Be cautious when considering this eye center. I paid a large deposit for a LASIK consultation and was told in writing that it would be refunded if I was not a candidate. After my evaluation, I was informed that I was not a LASIK candidate but qualified for a different, more invasive surgery that I did not want. Despite their written refund policy, they refused to refund my deposit. The staff was very friendly during the consultation process, but communication changed once I declined the alternative procedure and requested my refund. I left several messages and was promised a callback, but never received one. read more

Just a quick stop in , spoke to Brianna at the front desk to get my prescription she was very nice and courteous as well as offering me a cold water instead of the room temperature ones that were sitting out i. The waiting room, another great experience with Empire Eye and Laser Center. read more

See all

Time to update this review. I've been having some issues with my eyes and needed to get them checked to establish a baseline before starting a new medication. The front desk staff is always very friendly, and I really like the doctor I saw. During this last visit, a technician handled some of the tests. I'll be returning soon to review the results. 1/28/25 read more

See all

High praise for Dr. Andrew Kao and Empire Eye and Laser Center. I came here for cataract surgery, and everything went extremely well. Dr. Kao is friendly, knowledgeable and helpful for even nervous patients. His schedulers went through everything with me, dates and medications and provided a clear cost schedule without surprises. The surgery is fast and pain-free and recovery times were quite reasonable. I urge anyone considering this procedure to visit here first. read more

Excellent from the check in, Dr Vin was very thorough in my eye exam, answered questions and concerns, check out was quick and easy. Professional, courteous and time efficient, thank you!! read more

Experience is mixed. The medical staff is very good; the administrative/appt schedulers should be working for DMV.

From the front desk to the dr to the employees in their offices: friendly and professional! The waiting room is welcoming. The Dr (Huggins!) was knowledgeable and professional in her exam, diagnosis, and prescription. Overall, an excellent experience. read more

Entire staff is just lovely! Recently had lasik done on both eyes, and the entire process was so easy. Staff was friendly and knowledgeable, Dr. was very skilled and prepared me well for each step. Jessica was an absolute angel who checked on me personally through everything. Would highly suggest if you are looking for somewhere or on the cusp. read more

Dr Dang is incredibly knowledgeable. It took me 2 years to find the right doctor to treat my chronic dry eyes, as well as treating some other visual issues. He always takes the time to answer all my questions and completely explains my diagnoses and treatment options. HIs calm demeanor and his ability to focus on the patient at hand is an added bonus. - PJ Johnson read more

Since I started going to Empire Eye I have had two successful eye surgeries and I can now see again. Dr. Dang and Dr. Kao and Dr. Chang has taken such good care of me. I know that I am being taken care of by the best eye doctors and employees that I could go to. If you want the best care for your eyes you need to make a appointment with Empire eye in Bakersfield. They have the nicest employees and the best doctors. They are always on time and give such great service to their patients. I guarantee you will be happy with Empire Eye. read more

See all

Was a patient for over 15 years. Staff is normally incompetent and I never saw the same office people. Likely there's a retention problem. Informed my Dr. I was moving out of town on my last appointment. Also signed a document to release my records to my new ophthalmologist but when the new people called, Empire Eye said they have no record of release form. Had to call Empire Eye to sign another release form electronically from 1300 miles away and they made it a real pain in the butt. They finally sent my records which were an out of order, jumbled mess and my new provider had a difficult time figuring out my history. It has been at least 2 years since my last appointment with Empire and they are still harassing me by text about setting my next appointment. They may have decent Drs but the staff makes dealing with them very frustrating. You may want to take your time choosing your eye doctor. I wouldn't choose Empire if I had to do it over again. Uncaring staff is a big deal breaker to me. read more

It is sad that "Dr Chang" declined to accomodate my husband for eye surgery a couple days right before his Scheduled appointment. My husband is wheelchair bound and Dr. Chang decided at the last minute to cancel my husband's already scheduled appointment. But Dr Steven Yaplee at Triangular Eye Care had no problem doing both my husbands eyes and is very competent, and suberb working with anyone no matter their physical mobility. So if it wasn't for Dr. Chang's "lack of" willingness to help , we would of never met the Superb Work of Dr Steven Yaplee and his entire staff read more

