My first visiting a Korean BBQ & Hot Pot, I got a chance to stop by the Volcano Hot Pot and it was a very pleasant experience. Although no one was at the front when I first arrived, the owner quickly came out, seated me, and checked in throughout my meal to make sure everything was going well. His hospitality set a great tone for the visit. My server, Romeo, was outstanding--friendly, knowledgeable, and genuinely helpful. He took the time to explain how hot pot works, helped set up my table, and offered excellent broth and food recommendations. The broth temperature was perfect, and everything cooked just right. The restaurant itself felt a bit dated, but the atmosphere was warm and welcoming. Even though it was quiet and I was dining alone, the attentive service and conversation made the experience enjoyable. While the location is somewhat hidden in a storefront area, this spot has strong potential and could be a big hit in a college town like Tallahassee with FSU, TCC, and FAMU nearby. Overall, it was well worth the visit, and I would definitely recommend Volcano Hot Pot. read more

Lao Jia Hot Pot - Korean Hot Pot - Barbeque Near Me - Tallahassee, Florida

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AMAZING HOT POT. I wish they had it in LA, friends and I were on a roadtrip and found this gem. Around $30 (from what I remember) for all you can eat hot pot. SO MANY DELICIOUS OPTIONS. Super clean and fresh ingredients. Staff was super sweet and my friends and I have been wanting to go back since. read more

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The food was fresh, options were incredible, and the service was excellent. I would definitely go back!! The ambiance was very nice! read more

Delicious hot pot. Friendly and helpful staffs. They have variety kind of food and they also have cook food. read more

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This was an extremely disappointing experience. First I should have checked the price before going because $36 per person is steep for lunch. Secondly the selection while large was all disappointing with mostly fish and all of it was cheap and low quality. I don't recommend read more

Yum I loved so good lots of selection will be returning although I do wish beef was thicker

Amazing mix the garlic soy sure and scallions and it tastes amazing to dip the meat in to marinade

This marks the third hot pot restaurant I've gone to in my life. Well, really the fourth, but the first two are from the same chain. That said, the first chain was amazing. The next chain was disappointing. Given my companion complaining about the last time he went to this place, I wasn't expecting much. I am happy to say though that I was proven wrong and this was better than expected. My companion feeling very much the same as me. Anyhow, it was three of us on the coldest night of the year. We were in the 20s in Tallahassee and I was questioning my life choices to move to such a frigid city. Okay, I am exaggerating here, but I detest the cold more and more the older I get. We waited quite a bit, but fortunately for us, they have chairs for guests, so at the very least we were comfortable. I believe the wait was between a half hour to an hour, which definitely isn't the norm around these parts. Clearly everyone and their mother had the same idea we did. Anyway, when we finally sat at our table, we had the option of hot pot or hot pot and Korean BBQ. We went all out on the hot pot. We all got the same base, which was the Tom Yum. As far as drinks, boba tea and beer was had. Can't comment on the beer, but I was in love with my boba tea. As far as the hot pot goes, it impressed me given what my companion had told me. We were there stuffing our faces close to two hours. It really was a worthwhile meal. I think admittedly this may be the only perk to cold weather - being able to justify going to an all-you-eat restaurant. read more

Lao Jia Hot Pot - Some of the goodies. - Barbeque Near Me - Tallahassee, Florida

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This was our first time visiting Tallahassee - Fortunately we were there to escape Hurricane Milton that was headed for us. It's the first time since 1975 that I left my home before a hurricane. So here we were, David , Freckles and myself in this beautiful city, after driving 9 hours from Cape Coral. So we decided to try a few restaurants and the Volcano Hot Pot caught our eye. We had tried a Hot Pot in Lake Worth but not the barbecue. Our server was lovely. She introduced us to the whole Hot Pot and Barbecue and showed us what to do. I got the Pork Bone Soup and David got the Herbal Soup. Then she got the barbecue ready by putting a layer of butter on the sheet where you grilled the food. There was everything you can imagine-lots of veggies, seafood, meats, poultry, and noodles. Also, some premade things like fish balls, dumplings and lots of sauces to add for flavor. Of course a desert bar too. So we tried just about everything! Cooking in the soup and then grilling too. We both enjoyed the barbecue a little more than the soup! It was a lot of fun experimenting and trying to cook everything lol! It took our minds off the storm and our thoughts and prayers were at home with our friends and family. We highly recommend this restaurant and It's caring staff. read more

