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The Empire at 138, Tiffin, OH

The Empire at 138

4.3
4.3
811 Reviews
$31 to $50
Contemporary American
Empire at 138, named in part for the building’s original name “Empire Block” and its street address at
138 S. Washington St., is an everyday hub of activity to eat, drink and congregate over real wholesome food and ingredients.
Part local neighborhood hangout, part fine dining restaurant, we develop heirloom recipes based on family and friends' favorites, using as many locally raised and farmed, organic, and hormone free products as are in season and meet our quality standards.
Menus change regularly based on seasonal availability. We offer fine dining, cocktails, wines, interesting beers, and signature coffee.

Make a reservation

2 people

7:00 PM


Booked 4 times today

Order delivery or takeout

Additional information

  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Cuisines
    Contemporary American
  • Hours of operation
    Lunch Thu–Sat 11:00 am–2:00 pm Dinner Wed–Sat 5:00 pm–9:15 pm
  • Phone number
    (419) 448-7733
  • Payment options
    AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
  • Dress code
    Business Casual
  • Private party facilities
    Private banquet room available for both personal and corporate customers. Call 419-448-7733 and ask for an event coordinator to plan for your next meeting.
  • Private party contact
    Michael Pinkston: (419) 618-0311
  • Neighborhood
    Tiffin
  • Cross street
    Madison Street
  • Parking details
    Street Parking
  • Additional
    Banquet, Bar/Lounge, Beer, BYO Wine, Cocktails, Corkage Fee, Entertainment, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Non-Smoking, Private Room, Takeout, Wheelchair Access, Wine

What 811 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.3
4.3 based on recent ratings
  • 4.4Food
  • 4.7Service
  • 4.5Ambience
  • 4.1Value

NoiseModerate

Loved For

  • Toledo / Northwest Ohio

    Best Food

  • Toledo / Northwest Ohio

    Best Service

  • Toledo / Northwest Ohio

    Good for business meals

  • Toledo / Northwest Ohio

    Healthy

  • Toledo / Northwest Ohio

    Hot spot

  • Toledo / Northwest Ohio

    Neighborhood gem

  • Toledo / Northwest Ohio

    Great for fine wines

  • Toledo / Northwest Ohio

    Romantic

  • Toledo / Northwest Ohio

    Good for special occasions

  • Toledo / Northwest Ohio

    Lively

  • Toledo

    Best Overall

  • Toledo

    Best Food

  • Toledo

    Best Service

  • Toledo

    Best Value

  • Toledo

    Good for business meals

  • Toledo

    Good for groups

  • Toledo

    Healthy

  • Toledo

    Neighborhood gem

  • Toledo

    Great for fine wines

  • Toledo

    Romantic

  • Toledo

    Good for special occasions

  • Toledo

    Lively

811 Reviews
  1. MikeP

    Columbus

    28 reviews

    vip
    2.0

    28 reviews

    Dined 4 days ago

    overall2food1service5ambience3
    Service was great...personable, effecient, timely. The drinks were delicious. The food was disappointing. The Lamb Chops particularly so. Its a great space, and I'll stop for drinks. I'll be hard pressed to eat there again.

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  2. DanR

    Pittsburgh

    5 reviews

    5.0

    5 reviews

    Dined on September 16, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    A very nice and enjoyable evening. Food and service were both great!

    Is this helpful?

  3. JeffB

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on September 9, 2023

    overall3food5service3ambience5
    Food was delicious. Drinks, Appetizers, Salads all served in timely manner. Entrees took for ever to arrive at our table. Over 25 minutes. The whole restaurant ran out of bread. As usual our meals were very good and competitively priced. Hopefully it was just a bad night for service and hospitality.

    Is this helpful?

  4. DavidT

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on August 25, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    We always have a great experience at Empire. Staff is great. Food was delicious. It’s a great upscale restaurant.

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  5. TrevorC

    Toledo

    2 reviews

    5.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on August 10, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Good food good service, good drinks. Thanks for the flowers as well!

    Is this helpful?

  6. DanR

    Pittsburgh

    5 reviews

    5.0

    5 reviews

    Dined on July 29, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Everything was great!! Had reservations, they seated us immediately. Food and service was excellent!

    Is this helpful?

  7. BusinessDinner

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on July 26, 2023

    overall3food3service5ambience3
    The restaurant is lovely. I ate there about five years ago and remember the food being top notch. This time around, it was good, but not impressive. For the price, it should be remarkable. Our biggest complaint is the uncomfortable chairs. Again, for an upscale restaurant, I would expect a bigger investment in the comfort of the patrons. Several of us, of varying sizes and heights, were extremely uncomfortable in the tiny, hard, cheap, catering style dining chair. It was difficult to enjoy eating our $39 filets when we had to sit forward in an awkward position because the chair was so hard and small. The Empire has a lot of potential, and I will try them again, but would definitely request to sit in the one half booth, as any other seating is completely intolerable.

