Empire- where the waitresses dress like they are in the Moulin Rouge and the architecture feels like a casino. We came here for a few appetizers to munch on. We had no reservations on a Saturday night which was risky. But, we lucked out because Empire had seating available at one of the high top long tables near the bar. We ordered: 1.) Seaweed salad (5 stars) 2.) Spicy tuna and spicy salmon rolls (4 stars) 3.) Crab Rangoons (5 stars) 4.) Scallion Pancakes (4 stars) 5.) Jalapeños Margarita The seaweed salad showed up in this ginormous bowl surrounded by iceberg lettuce, shaved carrots, and cucumbers. It was such a large portion surprise in the best way possible and it tasted delicious. The crab rangoons were topped with popcorn and chives which was a nice rendition of a classic dish. I was impressed because these were probably one of the best crab rangoons I have tried. Will we come back? Probably not- only because prices here are high and the atmosphere is pretentious. But, please note that food is good and the service was friendly and quick. read more

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i enjoyed the vibes of the restaurant more than the food. the food was pretty pricey, but expected, since the restaurant is located in seaport. my boyfriend and i ordered the singapore street noodles ($32), crispy salmon roll ($28), shrimp appetizer and hot and sour soup ($10). the hot and sour soup was disgusting. everything else tasted pretty good. empire is more suitable for date nights or birthday celebrations. it's definitely more for young adults. customer service was ok. they are extremely strict on the 15 minute grace period. if you're 16 minutes late, you need to re-reserve. their dresscode is stylish nightlife attire. it's a pretty boujee restaurant overall. overall rating: 6/10 read more

Empire - Lounges Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Great sushi cupcake.. food is expensive. Staff is rude.. expensive drinks. Ambience is good .. read more

Empire - Shrimp Sushi Cupcake - Lounges Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

I really liked empire! The best food is the potstickers and the sushi is pretty good too. The lo mein and fried rice is good but not the best. The vibes are really good though - very spacious and good popular music playing. Would definitely recommend for birthday dinners, as we did, or large parties celebrating occasions. read more

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Went with a party of 6. The host and waiter were so nice. We ordered a few different sushi rolls the steak and house rice. Everything tasted amazing. I ordered the Peach Maitai it was really good! I'll definitely come back to this place again. read more

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Got takeout from this place after trying to get a seat. The wait was incredibly long as it was a busy Saturday night. The food took an additional 20 minutes to come out after placing the order. We got the fried rice, two sushi's, and the fried chicken. Everything was pretty typical to the standard American Chinese cuisine. Overall, food wasn't bad but not anything to rave about. Might come back if in the area and in the mood. read more

The service was extraordinary. It was easy to make a reservation online. My party got to the restaurant late due to work running over, and the staff was super accommodating in getting us a table and adding one to the party too. They offer luggage check if you're coming to / from the airport. The food came out pretty quickly once we ordered. The food portions were really quite big, especially given that this is such a nice and fancy place. The shareables is just as big as a regular entree anywhere else. The food was pretty good, lacked seasoning in some places but the sauces that came with the dishes made up for it. Would definitely recommend and would come back again read more

Pretty good food but our waiter constantly forgot about us so things took a long time unfortunately. We got pad Thai, wings, crab Rangoon, and sushi and the shared mai tai. Food was a 3.5/5 and service was a 2/5. The dance club on the other side of the restaurant was super fun and definitely worth checking out. read more

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My girlfriend and I decided our first night out in the Seaport area would be at Empire since she loves Asian cuisine. Right away you notice how beautiful the place is: gorgeous bar, very upscale dining area, an amazing open kitchen buzzing with crew, the bathrooms are even nice. The food is solid. We got the potstickers appetizer to start. They were tasty but nothing spectacular. The lady got the crispy salmon roll. It's a decent size and she liked it. I went with the Empire Bibimbap. You get some steak over a bed of rice, with some accompaniments. I thought it was pretty good, maybe a little more steak would make the dish even better. All in all it was a bit pricey for what you get but you do get excellent decor and a nice classy vibe. read more

