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RATINGS
Food
Service
Value

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CUISINES
American
Special Diets
Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options, Gluten Free Options
Meals
Lunch, Dinner
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meals, features
Reviews (96)
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LanguageEnglish
Traveler rating
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All reviews filet salad creme brulee piano player cooked perfectly celebrating a birthday small town appetizers ohio
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Reviewed 2 days ago via mobile

Service was absolutely terrible. Half the food was cold when it was brought to the table. I vomited 45 minutes after my meal. I am certain it was from my meal.

Date of visit: March 2024
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Reviewed October 5, 2023 via mobile

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.More

Date of visit: October 2023
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Reviewed May 6, 2023 via mobile

A really nice surprise. Lobster bisque was amazing, steaks cooked superbly, seafood pasta was a firm favourite. We had great serving staff and a nice touch having piano live music. Ran out of prosecco rather quickly which given this was graduation weekend for the local...University was perhaps a missed opportunity! Overall everyone of the nine in our party had a superb meal. I didn't really expect such good quality in such a small town in Ohio!More

Date of visit: May 2023
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Reviewed April 1, 2023

One of the best meals we ever had. Bread and olive oil wonderful. Appetizer was great. Main dishes very good. We had filet. Very tender, cooked perfectly. I had ganoche which was also very good. Topped off with creme brulee and a raspberry gelato. Fantastic....Piano player played great background music. Just plan on a little longer - service was good but a little slow which we enjoyed since we were there celebrating a birthday. All in all a phenomenal experience. We will be back.More

Date of visit: April 2023
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Reviewed July 23, 2022 via mobile

We were neglected and given horrible service. Worst experience ever. We were given the wrong order and our salads never arrived. We were offered free deserts but at a (fine) restaurant we expected at least an explanation from the manager about our experience. Nothing.

Date of visit: July 2022
Helpful?1  
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Reviewed December 11, 2021 via mobile

My friends and I get together every year for an annual Christmas dinner. My husband and I have been to the Empire a few times but it had been a while so I suggested that we try that. The ambience was great the piano player...was great our table was back towards the hallway where there was a breeze and it was quite chilly. Now we sat at our table for probably 12 to 15 minutes before anybody even greeted us or gave us the chance to order a drink. Our dinners came with salads which were wonderful but our main entree was not I got the sirloin steak that came with the Portabella mushroom and goat cheese the steak was overdone the potatoes were cold and the carrots were undercooked I mentioned it to my waitress but I did not want to send it back as we already had sat there for an hour waiting on our dinner. So I just didn’t eat it. Our waitress was so very slow which in turn made the entire dinner a place that we will probably never return as well as my friends who I took there for the first time unfortunately. A couple years back my husband and I went there and loved their grilled Caesar salad and they had some kind of pickle french fries that were wonderful, odd, but wonderful they were not on the menu the salad was.More

Date of visit: December 2021
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Reviewed September 13, 2021 via mobile

We visited here with friends to celebrate our anniversaries on a Friday night. To my surprise, they only had 5 customers when we arrived at 5:30. We were seated promptly. Our server Alaina was friendly and did a good job. My wife had the chicken...Piscataway with risotto. I ordered the scallops. We started off with an appetizer of crab cakes. The crab cakes were good but the portions are very small and hardly big enough to share. We substituted soup for our salads with an up charge of $2.00 each. The cup of French onion soup was good, could have had more cheese. Again the portion was like in a tea cup, very small. The Chicken Piccata my wife thought the flavor was good, the chicken she thought was a little tough. My scallops were cooked well but didn't have a char on them. The came on a bed of grains (like a crunchy barely). The menu said it was topped with a lobster sauce but I didn't taste any. Again the portions are small here and on the expensive side. $64.75 for the two of us with the appetizer and no drinks. The chef did come out to greet us and asked how we liked it. She even complimented us with desserts to celebrate our anniversaries. The creme beulee was great. We will try here again possibly for another special occasion. Inside is nice, white table clothes and well dressed servers. It is a business casual atmosphere.More

Date of visit: September 2021
Helpful?1  
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Reviewed September 26, 2020 via mobile

Daughters 18th Birthday dinner. Read the menu on open table, and had to check it out. Forgot so many restaurants consolidated their menu due to Covid, but still found plenty to enjoy 😊. Trendy atmosphere and decor, with modern music playing at a level that...reflected the upbeat happening atmosphere. Started with the Crab Cake Trio, three delicious and tangy sauces. Perfect crab ratio and not over done. Deviled Eggs were bland, but par for the cuisine. Finally the Roasted Mushroom Flatbread was the perfect size with the perfect sweetness. For course two we had the Seafood Bisque ( not lacking on the seafood), Tomato Basil Soup du Jour ( chunky and savory) and a house salad with plenty of blue cheese crumbles and candies walnuts. For the main course, I ordered the Sea Scallops (not dry packed) over wild grains and a creamy lobster sauce. A taste treat, and maybe they were slightly undercooked and dry packed. The Pork Chop Apple Jack was a winner for two of us, and the Brussels sprouts were firm and flavorful. A “not hungry” 19 year old had the Empire Burger with herbed chicken, and it was finished before I got through a single scallop. Creme Brûlée’s all around for desert, small size left us satisfied but not weighed down. My favorite part was the fine dining service. Everyone competes for speed these days. But 2 hours for four courses, time for conversation in between, and constant attention at ALL the right times will put this in my top 5 dining experiences. Only negative was the restroom. Soap shot out all over my shirt with a light push, and the mirror was a filthy mess. The rest of the restroom was pristine and very modern.More

Date of visit: September 2020
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Reviewed March 11, 2020 via mobile

Phenomenal food, great atmosphere, friendly staff, all you could ask for in a nice place like this. Drinks are above average, the salmon is hands down my favorite dish and the servers never pester, they check on you just right.