This place is very professional they are very attentive and the doctors extremely inteligente and perfectionist. On my last visit I learned so much and I want to share with the YELPworld! Their slogan is "see better, Look better" So they have services like cataracts surgery, lasik, and what they are most popular for cosmetic surgeries. This place has so many amazing doctors you need to go on their website to see all the incredible things they have accomplished. I have only gotten the privilege of meeting Doctor Joseph Chang that specializes in plastic surgery with most advanced technology. He is very nice person that has tons of interesting stories to tell but most importantly he is very detailed and neat in his work. As a long-term patient I know I'm always in good hands. read more

See all

Great eye care for my 11 year old daughter! I would recommend Empire Eye and Laser Center for the whole family. read more

My vision and eye care check is always very thorough and I am very comfortable asking questions or clarifying diagnoses or treatments Dr. Dang has recommended. I really appreciate this about the office. The wait is oftentimes longer than I would like, but the care is worth it. read more

Always a great experience. Friendly, helpful staff. Great facility, relaxed atmosphere. read more

Dr. Kao can not be recommended highly enough by me. I returned to Empire looking for a surgeon that had been previously recommended to me, to perform a difficult surgery. I required a surgery that at that time, they nor other Drs. We're willing to do. I was lucky to find that Dr. Kao had joined the team and after a thorough investigation of my eye, was confident and skilled enough to do the work at Empire. Dr. Kao is highly credentialed, up on new technology and very skilled. Dr. Kao was also very thorough in explaining all aspects and answered all my questions.. Dr. Kao and staff were so kind and so professional, I felt to confident in their hands and at ease. I am very satisfied with my results! I am so happy with all aspects of Empire Eye and Laser. The facility is clean and well appointed, the staff friendly and very helpful with my insurance and questions and the scheduling of my Eye Surgery. Thank you Dr. Kao, for improving my vision, you've made my quality of life so much better! To follow up 5 years later. I returned to Dr. Kao 5 years later, to have my other eye fixed. As with my first experience, the facility and surgery center were impeccably clean. Dr Kao was efficient and thorough. He placed a small device for pressure in eye, to relieve pressure. Dr.Kao is a great surgeon, for both the complex and simpler procedures. His staff also provided excellent customer service always available, to answer every question. Like Dr Kao, both professional and kind. Empire Eye and Dr. are highly recommended. Thanks for taking care of my vision health! read more

Esther was such a sweetheart. I'm very sensitive when it comes to my eyes and she had a lot of patience with me. Overall, I was able to get the results fast. I was worried that I was developing cataracts, but thankfully, the doctor gave me some better options for eye treatment for dryness And I was relieved that how quickly and professional everything went. I recommend the business very highly. read more

The staff and doctors are very nice, helpful and courteous. I had cataract surgery with Dr. Chang and have had zero issues or problems. Empire Eye is a great place to go to for your vision needs. read more

My first time to this office. I had heard multiple bad reviews of another eye surgery place on Meany concerning their terrible receptionist so I definitely did not want to go there. But I was recommended Dr Kao at Empire Eye and laser and from the moment I walked in and was greeted by the staff and called back so quickly and professionally I knew this was going to be a great experience! They were thorough , polite, professional and considerate in every way. I definitely give them a high rating and review!!! read more

Referred to see a specialist. Paid $175 to hear a young OD tell me he is not a retina specialist. Cha-Ching, another consultation fee, high five everyone. Refereed me to California Retina. California retina wanted $500 for a consultation. Absolutely ludicrous. I have now taken my mother in law to two specialists and need to see a third. When I heard $500 as a consultation fee, it finally dawned on me. At 36 years old I regret to inform everyone, but my old man was right. They are nothing more than crooks. I have a 70 year old mother in law who simply needs some eye care. My wife and I will gladly pay out of pocket for the care. We are completely grounded in reality and know it will cost 10000 cash. No sweat. But these people want to milk me out of a couple of thousand dollars in consultation fees before we get to the surgery. This is disgusting behavior. Absolutely a racket. I had to learn. From trial and error (because I am not a doctor I am a regular joe) their billing system to finally arrive at the correct type of Optometrist. I am very disappointed. Now that these medical atm machines have taught me what I have to look for, I have scheduled an appointment with Pacific Retina Clinic in Lancaster CA for only $200 for the initial cash rate consultation. The doctor is not only a retina specialist he is also the performing sergean, if its retina related he will be the person performing the procedure following consultation. Obviosuly from now on I will only be scheduling my eye care exams with a Retina Specialist. Heading to a standard Optometrist is like going to the jiffy lube to get directions to a real oil/lube shop. Be aware that Empire has no apathy towards its clients only looking for the billing opportunities. What a real shame. Nice office, but shady practices. We are accustomed to the rental scams, with all the credit check fees. This is one of those places. They don't really practice eye care here they practice consultation fee generation here. Very very sad. read more

