Locals praise this restaurant as a fine dining establishment of Tiffin. Well.... I hope this isn't the only one as they are SOL if this is it. The space is amazing. Great building, decor and vibe. What killed the vibe was the patrons at the bar with the 4 year old going WWE on his drunk uncle like it was a backyard BBQ and the seating. Flimsy wooden stool like chairs or a straight high back booth. The most comfy spot in the room was the piano bench in the middle of the room. Apparently the restaurant was expecting a HUGE crowd for the eclipse. There wasn't one to Tiffin. Their limited menu and $35 dinner buffet went to waste. The buffet had been sitting out for hours. Dried out potatoes, pasta, ribeye slices that were now overcooked and chewy. We opted for the menu but momentarily were flustered that the limited menu also said cash only. Smh. Since the crowd wasn't a factor, the cash only was waived. Thankfully. (Then discovered they raised the prices on the limited menu for the event) Wasn't concerning but annoying since the event fell flat. I ordered the scallops and my husband the burger. Burger was fine, cooked to temp. Good pickles, great house made ketchup and duper fresh French fries. So good we ordered a second serving. My scallops were a joke. Three tiny 1" scallops under a coating of lobster cream sauce, and frozen chopped spinach all in a bed of overcooked white rice with some wild rice mixed in. Let's start top down. The lobster cream sauce was gritty and starting to separate. The chopped spinach was oddly bright green, unseasoned and should not have been on the plate. The scallops were fine but small. I could not eat the rest. It was awful. I ate the scallops and let her take the rest of the plate and order a side fries to supplement. I wish I had ordered the mushroom flatbread instead. Burger was good. I had a normal glass of white wine. Nothing notable. My husband ordered an old fashioned. It was good. He ordered a second and it was totally different than the first. To finish, we ordered a crème brûlée. It came out, not on a plate but just put on the table in the cup with two spoons laid on the table. Smh. Idk what was going on. They brought out a side of fries on a plate and even the side of mayo, earlier. It was just odd. The space is beautiful. The service is spotty. Food is a hard miss or home run, therefore good luck if you try it.
Pam Dahnke
My husband and I dined in. The prices are too high. They took to long bringing our food to us. We had to leave and changed our minds on our meals. They made us pay for the meals we did not touch. We only drank our drinks and ate the skimpy house salads and bread. We are not happy with the service and restaurant.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Kenneth Dahnke
Worst overpriced restaurant in Ohio, skimpy salad, was forced to pay $42 for a empire burger and pasta primavera that I didn't even touch due to the fact I had to leave and due to the lousy service time, lady behind the bar was totally rude and acted like I should wait for hours to be served...I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone.,..their food prices are ridiculous and staff is rude!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Carol Z.
This place needs work. The setting is gorgeous and the service was great. The food was expensive and quite frankly terrible. $29 for three bay scallops (not sea scallops as menu promised) is a crime. We were visiting from Alexandria VA and the prices for entrees here made no sense to us -- I wouldn't bat an eye in DC, but this is Tiffin. Get real people. There is potential here (setting, bar, service) but the food and prices need a serious overhaul.
Lauren Smith
They have a new vegan menu & it is excellent! Highly recommend! Also, they have a new chef who is great!!!Vegetarian options: They have a new VEGAN menu!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kacey K.
When my husband and I recently went to the Empire, we both had to send our food back due to it being offensively salty. I'm talking inedible. Also, my chicken on my chicken piccata dish showed up in what appeared to be random scrap chunks just thrown on overcooked pasta. Our server was great but I was so disappointed.
Theresa Zeigler
Overall negative experience. Bad food and very limited menu including bar.My family went to another restaurant after eating here.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
jeff kenner
Highly overrated!!! Burger was paper thing with no flavor asked for medium rare and was cooked all the way through. Not even close to being worth the inflated prices they have. Just because you have a bri k wall painted black old tile ceiling does not make you a high end restaurant. The fries are about the only good thing.
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 3
Jim Lahey
30 minute wait just for our drinks then finally took our order. After that took about hour and thirty minutes total to finally get are food. My salad was yellow + chunky the steak was blackened and chewy. Kids chicken was burnt as cherry on top.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Mary E.
Food service in ambience is very good. We go there again. Food is delicious and inviting and comes with good service.
Great service and food. A place to celebrate special moments and a place I like to go when I am in tiffin.Vegetarian options: Spicy Tofu, French onion soup, mushrooms gnocchi
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sea Scallops
Marybeth Fuller
Picked up my order today from the Empire. The $7 Caesar salad consisted of 4 small leaves of burnt Romaine lettuce and less than a teaspoon of bacon and Parmesan combined. That’s it. Although the kid’s burger and fries was good, if your kid likes ketchup with their fries you can see that what was in the order is NOT ketchup. So, if you must eat here, get the burger and fries and bring your own ketchup! Won’t be going back.
Food: 3
Service: 2
Elizabeth T.
The entrees are excellent and the French onion soup is a great starter. I'm not a big fan of the specialty drinks, but save room for creme brûlée! The evenings with live piano are always enjoyable too.
Marybeth F
Picked up my order today from the Empire. The $7 Caesar salad consisted of 4 small leaves of burnt Romaine lettuce and less than a teaspoon of bacon and Parmesan combined. That’s it. Although the kid’s burger and fries was good, if your kid likes ketchup with their fries you can see that what was in the order is NOT ketchup. So, if you must eat here, get the burger and fries and bring your own ketchup! Won’t be going back.
Jody
We asked for basics - salt and pepper. It never arrived. We had to find it ourselves from the bar. I asked for my steak to be medium rare. It was served well done. No bread was served with dinner as menu states. Wait person was apologizing to all tables around for various reasons. Wrong bill given to ppl next to us. No water refill after we asked.
