Bagel sandwiches are always good and I like going there for lunch. Daily special is always reasonable, under $15 for big sandwich, drink and chips. A lot of the low reviews seem to be about the ownership change which isn't fair. They are doing a good job. read more

The service here is not good. This bagel store used to be my favorite place for bagels in the past but now things have changed very much. No smiles on the staff to start with. They all seem really unhappy and like they don't want to be there. The last time we went we were told that they close at 1:00 so we could not offer a grilled bagel sandwich at 12:30. They were cleaning the grill already and unwilling to make a sandwich. We tried another attempt today and were greeted again with no smiles. Also, they no longer have fountain drinks "because the machine kept breaking" and even though they have a Coke cooler, no Coke was available. They no longer sell Coke products or anything similar unless you like cream soda. Anyway, we are disappointed all the way around and will not be going back read more

Super nice people and great food. Was looking for a quick breakfast and they delivered a delicious one ! Great vibes to stop and have breakfast ! I'll be back to try their sandwiches! read more

Empire Deli & Bagel - A delicious Breakfast Sandwich on a jalapeño bagel ! With a nice cup of brewed coffee - Bagels Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

PI love this place for lunch. The staff was very kind and welcoming, and the food was AMAZING! I got a hot Italian, and I've never had one better than theirs. Other reviews said it was so dirty, but the past times I've been here it's been spotless. Tables are clean and the floors are shiny. read more

My co worker and I go here about every other day of the week and the bagels always came out great and glad I was able to discover this place and would recommend to others Lastly the service was really great and on point with the order and efficient on how fast they are. But overall the place was very welcoming and always ready to be greeted at the door till more visits! read more

I dont think this place is special. I felt like each bagel was missing something. The lox could of had more salmon instead of stashing all that cream cheese to make up for the lack of salmon. The sausage egg and cheese tasted bland if anything too salty from the everything bagel seasoning. Ill give it a 3.5 stars, gets the job done but not satisfied. read more

Empire Deli & Bagel - Lox and sausage egg + cheese bagel - Bagels Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

Love this bagel place. I always try to stop by when I'm on that side of town. They make a good bagel- crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The bagels are always consistent too, unlike some other bagel shops in town. I have only ordered breakfast from this restaurant but I've never been disappointed. The staff are friendly and even when they're busy they try to process each order quickly. read more

Good place for a quick, no frills breakfast bagel. We came in at 10ish and there was a fair amount of people inside but no line. They had a lot of bagel choices but ran out of Asiago. So we got an everything and jalapeño bagel, both with egg, bacon and cream cheese. They were good, a little messy. The staff member was nice. It's a small place and only a few tables. I'd come back when I'm in the area. read more

See all

The bagels here are pretty good. My husband got a Cinnamon Toast Crunch bagel with plain cream cheese, and I had a honey whole wheat bagel with cinnamon walnut raisin cream cheese. Unfortunately, the cinnamon walnut raisin cream cheese did not taste like it had any sweetener (sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc.) and there weren't many raisins to offset the spiciness of the cinnamon. It ended up tasting super spicy to me, which wasn't the most pleasant. My husband enjoyed his bagel a lot, but they put a LOT of cream cheese on. If we return, we will be sure to ask for very light cream cheese. read more

We love Empire Bagels! They are friendly and quick with making your order. We typically order online but it's also a cute place to sit and enjoy a bagel! read more

Fast service and great food! It is a very calm environment if you dine in as well. Definitely recommend.

This place used to be amazing, but there are new owners and they don't seem to care about the restaurant. The service is poor now, the restaurant is filthy, the people working there seem miserable, if it weren't for their food tasting good (when they get the order right) this would be a 1 star. Please find a new owner that wants to see this business thrive. read more

Authentic NY style breakfast sandwiches. Bagels and rolls are also delicious. Highly recommend it.

