Empire Buffet

Atmosphere always relaxing. Staff is very nice. They are on top of cleaning and organizing. Crab legs and shrimp dishes are good. As well as ginger crab. Roast beef and carrots are really good like home cooked. Fruit is fresh. Worth the money. Can not get salad dinner and desert cheaper…

STAY AWAY!!! This place is vial! I ate here with a supervisor from work a couple months ago and was disgusted with what I saw, ate and smelt. Visually the place is a disaster. Floor is buckled and uneven, wallpaper is torn, faded, windows and furnishings were filthy. The food was nothing to talk about. Luke warm food in a nasty buffet style setting. The smell of the place is horrible. Just breathing in the place felt like I had mold crawling in my lungs. The smell of mold is ramped. Heard from locals of the area that this restaurant along with other buildings in the area were severely flooded during Hurricane Sandy. It’s apparent that this place did nothing to repair and sanitize their building. I you had to pick between staying hungry or eating at this place, stay hungry.

Omg what did I just eat?! I would pay just to have this place shut down. I’ve been to Chinese buffets before and this is not a buffet there are no food options it was so bad that they didn’t even sell the whole crab leg they were instead serving the body of the crab you know the part that looks like the thing from Alien WTF? I mean most of the food was unrecognizable and greasier than edible food should be. I feel so disgusted that I didn’t just walk out. Oh and why are so many elderly and disabled people frequenting this place like I wouldn’t feed this food to the stray cats in my neighborhood let alone my granny. This place gets one star because I have to post at least one and I feel its my duty to let people know how horrible this place is.

The floors are uneven and you feel like you’re in a sinking ship. The food I think I took one plate (that I didn’t finish) and ran out of there. This is not a recommended buffet at all. Things that should be cold are hot things that should be hot are cold.

Stay AWAY better yet run!
Nothing is fresh, they mix foods. Serving utensils are contaminated by other foods. I really don’t know how this place is still in business. I know they have roaches and mice/​rat infestation problems from looking them up on the board of health. I would have thought that they would catch these creatures and cook them but I guess not.

The food is alright. Can’t expect too much from a Chinese buffet, but they do have a good selection. My mom likes the place so my family has been going on and off for ages, the décor needs a major upgrade. I’m sure they’ve had all the chairs and tables from when they first opened. The «waitresses» are super rude. I doubt anyone can really get their money’s worth. We had just grabbed dessert and they already left the check on our table. Then the waitress came over to us and looked at her watch 3 times! They have a time limit during busy times but we weren’t even there for an hour. Not sure why they felt they needed to rush us out.

I am disgusted by the outrageous prices of this establishment. Sure the food was good, calamari was a little raw though. The place is pretty dirty. However, there is a nice view of crossbay. It may be my growing up in a middle class household in a not-​so-​nice neighborhood, but I just cannot justify spending $ 36.90 on 2 semi full plates of food, 2 cups of water (reminder that’s the shit that comes from the sky) and a little 2×4 purple cup of ice cream. I will NOT be returning to this establishment with my beautiful date ever again, we will take our money to East meets West next time.

I’ve been coming to this restaurant for over a decade, and I used to eat so much that I left feeling full of food and regret, but it was well worth it. These days the food is not good, and frankly, I’d prefer my neighborhood takeout.
For one, there’s something extra fishy about the seafood, from the way it looks to the way it tastes. The spread of hot food tasted reheated and the meats are tough to chew. The cold food is fresh and juicy, but I personally don’t come to the buffet for fruits and salads.
The service is poor. The hostess took a while to seat us even though the restaurant was visibly empty. The waitress took our drink orders when we were first seated, but afterwards she only came to the table when we waved her down. Our plates were stacked about 5 plates high before I finally asked her to take them. She brought the check while we were still eating, but at least she did that with a smile.
As far as the ambiance, it’s relaxed. There’s a lot of natural light because both sides of the restaurant have large windows. There’s a nice fountain display when you come in, great for a picture op.
I gave one star for the fountain and the second one is for the cheese wontons!

They rush you and take your plates away without even asking first. The food is alright, not the best. This place used to be nice a few years ago.

