I was excited because we were able to get seated immediately, but the manager then told the hosts that the section they sat us in was actually closed. So they asked us politely and apologetically to go to the waiting area. The hostess looked very nervous and unsure of herself. So I think she just needs to build up her confidence and she'll be great. I've worked as a hostess before at a Japanese restaurant in CA and we always knew prior to opening which areas are open for seating and which were closed. Another thing I noticed was that there were a lot of hosts. I don't think it was necessary because it just looked like a bunch of young kids asking each other what to do.

When we finally got seated, we were right next to the condiments/sushi/dessert bar. It was THE perfect spot. The one thing I found lacking was the usual sesame oil and salt that I would use to dip my brisket in. How do you not have that??? It's a staple in kbbq. They also didn't have brisket for kbbq. However, they did have brisket for the hot pot.

Our server looked like she was underage and she also seemed very timid and shy. She was, in fact, under 21 so when my husband ordered a beer, she had to have someone else serve it to us.

We only ordered kbbq, we didn't do hot pot that day. There was a small selection of meats for kbbq. It was just way too hot for hot pot, but there were items (frog legs, mushrooms, cabbage, etc.) on a refrigerated conveyor belt for hot pot that you can reach in and grab.

The meat for the kbbq came by trolley on a track above the conveyor belt. It stops right in front of your table and you can grab it. This is a pretty cool feature because it minimizes the number of carts going around and potentially bumping into each other. It's a good use of vertical space.

We ordered pretty much all the red meats. I loved the fact that it was fresh and not frozen meat. I've gone to a bunch of kbbq spots where the meat had icicles forming on them. Not this place. We ordered beef bulgogi, short rib, Hawaiian steak, beef steak. The Hawaiian steak was probably my favorite. Short rib was second, beef bulgogi and then beef steak. Beef steak would've been nice with some sesame oil and salt.

Overall, it was a decent first experience during a soft opening. I would go here again to try the hot pot and hope they have brisket...

EDIT : I came back on 8/20 and it was a total different experience! Terry is amazing!!! He explained the whole menu, helped cooked the food, and even explained what the food was when we asked. It was so much better. There was all the cutlery and tongs set on the table which already was amazing for us. We ended up not by a lil train but that cat robot was on point! We had everything come out fast. Now we did come for lunch, and I do like the dinner meats better but the service is now top notch.

The food looked a lot fresher, since we ordered the veggies and noodles it came out on the robot and they looked a lot better than what was on the conveyer belt. We had the miso soup and it was delicious. The kimchi was on the sweeter side. The rolls were decent I personally like sashimi but my daughter loved having AYCE Cali rolls.

I think they revised the drink menu, they only had wine and beer. I was a bit sad but glad they had sake. Everyone was friendly and it looked like all new staff. That was the best thing they could’ve done. Terry told us opening week was rough all around but we understood on soft opening it’s inevitable and that’s why we came back. He was very attentive to his whole section and we even had other staff offer refills, help bus the table, and just check on us in general. I can’t stress enough how much they have changed and in the best way. I will come back again for dinner one day. But it was worth the price.

Clean restrooms, nice seating area, great claw machine area. We had such a better experience and I hope anyone who had a bad time before will consider coming back and asking for Terry. Thank you HotPot for listening to concerns of many you are doing amazing!

OLD:I had a young lady as a server. There is lots of problems that need to be addressed, I am understanding it is a soft opening but I will revise my review once I go back at full open. There isn’t the full menu and no soju or wine barely one or 2 beers.

The server forgot about us or didn’t care. We still left a good tip with the thought of it being split.

There was no pre bussing we had so many plates stacked and it took forever for someone to pick them up. We weren’t explained how to eat or anything after we told the server it was our first time. We had to ask for bowls, spoons, tongs, scissors, everything. We looked around and others had great service it did feel it was because we were Hispanic. We were the only Hispanics in that area.

The food was never described we have no idea what we received and which was for the hotpot and the grill. They give small portions which I understand is to stop from over ordering, but the appetizers took forever or were forgotten by our server. The food was mediocre at best. The food on the belt was obviously old and I had to wait forever for even mushrooms and never got bok choy. While the train is cool it just doesn’t seem effective.

The servers really need to be trained on hospitality overall it wasn’t a good experience. Lack of attention and knowledge was very unappealing. There was no experience like at other hotpot places. Also the sauce bar is mislabeled so that made my sauce taste weird. There’s bugs to work out and I had high hopes for this place. I will try again when they fully open and have everything available and hopefully...

Like many others, we were genuinely excited for this restaurant’s opening. Sadly, the excitement didn’t survive the meal.

I grew up eating a lot of Chinese hot pot, shabu shabu, sushi, and Korean BBQ. I’m not a certified expert, but I know my way around a soup base and a grill. There’s a certain baseline you come to expect with these cuisines, and unfortunately, this place tripped over it. Here’s the breakdown: food, seating/logistics, and service.

Food:

Let’s start with the hot pot. The broth was… trying. The spicy version had the telltale layer of red oil floating on top, which alarmed some folks, but that’s actually authentic—flavor lives in the oil! Unfortunately, the broth itself wasn’t spicy, or all that flavorful. It felt like a sketch of hot pot rather than the real deal.

The ingredient selection was minimal and uninspired. I get that Fort Worth might not be the place for duck blood and tripe, but still—variety was seriously lacking. The one bright spot was the dipping sauce bar, which was surprisingly decent.

Korean BBQ? Also undercooked—figuratively, thankfully. There was no banchan, which is half the joy of Korean BBQ. Even a little self-serve station would’ve helped. Instead, it was just… meat. Oh, and about that meat: they ask you to cook it on parchment paper. Yes, parchment paper. It turned black instantly, like it was filming a dramatic scene. There was no sear, no char—just a weird pseudo-boil. I started wondering if the meat or the paper was cooking faster.

The AYCE sushi? Few Chinese buffet quality rolls, nothing to write home about.

Seating & Logistics:

If you’re a small party, you might be okay. But we were a party of six, and things got awkward fast. The tables are long booths split across two sections, with only one grill—located at one end. That meant only two of us could cook, while the rest just watched and wished.

On the opposite end, there’s a conveyor belt for the hot pot ingredients, but only two people could reach it. So we had one duo grilling, one duo fishing ingredients out of the water parade, and two stuck in the middle like confused extras. The whole setup felt like it was designed by someone who had only read about communal dining in theory.

Service:

Now, to be fair, this was during their soft opening. But still—our server was quiet to the point of miming, and didn’t explain much of anything. With this many moving parts (grills, pots, sushi, sauces, conveyor belts), there really needs to be a walkthrough.

We weren’t given grilling utensils or told how to turn the hot pot on. We only made it through because we’ve been to a lot of places like this before. It’s not a great sign when your guests need prior restaurant experience just to navigate dinner.

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Overall:

I’m giving 2 stars—one for effort, and one because it’s a soft opening and everyone deserves a warm-up round. The concept is ambitious and could really shine with better execution. But right now, it’s like trying to juggle five things with one hand tied behind your back—messy, confusing, and meh.

Oh, and kids two and under eat free, but you expect me to pay $35 for a three year old? They should consider tier pricing...