Everything about this visit was subpar. The service, the food, the place. I ordered the egg bagel with ham, provolone and tomato. The sandwich was huge but I just didn't find it that tasty. It was very plain. For a cheat meal, I was hoping for something more delicious. read more

See all

I LOVE EMPIRE!! This is our go-to place. It's absolutely lovely and family/locally owned. I would describe everything as simple and delicious. The price points are perfect and the food totally is worth it. I always get the flavors of cream cheese and a whole dozen bagels. I also go get their sandwich specials for lunch my favorite is the the Italian sub) Thank you empire!!! read more

This page needs to be updated as Empire Bagel is under new ownership and the Deli is quite different now. I have been three times since the change in ownership. Each time was for breakfast. I'm a creature of habit so I typically order a BEC on a Jalapeño bagel. It's been good each time but I with there was more of a Jalapeño punch in the bagel. Service is great as always and I think the new owner is helping up front and in the kitchen. I think she was the owner because she was super over-the-top friendly and accommodating and made sure we were happy with our food. I loved her positive energy and that's mainly why I'm writing this review. One small complaint is that they were out of tuna salad last time I went (my wife's favorite). Giving 4 stars for now as i wasn't particularly wowed, but I will continue to eat there and will update as the new owners get settled! read more

I certainly hope the people who own/run this establishment read these reviews because if they're not, they're wasting their time and everybody else's. Yes, there's some good reviews on here, but there are WAY too many that say the same things..over and over...and I've experienced several of these during my last two attempts at giving them another chance: -orders consistently wrong...like bizarrely wrong -Quality has gone down with new owners -indifferent staff and bad service -cleanliness unacceptable -refusing to fill orders up to 45+ minutes before closing because they've "already cleaned slicers/grill/etc" The list could go on. Gentlemen, please... if your heart's not in this, just find someone who wants to buy you out and who will have the desire to return this to the once amazing establishment it was years ago. You can't possibly be proud of the inconsistent product you're putting out, the reviews you're receiving, or the having to endure the pedantic musings of a once satisfied customer who won't be coming back after giving you more than a second chance. read more

Long time customer. It's our go to place for Bagels. Service is always good and prompt.

I love this place!! They have really good bagels and they let u make them however u want. They also use quality boars head meat u can buy by the lb for cheaper than any super market. But just love a simple bagel with turkey and some cheese...they make it happen consistently. Cool staff too!! read more

Food is mid. Service was crap, the kid at the counter was trying to rush us & they had their grill off at 1. ***They close at 2:30*** Not much to choose from bc of that. He tossed the food on the table at 1:30 and tells us they're going to "close soon" trying to hint for us to leave instead of sit and eat the almost $40 bagel and sandwich we paid for. read more

I used to come here about five years ago when I first moved to town as it was close to where we were staying. I have since moved across town and rarely in this area for lunch. Today I happened to stop in and was shocked with how filthy this restaurant is. Literally everywhere you look is dirty and dust and crumbs and food/drink mess that has not been properly cleaned. The kitchen was a mess, tables in the dining room were dirty, the windows haven't been cleaned, all around the trash cans were dirty and you could see where stuff has splattered on the walls that are just there to rot for. Who knows how long. Not sure if the owner is still involved but if you are reading this, walk into your place with a new set of eyes and see if you would want your wife and kids to sit and eat there. read more

Bring back the old ownership who were great and put out a great product for many years. This place should close because it is terrible and doesn't come close to what it used to be. Bagels are terrible, there are much better elsewhere in town. One Star is being gracious as the place looks like the food tastes! read more

I've been here 3 times for takeout and they've yet to deliver the correct order. Food is good, but always check what's in the bag before you leave. Pictured below is the lox bagel I ordered. It's supposed to come with tomato, capers, onion, and maybe some LOX! I'm losing patience with this place. read more

Empire Deli & Bagel - Lox bagel missing everything but the cream cheese. - Bagels Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

The worst thing is really bad coffee in the morning. This coffee is just color water just like the coffee on most donut shops. The cheapest no taste coffee at all. 20+ years ago this location under different name was the bomb. We would drive from Jacksonville just to eat here. Now, it's horrible. I specifically asked for 2X toasted. The bagel is even cold in the middle. Asked the girl to redo...she claimed I see it's toasted. WTF is this toasted. Other woman offered to redo but girls attitude done it for me. I ate half....the whole experience really sucks. Never again will I visit this place. read more