Overall decent experience. Ambience and decor is great. Service was good. Food was ok. Had salt and pepper calamari to start then for main course had alaskan black cod. The salt and pepper clamaru was decent. The bokchoy was very chewy and tough to eat. The cod didnt taste fresh was edible but thats at best. Not sure if it was because it was getting late but I was underwhelmed with my experience. read more

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Great drink spot! I dropped by with a friend because bartaco had a super long wait. Empire's lounge is beautiful and there was plenty of space at the bar. I had the pear martini ($15) and my friend had wine ($16). The martini was delicious. Strong but not too sweet. Service was excellent as well. We also ordered a roll of the spicy toro maki ($22). It was good but the price tag was too high for one sushi roll. I'll be back for drinks only! read more

Empire - Toro Maki - Lounges Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Flashy interior, overpriced food, hit or miss. My dining mate wasn't into sushi, and my guess is that's the better option here, judging by the tables around us. --handmade chicken dumplings, pan fried with crispy shallots was a tasty start ($14 for eight dumplings) --chicken kimchi egg roll, another decent start, and should be at $15! --sesame beef ($29) was a huge portion of the Chinese-American standard, crispy, slightly spicy, with a complimentary orange sweet and sour sauce. --the waiter said the Alaskan Cod was his favorite (and also one of the more expensive entrees @ $38), and a total disappointment. The fish was cold, though the accompanying bok choy was hot. Not sure that's what's intended, but it was a total turn off. After one bite, left the rest. Unfortunately, the waiter never checked back with us in time... Drinks are pricey, too. The first round was well made, the second couldn't detect much alcohol. Glad I tried this place, but doubt I'd return. read more

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Why why why is this place so great? My supermarket sushi is better here in LA. But the difference is they serve it with a smile without having to scream. I was prepared for a rocking sushi Resturant being from LA but other then everyone trying to show the other patron off...the show was HORRIBLE! Take yourself to China town and support the mom and pop places Vs this CORPORATE MESS! Begin by sending your staff to etiquette school for spending 1k for sushi that was fair IS JUST NOT WORTH IT AT ALL! Lastly the watermelon drinks was the best but who can mess up vodka inside a cut up watermelon. read more

I ordered takeout from here a few nights ago for dinner via Uber Eats and it was most likely the worst Pad Thai I've ever had. We waited an hr and a half for it, then I couldn't even eat it. This dish was just completely and totally inedible, everything about it. I *very* rarely throw out food, and I felt even worse tossing this one since it was also probably the most expensive Pad Thai I've had... I wouldn't have minded paying $26 (before tax and delivery fees) for a Pad Thai if it was good enough to at least satiate my hunger, but this was unacceptable. Why would you even put an item on the menu if it's this bad? Total disappointment. My boyfriend took pity on me and gave me some of his scallion pancakes, which were good, but certainly did not make up for the Pad Thai. A couple of scallion pancakes is not dinner. read more

Our go to place for delicious Asian cuisine with a modern flair. Their pad Thai is delicious...but feeds three or four people!! Try some of the delicious cocktails...like the mai tai. Worth a visit here, especially to celebrate a special event! read more

Disclaimer: This review is only for the after hours events for this venue. This is a great spot on a Friday or Saturday night if you want to party for free AND you like relatively contemporary rap and r'n'b music. The DJ here is on point, particularly if you like rap, r'n'b, reggaeton from the 2010's to present day. It gets pretty busy in here, almost too packed to the point where you cant move much. The good thing is I have yet to experience a line, they just let people in. I love places that are genuinely diverse, especially in Boston where that can be hard to find -- the crowd here is mostly in their 20's and 30's, but folks 40+ will trickle in here too. And it's very diverse with regards to ethnic backgrounds. It is the equivalent of riding a NYC subway minus the rats. The decor is beautiful and the servers are dressed as if they work at the Playboy Mansion. Not exaggerating. If you haven't experienced the Seaport District in Boston, definitely check this spot out. If you don't like it, you can club/bar hop to another one in the area. read more