Date of visit: August 2019
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Reviewed March 5, 2020

This was a lovely place for lunch with my daughter and her fiancee, to celebrate her 26th birthday. The wait staff was attentive to her need for Gluten Free Options (celiac). I had shrimp for my entree and red velvet creme brulee for dessert and...both were fabulous.More

Date of visit: February 2020
Helpful?1  
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Reviewed February 29, 2020

Let me start with the first time I made reservations made them way in advance we show up our table is not ready so we wait by the bar elbow to elbow with others then they let us know that our table is ready as...we go over it's not so back to the bar to stand we go . Finally we go to our table place are order and 50 minutes go by and nothing the only thing that we have had so for is wine which is what we ordered from the bar nothing not even a stop or a conversation from our waiter too let us know anything like where our appetizer might be ! finally we've just had enough due to we've seen people come in after us receiving their dinners so I go up to the bar inform them in would like to pay for are wine and leave. They comp they wine thank you the least you could do the hostess was very apologetic and helpful though the whole thing mind you this was a special night for my husband and I. So we wait a whole year decided to give them a try again for valentines day actually go on Saturday the day after make our reservations we get there and we have a table so we are excited ok this is going to be great right ?! They are running a special for 2 for 100 bucks you got 1 warm ass salad 1 subpar steak some sad cold potatoes and 6 tiny parsnips (carrots) ARE YOU SERIOUS! not even a dessert gee thanks because my husband could have ate that meal himself. We ordered an appetizer and it was the pistachio cheese brie the bread that was served with it was so sopping wet with garlic butter . On the up note for the place the hostess was the same that we had the last time I mentioned something about chocolate wine and he brought me some raspberry chocolate wine I may as well drank my dinner give that guy a promotion to restaurant manager because he seems too know what hes doing. THE RESTAURANT IS BEAUTIFUL WITH A NICE Ambience due to the Piano music but dont let that fool you into believing your eating quality food ! Subpar and I've had better food at THE CLOVER CLUB! I WOULD NOT WASTE MY MONEY THERE IF I WAS YOU WE WONT BE RETURNINGMore

Date of visit: February 2020
Helpful?1  
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Reviewed November 6, 2019

Met some friends here for dinner and I was very impressed with this restaurant. Great menu, great service. I loved the atmosphere of the old downtown building, exposed brick walls, wood flooring and just a "good" feeling to the restaurant. I ordered from the appetizer...and side dish part of the menu and was happy with my choices. The Soup du Jour was a Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash soup that was delicious. Crab Cakes was next. I enjoyed the presentation. They were placed on a long rectangle plate and each crab cake, 3 total, was on a "schmear" of a trio of sauces. One spicy, one sweet/spicy and the last was similar to a Thousand Island without the relish. As a side dish I ordered the Seasonal Vegetables. Potato wedges, baby split brussel sprouts, onion, and parsnips roasted in a garlic olive oil mixture with light seasonings. I was completely satisfied with my choices and happy I ordered my "mixed bag" of food. My friends ordered pasta dishes and the ginger rice bowls and everyone was happy with their food. They also ordered desserts that looked wonderful. My biggest test and question for a restaurant is "would I go back?". The answer is Yes.More

Date of visit: October 2019
Helpful?2  
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Reviewed October 27, 2019

Made a reservation for bar area...arrived on time...stood at hostess table for awhile...finally bartender came over...his greeting was not so welcoming...advised we had res.for bar area...nothing was set up. Finally when we were seated noticed they no longer set table with linen & tea lights...like the rest of restaurant disappointing since ambience is part of the experience here considering cost of food...by the way art work is terrible doesn't fit the area. As we waited forever for our drinks to arrive I noticed how dirty drink glasses were sitting on top of bar all night long had anyone been sitting there it would have been disgusting....also a tray of dirty glasses were sitting by bar the whole time we were there no attempt to clean them...not pleasant to look at...in fact there was all sorts of clutter on the floor...tacky. In the past they had high top tables near entry door set up with the linen & tea lights very inviting now looks like junk tables and stuff on the floor. Our waitress was very nice but food not so much...great salad and bread...filet mignon was not prepared as requested and the veg.that came with it were undercooked and disgusting...to her credit the waitress did not charge us for the steak. What happened to the management here?More

Date of visit: October 2019
Helpful?1  
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Reviewed October 9, 2019 via mobile

Wow. What a wonderful dinner at the Empire in Tiffin. Our server, Sydney, was top notch. The food was excellent. We had an appetizer so no room for dessert. Good cocktail and wine choices. The negatives - our reservation did not transmit to the hostess,...but they had room to seat us at a nice table promptly. I had one item which I thought could have been better -> immediately replaced at no charge. No valet parking but adequate street parking in the evening, If we lived nearby, we’d come back frequently. The best I can do is recommend you not Miss the Empire 138.More

Date of visit: October 2019
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Reviewed August 19, 2019

Great food; high prices for a smaller city like Tiffin. Good for an appetizer or a couple drinks. If you want a meal, better bring your first born.

Date of visit: December 2018
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Questions & Answers
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Beverly65
April 3, 2018|
AnswerShow all 3 answers
Response from JOSEPH M | Reviewed this property |
I would say non-formal, but a nice business casual. We saw people with slacks and shirts, but some came in in nice jeans. You will enjoy the ambiance whether you're informal or formal.
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THE EMPIRE AT 138, Tiffin - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews - Tripadvisor

Frequently Asked Questions about The Empire at 138

The Empire at 138 is rated accordingly in the following categories by Tripadvisor travelers:
  • Food: 4.5
  • Service: 4.5
  • Value: 4.5