I sincerely dislike Chinese buffets, but for some reason every few years, my husband suggests we go to one. I will try to list off literally ANYTHING else as an option; even pulling into the parking lot, I said "OH lookie, a Taco Bell...the finest of Mexican cuisine" to which he said "We can get that for you after if you don't eat anything at Empire Buffet". I'm not a food snob, but does anyone else think buffet style Chinese food is the worse food concept ever? I will admit it was rather packed for what I consider to be the Walmart of restaurants. There were a lot of kids running around, and anytime I heard someone sneeze I thought "Sweet baby Jesus, was that on the sesame chicken?!"... I always feel like everything is oozing with germs, and it's a game of Russian roulette as to which dish is going to make me violently sick later. The food as a whole was just not good Chinese food-- everything tasted the same. Greasy and rather tasteless. I would honestly take the dollar menu at McDonalds before I would suggest coming back here. Hopefully my husband is set on his Chinese buffet craving for the next million years or so... 2/5 stars cause I surprisingly did not get sick from eating here. read more

Look, if you're taking the time to read this review, then what you're looking to eat is a Chinese buffet. And you've found a good one. I've been to a few in the area, but this one reminds me of the one that I frequented before I moved back to Syracuse. It has so many veggie options, stuffed mushrooms, mushrooms in oyster sauce, string beans in garlic, cheesy spinach, as well as chow mei fun, clams, bacon-wrapped crab (krab, probably), cheese wontons, pork dumplings, peanut butter chicken, and the classic chinese dishes that you'll find at most buffets. The sushi was a highlight - not only do they have sushi sitting out for you to take as you'd like, they will also make sushi for you on the spot. Nice touch. If you're looking for a decent place to get your Chinese food fix (you know the drill -- a taste here and there at the buffet without spending $$$ on takeout to get a little bit of everything), this is the place to go. read more

I bring this review as I sit on the toilet for the fourth time today. :-( This place as any buffet is quantity of food and not quality. Things looks pretty dry and looked like it had been sitting for a while and nothing tasted fresh. The only thing that was fresh was he crab cheese wontons. I could have killed someone by hitting them over the head with the rice crispy treats. I was on the fence about going here because of Yelp and should have headed the sparse reviews. They where so under staffed many dirty tables that where not cleared and to get refills took forever. When leaving I almost stepped in a big pile of vomit right at the front door. How hard is it for them to rinse that down? It was a total disappointment. Go to Five Guys across the plaza. Same price far better food. Oh the ice cream was okay, at least it was not a total fail there. Synopsis: Great place when on a diet. Puke your brains out when leaving. Crap your brains out the next day! Owners of Empire Buffet I'd be embarrassed of last night. read more

We have been coming here a few times a year, for the past several years. We visited Empire Buffet last night again and received the same consistent friendly service and enjoyable food quality that we have almost always gotten. I personally believe that Empire Buffet has the best selection and quality of food in the Syracuse area. They are consistently making sushi, which on a buffet scale of 1 to 10, I would rate a strong 7. I've had better quality sushi at a few other Chinese food buffets over the years, but not very many. (My recommendation to the restaurant: Branch out and put a couple of higher end sushi offerings in your selections and keep changing them up. It would be nice to see more variety in the selections.) The selection and quality of the rest of the dishes was still a strong 8 out of 10, which I still feel is the best in this area. At approximately 7pm last night, the restaurant was approximately 60-70% full, which it typically is each time we come here, which means to me that there are a lot of people eating here, they are just not writing reviews. We hadn't been here for a while and after reading the several latest bad reviews I was concerned about going here with my family last night. Once we got here and seen that they were still doing a great job, the concerns immediately went away and now don't exist. It's a very difficult job to offer as many dishes as they do and to maintain the quality that I expect, but they have been achieving it consistently for several years. No they are not perfect, so we have experienced some quality issues over the years, but they have been few and very far between. We are looking forward to our next lunch or dinner here! Enjoy! read more

Possibly the worst buffet experience I've ever had. Everything tasted like it had been out for days. Everything was flavorless and chewy, straight from heat lamp hell. The General Tso's "chicken" was all breading and gristle. The rice was dry. The vegetables were soggy and over-salted. I tried many other things off of this large and diverse buffet, but not a single thing was memorable. It all tasted the same: bland. In fact, almost everything tasted like - in order to combat the bacteria that inevitably grows on food that is kept lukewarm (it wasn't even hot) - the entire spread was sprayed with disinfectant, giving it a slight bitter taste. Starting about half an hour after our meal, I felt sick for the next 12 hours. Not food poisoning-level sick, but facing that direction. Buffets are a tough sell to begin with for a person like me, who can't eat a mountain of food in one sitting. But good ones are worth the $15 or so you pay for entry. This one wouldn't be worth half that. Needless to say, I will not be returning to Empire Buffet. read more

