Empire Kitchen & Cocktails

[Zacha341]

That's exactly what some of these joints are counting on!

True, but after a few beers even road kill tastes good, so there is that.

[Zacha341]

I must confess I do like the better tuna options when I can find it on sale!

You can get those craft pepper grinders cheap at TJ Maxx odd and ends section any given day. Nice!

Excuse me, but that is properly known as a carefully curated, hand selected, locally sourced, farm to table, artisanal wafer with hand applied craft pepper.

[Zacha341]

Yep, while some of the criticisms of this place may be apt, I've seen this style of eh' journalism mightily applied to food, would-be-news, social-culture and poli-trics. Well STATED!!

Ah, the New Journalism. Don't write about a subject, write about your personal experience of the subject. Contextualize the subject within the greater social picture. What does this menu say about the socioeconomic pressures in the Metro Detroit area? How is this desert a metaphor for race relations in a modern American metropolis?

Good food? Bad food? There is no such thing. There is only the hierarchical system of power and those who use it to exploit those beneath them.

And thus, journalism dies.

[detroitbob]

Several days after Empire Kitchen opened as the menu was not online we stopped in at 4pm to check the menu...we found it to be uninspired...in fact, ironically my friend said that the menu reminded him of the hotel menu he had ordered from the past week in Akron...we went around to corner to Grey Ghost.

[Honky Tonk]

Several days after Empire Kitchen opened as the menu was not online we stopped in at 4pm to check the menu...we found it to be uninspired...in fact, ironically my friend said that the menu reminded him of the hotel menu he had ordered from the past week in Akron...we went around to corner to Grey Ghost.

Stopped @ Grey Ghost yesterday. "Fried Bologna" appetizer, $10. Passed and went elsewhere.

[Zacha341]

Overall pricey is the main thing I gather, but when you go to that kind of place you kinda expect to pay, especially if cocktails are your thing.

Since the news article yelp reviews have been lively:
https://www.yelp.com/biz/empire-kitc...ire+restaurant

[DeLemur]

I really enjoyed the review, because that area around the Scott might as well be called "Little Royal Oak" with how suburban and separate from Detroit it feels. Sure there are a ton of socio-economic concerns in the review and in some ways Empire is taking the hit of the cluelessness of other restaurants downtown, but that's what happens when you're a replica of everything else.

Start with the ridiculous name "Empire" which the owners have no inspiration for. It just..sorta..sounds cool and rich and exclusive...Then the mention of $13 cocktails while looking at COTS homeless shelter across the street - yeah that's worth noting. Then the mediocre food. Then that Grey Ghost has an almost identical menu or Central Bar has an almost identical decor.

Empire is taking the brunt of being the example of a bloated restaurant scene of overpriced, new American fare topped off with a tinge of elitism. Empire could be a hotel bar near an airport, it could be in Nashville, Reno or Phoenix. That's the problem.

When relevant, Journalists are supposed to highlight the deeper story, and Empire is the story of a genre of food and design past its zenith, of a part of new Detroit that has no identity, no link to the city and is just plain boring.

[Towne Cluber]

When relevant, Journalists are supposed to highlight the deeper story...of a part of new Detroit that has no identity, no link to the city and is just plain boring.

Most people couldn't handle the real deeper story--of people that want the city to remain a poor, crime-riddled, wasteland. There are people of varying backgrounds that are desperate for the city to go back to the way it was for their own personal gain. It's ugly and those people are not going to go away quietly.

[sirrealone]

I read the criticism that the owners put enough work to get it to 90% of what might be considered a 'hot spot' but didn't even bother to try to get that last 10%. A swing and a miss would have likely gotten more respect than just not trying at all, is what I gathered.

[Towne Cluber]

...a part of new Detroit that has no identity, no link to the city and is just plain boring.

In the same regard, it could be said that there are parts of “old Detroit” that has no identity, no [[real) link to the city, and is just plain boring.

[restoretheroar]

went to Empire last weekend. Packed at 5pm on a Saturday.Great service, really good food, and really good vibe and atmosphere. Residents that live in the building love that they have a neighborhood spot they can go to get a good salad, chicken, burger and drinks, that isn't a culinary destination spot. Just a good, solid neighborhood joint. One that exists on every corner in a city like Chicago. They now have a happy hour. Wings and burger were great, as was salmon and chicken salad. Drink prices are probably a few bucks high, but that is the going rate right now. I would encourage people to give it a chance. Markets will dictate its success but I will definitely go back.

[JBMcB]

went to Empire last weekend. Packed at 5pm on a Saturday.Great service, really good food, and really good vibe and atmosphere.

Not impressed with your review, sir.