We have been coming here for years, the food is always hot and there Is a decent selection. You usually have to keep your eyes open if you want the crab legs since everyone pounces on them the moment they come out the kitchen. I wish I could give a better rating but they jump from an Health Department A to B all year long and the tables, chairs and flooring need a major up haul. To be honest the whole place we’ve even seen mold by the windows, we know they were hit hard by the hurricane but many patrons come to eat here so I’m sure they can afford to upgrade.

The food here is pretty good. The first time I went they had coconut shrimp which was so good, now I only see coconut chicken which is also good. The place needs a little fix up. The ceilings leak. They always have the same foods. If your wondering about the deserts … they suck. But I mainly go for the coconut chicken.

Quality really went downhill recently. Staff is rude and impatient. They clearly hate their jobs very much b/​c they always seem to be throwing the utensils and plates into the wash bins. They ignore you when you say thank you.
They dont clean their seafood properly. Their clams and mussels were sandy and dirty and hairy. They also think they’re smart, they make the food a little more salty than usual so you drink more soda and eat less food.
Go to a real quality restaurant and enjoy your food.

I just love their food and the atmosphere is peaceful and the waiters are very pleasant as well

Food was disgusting. The day I went Yeltsin’s, the windows all leaked which caused the place to smell like mold. They did not try to clean the wet area, and still tried to seat us at the wet tables I would never expect such a disaster in that are.

This place has a wide variety of Chinese food, including sea food. You can eat unlimited amounts of whatever you want for a reasonable price. Very polite manager and staff.

Been going there since I moved into the area. Great place for a I need to eat now and get other stuff done day. Weekends are better. Sushi is limited but tasty. Duck is great. They keep forgetting to bring me my drinks though. So I won’t give five stars.

Giving it a higher rating because of unlimited snow crabs, butter and now Duck! Yes! They have duck now compare to 20 years ago I went! Food is taste better than most buffet in the Queens borough and also cheaper!
I wish they kept their green tea iced cream they had for a while instead of sticking with Vanilla and Chocolate. Also charging extra for left over food and 1.5 hours limited seating. Smh… wanted more $$$

I came back here the other day and it serves it’s purpose. An all you can eat buffet. Food is decent. Not gourment and not horrible. They have two choices of dim sum. They also have pizza, french fries, and other American themed stuff. They didn’t have the coconut shrimp but they did have the coconut chicken which is good too. The dumplings they have are always fried (I like steamed better). They also have a salad, dessert and fruit bar too. I like to sit in the back by the windows overlooking the water. I didn’t realize this but they actually have two parking lots. One on each side of the restaurant. There is also one hour metered parking on Cross Bay Blvd until 7 pm and free on Sunday’s.

I have been going here over the past 8 years or so because older family members just insist on coming here when we do a big family dinner, and we can’t say no to them. It’s hard enough to get them out the house lol. Same food, same décor… everything is pretty much the same. Food is typical to Chinese take out. 15.95 for dinner on a Friday. They have a lot of seafood. I wish they would have better variety or maybe something new, but other than that its ok, the food is cooked and has taste. Some people love that they have crab legs, which people will stand by the area waiting for the fresh batch. My favorite thing there is the clam chowder soup while my husband likes all seafood items (crab, mussels, shrimp, etc)

Stay away. No I don’t think that’s clear enough. Run away! And fast – like Usain Bolt fast. I don’t know how this place has an «A» letter grade for sanitary practice. This buffet establishment is a horror show. I saw an employee more than once pick up food that rolled onto the counter and put it back into the tray. I shook my head with dismay. If she had done that what else could she have put back in any of the other dishes? Ugh I just feel nauseous thinking about it all over again. This wasn’t my first choice but since the whole family wanted buffet this was the closest one. Never again is what I have to say. I could only muster one plate and stuck with the fried and familiar dishes (ie. the ones that come packaged from the factory and deep fried) that way I knew there wasn’t that much cooking involved. They did have lychee fruit for dessert which I had but I don’t know where they got it from because that night I was throwing up from both major orifices in my body. Sorry for the imagery everyone but I’ve never been to a buffet place before and got sick from it. I still shake my head to this day. If you’re in the Crossbay Blvd Howard Beach area feel free to cross this place out. Trust me on this one. You won’t regret it.