Dan Rooney's Cafe & Pub

I do not gamble, but I decided to try Empire City's new restaurant and was amazed. The place is beautiful and looks like a true Irish pub, but nicer! The place is decorated with a large wooden bar, large beer mugs on top of the shelves, two pianos in the middle, many televisions, and an open view into part of the casino floor. It is very cool. The menu had many options, I got the cobb salad and potato wedges, which were both amazing! My friend got the Rooney Burger, which she also found delicious. To top off our dinner we got the Ice cream sundae. This was AMAZING and even had guinness ice cream. The service was good and the food did not take long. I would definitely recommend trying this place, as I will be heading back soon.

I am not a casino person by a long shot, but Dan Rooney's gives a very compelling reason to come to Empire Casino.

To celebrate my father's 70th birthday, I wanted to fulfill a dream of his: going to Empire City. Since Empire Terrace is not open on Sunday nights (no horse racing), I looked over the other options. In the end, I'm kind of glad the Terrace was closed - we were thrilled with the service we received! Here's why:

Options for small groups - I called well in advance to let them know of the occasion. We had someone who stayed in touch, and offered many options. I originally estimated a party of 10. I could have paid for everyone, a dollar amount per person, a drink for everyone etc. - in other words, I didn't have to lock my small family party down to a choice of "chicken or fish". In my case, I had everyone except my dad quietly chip in, and I sprung for a special cake, which leads me to...

Flexible dining for people of many dietary needs:
I'm giving these folks 5 stars, because I had some very special requests! The first of these was that my party had type 1 & type 2 diabetics as well as gluten/dairy sensitive people (self included). After some idea exchange, my contact at the restaurant arranged to have made a sugar free (splenda based) chocolate torte. Other options included an almond torte, or even bringing my own cake, which they would have cut for a minor serving fee. The cake was beautiful, tasted very rich, and even better - my father was able to eat it & feel well.

As for the main dishes- it's Irish dining - don't expect tofu, the focus is on meat! However, there is a really nice variety of food here, including traditional comfort foods, such as Shepherd's pie & corned beef & cabbage; most everyone will find something they can eat here. Heck, there's even a veggie pita sandwich! The staff was happy to answer any questions we had about any dish, and readily make suggestions.

The guys in our party were in heaven particularly enjoying their crisp, fish & chips, while I enjoyed the fresh rotisserie chicken - with sides, the portions are perfect and the presentation is pleasing. Although there was a slight mix up in the level of cooking for my mother's steak, they immediately sent it back to correct it, and when she did receive it, she found it to be very flavorful.

The atmosphere is warm, inviting, with a touch of class:
It's been many years since I've been to anything with the word "pub" in it (not good luck in the past), but whoever did the layout and decor is brilliant - they kept only the best parts. Notable are the heavy, lovely bar stools for the loners to share a drink over a game, tables for groups surrounding a piano, and - although I hate to give away my favorite spot... these fantastic booths which have curtains, giving a sense of privacy, but also have a TV if you want it. When my party dropped down to 6 (due to some confusion with travel arrangements), we added a chair to the end of one of these booths (thanks to the staff for the idea). With special advance permission, I brought my laptop, a hotspot, plugged into the outlet under the TV, and brought more family in via Skype. My dad was thrilled, and so were we. I understand that the restaurant will soon have WiFi available in the near future. Bring a set of mini speakers if you do what I did - the sound level is moderate, very good for holding conversations, but you'll need a boost to hear your online friends.

By pure luck, we came in on a night when the piano man was in. They made it very easy to make requests, by providing sheets at the table. In addition to several other songs, on our request, the waiter and piano man arranged to sing a lively version of Happy Birthday, mentioning my dad's name several times throughout.

We had a great time, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them for a regular dinner or special day. Do give them a try!

A friend and I were in Empire City Raceway and decided to check out the new restaurant we were told had just opened. The space is very nice - had a very traditional Irish feel, and we were greeted by a very pleasant host and equally friendly server. Despite being very busy that day, the service was on point.  We tried a few items based on our server's recommendation - the Smoked Potato Chowder and the Fish & Chips. Both were quite good. We washed it down with a few pints of Guinness and all in all had a great experience at Dan Rooney's. If we return to the Raceway we will certainly come back for a few drinks and a bite.