Not worth the drive. Lots of choices, but none were especially good. Hot foods were mostly room temperature. There were only 2 of us and she couldn't get the drink order right. No crab legs. Meatloaf that required a steak knife to cut and tasted nothing like meatloaf, but guess I shouldn't have expected it to. Reasonable price. Husband couldn't finish his meal as he began to feel ill. Upon arriving home, he was still ill even after taking medicine for the nausea. Could be just a coincidence, but he doesn't normally get sick when eating. read more

I'm not really sure what a lot of the reviewers on here were expecting, but empire is a great, cheap kind of dive type buffet, And I mean that in the best way possible. They have all the staples you're looking for, and it's busy enough that the food is getting replaced before it sits for too long. I try to avoid going in the last hour they're open since things aren't really getting refilled, but I love this place. read more

Love this place! Nice servers and good food! When I come to Syracuse in the summer, I visit this restaurant at least twice. My favorite foods here are the cabbage, green beans, egg rolls, and chicken on a stick. Vegetables are cooked the way I like them, which is soft and not crunchy. Everything tastes fresh and this place is definitely one of my indulgences. read more

I was surprised! Empire Buffet was so much better than I expected! After trying New Ling Ling which had 3 1/2 stars, I was like if Empire buffet has 2 1/2 stars, it is probably worse but I like the name Empire because somehow I think it sounds like a good buffet so me and my family went to try it out! Empire Buffet's appearance is so much better than New Ling Ling's. The lighting was great and the environment seemed so clean! They have an amazing variety of fruits to my surprise and many other foods. I really liked their dumplings which are different from a typical buffet. The chicken broccoli was also really good! They had fresh sushi, which I really enjoyed! What was really unique - fried frog legs! They were delicious! It literally tastes like chicken. I say give it a try! They look like chicken tenders. As for dessert, I had the lotus bean paste buns! I ate so many of them! I loved it! There is so much food at Empire Buffet but I can't name all of it. For a buffet in Syracuse where there is a small Asian population and few Asian marts, for less than $12 a person is a great deal! I highly recommend anyone to go there! read more

Worst Chinese buffet ever! I have been to many buffets and this one I barely took a bite of multiple foods and each one made my stomach turn. The only thing I liked was the potstickers, white rice, and deserts. One of the guys in my group ended up in the bathroom after trying a few items.... He was in there a while if you know what I mean.... The only good thing, sad to say was the pizza ( and that is being generous). read more

I'll start off by saying the selection of food was very good. They had a lot of variety and most of the food was very good and the prices were very standard. Pros: Their Korean Chicken, Coconut Shrimp (Which they called Walnut Shrimp), and Black Pepper Chicken were all very good! Cons: Their Peanut Chicken was very dry and unflavored, they're sushi was just so-so nothing to rave over, and their general tso's chicken tasted more like honey chicken and had absolutely no spiciness to it. All in all, it was good but it wasn't an amazing buffet. read more

The food was ice cold the rice was still the ribs were still nothing was good I wind up walking out only paying for my drinks I'm a very unsatisfied customer and there was hair in my food And they were very very rude read more

100% Chinese buffet. There's nothing worth remembering here. Great for some fake imitation crap,imitation scallops and some 3 day left overs imitation quality that IS almost worth the $10 I paid to eat here for lunch . I'm not so sure it would be worth anything beyond that. At $10 bucks what do you expect? Mc D's or burger king cost almost the same and they aren't all you can eat. read more

Wasn't sure what to expect given the wide range of reviews for Empire Buffet, but was overall pleasantly surprised. I think part of why we had a positive experience was that it was a busy Friday night, hence the quick turnover of food, making for more abundant choices, hot and fresher than it might be on an earlier weeknight. Service (such as we needed) was fine and the place seemed clean enough to me. I particularly enjoyed the non-overly-chewy squid and the frogs legs, which I love and seldom see in any restaurant. The fried rice looked awful, bright yellow, so I didn't try it, and the steamed bun had a black bean filling - was expecting the pork filled type. Don't like black bean, but that's me. Also the potsticker was pretty inedible - tough. But there were many other choices that were quite tasty. I finished with a passable piece of commercially-baked mocha cake and a small elephants ear pastry. Dunno why they didn't have the usual almond cookies. I couldn't find the chopsticks until I searched around the sushi bar some - I guess most of their clientele wouldn't know how to use them? LOL. I have to admit I wasn't impressed with the choices at the sushi bar, even though they were being assembled fresh as I watched. Keep in mind, I am someone who grew up in NYC & Boston, and have been to San Francisco many times, so I like to think of myself as someone who has eaten a LOT of decent to good Asian food. read more