The staff is very friendly, Dr Dang is very knowledgeable, about treatment of dry eyes,he does an excellent job in trying to get the best treatment for his patients. I have been going' to him for several years. My insurance change and his has been working with the insurance to get my medication. Some of my medication have been denied, what they recommended he do to have my medication approved he does. read more

All the staff and doctors were very professional, helpful, polite and knowledgeable. Careful consideration of cleaning . I thought I was only going to go once, but they can help me and I definitely will be back! read more

Dr. Kao was great! He explained everything about my husbands surgery and has a great bedside manner. His entire staff was very polite. His office is clean and decorated tastefully. Great experience! 5 star! read more

I had my LASIK consultation today and it went well. Staff was friendly and helpful! I plan on scheduling my procedure.

this is an efficient and exceptionally well-run medical office. all staff from front office to back office and Dr Albert handled me professionally and courteously. i was allowed to ask many questions, all of which were answered with confidence. i have been very fed up with medical offices over the past six years. this place has restored some confidence in me. i've had a lot of issues with my eyesight over the past 20 years. today's appointment along with an action plan that has been developed has given me hope. read more

Go else where. I and my family have been a patient there for years and my family has done three eye surgeries, procedures and buy skin care from here. Lots of money spent. Well over 15k. My kids had a terrible flu (vomit and the works) I called the day to tell them I'm sorry I missed it I didn't want to spread the flu throughout their office and they were curt and advised me of the 50$ charge. They clearly do not care about their customers at all and only what their money. There are plenty of places to get Botox, ZO, noon, BBLs, etc. I have been very loyal to this place and recommend it OFTEN , but to be disregarded and have no compassion for the situation, nope. I'll be sure to never recommend again. read more

Poor communication! My daughter was a patient there of Dr. Bajwa. They never called me to Schedule a follow up appointment. When I called them to do that they informed me they no longer offer the service she was receiving. Wouldn't let me speak to the Dr to figure out where to go from there. Very unprofessional! I can't stress enough how I WOULD NOT recommend this for vision issues!!! read more

I arrived 2 minutes late for appointment (to the minute) and was informed they had to reschedule me. Totally unacceptable but apparently that is how they do business. They should get half a star. read more

I paid them over $5000.00 dollars after insurance paid for. My 2 cataract surgeries on both eyes. My eye sight is worse then before my 2 surgeries. They are fast talking scam artists. Do not go here. read more

Dr Dang is one kind and gentle Dr always on top of his game. Thorough in explaining what is going on with my vision. His staff is always smiling which tells me that behind the scene he is a very gracious man. The entire Dr staff at empire is a diverse group of specialists all in one eye care read more

I took my son here when he was 6 months old because his eyes would turn in. The staff was friendly and kind (hence the two stars), but they did not adequately tend to my son's needs. They told me that his eyes were fine and nothing needed to be done. I disagreed and took him to Dr. Tawansy (highly recommend). Within 1 minute, he realized that my son needed surgery. My son ended up having two surgeries to correct his Esotropia. I am so glad that I got the second opinion as Empire did not meet my expectations. Go elsewhere! read more

Empire Eye and Laser Center - My son before surgery - Optometrists Near Me - Bakersfield, California

I appreciated the cleanliness and orderliness of this center for my mother's cataract surgery. But upon followup, I was disappointed in one of the tech's behaviors in the exam room before seeing the doctor. He was abrupt and impatient with my elderly mother as he tested her vision. He gave her the eye cover which covered one eye and alternatively has a function of several holes in it. He kept expecting her to change it back and forth, when previous techs had done it for her. He even snapped at her that she was "going to break it" when she tried to do it herself. I told him she hadn't done it herself and didn't know what she was doing and he still was impatient. Smiling while annoyed, you could say he was. I didn't like that at all. Other than that they were fine. read more

Extremely laughable that on a "consultation" no show to send me a $50 bill. Ha all extreme low and will be sure not to return here. After high reviews from my eye dr and then this? What a joke!! read more

