Empire Steak House

Confusing atmosphere. There is a more casual street side that is loud and jovial. Fun! The dining room reminds me of a mafia den but with current music. I was waited on and catered to so much, that I was uncomfortable. They serve your plate to the point where I expected to be spoon fed. I felt my every move and thought scrutinized. I’d like to be left alone to eat and shift in my seat as I please. The food was delicious, but expensive. Needless to say service was excellent, but clearly over the top. I wish them well, and I hope they relax as their restaurant takes off!

I can’t say enough about this place. The service was amazing, very attentive and great. The steak… holy cow it was juicy, delicious and cooked to perfection. The porterhouse for 2 was huge and so very good!!! You need to try the mushrooms… mouth watering. This place is the place for steaks. HIGHLY recommend

So much more left to be desired. We ordered off the main steak menu and were suprised with the cuts. We ordered bone in rib eye and were brought a sirloin type steak (no bone). We asked our waiter and he assured us it was what we ordered when visibly it was not. We would have appreciated a bit more courtesy with our observation but none was offered. We frequent the other Steakhouses nearby and know the difference between the cuts. A lower cost for the cuts may have justified the quality of meat but they are as expensive as more reputable Steakhouses.

If you need to plan a special party (bachelor, birthday, etc), look no further! The steak was PHENOMENAL, wait staff could not have been better and they really make you feel welcome. Get the NY sirloin, you won’t regret it.

They’re the best! good is already great but the staff is even better. went there for my wife’s birthday dinner with 11 other people. They really took care of us. The service is EXCELLENT. The bartenders are great as well. I would definitely recommend this place for a nice dinner or to have cocktails at the bar.

Buddy and I came here based on Unilocal reviews and it exceeded the rating which was already high. One of the best NYC experiences yet: drinks, fare and ambiance were great however the personal and professional touch by our server Mike and the manager Erol Music (that name) took it to another level. You can’t go wrong; you’re welcome.

Tomahawk steak was best steak I ever had. Service was amazing. We felt at home as soon as we walked in. Great place

One of my favorite steakhouses is Ben & Jack’s Steakhouse who are the same owners as Empire Steakhouse. Years ago, I use to regularly frequent Ben & Jack’s at their location on 45^th Street before they had closed. On most every visit, Jack, one of the owners, would greet us at the door and shake our hands.
Decided to try Empire this past Saturday as my cousin and his friend were visiting from out of town. The décor and overall ambiance of Empire was a bit more upscale than other steakhouses but without the any attitude you might find at certain upscale restaurants.
Anyway, the server had recommended the Emperor’s steak for two and the Ribeye steak for the 3 of us, which we all shared. The steaks wet cooked a perfect medium rare as ordered and the meat was tender and juicy. We also had the Empire salad, sautéed mushrooms and spinach. With each course, a team of 4 or five servers would serve each of us which was very nice but meant I didn’t have an opportunity to take pictures of the food.
Anyway, about midway through our dinner, I had asked our server if Jack was working that night, and he said Jack had just arrived a short while ago. A few minutes later Jack came by our table to say hello and comped us a round of drinks! A very generous and unexpected surprise.
Overall, I can’t say I have anything I could possibly complain about. The food and service were impeccable. Would highly recommend Empire Steakhouse to everyone!!! It will be well worth the experience!

I went for lunch here with a colleague recently. Although it was surprisingly quiet for a Friday afternoon, we really enjoyed our meal. The room décor is beautiful – very old school New York. The staff were attentive and constantly checked on us, without being overbearing. The food was excellent, from salad to dessert. Not the best steak I have had in the city, but very enjoyable nevertheless. Their home steak sauce, which the host had hyped when we arrived, complemented the meat well. Indeed, we found the prix fixe to be a great value.