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Fresh meats and seafood Great selection of fresh veggies and seasonings/sauces Most of all - FUN meal with friends! read more

I never thought I would see the day that Tallahassee would get a hot pot restaurant - AND that it would actually be GOOD. My parents promised they would treat me to hot pot the next time I visited and I was pretty excited to try the revolving hot pot and Korean BBQ restaurant they kept raving about. We decided to do hot pot only instead of trying to do both hot pot & Korean bbq. I ordered the spicy broth, which is my usual order at hot pot restaurants. It wasn't super spicy and got less spicy as they refilled my broth. The revolving conveyor belt was broken - but honestly, I prefer to grab all the food I want at once. I enjoyed the variety of meats, veggies and hot pot toppings available. Definitely recommend Volcano Hot Pot if you're craving the closest thing to authentic hot pot in Tallahassee! I will definitely need to try the KBBQ next time (although I have super high standards for it living in Atlanta...)! read more

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Visiting Tallahassee, much enjoyed this buffet-style restaurant with traditional Chinese hot-pot. They bring you a bowl of soup broth, which boils at your table, while pick up the meats and vegetables from the buffet and dip them in your soup bowl to cook. The buffet has a huge variety of foods to sample and boil for your dinner: including thinly sliced meats, preparations of tofu, noodles and dumplings, fish chunks, vegetables, exotic mushrooms and seaweeds. And a large assortment of marine invertebrates. There are seven different soup broths -- from simple miso-styles to Thai lemongrass styles. And a variety of dipping seasonings. We had a blast, trying different foods and flavors. This restaurant also has Korean cuisine: kimchi, dang myeon starch noodles, tteok rice logs for your soup, miyeok seaweed, seasoned meat slices. They have grills for doing Korean Galbi in-table grilled cuisine also. Note the name has changed: it is Lao Jia Hot Pot. Same place, same phone number, new name. Note also: I think you can't get traditionally-served prepared dishes. This restaurant has Hot Pot or Galbi, you get your ingredients from the buffet and cook your food at your table. read more

Me and my girlfriend came and were met with a busy inside of the place, there were rows on rows of the proteins and more, and it looked mouth watering. We picked our broth and then got the fix ins, it's all you can eat and I also added the kbbq option. They also have an incredible array of sauces, which are very important to me haha, our favorite thing was definitely the beef short ribs, which we had with noodles in the garlic and chili sauce. A close second and third were the sausage and garlic butter shrimp! Quite flavorful. They let us stay past closing to finish our meal, we would come back! read more

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So this was actually a really cool experience. I still for the life of me don't know why it's always so expensive to cook your own food but alas here we are and at least this place is all you can eat. There are tons of options of food options of oysters and bacon-wrapped asparagus to Ramen and rice noodles and a great assortment of veggies, sauces and spices. The meat for the BBQ was also already quite tasty. Matthew was our server and he was amazing! You could tell he enjoyed his job and really wanted the customers to have an outstanding experience. The ambience was pretty regular, degular. I will say the floor seemed very slippery ... random. All in all I would probably return for a date night. My meal with a mango tea plus the added gratuity for parties of 6 or more came to $47. read more

Lao Jia Hot Pot - Barbeque Near Me - Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee now has an all-you-can-eat place where you cook your own food, who doesn't like that!! You get a lot of different meats, seafood, and veggies to grill or put in a hot pot. It's great if you want to try different combination of flavors and have a great filling meal! We love the Tom Yum broth and being able to make our own sauce. My favorites like sliced beef brisket, marinated pork belly, and the spicy chicken, and a variety of seafood options. Restaurant is always full, very clean and staff is super attentive and friendly every time we go there. Be mindful that the experience takes about 1 1/2 hours so depending on days of the week, the place has a long wait. Go early and beat the weekend crowd! read more

