By Gus Saltonstall
A longtime Upper West Side Chinese restaurant was temporarily closed by the New York City Health Department earlier this week.
Empire Szechuan Kyoto, which has served customers at 193 Columbus Avenue, between West 68th and 69th streets, since 1980, failed a health inspection on Monday.
The Chinese spot received 64 violation points for the following infractions, according to the Health Department’s portal.
- Cold food held above 41 degrees.
- Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded properly.
- Evidence of mice or live mice in establishment’s food or non-food areas.
- Live roaches in facility’s food or non-food area.
- Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage associated with flies or other nuisance pests in establishment’s food and/or non-food areas.
- Food, supplies or equipment not protected from potential source of contamination.
- Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed, and sanitized after each use.
There is also a sign on the door that said the restaurant was closed for “scheduled equipment upgrades and deep cleaning.”
“Thank you for your patronage. To ensure the highest quality of service and dining experience…we are closed for scheduled equipment upgrades and deep cleaning service,” reads the note from Empire from Columbus Management. “We expect to reopen as soon as possible.”
Empire Szechuan Kyoto is closed as of Thursday afternoon. Once the restaurant corrects the violations and gets reinspected, it can reopen.
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Least surprising headline of the week 🙂 Can’t believe that place is still in business, 40 years after its prime….
Looks like you’re 40 years after your prime. Can’t wait for them to be back open.
Just because you have no memory to bank on, doesn’t mean you should insult those who do.
Gosh, I hope they get it together. When I lived in the neighborhood, it was one of my favorite places. Good food, kind people.
They are SO RUDE everyone comments. We had some takeout Won Ton soup the other day….has anyone gotten sick from their food? This is worrisome. Thanks for any info.
Brusque, abrupt service
You ain’t kiddin’.
Kind people? Sounds like you’re confusing it with another place.
I was one of the few neighbors who would enjoy eating “in” there. There were all very lovely to me, always. Sometimes you receive the good energy you put out to others.
You have to be VERY “sweet” to the younger woman who works there. The others are completely gone.
I feel like we should be given the tip for being nice to the waitstaff, honestly.
Haven’t been there in years. We ate there occasionally years ago, more as a convenient contingency plan when all else failed. I’ll take a pass when it reopens. Anyone know what was the last grade they got?
They had good food, especially in their broadway & 100th st location. The problem was and still is, they just don’t keep their stuff clean. But now living in Flushing, I can see where that comes from…
If they ” not keeping their ‘stuff’ clean” A-h-h-h! That’s not anywhere I’d want to be!! Strewth!
But now living in Flushing, I can see where that comes from…
Explain, please.
What 100th Street location?
And living in Flushing showed you what?
And you ate there knowing this?
I really try not to eat out anymore because of this very thing. I am always worried about all the things mentioned above in this article. I worry about rat feces, roaches OMG It’s bad enough thar the grocery stores already have mold in the fruit and the bread is always right on the verge of mold and being stale. I can’t take it being stale but no mold no salmonella in the chicken, oh God no!!!
That’s some way to go thru life.
Better than getting food poisoning I had it no fun
I remember when it was merely one of the excellent Empire Szechuan restaurants. (No Kyoto). Haven’t been there in decades. There were so many Japanese restaurants around there BITD. Perhaps the Empire added the “Kyoto” after the closings of Rikyu, Sakura Charya, and Lenge. Dan lasted a bit longer.
One wonders why an excellent chain (like Empire Szechuan) declines and dies when it should remain the thriving , reliable neighborhood go=to it was for many years.
The original owners die or retire. Happens a lot.
Lenge was a great neighborhood asset for a long tme.
So sad. I spent decades in food service and I don’t know if enforcement has changed but between 1980 and 2005 you would get at least 3 warnings before being closed and fines would already have exceeded $1,500 or so. Based on that I’m inclined to think they deserve to go.
Disgusting, they should never be allowed to re-open under the present owner/mangement.
They are rude
This is why I cook from scratch at home.
Me too. Not that I eat very lavishly!! Just some veggies and chicken or fish.. Easy to get from the local food stores and possibly cheaper.
This is why I love Kam Lai on 94th
Exactly
I used to eat there all the time back in the ’90s until one day I found a fried fly about the size of my pinky tip in my lunch special. Five years or so later, I figured I’d give them another chance and I got their sliced lamb & scallions. Ended up barfing my guts out for about 24 hours. That was it for me!
If you can overlook the roaches, mice and flies the Spare Ribs are delicious !!!
A-h-h-h-! Who’d want to go near the place! ?? Go and get stuff you trust that aint gonna make you ill! Though who’s to say what that may include!
The inclusion of ‘Kyoto’ in their name has always puzzled me It implies they are selling Japanese food. Sushi topped with Cockroach feces perhaps.
I had chinese food delivered from them once maybe 10 years ago, it was well below mediocre, and expensive for Chinese food. I never ordered from there again.
Hopefully good riddance.
Should re-brand as HandyNasty.
After reading this I am afraid. Very afraid.