Have been going here for years. But time and time again, front office of Parkway Optical and Empire eye are always rude and unhappy with life. They answer the phones and greet customers with disregard of hospitality. If they aren't happy with their jobs, or if the work environment is that hostile then leave the position. They should be thankful that the sun has rose again! I hope they improve on hospitality by waking up thankful, arriving to work with gratitude, greeting others with kindness, and sleeping with peaceful hearts. read more

Thank you for your response, When my primary care physician sent me back to Dr Chang in an attempt to repair the double vision, Dr Chang's response, was to deny I had double vision call me crazy and terminate all my services in writing. I was further told that I was not allowed to contact anyone that associated with Empire Eye and Lazer to further treat my eyes. My primary care has since sent me to USC. Empire eye and laser should be quite familiar with them. Both Dr Chang and Dr Chang graduated from USC. USC that's the bulk of their repairs which is a blessing because Empire Island laser doesn't appear to cooperate when releasing medical records and the surgeons have to run extensive tests to determine what exactly was done to damage the eyes of their clients. It's been 3 years for me. I had secondary cataracts as a result of the poorly done monovision cataract surgery, making my lazy eye my dominant I nearly cause me to go blind. I still have years of treatment to go and further surgery needed to correct a mistake that might be seen in an extremely inexperienced first year resident. Not and eye surgeon who brags about his experience and reputation. I will continue to post negative reviews not for retaliation but as a warning to others to please please go somewhere else. Empire Eye left me with double vision and nearly made me blind. read more

I am amazed at all of the one-star reviews for this practice. A large number appear to refer to late arrivals for appointments or the cosemetic division of the business, with which I have no experience. I can say that if you are going there for cataract surgery or laser eye procedures, they are amazing. Everyone is organized and efficient. Dr. Chang is great, and I am extremely happy with the results of his surgeries and treatments. As with anyone else, my eyesight is extremely important to me, and I would never return to an office three times if I had any concerns about the care I received the first time. The ladies who work in the laser/surgery center are all friendly and have a great sense of humor, which I always appreciate in any kind of medical office! read more

First time getting Botox! Very easy experience! The staff made me feel welcome and comfortable! Will be going back!

This clinic cares more about their personal profits than patient care. Notice all of the blatant advertising of their unnecessary treatments in the waiting room and the patient room. I went to go see an ophthalmologist at UCSD so I know what quality patient care is like, however when I went to see the healthcare professionals at this clinic they were quick to recommend me the most expensive treatments that were not necessary for my condition. I was diagnosed with a dry eye and the treatment that they recommended was ridiculously expensive and was usually the last line of treatment. They didn't give me the time or recommendations to try other methods to reduce my dry eye. Thankfully, I went to go see another health care professional at UCSD and received quality patient care that was right for me and treated my problem without having to jump the boat on an expensive procedure that the clinic would have profited heavily from. Sure, if you don't mind spending a ton of money on unnecessary treatments (in this case $1200), this is the place for you (the alternative treatment from UCSD was $25). Don't let their friendliness fool you, it's because they make a ton of money from administering unnecessary treatments to ignorant patients who have no background in medical knowledge. If you're looking for quality patient care that is ethical for the patient then I would recommend that you find another clinic. TL;DR: Expensive, coercive, deceitful, and for-profit-not-quality-care. EDIT: Upon writing this review I was contacted by one of their members to change my review to a more positive one. They tried to get me to change the rating of my review on Yelp. This clinic is a joke! Well, I did update the stars at least, from 2 to 1. read more

I have been treating my acne for a decade now. Having clear skin for many years, I decided that I wanted to work on any scars or skin damage done by zits and pimples. I had a free consultation but left spending over 250 promising that those products would do the job. I started to use the product and then began breaking out. I thought maybe this is a purge or as the consultant said, everything under the skin is coming to the surface. When I went back for my second consultation, she made it seem as though I needed a few more other products and it would solve everything. 3 months on these products & my skin was getting worse by the day. I have not seen pimples or zits in years unless it's one rare one here or there. My face broke out uncontrollably. They kept trying to make it seem as if it was my fault & tried finding any excuse in how I was using the products to blame it on me. I was very upset because after a decade of treating my acne, they set my face back to my teen days. I am left with dark spots, pimples of all sizes & now I have to start where I started a decade ago to help my skin recover. It would've been nice of them to at least offer me a free facial to help partially with the damage they caused my face. read more