Flavor: 9
We tried two cuts: the tomahawk rib eye, and the «Emperor’s cut,» which is a T-​bone steak from the rear portion of the animal that has a much larger tenderloin side. I’m not quite sure how this is different than a porterhouse, unless what they offer as a porterhouse is more accurately described as a T-​bone, which generally has a smaller tenderloin side.
As you can see above, it looks a bit overcooked. With such a large hunk of beef, that is always a concern. Pair that with the hot plate presentation and some graying of meat is bound to happen. Much of the cut was fine, however, and the large tenderloin was very flavorful. The sirloin side was a little tougher, but this was a welcome texture change from the super soft tenderloin side. Flavors were very meaty, there was a great sear on the outside with a good crust, and the steak was well seasoned. In any case, I’ve decided to also include this cut on my porterhouse page even though it is also on the «other cuts» page as a T-​bone. I feel like some diners may expect this was a porterhouse. I do, however, think the price tag on it is a bit hefty when compared to their porterhouse for two. I’m curious about the porterhouse and why it is so much cheaper that this cut. Is the porterhouse on the menu actually a T-​Bone, which would mean that the emperor cut is actually the true porterhouse? ⁸⁄₁₀.
The tomahawk rib eye was by far the better steak at ⁹⁄₁₀. There was a good amount of funk to it, likely from the aging process, and it was cooked perfectly to the specified medium rare. The fat cap was a good size too, as you can see from the up-​turned slice below. There is almost an equal portion of eye as there is cap.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 10
All of the major cuts are prime and/​or dry aged. The quality here is definitely a cut above (knee-​slap). There are many sizes of porterhouse, multiple versions of the rib steak, several filets and even some off-​cuts like the T-​bone. In addition they offer A5 grade Kobe Wagyu filet and rib eye, imported from Japan.
Portion Size & Plating: 8
Portions here are all fairly large, and plating is simple, without too much flourish. For some items, however, they do make a solid attempt at beauty. The seafood platter, for example, is gorgeous (see below). And all plates were cleaned and wiped of any splash before coming out to the table.
Price: 9
Menu prices seem to be pretty good. There are some items that are very fairly priced, like a porterhouse for two for $ 96. I think the tomahawk steak ($ 65), and the emperor’s steak for two ($ 120) are a bit steep, but there are other alternatives. For example, if you want a rib eye you can choose the regular bone-​in at $ 49, which is under the average price point for midtown steak joints. The porterhouse might be a cheaper alternative to the emperor’s steak, but, like I said above, if you’re all about the tenderloin, then that emperor’s cut might make more sense. The cool thing here is that you are getting great quality for that price either way.
Bar: 8
The bar area is pretty nice. It’s not huge, but it makes the best of the space, with street-​side high tops and large door-​sized windows that open out to the sidewalk. The bar has a good selection of single malts as well, and they make a good martini.
Specials and Other Meats: 8
There were no specials read to us, but this place does offer a fair amount of alternative meats, like lamb, veal and chicken. I didn’t notice any pork other than our bacon app. We tried the rack of lamb. This shit rivaled the beef. It was super flavorful, really well seasoned and perfectly cooked.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 7
I’ll just fire these off quick. First the seafood platter. I was a little bummed that there were no clams, oysters or mussels. Also, the lobster was completely flavorless, as were the shrimp. That was probably the only thing lacking in this meal, and that’s what is dragging down the score here. But the lump crab meat was absolutely delicious. No lack of flavor there. Also, it was beautiful when it came out to the table.
As you can see we also tried the Canadian bacon. This was great. I highly recommend this when you come here, as there are very few other bacon apps that are quite as good. Pictured below is just a half of one slice (we ordered two slices to share among four people).
We also tried the creamed spinach and truffle mac & cheese. Both were excellent. In fact I was wishing I wasn’t so full on meat, because I wanted more of that mac & cheese!
Last, we also had some onion rings. These were lightly battered on the outside, tender on the inside, and lightly seasoned. We all liked them a lot.
For dessert, we shared an apple strudel and a slice of chocolate mousse cake. Both were amazing. The chocolate mousse cake was light and fluffy, not overly sweet, and had a really nice or… REVIEW CUT FOR LENGTH

Walked in w my manager for lunch this Friday. We didn’t have reservations but they gladly welcomed us. It was seriously quiet with only a handful of tables. But the decoration is amazing. The high ceiling with beautiful chandelier and they had a private dining area as well inside a wine cellar /​vault. The complementary olive oil and bread was delicious. We both ordered the French onion soup as my manager had dined there the week before and recommended it. It was one of the best I’ve had. I had the boneless rib eye. The portion is perfect for lunch and absolutely well seasoned and tasty! I was too stuffed and to try any dessert, but I shall return to try!
The service was so friendly and attentive! smiles from beginning to end.
One detail to women, the ladies room is dimly lit and the stalls are not deep to stand inside and close the door comfortably. Thank god I’m petite, but I can’t imagine woman larger than me. And, the toilet paper was one ply, but they afforded soft thick hand towels. To me that just doesn’t make sense.