The food is pretty good but the service is SO SLOW. Our waitress wasn't all that friendly and didn't even ask if we wanted to order more after we were finished with our initial selections. She simply brought the check and went to walk away, and I had to awkwardly ask for a dessert menu. The drinks are pretty good and I enjoyed the food, but the service is such a turn off. read more

Empire - Lounges Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

The lychee martinis here are so darn good 10/10 would highly recommend! The ambiance here is also really chic and dark I love it.

I came here for my girlfriend's birthday because we loved the food so much the first time we came. It was sort of a spontaneous plan to go there, especially when it's for a birthday, and besides the atmosphere and good food + drinks, I wanted to make it special for her. I faked that "I went to the bathroom" and asked the hostess Maya if she could bring us a surprise desert and she did not disappoint. The original plan was that whichever desert she went with, there would just be a "Happy Birthday" written on the plate with a candle. In a strange turn of events my girlfriend who never turns down a sweet treat had done so. I quickly ran back over and made up another excuse and explained, Maya said don't worry. After stalling as much as I could with the bill, behind us came a candle light cookie + ice cream plate with the words "Happy Birthday" written on it. It made our evening and especially her big day. Great staff and great food. You can't go wrong with this place! read more

Came here for a holiday work event so I can't speak much on the service or the ambiance as we were put in an area where we could walk around, but other people were passing through. From the little interaction I did get from the waiters, it was... meh. The food was mediocre, very far from my first choice, but again, it was a work event so I can't be too harsh, but when I took a look at the menu to see what else they had, I guess I probably can. The worst part of it all was the drinks.... Oh the drinks... I ordered an old fashion first. It was incredibly sweet and instead of a cherry, they put a lime in it... I was so baffled. I confirmed with the waiter that it was their version of an old fashioned. I can't even think of a name for that drink, but it definitely wasn't an old fashioned. I then ordered an espresso martini which straight up I think was just baileys. At least they put the 3 coffee beans because even that surprised me. Or maybe they thought if they added baileys to a glass, which wasn't even a real martini glass, and put 3 coffee beans on it, you could call it an espresso martini. Thought about maybe coming back for a personal experience, but I most likely won't be. There's tons of other great options in seaport. read more

we didn't feel welcome to come here. The waiter wasn't friendly. - We ordered orange juice which had a bad taste. We called the waiter and didn't wait for us to explain how we tasted, the waiter just took it without any apologies. - When my friend asked if he could recommend some good cocktails. He just answered "Everything in the menu, just read". That's not the right way to please the very first time a customer comes to your restaurant. We didn't really feel welcome when we were there. We won't come back read more

TL;DR: Great location, beautiful ambiance, disappointing food and service. Located in beautiful Seaport, Empire has great ambiance and the vibe of the restaurant is a good girls night out vibe, with a modern clubby twist on Asian decor. It's a good place to go if you want to get dressy for a dinner. We went for my friend's 21's birthday, and it was a good opportunity to look good and to take photos. However, the food is incredibly mediocre and overpriced for what it is. I don't mind paying a bit more for good quality food but I had a roll and it was honestly so average, what you would get at any sushi place around the block, just dressed up nicer and with the price jacked up. My friends also ordered the fried rice, which came in a very large portion size but the taste was not different from the fried rice I'd order from my local Chinese takeout. Very Americanized Asian food, not even good enough to qualify for Asian fusion - think somewhere in between PF Chang's and Panda Express quality. We ordered a scorpion bowl to share, which was good enough but you can't really go wrong with a big drink. The service for this so-called upscale restaurant was also very mediocre. I found the waitresses very short-tempered and unprofessional with how they dealt with us, I didn't feel like I was welcomed or that my friend was treated well at all, considering it was her 21st birthday. The staff was very rushed, and we had gone on a Thursday night - the place wasn't very full at all. Made the experience even more disappointing! If you're really desperate for a great ambiance you could come here, but there are so many better restaurants to pick from in Boston. I'd pass on this one. read more