Locals praise this restaurant as a fine dining establishment of Tiffin. Well.... I hope this isn't the only one as they are SOL if this is it. The space is amazing. Great building, decor and vibe. What killed the vibe was the patrons at the bar with the 4 year old going WWE on his drunk uncle like it was a backyard BBQ and the seating. Flimsy wooden stool like chairs or a straight high back booth. The most comfy spot in the room was the piano bench in the middle of the room. Apparently the restaurant was expecting a HUGE crowd for the eclipse. There wasn't one to Tiffin. Their limited menu and $35 dinner buffet went to waste. The buffet had been sitting out for hours. Dried out potatoes, pasta, ribeye slices that were now overcooked and chewy. We opted for the menu but momentarily were flustered that the limited menu also said cash only. Smh. Since the crowd wasn't a factor, the cash only was waived. Thankfully. (Then discovered they raised the prices on the limited menu for the event) Wasn't concerning but annoying since the event fell flat. I ordered the scallops and my husband the burger. Burger was fine, cooked to temp. Good pickles, great house made ketchup and duper fresh French fries. So good we ordered a second serving. My scallops were a joke. Three tiny 1" scallops under a coating of lobster cream sauce, and frozen chopped spinach all in a bed of overcooked white rice with some wild rice mixed in. Let's start top down. The lobster cream sauce was gritty and starting to separate. The chopped spinach was oddly bright green, unseasoned and should not have been on the plate. The scallops were fine but small. I could not eat the rest. It was awful. I ate the scallops and let her take the rest of the plate and order a side fries to supplement. I wish I had ordered the mushroom flatbread instead. Burger was good. I had a normal glass of white wine. Nothing notable. My husband ordered an old fashioned. It was good. He ordered a second and it was totally different than the first. To finish, we ordered a crème brûlée. It came out, not on a plate but just put on the table in the cup with two spoons laid on the table. Smh. Idk what was going on. They brought out a side of fries on a plate and even the side of mayo, earlier. It was just odd. The space is beautiful. The service is spotty. Food is a hard miss or home run, therefore good luck if you try it.
My husband and I dined in. The prices are too high. They took to long bringing our food to us. We had to leave and changed our minds on our meals. They made us pay for the meals we did not touch. We only drank our drinks and ate the skimpy house salads and bread. We are not happy with the service and restaurant.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Worst overpriced restaurant in Ohio, skimpy salad, was forced to pay $42 for a empire burger and pasta primavera that I didn't even touch due to the fact I had to leave and due to the lousy service time, lady behind the bar was totally rude and acted like I should wait for hours to be served...I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone.,..their food prices are ridiculous and staff is rude!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
This place needs work. The setting is gorgeous and the service was great. The food was expensive and quite frankly terrible. $29 for three bay scallops (not sea scallops as menu promised) is a crime. We were visiting from Alexandria VA and the prices for entrees here made no sense to us -- I wouldn't bat an eye in DC, but this is Tiffin. Get real people. There is potential here (setting, bar, service) but the food and prices need a serious overhaul.
They have a new vegan menu & it is excellent! Highly recommend! Also, they have a new chef who is great!!!Vegetarian options: They have a new VEGAN menu!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
When my husband and I recently went to the Empire, we both had to send our food back due to it being offensively salty. I'm talking inedible. Also, my chicken on my chicken piccata dish showed up in what appeared to be random scrap chunks just thrown on overcooked pasta. Our server was great but I was so disappointed.
Overall negative experience. Bad food and very limited menu including bar.My family went to another restaurant after eating here.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Highly overrated!!! Burger was paper thing with no flavor asked for medium rare and was cooked all the way through. Not even close to being worth the inflated prices they have. Just because you have a bri k wall painted black old tile ceiling does not make you a high end restaurant. The fries are about the only good thing.
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 3
30 minute wait just for our drinks then finally took our order. After that took about hour and thirty minutes total to finally get are food. My salad was yellow + chunky the steak was blackened and chewy. Kids chicken was burnt as cherry on top.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Food service in ambience is very good. We go there again. Food is delicious and inviting and comes with good service.
Restaurantji Recommends
Great service and food. A place to celebrate special moments and a place I like to go when I am in tiffin.Vegetarian options: Spicy Tofu, French onion soup, mushrooms gnocchi
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sea Scallops
Picked up my order today from the Empire. The $7 Caesar salad consisted of 4 small leaves of burnt Romaine lettuce and less than a teaspoon of bacon and Parmesan combined. That’s it. Although the kid’s burger and fries was good, if your kid likes ketchup with their fries you can see that what was in the order is NOT ketchup. So, if you must eat here, get the burger and fries and bring your own ketchup! Won’t be going back.
Food: 3
Service: 2
The entrees are excellent and the French onion soup is a great starter. I'm not a big fan of the specialty drinks, but save room for creme brûlée! The evenings with live piano are always enjoyable too.
Picked up my order today from the Empire. The $7 Caesar salad consisted of 4 small leaves of burnt Romaine lettuce and less than a teaspoon of bacon and Parmesan combined. That’s it. Although the kid’s burger and fries was good, if your kid likes ketchup with their fries you can see that what was in the order is NOT ketchup. So, if you must eat here, get the burger and fries and bring your own ketchup! Won’t be going back.
We asked for basics - salt and pepper. It never arrived. We had to find it ourselves from the bar. I asked for my steak to be medium rare. It was served well done. No bread was served with dinner as menu states. Wait person was apologizing to all tables around for various reasons. Wrong bill given to ppl next to us. No water refill after we asked.