New Empire Buffet

Elite '08

25

86

Shannon F.

Livermore, CA

Ehhh, 'sawright... It's a buffet, so off the bat I wasn't expecting a five star experience. They were out of rice when we first got there. (I know, WTF?) The sushi was decent, not sushi bar-quality, but it sufficed.

Another thing that was kinda ghetto was that they had the "Mongolian BBQ" station available but there wasn't initially anyone there to cook. You had to "ring bell for service". Also, was there was ice poured over the meat selection in the Mongolian BBQ station, to somewhat 'refrigerate' them. Now, the concoction you come up with in spite of all that is great, depending on what YOU think tastes good together. =P

One thing I commend them for is their selection of seafood, especially during lunch: King crab legs, salt & pepper crab, salt & pepper shrimp, bacon wrapped shrimp, clams, oysters, mussels... Now it's my understanding that they don't ALWAYS have seafood during lunch, might be only weekends. Overall, it was okay...will I go back? Maybe...

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6

31

Michele M.

Livermore, CA

Thank the LORD this place is across from an Urgent Care center.

I have 7 words for this place:
Ab-so-lute-ly di-sgust-ing

Drive down the street to Crazy Buffet instead.

Food was cold and rubbery. There was a lot to choose from but nothing LOOKED appetizing. Even the deserts! And for those that know me I can at least be tempted by deserts. Pizza, mongolian, chinese, ice cream... blech! Like someone cooked everything at Safeway and threw it in some heating pans.

I literally felt sick after this meal. The best part of my meal was my root beer.

**OH WAIT! There was one very entertaining portion of my first Empire Buffet experience!
A lady came out from the kitchen with a microphone and started yelling IN CHINESE into the microphone dishes that were getting low. I am totally assuming this because 1) I don't speak chinese but she was walking around the free standing warming counters holding these "concoctions" and 2) the person I was with said "It looks like she's telling the people in the back what they are low on.

Now why in the world wouldn't you just bring a damn piece of paper and a pen out to the food and WRITE down what is getting low?!?!?!?
Oh no, a karaoke microphone with a restaurant wide loudspeaker in a room full of patrons is a much better idea.
LOL!!!!!

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45

83

Jessica R.

Oakland, CA

So here's the low down - the sushi was like tasteless rubber candy and the chinese food choices were cold, sparse, and bland.  Even the fruit, which is usually safe had a funny taste to it.  

The topper - our waiter accidently gave us the billl from another table.  I paid it.  It looked right.  How do I know what table number we sat at?  The same amount of people.  So when we tried to leave, another waiter accussed us of not paying.  After digging, I finally found my receipt, we had to wait another 10 minutes for the manager to make the changes.  The difference between the two bills - $1.29.  

Totally rude.

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0

11

Jimi M.

Livermore, CA

This place needs some work - imagine the Dollar tree as a restaurant and you can get a glimpse of what I'm talking about here. The crab legs were mega-smelly (in a bad I've been sitting here since the dawn of creation kind of way), the pre-made Chinese dishes were very bland and luke-warm, and there was noooo waaaaay I was going to take a gamble with that sushi. Why 2 stars? My little guy said the french fries were really good.......that's right.......he had an $8 order of fries. I should of listened to the look on wifey's face when I said we were going to the Empire!!!

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1

15

marlene m.

Livermore, CA

i don't eat sea food or meat so this place wasn't for me, but if you want to eat till you pass out, you might like it, my boyfriend absolutely loves this buffet. i just wish they had more options for vegetarian's, because the price isn't worth not eating while he eats.

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349

93

Sun E.

Livermore, CA

My husband and I went here on Sunday, Aug. 20th, 2006.

After getting my first plate of food, I took a bite of rice with the
Mongolian beef and was horrified by the flavor. I then smelled
my food and realized the rice had a foul smell. I called the
manager to the table and he too smelled the rice.

He went to the kitchen and talked to the cooks, who said they
prepared the rice differently. That was the only explanation
I got. Two tables of people overheard me talking to the manager
and they, too complained about the bad rice as well as the cold
entrees served in the buffet.

My husband ate only the cold items offered there because all
of the "hot" entrees looked like they had been setting in the food
warmers for an overextended period of time and this was at
12:15pm; lunch time! Not only was the food unappetizing, it looked
bad.

I had an upset stomach for a complete day following that visit
and just can't go back.

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Elite '08

283

439

Brian B.

Livermore, CA

First of all, I did NOT get sick. So, 2 stars right from the start! Empire Buffet was reviewed in the TriValley Herald today so we checked it out for lunch. All you can eat Mongolian BBQ, sushi, Chinese food for $7? worth a try. The ingredients for the Mongolian BBQ looked good (clean and fresh) but there's something about grabbing raw pork with tongs in public that gives me the willies (and I'm not even Jewish~). I know what I like but I don't always know how much of it to put on the plate for the BBQista (is that a word?) but he took my plate and worked his magic. I tried to follow the posted directions for 'spicy' sauce but something got lost in the translation because it wasn't nearly spicy  enough. I did grab some sushi as well. The BBQ was actually tasty after I dumped a load of some spicy chili sauce on it.

The sushi is why I'm writing this review now (10:50 pm). It was on the warm side. Not good for sushi, generally speaking. You really prefer your dead raw fish to be cold enough that it not be listed at www.bacteriayelp.com as the hip new vacation spot for microbes that will make you vomit. This just in: I did not get sick. So I guess it was OK but some attempt at chilling would be worth a star.

It was nicely decorated, friendly and pretty crowded (maybe the news article) at noon. I'm really not a boofay guy so I'd probably prefer a place that was just a Mongo BBQ.  For the two of us, $18 plus small tip. Not bad.

Some of the other offerings didn't look all that appetizing but again,  I like to live in the fantasy world that every restaurant kitchen is a glistening temple of hygiene and health. Seeing my potential lunch out there lying in state like a deceased head of state under the rotunda is not ideal under the best of circumstances.

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0

1

M O.

Livermore, CA

I am a Chinese-American that has eaten at hundreds of Chinese restaurants.  I have eaten at the Empire Buffet more than 20 times for both lunch and dinner.  The selection for lunch is very large and the food is good, not excellent - good.  The price of $7 for lunch is an exceptional value, especially when you consider they serve seafood.  The food is fresh, especially the vegetables, and so is the sushi.  The service is excellent, enough so that I leave a 20% tip.  Dinner while a little more expensive includes crab.  Sometime it's good and sometimes it's fair.  Again consider the price.  I have never felt ill after eating at this buffet.  My only concern is the extra calories.  

I sometimes take my two teenage sons, and they both really enjoy the food.  Those with teenagers know how expensive eating out can get.  I feel we are getting a bargain when those two are eating there.

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