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Empire is a cool, trendy restaurant but a little over priced for its contents. My boyfriend and I ordered Omakase, for $275. We were informed that the number of sushi is adjusted to the amount of people eating. I find this statement alarming because Omakase for 2, can cost as much as for 4. Personally, I order Omakase for unique pieces of sushi; however I was surprised to see two full rolls and sashimi. I'm pretty positive one roll was just a fried California roll. I would consider this a platter, instead of traditional Omakase. The presentation was extreme, but overall impressive. Also, the sashimi tasted as if it were frozen and thawed to our convenience. Towards the end of eating, the sushi had a slimy, sweet texture, and started to taste more fishy, which prevented me from finishing up. However, the staff was extremely attentive and the interior was beautiful. If you plan on visiting, there is a business casual dress code. read more

Good ambience, and variety of dishes. The restaurant had really good fried rice and chicken dishes. However, was very disappointed with their vegetarian dishes. Would not recommend this place for vegetarians. Good place if you enjoy Asian American food, but not so great when it comes to authentic Asian flavors. Also, the staff seemed restless to close kitchen and leave and I did not find them very courteous. The restaurant was okay but I would not prefer to visit again. My friends really enjoyed their fried rice and mentioned they might visit the place again just for fried rice. read more

Great asian fusion restaurant reminiscing Tao with an oriental ambiance, and a fun atmosphere. Sushi is their strong suit, but some of the steak apps and dishes give steak house a run for their money. Beef teppenyaki & the bibimbap I tried were both top notch. read more

Our small party (3) came into the lounge / bar area a few weeks back on a weekday night looking for a relaxing nightcap. It was a really well put together, nice, modern place - but it was ruined by employees of all sorts lounging all over the place, eating shift meals and sitting in the comfortable, prime seating in the lounge - only to leave us huddled up by the bar with our $18 spresso martinis! Mind you it was practically dead in there. Thats too bad. The bartender wasnt all the friendly or welcoming either - but she warmed up a bit after a few ! Not all that great of an experience. Who owns this joint , BNEG?! PICK IT UP ! read more

Came here to celebrate my friend's birthday. We had a party of 7, and Empire was one of the few places with large group reservations at an ideal time. The staff was very great with making reservations and accomodating for party. I would rate it a 4/5 if it weren't for the service. The restaurant had nice Asian finishes in the interior design and had such good music our whole group was bopping to it at the table. Most people wore dressy attire. Would come back for the vibes! If it weren't for the service, i would rate it 4/5. Our group didnt order much food (appetizers mainly) and didnt order from the pricey birthday menu options, which our waitress didn't seem too happy about. We all got a scorpion bowl to share. Sooo worth it! Pretty strong too. 2 would be well enough for a group of 7-8 people. I ordered 2 appetizers... House Spicy Salmon Maki: 5/5. Came with 6 pieces. We were SOO surprised at how good this was. Definitely order. It had a nice crunchy crust around the salmon (i think it was a tempura crust)? Very nice touch. Best salmon maki ive had Warmed Steamed Buns: 4/5. Came with a lot of mushrooms and is very filling! I didnt get it with beef because it was $15 more, but the mushrooms alone were great We also ordered the Hawaiian Steak Fried Rice: 2/5. Very below average fried rice. Portions are huge though. We all shared it and still had leftovers. Flavor is bland. Steak was hard and chewy with lack of seasoning. Would not recommend Shanghai Mud Pie: 4/5. Order if you're celebrating a birthday here. They can do the writing etc. Nice presentation and pretty large. Dense and chocolatey, yum! read more