I don't find joy in negative reviews but I feel compelled to share my experience and maybe it'll help others decide... What I can say for sure is that my experience at Volcano was subpar. While I commend their variety and selection of hot pot and bbq options, the quality is absolutely questionable. Believe it or not, I was most disappointed they didn't even have a quality kimchi I know that might sound ridiculous but I love Korean food and you can tell a lot about a good Korean restaurant based on their kimchi. At volcano, it was the saddest looking, tasteless excuse I've ever had in my life. I also think you can tell the quality of the meat based on its color change as it cooks in the hot pot. Our meats cooked to almost colorless (beef, lamb and fish) which really speaks to the lack of nutrition in their selection. Lastly, I don't even want to know how long most of the items have been sitting out on the buffet. My husband and I have been burping up our experience for hours since (sorry for the TMI) but it wasn't worth the price and certainly not worth the indigestion. This is NOT real or authentic Korean food. So if you're looking for a real Korean hot pot experience, this isn't it. (Sorry). read more

First time trying hot pot and it was a success! I loved everything about it. The only thing that scared me is that not everything looked fresh. I was scared to eat the crab since it's just sitting out on ice and not in a freezer where some other stuff was. They have so many options to cook it's a little overwhelming lol. Regardless, it's a fun place to come to with friends or dates. They also have a dessert bar. I didn't get to try it but they had a lot of fruit. read more

Lao Jia Hot Pot - Make your own sauce - Barbeque Near Me - Tallahassee, Florida

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I promise you I had never heard of this place before I visited my friends in Albany Georgia. We had a couple of birthdays to celebrate so they decided to drive down to Tallahassee to visit this restaurant. Yes I said drive from Albany to Tallahassee. It did not disappoint. We had a party at 12 and we had called and made reservations. We were a bit late but we called them and they were kind enough to hold our tables. We had a wonderful server unfortunately I do not remember her name. She was very patient and knowledgeable with us because we had never had Hot pot before. She explained how it works and what we were supposed to do. The soup you choose a base I chose tomato and lime. You then go to the buffet if you will of raw foods and pick what you want to put in your soup and also what you want to cook on the grill. Now I'm not really familiar with most of the raw food that Koreans put into their hot pot so I kind of did not try that. However I did go for the brisket, bok choy, onions, garlic, cilantro, garlic oil and such. After I had my experience with the soup, I then focused on the Korean barbecue. Oh my God! The beef short ribs, the steak, the shrimp, garlic, onions and cilantro had a choke hold on me for the rest of the night. I really do believe we tried to eat all the beef short ribs that we could. The seasonings you will not forget, everything just blooms in your mouth. I didn't eat anything that was bad whatsoever. And the joy was just trying things that you might never try in your life. It was very delicious. I recommend doing reservations instead of just dropping in because it does get crowded pretty quickly after 4:00 p.m. we got there at a good time frame otherwise we would have been waiting and it's not the type of place where you just hurry up and eat and go. You can be sitting there for hours eating. The hot pot and the bark Korean BBQ together was about $32 a person which is a good price excellent price you can't beat it. read more

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Food and service was good Went at a busy time, but the lines were not replenished quickly Otherwise would highly recommend read more

