I wouldn’t even like to give this establishment a star. We didn’t even make it past one drink to try a meal, till our entire family group of 7 wanted to leave.
Staff incredibly rude and non interested at the beginning, they charged my husband wrong on our order, when questioned didn’t even apologise or refund money. When the play machine swallowed $4 of my son’s money and not worked, they wouldn’t refund the money as said machine not their responsibility.
An out of order sign would have sufficed in the meantime?!?!
When we talked to them about our visit after the first round, hoping against all hope they were actually going to apologise and refund money the bar and machine owed us, the bar manager was so defensive and looked tired and untidy in appearance, and said she didn’t want to discuss it and if we had an issue to please leave. We did leave and please don’t let anyone else get stung by this place. I really can’t understand why they are open still. The most appalling encounter we have had in Wellington.

We have been to The Empire previously and have been happy with food and service, but last nights efforts was terrible!!!
The place was packed, primed for a busy Xmas session. I found the staff at the bar rude and refusing to make drinks, that they were clearly advertising and then arguing that we were wrong.
Clearly the staff were over worked, but the fact customers were having to deal with this shows bad management by the owner. Who funnily enough, we found over at Murphys Bar across the road… We addressed our concerns with him stating issues re bar staff refusing to make drinks and then over charging by $20, which initially he appeazed us by offering us complimentary drinks if we returned, but then refused to serve us when we got there, stating we had lied!
I’m sorry, but what happened to customer care and just good manners!
Service, poor. Management, unacceptable. Drinks over priced. Overall an unhappy start to Xmas for myself and friends =(
One redeeming factor, thank you to helpful waiting staff, those two girls did well considering the late of support and staff.

Ten of us had the most amazing 3 course set menu in the room out the back. You could not have faulted it. It was high class. My mouth still waters thinking about!
I think the chef is doing a great thing meeting the market by having good pub food, a bar, a garden, pleasant atmosphere, plus a higher class of food if you want it.
Highly recommend it.

Basic menu and service is average to poor. Great having a live band inside, gives a good atmosphere but that is probably the only good thing about this place. Nothing on the menu grabbed my attention so I just ordered hot chips for dinner, which were not too bad and came with a nice aioli sauce. Ordered an orange juice too which seemed to just be Keri juice, more like 30% juice, 70% water and ice…

pleasant but not very professional staff who when asked “is the fish fresh?” replied “i assume so..” we asked her to ask the cook and returned with a yes, but had to go back when we asked what fish it was. my partner ordered stoned grilled fillet steak with fried egg, portabello mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. it returned with a bland fillet with 1 button mushroom and 1 cherry tomato skewered to it, 2 fried eggs and side condiment HP sauce. consequently the meal was very dry and bland. the fish n chips i ordered arrived neatly tucked in newspaper accompanied by condiments of tomato sauce, vinegar and condiment plate of baby peas (not pureed and hard to eat with fish n chips) – which looked pretty cool but would have gladly swapped the paper for some lemon and tartare sauce, sadly im not 12 and tomato sauce is not suitable condiment for $20 fish n chips -batter was very tasty. Falls short on some basics -

When you want to have a nice pub bite with a good atmosphere i would recommend this establishment. The staff are friendly and do not ignore you when you are standing at the bar waiting.

Dined here last night with our daughter (6). Great food and great service. Also gave our wee girl a kids pack at the end which she loved. Will definitely dine here again.

On behalf of the staff at Gravure Packaging, we would like to thank the Empire Petone for hosting our Christmas party — which was a hit! The environment of the function room was perfect, the staff we’re extremely positive and helpful, and the food was bang on. The Empire accommodated for 30 staff (the majority being meat-hungry males) who all had a three-course meal. I have had positive comments from all staff, and I quote ‘best pot-pie of my life’. I highly recommend The Empire for any function — whether it’s formal or casual. And thanks again to Paul for making everything so, so simple.

THE EMPIRE is awesome!!!

Highly recommend! Its fun, relaxing & the food is always amazing!!

I have found the staff always to be helpful & friendly.

Definently give it a try its totally worth it

My family and I have dined at The Empire several times now and always found this is a lovely place to dine, the staff are friendly, courteous and nothing is a problem. The place has a lovely atmosphere. it is nice and warm inside in the winter and great to sit outside in the summer. We have tried a few things on the menu now, from the stone Grill to fish and chips, the food has always arrived just how we wanted it, I have no problem in recommending to others.

well, this used to be my favourite place to head to, lovely outdoor courtyard and very nice inside. However the service has gone down hill, is there a photo of me out the back??… the last 4 times, the on site manager has ignored me, walking away from the bar and also been the only table to not be asked if we would like anything else. I used to bring new people to the bar all the time, not anymore, Murphy’s will be obtaining my custom from now on. Went there last night for the last time, burger was dry, place got smoked out by the stone grills and every time i went to the bar to get a drink, the bar ladies ignored myself and my friend, choosing to serve either people who just arrived or taking food out from the kitchen.. Sort it out Empire, you used to get a 4 start rating from me and my friends, unless i hear that you have bucked up your staff, I won’t be returning. this is the time if year you are meant to have your best staff on, i have had better service from a supermarket.

I love one of the waitresses in particular, shes fantastic. Of all the times ive eaten there its been great. Very nice food for a pub, I love stone grilled food. The environment is great and i wouldnt recommend a better pub in petone, with such good quality food.

Going by the previous reviews I don’t know if things have changed or we just caught them on a bad day or perhaps their worst day ever.

Firstly after waiting for someone to come and take our orders for some time we were informed that we would have to go to the bar and order and pay for our meals there as we would have to do with any subsequent drinks or desert orders as the manager was sick of people doing runners. We were forewarned it was busy out there and a long wait was to be expected.