Empire - Hawaiian Steak Fried Rice - Lounges Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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This is just for the drinks, music and dance. We were looking for a place with good music and drinks and we found it. The bar was packed and the DJ on Friday night amazing. Loved the mix of 90's hip hop and current hits. We had the Margarita and they were mixed well. There wasn't much of dance floor but ppl were dancing where they found the room. My only thought was that I wished they made more room for dance floor instead of cramming what looked like a VIP tables. The restroom was clean which is always major plus. read more

Where to begin : still or sparkling? Let me start with the good... our server was nice and the food was actually really good. Ok now to the real issues. Our back server asked us if we wanted water. Sure still and sparkling for everyone. We ordered knowing each bottle was like $600 but we didn't care. Lol ... I'm any case some got still and others got sparkling. After tell him who wanted what he poured everything wrong. Not only that he poured someone a cup of still and was wrong, he took the whole cup away ?!?! Umm excuse me ??? We are paying for that ... then I'm half way done with my still when he comes over and pours sparkling... another cup of still gone! It was a nightmare ... It was pretty obvious Peggy had a huge section and it was too much ... not for her but for any server . We had long periods of not seeing someone ... drinks took forever ... you know it's bad when the manager is running drinks. Wait, did I mention when i was speaking with host the manager interrupted me and didn't say excuse me or anything !?!?!? It was great! Then at the end we get a whole mix up with the checks ... they said my business card was declined ???? Bottom line is my bank tells me when a transaction is declined ... i checked and it seemed like my card was never ran. Then we used another persons card and it was only approved for some of the check??? It was very "strange" ... we ended up paying in cash. Oh wait, we ordered apps ... a lot of them and then the empty plates sat there. Main dishes came out and asked the person can we have the dirty dishes cleared first "oh yes" as they put the main dishes ON TOP OF OUR DIRTY ONES!!!! Yikes ... either way music was really good thank you Spotify read more

Disappointed in how much this restaurant has gone downhill. Overpriced for mediocre food. $170 for 2 pp, for 1 cup of hot and sour soup (ok, bland), lobster rangoons (ok), pad Thai (bland, bad tasting), red dragon roll (ok but could have been fresher), and 2 cocktails. Service was rushed. When we weren't ready to order upon sitting down we were told we had an hour for a party of 2. Tables around us were empty the whole hour we were allotted to eat. They expect you to dress up but the decor is dated. So many options in the Seaport and now I know why that one was the only one with availability. read more

5 stars for their prompt service but the appetizers and entrees came together, which could have been avoided. Sunday night let us enter without the dress code followed. Loved their chicken dumplings and chicken rolls. Tried their, lo mein and shrimp fried rice too. read more

Empire - Lounges Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Very good sushi, service and ambiance. Very nice high end Asian experience. We had a great time and will come again. read more

Empire - Waiting for the sushi platter. - Lounges Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Went to Empire on a Saturday night with a few other folks. Dinner was so disappointing we didn't even want to stay for drinks and hobnobbing. A spicy dish was ridiculously spicy, not edible; the dumplings dish was horrendous very few (4little dumplings) tasteless. The "creative" sauces did not help. The appetizer portions were noticeably minimized and not worth the price. Drinks may have been the only saving grace. Service was decent. Kitchen? Lordt! Get some QC back in there. read more

What a find in the Seaport area! This was my 2nd visit in as many weeks. First time was a group dinner and last night was just my wife and me. We were lucky enough to have David as our server. He is TERRIFIC! Food quality and serving size is beyond impressive. The atmosphere of both the dining room and the kitchen bar is inviting and offers any level of preferred intimacy which lends itself to any type of dining experience that you may be seeking. We will DEFINITELY make Empire a "go-to" for business or personal meals! Thanks! read more

