The Empire Lounge & Restaurant

Meh....I will probably be back because its close to the new house and hip place....a place somebody will say let's meet at the empire...and I will go.   However, given the opportunity to eat out by myself in Louisville...there is not a chance in hell I would be back.

I would rather go to the Old Louisville Inn.

The service was barely ok, we saw 5 different people ask us for orders and deliver various parts....late. Our main server was much more interested in moving on to the next tip than making our experience pleasant.

The fries were $6 for frozen wedges.   The Ono fish was good, except for the raw parts that weren't cooked.  The "cool" "hip" style salads and accents were poorly constructed...as if somebody was working in a very good restaurant for a few months and learned some style, but they didn't learn how and were to serve it.

Goat cheese enchiladas were just YUCK.

I thought about getting a nice drink to cheer up my date and me, but thought that asking for a double would be shockingly expensive and still underweight to make up for the real need to make it a pony bottle and really change my mind.

My wife was very disappointed and will not be back.

Yum! Went for dinner with some family that was in from out of town on a recommendation, and everything was awesome. Drinks were good (a little pricey, but good), selection was great, food was awesome. I had the  hands down best grilled cheese ever (only thing that would have made it better would have been a really good tomato soup, but that's just my preference)! But what was even better, was my husbands dinner :) It was bucatini? I think? Spaghetti with pork and ricotta meatballs. They had the most amazing fluffy texture, and just perfect taste. Also had a fun looking atmosphere for happy hour or weekend drinks.

There were some good things here - but some definite service issues.   We were seated and had our server come promptly on a Friday night - so that was nice.   The guacamole and house-made chips were quite good we thought.   After a reasonable, wait our entrees came.  My fish sandwich, unfortunately, was completely burned - both the bun and the fish.  There was a distinct burning smell and the kitchen should have never sent it out in the first place.

When I flagged our server down, she took the entire plate away and said she would get another.   It didn't arrive until after my companions were all finished.   It was actually pretty good.   But there was no apology, no manager that came by, no check adjustment - just generally handled very badly.

So the food shows some promise, but the service and the kitchen judgment definitely need some work.