We went here for dinner on my son's birthday and have never been so disappointed with a meal out anywhere. We've been going here for over a year and it ranged from good to excellent, but hadn't been in a few months. (My daughter ran to their bathroom to throw up the last time, but we thought it was a stomach bug since it was winter, not food poisoning. Thank goodness it was as we were walking out and she ran back, or there would have been quite a sight in their foyer.) What a mistake. Despite reading horrible recent reviews, I thought it might just be a bunch of whiners, dissatisfied with life and/or trying to get a comped meal. After just walking up to the buffet and seeing dry lo mein, dry, clumpy white rice, foamy debris in the won-ton soup (not particles of dough or cross-mixing from egg-drop but actual FOAM), discolored and wrinkled vegetables, RANK-smelling seafood, and a bizarre oozing and stink of the pork dumplings, we should have left. Instead, we went for sushi... the tuna had this odd, rippled look... like pockets of moisture but the surface was dry. There were black flecks and veiny things in the tuna rolls. The avocado in the other rolls had turned brown from sitting out so long. So, we turned to the "American" food as a relief. The "roast beef" was dried out and discolored, even after cutting a piece off to a fresher part inside. The mozzarella sticks hadn't.even.been.cooked, seeming instead that they planned for them to slowly heat under the lights... they were the right color on the outside but the breading was actually raw and gummy and the cheese inside was a perfectly-intact, string-cheese stick. To add to that, there's a middle-aged woman there who seems to be the manager. I caught her eye for a moment, before we'd even begun to eat, and she wouldn't stop staring. Her eyes were locked on my eyes and when I looked away, they stayed. I looked back and locked back onto hers... I'd say for 20 solid seconds until I laughed uncomfortably and asked her if there was a problem. She smirked and walked away. Freak. She was probably waiting for me to complain... it's like she really was waiting for it. We're never going there again. My son apologized to US for choosing this place for his birthday dinner... the poor kid. We went home and ordered a pizza and antipasto from OIP around 8 o'clock, because we realized that we'd all eaten so little there that we were starving. The Dept. of Health needs to pop into this cesspool and shut it down. read more

Not simply a Chinese buffet, Empire offers a considerable amount of American fare, too, such as pork roast, oven roasted potatoes, chicken nuggets, pizza, etc. But the Chinese food is their main attraction. While none of the dishes steps forward to be the leading man, everything seems made with fresh quality ingredients and is served hot, and that's what earned them 4 rather than 3 stars. This is key for me because I find that too many buffets don't keep the steam tables hot enough leaving the food barely warm enough to eat. A reasonable selection of acceptable sushi, a large selection of fruit and desserts and the usual soft-serve ice cream round things out. Service is prompt, the place seems clean and the price is right. read more

The yelp reviews that were actually giving this place a good score totally failed me. This was a basic buffet with a lot of options. The sushi was not good at all. Many of the foods that should be hot were barely warm. I know that can't be safe to consume. I'll chalk this one up to a total miss. read more

Just ok. The food was decent but the place needs a clean up. The waiters are slow on service, the shrimp was kind of yummy but the buffet line needs a wipe down. read more

When I was younger, my family would go to empire buffet at least once or twice a year on special occasions. We never had problems back then. Then one day, my grandmother took me to this restaurant with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. As soon as we were in the car, something felt wrong. I assumed I ate too much and was feeling sick. The next day however, I couldn't eat a single thing without it coming back up. My cousins also had this happen to them that day. I looked at the health inspections just a few minutes ago, and I'm honestly disgusted with this establishment. I leave 2 stars only because it used to be a good place to go. I hope they can recover. read more

Great buffet, clean and nice service. Nice presentation and great variety of deserts.

