Empire Deli & Bagel — Restaurant in North Carolina

Great bagels; great sandwiches. USED TO love this place. For many years. Two visits in the last two weeks… And despite the Mask Mandate in effect in New Hanover County since August 20, barely anyone was masked. NO staff masked. NO signs anywhere. Clearly NO expectations for anyone. Today, they were short-staffed and 12 people waiting for their orders (Props 🙌 to the two 20-somethings, sitting individually, wearing their masks btw!). And it wasn’t like anyone was drinking coffee or anything while they waited; no one was. Well, whether one has kids too young to be vaccinated, or one is immune compromised themselves, we have an obligation to take care of EVERYONE in our community. This is not a political statement; I AM following the science. And this Delta variant is real ya’ll. Keep it up and we’ll watch the schools (have to) go back to virtual learning, eateries (go back) to takeout or end up closing, and our medical care system be unable to support the surges and urgency. And we all lose. Who are you gonna watch suffer or wind up losing? It’s a mask ya’ll. If you ‘can’t talk’ when wearing it, then maybe it’s a great time to start listening more and talking less? Good thing we’ve now got a bunch of other great bagel places around Wilmington. Guess I’ll be taking my...

I tried this place because they have empire in the name and that made me think NYC and let me tell you, this was the worst bagel that I ever had.

I'm writing this so that the owner can read it because I've never had a bagel so bad and the owner has to know that so they can fix it.

The bagel tastes like cardboard. I'm pretty sure these were not boiled. You gotta smear both halves. Don't say they're fresh cause they clearly are not. If you say fresh then that means they should be warm, chewy and fluffy inside.

Listen to me owner, you can do better than this. You gotta take the time to learn how to make the perfect bagel. Please do your name justice and fix the bagels. Make them fresh, boil them and then bake them. Practice making a few recipes till you get it right.

I can't believe how bad these were. They were worse than grocery...

I've lived here since 1998. Was here when the original owner opened Empire and it was fantastic since we came from New York. Ever since the og owner retired and sold it, it's lost it's charm and quality. Sure the renovations are nice, but I miss the NY decor, just look at older photos. The renovations are unfortunately more reminiscent of many other businesses in town, looking more and more "Chip and Joanne Fixer Upper" aka monotonous and lacking personality. It's just so disappointing since it was the only bagel place in town that felt like an authentic NY bagel. My boyfriend just brought me home an everything bagel and this is a far-from-everything bagel. Gone are the proper seasonings, dome shape and blistering on the bagel. Hope they get in touch with their roots and remember the name is Empire. I have hope they'll...