Empire

575 Congress St, Portland, ME 04101, USA

Address:	575 Congress St, Portland, ME 04101, USA
Phone:	+1 207-747-5063
Site:	portlandempire.com
Rating:	4.7
Working:	11:30AM–9PM Closed 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–9PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 9

Christa Hamor

Empire Chinese Kitchen is amazing. I could end the review right now with those five words. Do I need to say anything else? I will some day eat all of the things on menu (except for those with seafood) and consider that to be a life accomplishment. Ive been here three times and each time has been wonderful. The staff are super friendly and helpful and dont seem to judge when I order one entire column from the menu. Ive tried the pork buns, the brioche buns, the garlic green beans, the lamb curry buns, the spring rolls, the soup dumplings, and the peking duck buns. Im sure there are others but I cant remember. I would recommend that if you visit Empire, go for the small plates that you can share. The larger plates and the rice/noodle options are good but they excel at the smaller stuff and its more fun to eat. Keep in mind that they dont take reservations for parties of less than 4 so if you go, there may be a wait. On my last visit, we snagged two seats at the bar where they do full service. Its not huge inside and theyve packed in a lot of tables but its always busy. Ive never been there where almost every table wasnt filled. Thats a good sign for a high quality restaurant.

A Private User

I was there the other night (with relatives from Virginia) to check out the KILL KARAOKE. We arrived early so we might try something from the menu. Two from my party ordered the chicken tender meal. When it arrived the chicken was two different colors. When questioned why the reply was it was bought from two different suppliers.....ok?... and then another from my party ordered the pulled chicken sandwich, of which the bread was so soggy she could not eat it and returned the meal. I must say my meal was fine but I ordered a burger sooo..Now it is 9:00 pm - time to go to Karaoke...not quite, they were late setting up, and once they were ready to let us in we were told we needed to pay a cover charge (even though we just ate in their dining room). Luckily before we paid the cover a man from upstairs yelled down that they would not be starting until at least 10 pm. The add in paper said 9:00 pm...so we traveled a hour to get here...had bad food....paid $7 for parking....and did not get to see the band w/Karaoke which is why we came in the first place! If this is how they handle promoting something new ..they should just save us all the time and money and shut the doors!

A Private User

I am a long time Portland resident and I have seen many venues come and go...the Empire is one of the best. The space is excellent with nice exposed wood beams and floors. Despite what people have said, the Drinks are some of the best priced in town. A Long Island normally runs 8-9 bucks at the bars here, and at the Empire they are 6. I dont know where these bad reviewers are from, probably the boonies, where everything is cheap and cheap quality, or bigger cities with bigger expectations. Also note that most of their bad reviews are for bands or events they didnt like, not the venue itself. They probably wanted the watered down drinks and infantile sights of the old port crawl filled with fights and fratboys, not a quality club. As a native Portlander, who goes out almost every week, the Empire is the best bang for your buck in town. Quality crowd, quality staff, and a quality space. Dont believe the hype!

Carly Richards

Tried to edit and deleted my original post..... I will take off the one star just wanted to make sure you saw it where one of my friends also experienced the nonstop busy signal. I actually get it your food is AMAZING. I go to a restaurant in Falmouth, ,Orchid Thai, also incredibly tasty food, they have 3 or 4 lines, they answer the phone call and ask the caller to hold. It was a frustrating experience, especially where I dont get into Portland too often and was looking forward to your food. However this will not stop me from recommending or eating at your restaurant....your food is too good ;) No need for the gift certificate, thank you for your timely response.

CreeDo Lala

Not sure what to add that all the other 5 Star reviews didnt say, obviously the foods great. if youre hesitating because of the wait, I think its worth it, and if youre alone you can get a bar seat quickly, without the (typically 20-45 min.) wait. Must-haves include Char Siu Bao (rarely offered elsewhere, never done as well as Empires) and the Peking Duck Rolls (you may also have seen these at Thai places). The safe, everyone-loved-it choices for main courses are Kung Pao chicken (different from what youre used to with the addition of thin noodles) and Beef with Broad Noodles (wonderful smoky, green onion flavor). Service is always on point.

A Private User

Just recently saw a class of the Titans show at the empire for new years and it was so much fun! The drinks were average price for portland but downstairs before the show, I had a kick butt cosompolitan made by Jay the bartender who was also very entertaining. Pulled pork plate-yummy-I highly recommend it!! I am not big on going out on new years eve, but this was definitely worth the trip. kudos to you Empire! Has anyone noticed that when you click on the bad reviews for this club that there is always a great review for port city under the same name? huh, who do you think is writing the bad reviews? lame port city- why dont you grow up...

good wood

I found the owner who was my bartender very crafty I asked her about the pork roast she said it was excellent I ordered it ate it or some of it it was very fatty seems to me like pork butt when asked she said indeed it was I said when you are labeling something pork roast people expect pork loin not but which is more suitable too high temperature grilling to fry up the tons of fat needless to say if you are spending $10 on a meal you cant expect them to invest more than $2.80 in the food unfortunately most Americans are only willing to spend $10 on their average lunch and what theyre going to eat is going to be mostly crap

Nathan Patwardhan

Food was great, prices were good, service and vibe/atmosphere werent the greatest. Host was playing with his iDevice and notebook computer when we arrived and it took a bit for him to acknowledge us and seat us. Service staff were chummy with various clientele, often times seated in booths with them. Wrong orders were brought out three times to our table. Again, we really enjoyed the food, but from a service standpoint this restaurant could use some work. There are equal places in town quality-wise that dont suffer from the same problems.

A Private User

just finished up salsa dancing with mofongo....it was good, the dance floor was ample and the people were pretty friendly. 8 buck cover charge and i bought myself and my dance partner a drink (one brand rum, and a well mixed drink) with a dollar tip for 13.5. Not bad i think (cover could be less), especially compared to a larger city where i am from. the lesson at the beginning was ok....kind of short and somewhat unorganized, but i was able to pick up a move or two and just generally warm up....overall had a good time ....thanks!