VHP is rather recent franchise opening their first restaurant in Kissimmee, Florida in 2019. Today they have locations in Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania. Today I had the pleasure of visiting the Tallahassee location on Thomasville Road. Located in a spacious strip mall, VHP doesn't offer any outdoor seating. On this Friday evening, they were filled to capacity and by 7pm had many patrons waiting for a table. We had the foresight to make a reservation early and got to sit in their one and only sectioned off VIP room. The rest of the main dining area is simply a large open room with many "special" tables scattered throughout. What is hot pot? Hot pot also known as steamboat, is a dish whereby a heat source placed on the dining table keeps a pot of soup stock simmering, and a variety of Chinese foodstuffs and ingredients are cooked in the soup stock by the diner. These "special" tables have special "holes" in them where a small pot of soup broth is inserted. Beneath the pot are burners that can be controlled with buttons at the side of the table. You can control the heat strength from on/off, 1, 2, 3, 4, to max 5. I need to interject here that VHP also offers BBQ or more specifically "Korean BBQ" dining which, similar to hot pot, food is cooked by the diner at your table. Thus, in addition to holes for the hot pot soup, there are also rectangular grills built into the tables. These grills have suction vents above them to keep the delicious cooked smoke to a minimum. So when dining at VHP, you can choose how you want to "cook" your meals. You can either cook using the hot pot soup or the grill or both! Yom Yom Yom. Grill cooking won't require much thought, but before you embark on your hot pot journey, you have to decide what soup base you will be using to begin your culinary journey. You have 7 soup bases to choose from: original, herbal, spicy, pork bone, tomato, miso or tom yum. Do I have your attention now? Yom Yom Yom. Oh I forgot you may create your own sauces or gravy with a large selection of condiment and sauces available in the sauce section. Our large party took 2 tables and we all chose a variety of soup bases. Tammy tried the tom yum and I opted for the pork bone. The next step is going to the buffet bar and choosing your ingredients. The choices are plentiful so here's a pro tip. Fast before you arrive! My only complaint here is that their dessert options are a little lacking with watermelon, carrot cake, cookies and ice cream. Their proteins include a variety of meats with my favorite being the thin sliced pork belly. The seafood options include shrimp, mussels, clams, squid, fish, a variety of fish balls, and others that I can't recall. I was disappointed with the frozen crawfish which is in stark contrast to the fresh shrimp and blue crabs. Everything was on ice and as fresh as they would be in a seafood market. Not to be left out, there's also a good selection of vegetables such as watercress, brocolli, corn, cabbage, bok choy, etc. Don't forget your starches with packets of dry ramen, sweet potato noodles, vermicelli, etc. They have a good drink menu which included a short wine list, beer, and boba teas. Our server, Amy, was outstanding. She was attentive and kept our tables cleared during our meal and replenishing our soups. Interestingly, there was an informational card at our table which read something to the effect, don't waste and eat everything you take, and that there is a 2 hour limit. That seemed very reasonable to me since we were so stuffed after 2 hours. As eating at VHP can be an expensive endeavor, dining there would most likely be on special occasions. With everyone cooking their own meals by boiling and grilling, we all left with those smells fused into our clothes... a nice reminder of the satisfying meal we just enjoyed! read more

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This is indeed a unique experience for the area! I loved it. Now, I won't lie. I did not know what I was doing, so I filled my hot pot with muscles, veggies, and crawfish, and my sister sat by and let me botch my first experience. E M B A R A S S I N G! Once I learned, it was a fantastic experience. The raw meats and seafood are my favorites with the pork broth. The popping boba beads are firm, which I can't find here. This will be the norm. read more

Lao Jia Hot Pot - Oysters - Barbeque Near Me - Tallahassee, Florida

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Awesome food and service everything was spectacular wish they have one near me. I'd be there every day.

Came in town to drop off my son to his dorm @ FSU. Dine in on a Friday evening around 6:30pm. 5 stars overall experience rating. Broth is good - service is great !!! And food selection is FRESH. We will definitely be back if we're in the area. Video in review. read more

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Such a fun family place!! Takes about 2 hours from start to finish so don't go in a rush! It's a fun place to sit and chat. Lots of options on the food bar and everything was well seasoned. We will be back. read more

