The Empire Room Bistro & Bar

02/28/07

Cute place

by hotaru323 at Citysearch

My friend and I were in search of a good place for Happy Hour and decided to try the Empire Room. The place itself is cozy, cute, and somewhat romantic. We went during a time when business was slow, so the service was fairly fast. I ordered a lemon drop and felt it tasted a little watered down. My friend ordered the Butter Pecan which I thought was much better. We ordered artichoke dip and quesadillas. I thought the quesadillas were very tasty, however the artichoke dip was just so-so. We had a good time, the atmosphere was great, but it wasn't the greatest food/drink I've ever had (at least as far as Happy Hour goes). Maybe I just ordered the wrong things.

• Pros: atmosphere, fast service
• Cons: food was average, lemondrop was so-so

10/27/06

Nice quaint place

by cindyjean_ at Citysearch

Great meeting place! 3 sisters own this quaint and relaxing bar. They are extreamly nice and helpful. The $3 martinis are outstanding as well as the other items on the menu. When I'm here, I feel as if I'm at a friends house. This place offers great customer service and a friendly atmosphere!

• Pros: from food to service everything is great
• Cons: a tad small

08/11/06

Thick Wine Glasses

by chuffpdx at Citysearch

I don't consider myself a wine snob, but if I'm paying for wine at a wine bar then I think I should be drinking from a proper wine glass. Instead, what you get is a very thick, "Denny's Grade" wine glass. Hope you love the feel of heavy worn glass on your lips as you drink that special bottle with your mate. I've had better glassware in sports bars.

The food is mediocre to acceptable for a wine bar, but is that what this place is?

• Pros: Music ok at times
• Cons: Thick wine glasses

08/06/06

Were we in a different Empire Room????

by zido at Citysearch

After reading the other positive reviews we were looking forward to a tasty meal, nice bottle of wine and a wonderful experience....talk about being disappointed. We arrived at 7:00 on a Saturday evening and almost every table in the place was empty...and dirty....not with dishes, just crumbs, water rings and other vestiges of previous diners. In the front of the restaurant was a group with kids who seemed to think they were in their own backyard....yelling so loudly it reverberated off the empty walls. The menu was meager, if you weren't interested in pasta. I found this restaruant by doing a search for tapas so I was confused when there wasn't much in the nature of small plates. We ordered a bottle of Pinot Gris from the wine list, were then told they weren't carring that particular wine, but it had been replaced with a better vintage. Ok, we went with that. After watching both ladies search in vain in the cooler I watched our waitress go to the wine display and take out a bottle. She then went behind the bar, opened it, put some ice cubes in two wine glasses and poured our first glasses over the ice. So much for ambiance and good wine. On to the food. I ordered a Lebanese Salad and chicken skewers, my companion orderd spinach salad and chicken quesadilla. Salads were nice, but the chicken dishes were horrible. The skewers were dry, barely warm and served with a bizarre creamy peanut sauce. The quesadilla was too cheesy with very little chicken. The best thing I can say about the place is that the waitress was very pleasant. Needless to say we will never be going back.

• Pros: nice waitress
• Cons: the food

07/24/06

Definitely a new favorite! Friendly, cute, and tasty.

by sbtopdx at Citysearch

My boyfriend and I tried this place for Happy Hour and it was great! We tried almost all of the martinis and they were wonderful as well. We ordered three or four of the small plates and enjoyed each one. Happy Hour was just starting and no one else was there, so we got to chat with one of the sisters for a while. She told us all about the restaurant, that it can be rented out for special occasions, shared a couple of stories, etc. There was no music that night but she let us know when there would be, and welcomed us to come back. I am already looking forward to it.

• Pros: Friendly service, fresh, yummy food and great martini drinks.
• Cons: That we don't live closer to it-I'd go all the time!