- Categories:
- Restaurants, Diners
- Cuisine:
- Traditional American
- Price:
- $
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100% ambiance
“My husband loves the place and the atmosphere which is why we keep on coming back, if it was up to me I could live without.”
100% dessert
“The blackout cake was fantastic.”
72% food quality
“The food is actually pretty good and it's the only place I can find Abita Turbodog, a microbrew from Louisiana.”
100% menu variety
“more interesting menu, consistently good service and no attitudes.”
100% overall
“............ lets see where do i begin i have been to the empire diner many many times and i love it ,the food and the huge portion sizes fills u up in no time the music is great very mondern and relaxing the staff amazing they seem to work hard at times ”
100% return potential
“If the food was good enough, I might bite my tongue and return, but its not.”
71% service
“The worse part is the most awful service imaginable.”
25% value
“It just wasn't good value - even without the dodgy freshness problem.”
100% wait time
“the food was good, too bad it took so long to order and all the waiters should try another career”
Tips for Empire
overpriced and bad food. Just took my family to this place for lunch. Nice people and cute ambience. They were very good to the kids. But the food was disappointing all round. Buffalo wings tasted like they were reheated. My son didn't like the taste of his fish and later was sick all over the sidewalk. And Empire charges restaurant prices - not diner prices - $13 burgers and $6 milk shakes. It just wasn't good value - even without the dodgy freshness problem. Much better value around - in fact, anywhere.
Undeniably bad service. 10 minutes for a grilled cheese? What's that... toasted bread and cheese? Also, the waiters are condescending, snooty, and irritable. Avoid.
Slop. Quite frankly, the only people who think this place can be good are drunk partygoers. After trying this slop once for a Sunday morning brunch, and then vowing never to go back again, the only reason why the Empire can still be in business is because of its 24 hour dining. Only if you're absolutely starving. Service was good, however, in contrast with other reviewers.
Worst service in New York!. After waiting for 45 minutes (tables around us who ordered after us were served), I politely enquired how long our meal would be. The waiter replied 'When it's ready!'. When I picked my jaw up from the floor, I asked him to actually check. The waiter returned from the kitchen to say it was still going to be a few minutes. Some time later he came back to our table to say that one of our meals had run out! Clearly that hadn't started to cook our food and the order had been forgotten. We were repeatedly told how busy they were but that really isn't an excuse in NYC. Needless to say we left. In a city where restaurants open and close every week, Empire Diner can't seriously think they stand a chance with such petulant, incompetant and sarcastic staff! Don't waste your time.
worst place ever - and i mean it.
these people are imbeciles who don't even know the basics in hospitality (e.g. - graciousness? promptness?). also, their food is overpriced and bland. i would say it was a totally underwhelming experience, except i left there feeling very angry and annoyed.
i'm glad that i went there so that i can never return.
here's a tip boys, just b/c you think that you lead the high-life after hours, doesn't make your waitstaff job any more glamorous, it's still food service.
Not a real NYC "diner". The Empire Diner, while it looks legitimate, complete with neon signs and the word "diner" in its name, is not a real NYC diner. The menu is a sparse one-pager (no pancakes, no tuna melts, etc.), and apparently substitutions of any kind are not allowed. I asked for sweet potato fries instead of the Empire's greasy, tasteless, crunchless chips, and I was informed that substitutions "like that" are not allowed. Also, oddly, they don't offer diet soda of any kind - apparently diet soda is not in high demand among New Yorkers, who are surely neither weight-conscious or observant of sugar intake!?! Here's a substitution I recommend - substitute the Empire Diner for a real NYC. There are plenty along 23rd street across the entire island.
If you get a good server, this place....
I used to go to Empire Diner all the time. Many of the dishes are great-tasting and good value.
It's knock is really the service. I'm not someone who complains about service, but sometimes you can get a server whose attitude is just well out of bounds. Your chances for a difficult server can really go up on the weekends in nice weather when the outdoor cafe fills up.
Plus, despite being a diner, Empire doesn't have pancakes. What kind of diner doesn't have pancakes?
I started going to The Half King, just around the corner, instead. A more interesting menu, consistently good service and no attitudes. They serve food until about 2 AM.
Great Spot. Learned about it from The Diner's Deck - they take some of the most quintessential diner fare items and deliver them with flair. It was a late night and we really enjoyed the quite live Piano Music (I don't believe they were show tunes like a previous reviewer mentioned) and classic rail-car experience. The vanilla malt was the best I tasted in New York. The blackout cake was fantastic. My buddy said his omelette was "really good." This place is truly wonderful. Best of all, our bill came to $16 after we dropped our Diner's Deck $10 OFF card.
NYC's worst service. Empire Diner is cozy, sometimes even pretty and you get to hear cheesy showtunes performed live by hired musicians as well as by the restaurant's guests. But don't come for the food or the service. The burgers are decent enought, but the french fried potato slivers that come with them are artless greasy little crimes. Other items we tried were pretty awful too. The worse part is the most awful service imaginable. The waiters here just don't give a hoot about their customers. While we were trying to have dinner, all of the waiters spent their time playing with spilled milk at the counter, not paying any attention to the diners. We literally had to yell to get their attention. Really dreadful.
Don't give up on it. Empire may not have the best food, or be the cheapest, or even have incredible service. But it's not a mediocre feeling place at all. You feel special eating in this rail car and slowly drinking coffee, looking out onto a rainy 10 Avenue. The food is actually pretty good and it's the only place I can find Abita Turbodog, a microbrew from Louisiana. So I'll keep coming back, and feeling special.