Empire Diner — Restaurant in Sparks

Empire Diner will always have a special place in my heart. It is a nice cozy place with great comfort food, in my opinion. This place may not be for everyone, but me and my friend share so many great memories here. We love the server, Lu. Lu is a gem of a person who takes great care of his guests. I might have spelled his name wrong, and I apologize. But Lu keeps everyone smiling, and he is a bright light in this place. He works the swing shift, and he always asks us how we are doing, and he even makes us laugh with his jokes. He is truly what Empire Diner is all about, and they need to give him a raise. Anyway, I am going to tell you what also warms my heart about this place. It is the chicken noodle soup. It is fresh and made to perfection, and it empowers my tastebuds. There is nothing like homemade chicken noodle soup to warm the soul. I also love the california chicken sandwich with fresh avocado, lettuce, tomato, ham, a juicy piece of chicken breast, cheese, and a nice soft bun. It is a pretty nice size sandwich, and it comes with fries or potato salad. These are some of my favorites here at Empire Diner. I love this place so much, and I celebrate this place as well. The staff here is great, and the food portions are well worth the price. So if you've never been here before, don't be a stranger. You will find some solace and comfort when you come here, and there is plenty to smile about. That's what this place does for me anyway. Happy...

The only reason I’m giving this restaurant 2 stars instead of 1 star is because of the excellent wait staff. We didn’t have to wait long at all for our food or drink orders, and our drinks will refilled before we even realized that a refill was needed.

On the other hand, the food was sadly under par of even cafeteria food. The menu suggested entrees come with a dinner roll and vegetable upon request. I asked our waiter what the vegetable was, expecting a choice of a medley or a green vegetable, but his response was “corn.” Corn? That’s it?

When our food came out I noticed that my husband’s mashed potatoes were smooth, perfectly white, and in a perfect ice cream scooped plop. Flashbacks of grade school came to the forefront of my mind.

Then, I took a bite of my salmon. It seems that the restaurant was contracted with the Gorton’s company, because my salmon looked and tasted an awful lot like the Gorton’s frozen salmon that I used to buy for myself during my college days. And the word “awful” is used purposefully.

As for the atmosphere, I have to admit that the booth we sat in was really comfy. Unfortunately, the stench of hard living too easily wafted in from the casino.

Finally, the payment. Again, our waiter was on the ball with the check, which we very much appreciated. However, don’t be fooled. Just because the food was inexpensive doesn’t mean it was a good value. I would have gladly paid more for better quality food.

Maybe breakfast would have...

In short: Excellent.

The top-notch service provided by Thanh leads the way here in this gently upscale restaurant. The menu is extensive and the prices are quite reasonable, particularly with the copious amount of food that is delivered.

Speaking of the food, the generous portions are outdone by the food itself. It's quite good. I want to mention here that the coffee ☕ is the best I've had in Reno so far, plus... they leave an entire carafe on the table for you. Nice touch.

For the record, I had the "Ranch Hand" breakfast, consisting of two biscuits and gravy, three eggs scrambled, two large pieces of bacon, and one surprisingly large sausage link. (It took about ten seconds for me to find this on the menu and choose it.) I subbed out fries for the hash browns or breakfast potatoes. Plus, that amazing coffee.

This place is a great find, located within Baldini's Casino, so basically hidden from the outside world. I went on a Saturday with what appeared to be at least half of Reno. The parking lot is huge but I still had to park near the very back. However, and this is a big however, the Empire Diner was not crowded at all on a Saturday at 1:00 pm. It was half empty in fact. So that was a mighty pleasant surprise as I was seated right away.

In short, the food is excellent, the portions are generous, the prices are a great value, the service is excellent, and the atmosphere is quite classy without being...