By the time my companion was back from doing the dinner order – it was time for my trip to the bar for another drink.

My companion ordered the burger. The bread bun was visibly stale and the coleslaw appeared at least three days old going by the soggy discoloured state of it.

I ordered the stone grill steak –which arrived on a cold stone. I was assured to the point of being argued with that this 1/2inch thick chunk of meat would cook itself given there was not even the slightest sizzle from the stone. It was then suggested it would cook quicker if I cut it up into tiny slithers. If I had wanted stir fry that is what I would have ordered. It was accompanied by one mushroom and a wedge of onion with a few chucks of cauliflower on the side and what looked like fried soggy mashed potato. A far cry from what was described as “a superb taste on the stone, served with roast portabello mushroom and semi roast tomato
with crushed gourmet potatoes and steamed vegetables and a rich red wine jus”.

Our complaints were met with arguments by whom I presume was the maître d . The meal was removed –with no comment on how they intended to address the issues until a waitress went to find out upon my request. A subsequent refund was plonked on the table without apology by the maitre d .

I would not recommend this place to anyone I liked

expensive to eat there, who puts meat/fish in salad??? & cost $15.00, why do they reserve tables especially inside when there isn’t enough to cater for non reservation patrons… HEALTH & SAFETY…is that a hole in the floor, watch out those with stilettos/high heels. Dancing floor..what dancing floor…Went there for New Yrs Eve 2010 TOOOO small, BUT good atmosphere!

I went there for a light lunch with a friend. We both had fish and chips. They were very nicely presented and tasted great. Comes with peas in a shot glass and viegar as well as tomato sauce.

Pricing was reasonable, service was good, food was excellent. I would recommend it.

The design of this place is beautiful. Such an improvement of how it used to be. It definitely is a much classier bar for Petone.

Best thing about the place isn’t the design though – it’s the stonegrill meals. Makes for a bit of a different dining experience and you can cook the food to your liking. I had the chicken and thought it was just beautiful. Served with lovely sides, too.

This could be a 5-star place, but I think I’d have to visit again before deciding that

I’m certainly eager to come back and congratulate the owners on the transformation of this once-shoddy establishment. It looks fantastic, serves yummy meals and overall, it’s easy to see why it’s becoming a fast favourite with people of all ages in the area.

It is just a pub afterall. I found it a bit hit and miss, the pricing was very high and to be honest pretty average food. Both my partner and I agreed our meals were mediocre at best, and when we went to settle the bill they were selling syringes of some concoction designed to get their pub going customers pissed, incredibly tacky if you ask me. I find there are a lot of pubs around Wellington that are set up with a fancy menu then the Chef heads on and it just becomes a fancy McDonalds. The live band was overwhelmingly noisy and the service was poor.

Went here for breakfast on Sunday. The interior and outdoor area are very nice and create a relaxing atmosphere especially when the weathers good. We sat in one of there outdoor booths, waiter was very attentive and offered to put up an umbrella for us. I had eggs bene and partner had Stonegrill breakfast. Eggs bene was standard, eggs were well cooked and Ham was nicely crisped. I didnt like how they served a whole english muffin to each egg – i would prefer mine halved and toasted. Partner is a stonegrill man so enjoyed his, though no black pudding as advertised and no explanation to this. Overall a great experience though.

A group of us enjoyed spontaneous drinks and dinner at The Empire recently. The place looks fantastic! The refurbished decor is refreshingly contemporary and the service is outstanding – friendly, efficient and attentive. I was really impressed with the Thai beef salad, which was absolutely delicious. My partner’s Cajun chicken burger was dry but a generously-sized meal was served. It’s great to have a top quality gastro pub in the neighbourhood.

Went for my first after-work drink at this place the other Sunday. The surroundings, both inside and out are quite modern and flashy – you can tell a lot of money has gone into the refurbishment here. Anyway, great outdoor courtyard area for a couple of cool beers on a summery day – gotta take advantage of those in Wellington. An addition, a nice fireplace insde for the chillier days, and aside from the nice looking surroundings – seems like a regular modern bar, Oranjeboom on tap is a nice touch, and the staff seem competent. Wouldn’t want to be there while busy, but a decent place for an afternoon drink.

Great place to take the family for a meal and also to go out drinking at – having done both. food is yummy, service was great. Couldn’t fault them at all.

I love this place. Staff are always friendly, the atmosphere is awesome and the outdoor area is really fantastic.

If you haven’t had stone-grill I suggest you try it – Healthy and insanely tasty!

Produce is fresh, meat is very high quality and you can cook it just the way you like it!

My husband and I and our 2 children popped down for dinner tonight, we were greeted by the barman, very friendly, giving us the menu, (Children , Main and drinks) after taking a sit in there main pub area someone was over to take our drink order, it was ladies night(cheap bubbles) so tried the kri royal then was asked about dinner, the kids ordered garlic bread to start with fish and chips to follow and we ordered a starter of spare ribs with the mains of the empire burger and Pork lion (Signature dish).

The spare ribs and garlic bread arrived quickly and the ribs were falling off the bone good and garlic was yummy and crispy.

The mains arrive after a short break and the children’s fish and chips arrived wrapped in Newsletter, looking really cool and the kids loving it. My pork lion looked and smelt great and was a generous serve with a yummy potato base and really soft pork. The Burger was a good size too served with chips and salad.

After dinner we ordered desert the children ordered Ice cream and chocolate cake and us sharing a Lemon Tart. There were really yummy and a toffee topping which was really nice finish to the lemon tart.

Friendly staff and great place for the kids too.