Location: 120 Walton Street, Syracuse, NY 13202 (Armory Square)
If you like your beer and food with a side of green morals, then Empire is yo' spot. Empire is fantastic for a bunch of reasons. First of all, their food is really fucking good. And good food goes well with beer, unlike bad food, which goes well with nothing. They have a creole, New Orleans spin on most of their food which I really enjoy because there aren't much places in Syracuse that offer the same types of meals and it goes above and beyond typical pub fare. Plus they utilize local ingredients from local farms and their own garden in their food which almost makes you feel like you're saving the world when you eat one of their hamburgers. Simply put, Empire believes in drinking beer, eating food and buying local.
But enough about the food, because if you're reading my blog (thank you mom & dad) then you're reading it for the be-ah (aka beer). Empire's beer is pretty good, but I definitely think that it also could use some changes.
About the goods... I really a selection of Empire's beers including their Black Magic Stout, Cream Ale, Skinny Atlas and their American Strong Ale. If you get a chance to go down there, I would definitely invest in their beer sampler where you get a tasters of all the beers they have on tap. Anytime a brewpub offers this and you wanna get a beer feel for the place, go for it!! While these beers are pretty good, some of their other beers I'm not that big of a fan of, including their IPA, Pumpkin Ale and ESPA, but hey, that's just a matter of preference. It's not like their beer taste like raisins or anything... that'd be horrible.
My issue with Empire lays with their selection. As I'm scrolling through their list of beers on their website, I'm amazed about how many beers they have and how many of them I haven't tried. I think what happened is that Empire has caught on to what beers really sell, like the Skinny Atlas, and therefore that is always on tap. While I do recognize that they have some rotating beers, I would enjoy a larger selection of rotating beers. Maybe that kind of brewing though calls for a larger brewing facility. I do also enjoy that they have NY Guest Beers but that shouldn't be the new and exciting beers to try, they should be Empires.
Also, I appreciate that Empire is beginning to export their kegs into other bars. Maybe bottling and distributing is the next step? While Empire is a great place with a really amazing atmosphere and good food, I sometimes feel as though the beer aspect of the brewpub isn't the frontrunner of their game. Which is okay, unless your customer is me, someone obsessed with brewing and beer.
Couple of other things to note about Empire: (1) They have a new addition which includes outdoor seating on a patio. Rockin! So excited about that! (2) Most of the time, the atmosphere of the brewpub is eclectic with a dash of hipster but, being located in Armory Square, it does sometimes on the weekends get super crowded and run over by middle-aged floozies, loud drink-spilling drunk girls, douchebags and people in business attire still out in their business attire at midnight. (3) Live music!! Bands are pretty hit or miss but check out Just Joe on Thursdays. Happy Hour pints all night long with a tattooed guy playing the shit out of a piano, it's pretty fun.
Suggestions: Rotate your beers more often! Maybe start selling a variety pack locally. Happy Hour Thursdays should include Happy Hour foodums! Other than that, definitely a solid place and worth checking out and becoming a groupie of.
Written by: Krysten
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