    1 person found this helpful

  8. GilmoreFan

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on July 22, 2023

    overall5food4service4ambience4
    Very good food, lovely building, friendly staff. Be prepared to pay; this is not inexpensive dining. We had an $80 gift card from our kids and spent all of it plus extra for the tip on two of the less expensive entrees, two cocktails, and a shared dessert. Our bill would have been significantly more if we had gotten steak or seafood entrees.

    Is this helpful?

  9. CPofNaples

    Naples

    39 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    39 reviews

    Dined on July 21, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    We had a most enjoyable dinner . We were greeted very warmly for our arrival and the waitress we had did a nice job, and the food was excellent. Yes, it was a special occasion for us and Restaurant made it such.

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  10. BobC

    Toledo

    4 reviews

    3.0

    4 reviews

    Dined on July 21, 2023

    overall3food3service5ambience4
    The seafood/pasta dish was a little short on seafood.

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  11. AngieB

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on June 21, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    The Empire provided a special memorable evening with exceptional food, service and atmosphere. Noah, our server, was very accommodating, friendly and enjoyable. Our reservation process was user friendly and our table was ready upon our arrival. We had a fabulous time and will be back, Thank you!

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  12. Guest

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined on June 2, 2023

    overall1food1service3ambience1
    A high end restaurant that serves wilted lettuce with brown spots….and the answer they gave…hmmm we got a truck in just yesterday. I guess that means you don’t have to look at the food before it goes out? It was gross We left and had a lovely dinner elsewhere. Not sure how they are still in business. We were the only customers in there from 5-5:40pm…yes. Over 30 minutes to get wilted lettuce served.

    Is this helpful?

  13. scottm

    Columbus

    3 reviews

    2.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on May 20, 2023

    overall2food4service2ambience3
    The food was satisfactory; the service was lacking. It was just my wife and I but the force a twenty percent gratuity. I don't mind tipping for good service but service here was substandard. We never received a wine list. We had to ask for items that were supposed to come with our food. A lack luster experience over all. The funniest part of the meal was when they brought the machine to charge my credit card. After automatically adding a twenty percent tip on to my total, the machine wanted me to leave an additional tip.

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  14. CarleenO

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on May 13, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Our service was great. Food authentic. Enjoyable. Easy to change reservation times.

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  15. KathyK

    Louisville

    28 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    28 reviews

    Dined on May 6, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    The menu was creative & the food was excellently prepared. The wait staff was very friendly & attentive. Would recommend this restaurant highly.

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  16. Mimi

    Toledo

    2 reviews

    4.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on April 29, 2023

    overall4food1service3ambience5
    This used to be the best restaurant in the area. The quality at my last visit was way down.

    1 person found this helpful

  17. ericg

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on April 22, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    All four of us had great food. Not too busy when we were there. Great atmosphere and enjoyed the piano playing in the background.

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  18. Susan

    Chicago

    7 reviews

    5.0

    7 reviews

    Dined on April 14, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Excellent food and service. Elegant atmosphere in a historic building with a solo pianist playing during dinner. Everything was delightful.

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  19. OpenTable Diner

    Cleveland

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on April 9, 2023

    overall3food3service5ambience5
    Great service. Great ambience. Food was average. Wanted to support a local business.

    Is this helpful?

  20. Josh

    Toledo

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on March 29, 2023

    overall3food3service5ambience5
    The food and atmosphere were great. The filet mignon was terrible. I ordered medium rare and it came out closer to well done. They took it back and remade it without hesitation. It was much better the second time but still not worth $45. Everything else at our table was delicious. Just avoid the steak..

    Is this helpful?

  21. BethM

    Toledo

    8 reviews

    5.0

    8 reviews

    Dined on March 18, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    I love the Empire! The food is fantastic! The atmosphere, complete with piano player is perfect! The staff is knowledgable and so friendly! It is unique and special! One of our favorite places!

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  22. JayeJ

    Cincinnati

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on March 15, 2023

    overall3food3service4ambience4
    We were a little concerned at first. The spinach and artichoke dip was horrible, and the salad that came before dinner had goat cheese on it but was not told nor did I recall seeing it on the menu. I've never seen goat cheese on a dinner salad before and was a little put off as I HATE goat cheese. The server who took our payment said I should have requested it not be on the salad. I had no idea, that's what the dinner salad came with. Anyway, the filets were fantastic and the young man who served us was charming and funny. Good experience after all and would recommend. However, if you hate goat cheese, you might want to skip the salads. Yuck!

    Is this helpful?

  23. Byrdman

    Toledo

    1 review

    4.0

    1 review

    Dined on March 11, 2023

    overall4food4service4ambience5
    Meal very good service very good dessert mediocre. All in all would recommend

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  24. AnneY

    Cleveland

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on March 10, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Fantastic food, cocktails, great atmosphere, and our server Noah was delightful.