I've been a few times: Pros: - fairly large selection of food to try (highly recommend the walnut shrimp) - clean - relatively quiet Cons: - I happen to enjoy the staff, as they're not pushy, are very quiet, and I require little to no drink refills. To others that need more attention, they may appear inattentive. - Food is bland - if you like food spicy or with lots of kick and flavor, you won't find it here. - I wish the dessert section had more. Fried sesame balls with sweet red bean paste would be awesome. - Food turnover is low, making a few items cold/unappealing I come here every once and awhile, sometimes to eat and get work done. I highly recommend coming at a busier time, as I've never seen a big rush or crowd here. read more

The dinner buffet was extremely cold! The service was not good. We were never visited by the waitress for a drink refill. She also never gave us the bill so we went up to the cashier. The cashier was also very unpleasant! read more

DOUBLE CHECK YOUR CREDIT CARD STATEMENTS... They Overcharged / Unauthorized for an amount I DID NOT sign off on.. Refused to refund my money.. Lost our Business... And food is never hot and usually any of the chicken is dry & stale. Half way through lunch had to run to restroom w/ severe runs.. read more

If you wish to end up in an ER with food poisoning then this is for you If you wish to sit near dirty unwashed and no deodorant folks who describe the orgasms she had last night while her three wild kids touch the food after picking their noses and. Then you tell the wait staff what you saw and she looks like you told her she had cancer then this is for you she literally walked in one door and out the other with the same tray , the health dept needs to shut down this health pit read more

Best chinese buffet in syracuse! Price is reaonable, and food is great. Their hot and sour soup is awesome!

This place was recommended to my family by a friend as having fantastic food so we decided to try it out. Located in the beat up Paradise Plaza on Erie Boulevard. The inside is nice and the staff was friendly. They have a TON of food out, a good amount of it is typical American junk, pizza, mac n cheese etc. The food that wasn't American looked pretty good so I tried a little bit of this and that and that's when the trouble happened. I have a severe allergy to seaweed so I always avoid dishes like soups, seafood, sushi etc. I'm not oblivious or careless about the fact that it can kill me. So...I take a few bites and my tongue starts swelling and I start having a hard time breathing. It becomes very obvious to me that this is a cross-contamination issue and I'm livid. There is no excuse for foods to be prepared together like that. No reason to use a sushi board for chopping veggies etc. This is dirty, negligent and downright dangerous for customers. It was a mild enough reaction that I can pinpoint cross contamination. What if it was raw chicken or pork that was used on a board first and then veggies or fruit? It's a good way to make someone very ill. We will not be returning to this place ever again. read more

We didn't have the chance to eat a thing because one of the workers SHOVED my 3 year old son so she could replace the very important pan of corn. When I told her to get her hands off of my son she ignored me then proceeded to laugh. Unfortunate experience. read more

If I could give them 0 stars I would. The service was horrible and the food was disgusting. I went with a group and my boyfriend and I got there a few minutes later than everyone else. We paid ahead of time and told the hostess we were with a larger group and she completely ignored us. A server found us and ripped the receipt out of my hand when I told her our drink order. Asked for the receipt back so I had proof that I already paid and she walked away. Followed her and asked for it back several times before she gave it back and called me an ***hole. One of the employees came up to our table later on and told us to leave. We were still eating and we're not disruptive in any way. The food was old and cold or room temp- none of it was fresh. Absolutely disgusted with this establishment and will never be going back. read more

Do NOT eat here! Take this very seriously. Got the worst food poisoning I've ever had. Seriously, someone should call the health department on these guys. First they ignored me for 10 minutes while I stood there waiting to be seated. I also got dirty plates from the buffet stack at least twice. Their soup bowls at the buffet were full of bleach water still. Never once refilled my drink, which was just water. Food was just gross. Customer service by "Irene" up front was awful. If you need to go to a Chinese buffet, the one next to Delmonicos is better and friendlier service. New Ling Ling in North Syracuse is also better. Plus I have never gotten sick at either one. read more

It's affordable but the staff is very rude. The food is always cold and it's never fresh. They also accidentally refilled my boyfriends drink twice and they charged us for it. I felt rushed out and if I wanted to go to a buffet I'd go to Golden Corral read more

Had planned to go to the Texas Roadhouse but there was a bit of a wait so we moved on down Erie to the Empire. Staff at the front were friendly and showed us to a booth promptly. Place is well lit and looked clean. Server that took our drink orders was pleasant and efficient. Lots of choice of Chinese and American dishes. Perhaps too many choices. Big issue is that everything on the buffet seemed to be lukewarm, even the soup. What really disturbed me was a lack of control by the staff over the buffet tables. Shortly after we arrived a mother with four young children were seated near us. No problem with that however soon after being shown their seats the kids jumped up and ran to the buffet tables. Three were too small to see over the table but that did not stop them from putting their hands in the buffet dishes. Perhaps that is why they keep everything lukewarm? Anyway, the mother should have stopped that but failing that the staff should have stepped in to prevent it. I was happy to have grabbed some food beforehand. Will not return. In summary, goodbselection, friendly staff, decent surroundings, lukewarm food, sanitation concerns. read more