See all

Stopped in this morning for the first time. This place is life changing!!! My son took a bite of his breakfast sandwich and said "Wow!! They are so talented!! This is amazing!!" & he is right. We will be back...maybe every day....maybe twice a day. read more

Wow, this was our fav bagel place for years. Back visiting Wilmington and was so disappointed. Tables and floors were very dirty, ordered and paid for two bagel sandwiches and was give one and told there was only one on the ticket, staff was indifferent at best. Wish I had checked the latest reviews first. read more

A decent bagel, but nothing to write home about. Was a little disappointed that the Everything Bagel didn't have more on it. Should be renamed the Almost Everything Bagel. read more

quick, easy, and can handle a crowded rush. great quality too. stop by here if you get the chance! awesome local staple.

Pretty good bagels for NC. The service is fast and they have a decent selection of options. This is my aunt's favorite spot, she eats here weekly and swears by this place. They are pretty fluffy, which I like. 4/5 read more

Saturday 1-27-24 @ 7:36am. My wife and go to empire for the 1st time and our LAST. A tall skinny guy with long hair waited on us. We were such an inconvenience by walking in the business. He couldn't careless about us as customers. He was busy watching the TV. We were the only customer in the place. Now I know why. He messed the order up. When I went back to the counter to correct it he was very pissy about it. We looked around for a place to sit and every table was dirty. There were crumbs and dried ring marks from the last customers. The floors were very dirty as well. Sand was all over the floor making them very slippery. So that says the crew from the day before never cleaned the place. It was a Dump. BEWARE. Go to Davids Deli on Eastwood to have a awesome experience. read more

My go to bagel place in Wilmington. No frills. Good price. Great bagels. Very friendly staff. What more can you ask for? Highly recommend

thank you matt for yet again another tragic experience at the empire deli. were out of the only 2 sweet cream cheese options on a saturday morning, had to make an unfortunate impromptu decision of plain cc and honey. bread was stale. never again. read more

See all

Love the people they are soo nice and the beagles are fresh and good breakfast done right there I'm just happy I found this place

Bagels were AMAZING. Unfortunately won't be back due to the customer service. First guy we talked to was super friendly, second guys was terrible. Was rude, on his phone, etc. Too bad because again the food was so good read more

First time going here today, I'm really impressed. The food was great, clean cut, well made. Prices were great for the size of the sandwiches. The women at the register was super helpful and sweet. I definitely would recommend and we will be back! read more

Out of towner visiting a friend - ordered a garlic bagel egg, bacon & cheese with jalapeño cream cheese and it was delicious! Small business feel & very personal customer service. Definitely will return whenever in town! read more

This place used to be so good a few years back. It's getting worse by the day. I have to say I have made my last stop here forever. The service is terrible, I feel like I'm bothering them when I walk in the door. Same goes for the food. Bagels are trash and the sandwiches are better prepackaged at food lion than they are from this place. read more

Best bagels in town! Closest thing to New York style bagels we've found. Great breakfast sandwiches and subs. Friendly service.

Amazing place! Delicious bagels, great food, well priced, top notch service. I ordered a bacon-egg-and-cheese on a roll. A roll, no5 a bagel. It brought me back to mornings going to school on the Upper East side of Manhattan. Except that I didn't have to worry about the cleanliness of Empire as I often did in New York City restaurants. I also purchased a few honey wheat bagels. I didn't have these growing up but I'm glad they are a thing now. And Empire makes them well. It should also be mentioned that this place has true New York roots. "How could you tell?", you may ask. Well, any place with numerous Mets memorabilia is either owned by a New Yorker or a nut who like disappointment. Or maybe both... I kid, I kid. This place also provided quality service. They have made me into a regular patron. read more

Empire Deli & Bagel - Classic NYC bacon-egg-and-cheese on a ROLL. Perfectly complimented with a Snapple. - Bagels Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

Was excited for a good bagel but was super disappointed in trying the Pizza bagel - it was barely toasted, cold marinara sauce, cheese wasn't melted and everything bagel had no seeds. Do not order. Nothing worse than wasting money on bad food. read more