    Is this helpful?

  25. TSarka

    Cleveland

    16 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    16 reviews

    Dined on March 4, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Wonderful experience. AGAIN We go here often and have never once had a bad experience

    Is this helpful?

  26. BethW

    Cincinnati

    7 reviews

    5.0

    7 reviews

    Dined on March 3, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    We were celebrating my Aunt’s 94th Birthday and we could not have asked for a more accommodating staff - they were EXCELLENT! The food was fantastic and the toasting bubbly was an added touch for all of us to remember!!

    Is this helpful?

  27. BrookE

    Toledo

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on February 19, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    The food was outstanding. 5-cheese Penne is excellent. Appetizers of crab cakes were delightful. Tasted like I was on the East Coast and having them fresh made. Cheesecake was excellent (more Chicago style than New York) with a perfect crust. Our server was on top of everything, very attentive. The piano player in the background provided a wonderful ambience. Expect to spend about $40-$50 a person as this is a very nice, up-scale choice to have a meal. It is well worth the treat.

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  28. StevenK

    Chicago

    2 reviews

    5.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on February 17, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    My daughter got engaged and it was a celebratory dinner!

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  29. DougM

    New York Area

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on February 14, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Valentines Day

    Is this helpful?

  30. OpenTable Diner

    Toledo

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on February 14, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Valentine’s Day

    Is this helpful?

  31. TrevorC

    Toledo

    2 reviews

    5.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on February 11, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Carrie and Courtney were the two employees that stood out the most. Their efforts were greatly recognized, and these efforts included making sure my wife felt appreciated for Valentine’s Day, and outstanding customer service!

    Is this helpful?

  32. GiRe

    New York Area

    3 reviews

    5.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on January 6, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    We had filets and they were cooked to perfection. The Blood Orange cocktail was divine!

    Is this helpful?

  33. LanceM

    Columbus

    2 reviews

    3.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on January 6, 2023

    overall3food4service5ambience3
    Small portions for the money. Relatively small menu but adequate. Good food. Floors creak and move when people are walking past which is somewhat distracting

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  34. PattyG

    Charlotte

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 18, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Service was outstanding and food was delicious. Thank you for opening prior to Michael Bolton. It was nice knowing we had a reservation since we came from out of town.

    Is this helpful?

  35. BarbaraF

    Toledo

    2 reviews

    5.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on December 16, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    I haven't not eaten here for awhile, but the food was excellent!

    Is this helpful?

  36. WilliamB

    Toledo

    1 review

    4.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 15, 2022

    overall4food5service4ambience5
    Very good food .....................................

    Is this helpful?

  37. GlennO

    Toledo

    24 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    24 reviews

    Dined on December 15, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Service was excellent and the server was keenly aware that we were attending a show after dinner. All dinners (salmon, filet mignon, seafood pasta, and lamb chop special) were very good. All around excellent evening.

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  38. TonyL

    Cleveland

    4 reviews

    2.0

    4 reviews

    Dined on December 3, 2022

    overall2food1service3ambience5
    New menu is very bad, very few gluten free options. Food quality bad with multiple screwups. Used to be a very upscale food choice….not so much anymore. Disappointed in what used to be an awesome restaurant.😞

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  39. Molly

    E. Tennessee

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 2, 2022

    overall1food1service1ambience3
    Honestly this was a very disappointing experience all around—the waitress repeatedly made mistakes or just ignored our table (the tables around us seemingly had better service from her, or at least received more attention). Several dishes did not come out until we had to ask about them and/or cancel one. I was so excited when I saw that the restaurant had reopened but now I think they should have stayed closed longer to train staff and fix kitchen issues.

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  40. TSarka

    Cleveland

    16 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    16 reviews

    Dined on November 20, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Engagement party

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FAQs

The Empire at 138 offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (419) 448-7733.

The Empire at 138 is rated 4.3 stars by 811 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

Make a reservation

2 people

7:00 PM


Booked 4 times today

Order delivery or takeout

Google Map for The Empire at 138

138 South Washington St, Tiffin, OH 44883

Additional information

  • Cross street
    Madison Street
  • Neighborhood
    Tiffin
  • Hours of operation
    Lunch Thu–Sat 11:00 am–2:00 pm Dinner Wed–Sat 5:00 pm–9:15 pm
  • Cuisines
    Contemporary American
  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Dress code
    Business Casual
  • Parking details
    Street Parking
  • Payment options
    AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
  • Additional
    Banquet, Bar/Lounge, Beer, BYO Wine, Cocktails, Corkage Fee, Entertainment, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Non-Smoking, Private Room, Takeout, Wheelchair Access, Wine
  • Phone number
    (419) 448-7733
  • Private party facilities
    Private banquet room available for both personal and corporate customers. Call 419-448-7733 and ask for an event coordinator to plan for your next meeting.
  • Private party contact
    Michael Pinkston: (419) 618-0311
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