The Pine Club

Absolutely a lovely dining experience!
Great atmosphere and service. Quality food
Must have cash or check. No credit cards

I'm very let down by this place, which is so unfortunate because I was looking forward to trying this steakhouse for so long.

The ambiance here is fantastic. It is old, rustic and has a lot of charm. Very fantastic, love the atmosphere and I would come back for a drink alone just to sit at the bar and take in the setting.

But the food was very underwhelming. I had ordered a medium filet mignon and it came extremely undercooked. My medium steak was more medium rare to rare. My boyfriend also ordered the ribeye medium rare and it was rare. In hindsight I should have sent these steaks back to the kitchen to cook for longer but as a customer at a fancy restaurant I shouldn't have to do that. I expect better from a place where we are paying 150 for dinner.

Steaks came with some bread and a salad for starters and your choice of potatoes and some stewed tomatoes. The salt sticks in the bread basket were inedible because of how salty they were and the salad was mediocre at best (something I could make with a bag of lettuce at home). The stewed tomatoes were so so sweet, way too much sugar added to them.

This place claims to be one of the top steakhouses in the country which I find very hard to believe. You can definitely find better steakhouses in the area.

The Pine Club is still the same epic Dayton restaurant...

It's been over 3 years since we've been back... In usual fashion, the restaurant hasn't changed a bit and continues with its originality. It's not hard to see why they've been in business for over 75 years.

When you walk in, it's a throwback with original decor, dim lighting, and old school vibes. The menu is still the same with plenty of options, and excellent selections for US Prime steaks. The menu is not all-inclusive, so your meal comes with a steakhouse salad (get the house dressing), fresh baked bread, steak, potato (recommend the hash browns), and stewed tomatoes or vegetable of the day... The regulars know to put the stewed tomatoes on top of the hash browns. For one of Dayton's finer restaurants, pricing is very reasonable ($49 for the large filet mignon meal)... This would cost you $150+ at Ruth's Chris or Flemings, and The Pine Club is arguably as good, if not better. Be advised: No desserts.

As for the service... It's typically average at best, with not super friendly servers. There's seemingly a bit of arrogance with the service staff, which is annoying (and frankly not right), but when you've been in business for as long as The Pine Club, I suppose you can get away with average service. PS - There are no reservations and it's cash or check only (no credit cards), so prepare ahead of time.

Old and very dark. They still only take cash. Bizarre. Overhyped. For an old place, Oakwood Club is so much better.

Best steak ever! Beats Capital Grille and Morton's! Pine Club has prices that can't be beat!

By far the BEST experience I've had in the Dayton area! From the second you walk in the door, to the bartender pouring your amazing drink (Jess you're AMAZING!), Holly helping with picking what you should choose on the menu. Thank you all for an experience ever! We will be back!

We frequently eat at Pine Club and it is always fabulous! You can almost imagine old world gangsters sitting around the bar drinking martinis. My husband travels extensively and this is his favorite restaurant in the world! Our favorite waitresses are Theresa and Candy! Their steak, lobster tail and Caesar salads are superb!! They have a nice selection of wine, without the big markup you get at any steak house. They don't take reservations so everyone has to wait, usually at the bar, even George W Bush had to wait his turn ! They also don't accept credit cards, so bring cash or do yourself a favor and open a house account because you'll want to come back!!!

I came back here with my parents for a meal and was super disappointed. Our server was Holly, who was standoffish and ignored us very often. She also never had a smile on her face. Her service was so slow and she was quite rude.

Regarding the food, two things were still amazing: the fried oysters and the prime rib. They would be the only reasons I return. The other food? Not that great. The fries were okay, as were the crispy onions. Don't order the baked potato, because you'll get a small-medium sized potato with a knife slit in it. It isn't opened and there are no toppings. It's just a potato and a side cup of some sour cream. The green beans were their "vegetable of the day," but it was absolutely awful. Canned beans are better than their green beans. These were so bland and tasteless.