Considering the price ($11.50 dinner) for this all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, I give it a 4. There was a solid mix of more typical American food with the tremendous selection of Chinese food. There was also a Sushi bar, a salad section with lots of fruit and lots of desserts. read more

I had this buffet yesterday and when we walked in the door and to our table a kid was puking all over the floor. This should have been a sign not to eat there but we did anyways. Well we should have walked out when that kid was puking because the food was garbage. I don't think Americans know what a good buffet is. There was nothing Chinese about this buffet except for the servers. I'm from Canada and we know what a good buffet is. The bill for four of us was $75CA and it tasted like cafeteria food. Save your self time and money just make a trip to Canada and go a buffet right. I'm feeling the buffet now as I right this on the toilet. read more

As far as Chinese buffets go, this place is top notch...but, it's still a Chinese buffet (hence the three star rating). It is cleaner and more maintained than the average buffet, and the food selection is good enough that it is worth walking all around the amply laden buffet tables to make sure you don't miss anything. The favorites are present (general tso's chicken; wonton soup) as well as some refreshing alternatives (Korean chicken was spicy and savory...and the peanut butter chicken was an odd flavor combination, but worth trying). For me, the piece de resistance of this buffet that sets it apart from the others that I have been to, is the made to order sushi bar. Now, I wouldn't stop here if I was in the mood for good sushi, but It was fresh enough and tasty (think Wegman's sushi)...definitely a pleasant change from the usual under-the-saran-wrap sushi left out at most buffets. One caveat for me was that the desserts (baked goods) were left out in trays right next to the sushi making supplies, within inches of raw meat. A bit of a turn off for me; I'd skip the dessert. Both times that I have been here, the staff has been pretty inattentive. Meh...fairly typical of Chinese buffets, so I didn't weigh this in too heavily. read more

The people that work here were very rude and racist towards my group of friends and I. We were being very calm and it seemed like they thought that we weren't going to pay for the food because of the way we looked. Relax all of us have a great paying job, $11 isn't worth it especially for trash customer service and food that gave me a stomach ache the next day. read more

I enjoy the sushi here but the food is a little bland or overlooked. Not exactly sure which. I like to go here because it's good for my large family and everyone seems to be full at the end of our trip. It can be a little spendy but it's overall fine for those times when you don't know what you want. read more

I never take it as a good sign when Chinese buffets have items like pizza and mac and cheese, but there is enough of a selection here that you will find at least a few things you like. The most authentic Chinese food, like salt and pepper chicken is okay, but nothing stellar. A lot of the meat, like the chicken-on-a-stick, is chewy and past its prime, same for the sweet and sour chicken. Surprisingly, the best thing on the buffet is the sushi which was very fresh and nicely rolled. For ten bucks, this isn't the worst Chinese buffet in the world, it just needs some more fresh dishes with vegetables. read more

Not very bad, Very clean, quite, not the cheapest but a little worth it, the food tastes good. I wish if they could add more food to the menu! same food every time is not fun. read more

I struggle giving this place a negative review because I truly do enjoy the food here. It has potential to be better. I find it disappointing that they limit you to 5 crab legs at a time almost as much as I find it disappointing that the pan is always empty. It's a buffet, there should always be ample servings to go around for all of the dining guests. And on top of it this place rushes you out. It's a rare occasion to get a refill.i do love the sushi bar though.Variety is fantastic read more

My kids like this place so we go about twice a month, tonight I went and ordered a cup of coffee , it was so old and burnt to the point of undrinkable. When the bill came I asked the waitress to take the coffee off the bill and gave my reason why, she told me to hang on and got a manager, when the manager came over she asked if I drank any, I said no just my 1st sip and told her what was wrong with it. She then said next time you come in don't order the coffee. What!! She then said there is nothing wrong the coffee and next time I am not to order it!! I said that does not even make sense. I then asked to speak to a manger and she said I am the manager. What a nasty girl and shame on the owners to allow the managers to treat their customers like that over 50 cents. P.S the dishes were filthy. read more