Really nice interior and decor. It seems more of a dress up type of restaurant, but really wanted to comment on the excellent service from our waitress, Rebecca. She was very friendly and offered my friend and I nice recommendations for food. She also frequently checked on us and made sure we were doing ok. Along with her, there was another server who was observant and noticed when our glasses of water were running low, and would quickly refill it which was greatly appreciated. The food was good too, although a bit on the pricey side! read more

Empire has the worst managers I have ever encountered. I have been working at the restaurant industry since I was 14 years old, I'm very knowledgeable of how the restaurants supposed to work. On Friday 6/21/2021 we came to this establishment to have a good night. The system went down, and a lot of people walked out without paying their bill.They asked my friends for their credit card information, my friends said no, and is there another way we can pay. My friends left the waitress a tip, and said when the system comes back up lets us know. We waited till about 1am. My friend got stopped by a manager when we was trying to leave, and the manager grab my friend by her arm, and said she didn't pay her tab, and started to point her figure in my friend's face, and embarrassed her in front of security and other guest. This was very unprofessional and uncalled for . I went to the manager and told them I will pay for the tab, she took me to the back, and it took her 15 mins to look up for the check, she said thank you sweetheart and I walked away. Empire please do better. You loss a loyal customer with this unprofessional behavior. read more

Came to check this place out as it has now been at the Seaport for 11Years. The food is ok, the slickly chicken wings were too salty and too much crisp, the salmon sushi was suggested by the server-bartender as I do not eat sushi- it was really good! I loved the crispy rice as it helped with the texture thing that I do not like, the avocado went well on top of the rice. I'd you are new to sushi this so mild you don't really taste that fishy flavor that people claim salmon has. The drinks were creative and small glasses. To go here is for the experience, the crowd, and for celebrations- I would be surprised to hear if they had regulars that frequent the lounge UNLESS it is for the weekend when they clear out the furniture in the bar area and they have a DJ. The customers seemed to be professionals at the time we visited which was Thursday at 6 pm- I bet it gets busy here in the winter. What I loved about the Empire is the entire establishment had only one tv! read more

Empire - Salmon sushi - Lounges Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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I wasn't a fan of Red Lantern (sister restaurant) so I was hesitant about trying Empire for the first time last week. My brother had a gift card, so we decided to give it a try and bring along a few friends. It was better than Red Lantern, but I wasn't blown away. Most of the food was passable - you can most definitely find better and cheaper in Chinatown (sacrifice the trendy space of course) i.e. calamari, wings, scallion pancakes, chow foon, etc. I would recommend trying the LOBSTER RANGOONS and BLACK COD entree, which were delicious and something you won't find in typical Asian restaurants. We also tried the torched yellowtail maki roll, which had Rice Krispies cereal topping (no joke)... I'm not quite sure how this enhanced the roll? The drinks were hit or miss - peach Mai Tai was good; Drunken Monkey and Forbidden Fruit cocktails tasted like sewer water. The elaborate space (open kitchen!) and chic ambiance were indeed the wow factors. Very spacious restaurant with several private dining areas - should be no problem booking a last-minute table or hosting large parties. Service was OK; not very personable, and finished plates should have been cleared away faster. Bottom line: if you care more about atmosphere and the prime Seaport location, and you don't mind decent food at $$$, then Empire isn't a bad choice. read more

Went here for a company dinner. Standing room only with high tables. If that's your thing this is the place to go to. Food was really good. Will probably go back for another company dinner. Enjoy! read more

Went here to celebrate a birthday with some friends and they did not disappoint. The service was very quick and on point. The server was helpful in explaining items on the menu and her suggestions were really awesome as well. Empire is located in the seaport which is a wealthier part of Boston located on the water. Parking is tough to find but is metered and free after 6 pm. If not you can pay 15-20$ in a lot. Once you find parking you'll be golden. The menu has lots of great food but can be a bit pricey. It is high in price but totally worth in the quality and quantity in food. I would highly recommend getting the scallion pancakes I could eat those alllllll night. The pad Thai and house fried rice were single orders but could easily be shared among 2-4 people easily. read more

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