I travel the whole US in my business, NY City, to New Orleans, to Houston, San Francisco been in almost every big City. I was in NY City Sunday and Monday, stayed at the Affinia 50 Hotel. The Empire Steakhouse was next door, my co-​worker and I thought we would try it,
This was the a Fantastic meal. I had the best French Onion Soup I’ve ever eaten, and I have had hundreds. I also had the Portabella stuffed with Crab meat. Off the scale. Charlie had the Ribeye and it was beyond perfect, Cooked and seasoned to perfection, He couldn’t finish it, the food was not the only magnificent part, the waiters were excellent, friendly and dressed sharply with bow ties. We were dressed in jeans and golf shirts, thought we would be thrown out when we first walked in. We were really mistaken, the two Restaurant Maitre d’s were the best I’ve ever met, we even spoke Italian. As we were leaving I stopped and spoke to Jack He offered us a cocktail on him.
NEVER in all my experiences eating out has any Maitre d offered a drink after a meal «Fantastic». My friend doesn’t drink so I said no thank you, yet we still talked for another couple of minutes. They made us feel like we had been life long friends. Five Stars isn’t high enough for this Restaurant. I’ll be back in New York three or four times this year, and don’t care what the cab fare is I’m coming back every time.
Thanks JACK.

Stopped in for a couple glasses of wine after walking around the neighborhood. The bar area had a nice ambiance. There was a laid back vibe in the air. Very comfortable. Server was pleasant and helpful.

We came here for a Valentines day dinner. I must say the food was great. We had the dry aged porter house steak for 2. Sides of truffle mac and cheese, and mashed potatoes. And we started with the baked clams. We had so many servers come to our table. They did not leave us alone, all they wanted to do was serve us, which was wonderful, but i also have two hands. Being a foodie made this experience very difficult because they kept trying to serve me while I’m explaining that I need pictures before I eat. I know that this is the restaurants culture but you must accommodate me and my needs. I hope to return.

Recently opened, and the space has been redone from its prior incarnation.
They’ve done a great job. It is modern yet very cozy. And it’s a fairly large space, with high ceilings in the main dining area.
We started with the heartland salad, which includes their excellent, crisp, bacon and luscious blue cheese dressing. The stuffed mushrooms were fantastic, filled with crab meat. And the oysters were great as well.
For steaks we had the porterhouse for two, medium rare, and medium plus filet mignon.
The steaks were perfectly prepared, sizzling, and very tasty. I’d definitely rank them among the best, if not the best, in the city as of this writing.
Creamed spinach was good. Fried onion rings were awesome.
We ordered a fish dish, and unfortunately I forget which (not salmon) and this, I though was more mediocre. However we also prefer a couple of pasta dishes for kids, and they were great (marinara and vodka sauce).
For dessert, we had an excellent by cheesecake. The lava cake was more mediocre as the outer portion of the cake was not very moist.
The service was excellent. If you are a steak fan, you must check Empire on the east side out.

Mid-​level steakhouse that replaced an awful Mediterranean spot. Steaks and sides are serviceable but cost the same as the best steakhouses in NY so not sure why you would seek this place out. Slice of carrot cake for dessert was paper thin, wine pours frugal — definitely didn’t have the indulgent feel of an expensive steak dinner. Still early for this place though and the space is swank so there is hope for improvement.

Amazing steakhouse! If you’re going to splurge, this is the place to do it. Alternative location from the 54^th street Empire. Recently redone with plush, lavish décor. Reminiscent of good times past. Beautiful center chandelier hangs from talk ceiling with a lower level of tables surrounded by booths that line either wall. Very comfortable. The waitstaff is amazing, very attentive. Porterhouse was cooked to perfection, and that onion bread! Yummy!

Great addition to the midtown east steakhouse scene. Décor of the spot is sexier than any steakhouse in the vicinity. Appetizers are more than fine but the Cajun ribeye gives competitors a run for their money.

Brothers Sinanaj did it again!!! What a great room, born to be a Steakhouse. Our porterhouse for two was perfectly done and knowledgeable staff suggested a great bottle of California Cab to go with, I highly recommend this place if you are in the mood for a great steak and unobtrusive cordial service.

I just ate here, and it was a wonderful experience. The sesame tuna was great, & the tiramisu was clearly authentic. I’m in town for work, so I was there by myself, & they could clearly tell I was from out of town. They paid a lot of attention to me & really tried hard to make my night nice, even giving me a complementary lemoncello. I’m back in my hotel room & I’m still smiling. Thanks for making a girl feel welcome in the Big Apple!