Empire Pizza Newport — Restaurant in Newport

I rarely leave negative reviews, but this experience left me disappointed enough to speak up.

We’ve been regulars at Empire for quite some time, but over the past 6-9 months, it’s been hard to ignore the steady decline. The moment you walk in, the issues are front and center.

The air conditioning has been an ongoing problem, and on a sweltering day like today, it was very uncomfortable. We’ve gotten used to bringing a personal fan just to make it through a meal. Disturbingly, an ambulance had to be called today for a manager who was clearly suffering from heat exhaustion. That alone should be a wake-up call to upper level management/owners.

The condition of the floors is unacceptable—especially around the bar, where they’re warped, cracked, or missing entirely. Elsewhere, they’re consistently sticky and dirty. In the men’s bathroom, there’s always water on the floor and a bucket under the sink catching drips—an obvious issue that’s been ignored far too long. They need to have a regular cleaning staff.

What’s most frustrating is the recent price increase, which we were told was due to rising insurance costs. Yet no other local restaurants seem to be raising prices for the same reason. Empire is now more expensive than most similar spots in the area—yet they can’t manage basic maintenance or guest comfort. Instead they are prioritizing adding additional locations and advertising for franchising.. It just doesn’t add up.

We truly used to enjoy coming here, but the conditions and lack of accountability have become too much to overlook. Something needs to change… not just for guests, but for the staff who are working through it all in conditions beyond...

I'm usually never disappointed with a business and even if so I hardly ever complain. My experience here today was awful I called in an order and asked about the pizzas as I never been here before. I was told 6 slices on the phone so I assumed for the price of $14 it would be more like a medium and they only have medium or large and I'm sorry but the prices is outrageous when you can go to Dominoes and get 3 lixxas for the price of one large here. I was highly disappointed with the pizza and the price. Then I was charged for ranches $1 a piece but when I arrived I came here to get something warm because we had no power and my food was cold upon receiving it they don't have it on any kind if warmer or light so this was already upsetting as I'm standing st the counter 5 employees running around and I'm standing at the counter watching 2 door dashers get acknowledged before me and then the lady with piercings all in her face decided it was more important to answer the phones then the acknowledge me the only way I was acknowledged this evening is because I stopped a waitress and said um excuse me is anybody going to help me when I seen my order just sitting there and I needed to pay and finally I was helped. Management needs to have a better flow and prioritize the customers in your building before the ones on the phone. Highly disappointed with this establishment all in all and will not be back. The business wasn't even that busy and was quoted 15 to 20 minutes and I...

Edit: Recent visit, 4/17/16, awesome service, garlic knots were perfect and the pizza was great as usual. The atmosphere was lively and the staff all looked happy to be working.

Old Review (1 star): I love this location, I really do, the food is always good and I've never had an issue with anyone who's served me. However, one person can ruin any good thing. My husband and I went a little after 2pm, the place was pretty empty and quiet, just how I like it. We were greeted by two different waitresses, we never figured out why but we ended up with the second one serving us, thank god, because the first one was unimpressive. She sounded bored, didn't smile, and she crashed my mood with her crummy service, thankfully she only got our drinks. The other waitress who actually served us was 10,000x better, all smiles, very attentive and when she wasn't serving us she was actively cleaning and prepping for night shift, which I liked. The first waitress, the one who crashed my cheery mood, was on her phone the whole time we were there, in full view of the dinning room. I guess gone are the days of hard working servers who don't just stand around on their cells all day? I mean if I did that at my job I'd be fired almost on the spot, not to mention it's very unprofessional. I like to change my reviews as places impress or depress me, sadly this very unprofessional waitress depressed me and worries me as to how dedicated or professional the whole team...