Fancy cooking your own food and putting anything to want into a pot of broth of your choice? Or do you also want to grill your own food at the table. After doing all that, someone else cleans up after you! All for $30 per person....all you care to eat. If this speaks to you, you'll want to check this place out. I've been here several times. I noticed a change in the food quality recently to the better. Although, it got pricier... just like everything and everywhere else. Perhaps a suggestion to the owner... Nine Spices Fondue in Gainesville offers a slightly different twist. Instead of just all you can eat, they offer a meat choice plus standard for everyone fishball, vege, broth, and noodles for a lower price. This will speak to me for the days that I don't feel like breaking the bank or put on five pounds. I would definitely come more often if I can eat less and pay less per visit. read more

Lao Jia Hot Pot - Barbeque Near Me - Tallahassee, Florida

Easily my favorite restaurant in Tallahassee. I'm not a buffet style kind of person but I would eat here every week if I could. All of the food and ingredients are fresh and I love that you could enjoy yourself whether you're a vegetarian or a carnivore. The options are endless, the environment is extremely clean and the staff is very friendly and hospitable. During my first visit I got the miso soup base but the second time I got the herbal soup base and it elevated my experience all over again. Adding on the bbq grill is also worth it. During our first visit we got a complimentary grill and our minds were blown by how good the grilled meats were. You also have to try their butterfly pea tea with rainbow jelly. I've tried mango and pineapple and they're equally delicious! You won't be disappointed! read more

Lao Jia Hot Pot - Seafood and veggies - Barbeque Near Me - Tallahassee, Florida

When I searched up restaurants in TLH and Volcano came up, I knew I had to go. Living in Central Florida, we are blessed to have the first Volcano in Kissimmee. They have been shut down for a while since covid started, but I sure do miss it. I'm glad this Volcano had its grand opening fairly recently. The layout is very similar to the first location - a magnetic conveyor belt brings the vegetables, noodles, and tofu around. Meats and seafood are served in a cold bar. The restaurant set up strict protocols for covid - gloves at every buffet station and hand sanitizer is mandated upon entering. Definitely highly recommended! read more

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Awesome experience! The wait staff was super attentive, patient, and considerate. The food was quite varied and I had no complaints about the quality. Tom Yum for the win! read more

Decent. Had better. The meats just aren't good. Kimchi was fantastic . Would probably not come back. Friendly service.

Okay so coming from Orlando the land of endless hot pot and Korean bbq I was really not impressed. To start there were maybe three tables at 6 pm on a Tuesday night with 1 server helping out. We were seated and it took a while for him to get to our table. After choosing our broth it again took maybe 5 minutes for him to bring it which seemed like a long time after watching all of the sides go by you. So minus 1 star for service. He was super nice but really under staffed! Next was the food. All of the veggies and some sides were covered with plastic wrap on the conveyer belt which was a plus in my book. Everything on the belt seemed pretty fresh. Now for the meats you got three options from a freezer box. Chicken, thinly sliced and shredded beef and I think it was lamb. To be honest the quality really wasn't that good. Tasted like it had been frozen and sitting there for a while. Not the best I've ever had but not the worst. There was also a variety of buffet style seafood and other options. So overall I would think that this place is good if I've never had hot pot before! Would I come back? Probably not but I would recommend it for first timers. read more

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I shouldn't have tried this. It's a cook-your-own place, which means you either have to know what tastes good or not care. I care, yet don't have the foggiest what goes with what in a Mongolian hot pot. I got the Spicy; wife got the Tom Yum. Hers was better. Not that either were terrible at all. They were good. And all the crap that looked good to me on the smorgasbord tables was good, individually. But together? Hm. My mish-mash tasted like mish-mash. Shoot. And it was expensive, to boot. If I'm going to pay that kind of money for dinner, it better be pretty dang delicious. I'll stick to Mongolian places where they cook the food using their own recipe. This one's a no for me. read more