Overall, had pretty bad experience here this time, which made me sad.

Dayton Steak House... Truly fortunate to have several excellent steakhouses in the Greater Dayton Metropolitan area. In our view, Dayton Steakhouses compare with best in Kansas City, Chicago, Las Vegas, Houston, Omaha, Minneapolis, Fort Worth, Atlanta, Indianapolis, ....

Our view: Paragon Supper Club, Carvers, Pine Club, Oakwood Club, Flemings,...?

Individual experience, loyalty, quirks, ... all play a role in which is "best."
In terms of steaks, we recommend all; in terms of service we recommend all, in terms of ambience, some deserve a three of five. In all instances, we order Ribeye.

Pine Club
Steak Five Star
Service Five Star
Ambience Three Star
Credit Card One Star

We are aware that Pine Club often receives both state and national attention; however, in our view there are too many quirks to this restaurant. There are Four other very nice steakhouse choices in the Greater Dayton Metropolitan Area.

We have been Pine Club fans for nearly a half century. In our view other steakhouses are very competitive. We are discouraged by the Pine Club's credit card policy. For us there is No merit to hold a Pine Club charge account.

We like that the wait staff's training is consistent, and is monitored by management. The training program is excellent. Ribeye is large and we highly recommend. Pine Club often is very busy; restaurant is small and "outdated."

Pine Club is good for "date night." Many years ago, we dined at Pine Club monthly; now we vary steakhouse dining experiences.

The ambience is dark and somewhat dated; Parking is challenging.

The tariff is appropriate for the fare.

My eagerly awaited visit to the Pine Club fell short of 'good as it gets' - in summary:
Ambiance 5 star
Food 4 star
Service at Bar - 5 star
Service at Table - 2 star

Ambiance was just lovely, classy, old school but not kitschy, and uber romantic. All that wood, tiled floor, low lights, simple artwork and soft indirect lighting at the booths, combined to create a rare mood. One thing that was odd is the bar seats being round backless stools, which made me think of a roadside diner. I was expecting something a bit more plush. The bartenders in uniform were real pros, eager to please and the cocktail was well mixed and strong. They do not have any signature cocktails.

Our waitress was either inexperienced/badly trained, or pissed off, or having a lousy day, or something. She never greeted or welcomed us. She approached the table and the only thing she said was 'oh, you already have drinks' which we'd brought from the bar. I was intrigued to see hash browns as a potato choice and I asked her thoughts, telling her it was our first time. Her response was 'it's just, you know a hash brown patty; the baked potato is just a baked potato and the fries are FROZEN.' Yow! Talk about transparency. Her description of the famous stewed tomatoes was also very unappetizing so we both opted for day's vegetable which was Harvard beets, and those were the BEST beets I ever tasted. My husband agreed.

No one ever refilled my ice water (I limited to one cocktail since driving) even when I moved the nearing empty glass to the outside of the table. The final straw was being asked 'do we need boxes?' No, at a $$$ classic steakhouse WE need YOU to have our leftovers neatly wrapped and return them to us. She failed on this and presented a bad attitude. Also as some others mentioned the courses were rushed without first removing used plates.

The apps as expected are very small - light bites for one person, a true appetizer. The fried shrimp was a winner, nicely butterflied in an eggy batter. The herring was four tiny pieces out of a jar, smothered in plain sour cream also out of a jar. Very boring and unsatisfying.

The salad was nothing, although the Red & Bleu dressing was excellent and worth the upcharge. The bread basket was beautiful but would have been so much better if it had been warm. Really liked the salty breadsticks.

But we came for the meat and that was superb. Thick flavorful medium rare sirloin and a glorious veal chop nicely charred to the perfect requested medium. Thanks to the steak and chop I'm rounding up 3.5 stars to a 4.

So, study the menu, bring cash, and hope you get a better waitress. I expect to get back here again at some point, after trying out the Oakwood Club!