I was excited the try this place and I had high expectations. Don't be me. We got there and it was packed. This terrible bday song was blaring for over a minute, so my boyfriend and I just laughed and hoped it'd get better. We got to our table, which was fine. Our waiter was nice and gave us good service for the most part. The buffet was an assortment of seafood on ice and meat in a freezer. There were veggies and others too. We got the original soup, which has no flavor and only tastes like salty water. We tried just about everything (a lot is not pictured) and ended up leaving pretty hungry. I tried an oyster and regretted all of my life choices. The only problem is that it was $30/person, meaning we spent over $60 with tax and tip. We left unsatisfied and hungry, but think the story itself is pretty funny. Oh and no food poisoning! Overall, not worth the price. read more

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This is my now new favorite restaurant on earth haha. There was a wide selection of seafood. And not just that but also vegetables and sauces. I couldn't believe how great it was. Everything looked sanitary. Also, the buy one get one sake is also a really great deal. They have this deal all day long. Be on the lookout for their happy hour specials as well. I really love it here and for three dollars more, you can also get the BBQ meats. I had the herbal broth and it was amazingly delicious just on its own in my opinion read more

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od: The stocks were delicious and the soup add in where plentiful. Bad: The drinks were limited and i asked for a Chardonnay. The waiter told me there was none left and he would look in the back for more and never did. The desserts had flies flying all over. For the price we paid for three service and selection should be better. read more

Lao Jia Hot Pot - Three different hot pots. - Barbeque Near Me - Tallahassee, Florida

AYCE spots will always have my heart. The produce is fresh and the meat is always good. I like that you can make your own sauce and select the meats you want / how much you want compared to other kbbq places where they bring out the platter for you. Your experience is usually dependent on how attentive your server is to adjust the heat of the soups & grill as well as replacing the grills as needed. The desert options are limited but I'm not here for that anyways. I love the noodles and recommend getting the bbq unless you enjoy boiled meats. The place is usually busier on weekends but always worth it in my opinion, I wish there were more places like this in tally but volcano is doing great. Only downside is that you'll absolutely reek of oil after leaving so don't make plans other than a fat nap at home after dining here. read more

Happy Chinese New Year! I decided to go here last night to celebrate, after reading the reviews, and am so glad I did. It was a little bit of a wait, but well worth the feast that awaited us! The quality and quantity of food was amazing. I am still overwhelmed. They were packed, but the servers remained calm, professional and courteous. Hot Pot is a traditional Chinese New Year specialty, and to find this in Tallahassee was a treat. After the waiter brought our "hot pots", we went to make our selection from what seemed like an endless buffet groaning with meats, seafoods, vegetables, etc. etc. I loaded up on shrimp, squid, octopus, fish balls, pork belly, mushrooms, tofu, noodles, desserts, etc. etc. It was truly an appropriate feast to begin the Year of the Rabbit! I am so happy that we finally have this special restaurant in Tallahassee. read more

Great place. Good prices. Awesome choice. They do hot pot and barbecue. The only drawback is the grills on the table are very small so if there are more than two people it gets a little crowded on the grill read more

Yummy!!! Highly recommend!!!! Definitely a fun eating experience!!! Clean, lively and they have fresh meats,vegetables, proteins and more!!!

Our Favorite Place in Town. As much as we shouldn't we are biweekly customers lol. The food is very good and it never disappoints. I recommend to everyone, unless you're vegetarian :( lots of options and many different soup bases. read more

Lao Jia Hot Pot - Barbeque Near Me - Tallahassee, Florida

FINALLY!! We've been waiting for Volcano yo open but didn't realize it until yesterday!! We've eaten at several hot pot places when we lived in Hawaii so we've been so anxious to enjoy it again. Volcano delivered!! It's clean, the hotspots are individual & they offer Korean BBQ at each table as well (it costs $3 more to add on but it's all you can eat so it could be worth it for you if you're that hungry). A magnetic conveyor belt allows each table to choose an array of vegetables & noodles to add to each soup. An array of meats, poultry & seafood are along the back wall with a variety of sauces for cooking & adding to soups. I choose the Tom Yum broth, my husband picked the herbal, my daughter the pork bone & my grandson the miso. Each was perfect! Our server (forgot to get her name) was very attentive. We will definitely return! read more

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