I subscribe to all sorts of ‘recall’ etc websites — food, various products and even services — you name it! Yes, you should be scared to death — like a black cat on Halloween!
I’d always heard negative things about Empire Szechuan, but once or twice a year we would get take out from there, and it was okay. Not great, but good enough, so we didn’t quite get all the negativity about the place. But about 6 months ago, we picked up dinner from there and it was just inedible. We literally had to throw it away, and that was it for us.
I miss the former Hunan Park on Columbus where Parm is now located. They were great. I’ve now used Empire off and on the past several years, but will now think twice. Anyone have recommendations for basic Chinese/Szechuan on the UWS?
La Salle Dumpling House is a strong choice. Either their Harlem location or the one at Wu & Nussbaum.
I miss Hunan Park as well… and China Fun, which never reopened after a fire…..
Legend 72 (on 72nd btw Colum and Amst) has always seemed a step up to me. There is a old-worldish traditional menu if you like that, but the menu we are more used to is excellent. Service isn’t Boulud; it’s Chinese restaurant. But the food is superb.
Love that place!
It’s about time. This place has been disgustingly filthy…flies, gross bathrooms and finding a cockroach in your takeout order is not fun. The place should be closed for good unless it is gut renovated. Plenty of other newer, cleaner, nicer Asian restaurants on the UWS.
Good recommendations for takeout Chinese in the high sixties, seventies, or low eighties?
How disgusting.
The Health Department must have specially calibrated scientific instruments to detect the presence of roaches and mouse droppings. I refuse to believe the owners of this establishment would knowingly allow the presence of such dangers to their customers.
They’re called eyeballs.
This is NAUSEATING and depressing in equal measure. I have been ordering from there (in person,to go) for such a long time! Always stuck to Moo Shu Vegetable, noodles with sesame, and hot and sour soup, and it has always been very good. Now I would be very dubious if it ever re-opened even under new management. I will really miss those 3 dishes!Yes, everyone there was brusque at best and rude at worst, but because I always got take-out it didn’t bother me.
Can anyone please suggest a good and clean (if that even exists) Chinese restaurant nearby? There was a great one on Amsterdam (76th?)called The Cottage but when it moved to Broadway, the food took a nosedive and I I stopped ordering from them. I still miss it.
YES! I miss that place!!! The new loc. sux.
Same with La Caridad. New one looks nice. Old one was MUCH better–even the humbler atmosphere excelled!
Sad:(
So glad I’m not alone ! But so sad that it’s true.
For a good Chinese takeout that’s been around for decades, King Food Chen between 83rd & 84th Street & Amsterdam Ave is good & seems to always have an A rating in their window.
Szechuan 74, kind of cattycorner to the Cottage when it was on Amsterdam was excellent for the couple years it stayed open. I think your best bet in that hood now would be Legend 72 on 72nd just off Columbus, a few doors down from Malachy’s. They’re Szechuan and will really spice it up for you if you insist on them doing so but they feature the standard Americanized Chinese-American dishes too and are very good for the area.
Thank you!
I’ve been cautiously pleased ordering from Ollie’s To Go, especially their noodle soups which are hearty, soothing, and cleverly packed in a tiered container so the noodles don’t get overcooked. Delivery has been quick and correct.
I love this restaurant. They have (among other things) very healthy and low calorie vegetarian, vegan, and fish filet options, and they are also open very late for night owls like me. I ate there a lot and I never got sick from eating any of their food. I look forward to their reopening as very soon as possible.
Did anyone notice the Rudest was the female owner of the Empire Szechuan restaurant?
She was so nasty, I
’d say thank you after paying & she frowned, never replied.
She always had a nasty frown, but smiled chatting with the waitresses.
Why was she so mean?
Tell me your experience. …?
The customer was the last thing on her mind. Correct.
We’ve had the opposite experience. The female owner has always been exceedingly kind to my family, asks about our kids (we’ve been going there since they were babies). According to her, the restaurant has struggled since Covid. The crowds they used to get for lunch and dinner never quite bounced back.
The worst and dirtiest restaurant I’ve ever seen. I would never eat there.👎👎👎👎
I subscribe to the NY Philharmonic, and this is my go to place before a concert. The service is quick, the prices are reasonable, the personnel are friendly and good natured, and the food is consistently excellent. Sometimes a bit salty, but always tasty. I have never had a bad experience in the many dozens of times I’ve dined here. I hope they open up again soon.
UGH!
Say it ‘aint so!! I eat there all the time. Gross…. Touch wood, I never got sick there. Empire Szechuan’s big soups, buns, shrimp toast and egg rolls are the BEST in the neighborhood. So I’m not gonna lie, when they reopen I will be back. Shug, I guess that’s what happens when you live in a food desert.
Avoiding this place like the literal plague. Empire restaurants ruined Chinese food for me.
How does one ignore this and post “can’t wait until they re-open”? in my opinion, there is something very wrong with that mentality.
As a restauranteur, they have an obligation to follow food safety, sanitation, and cleanliness standards. One would have to have ZERO concern for doing any of the above.
I do hope that once they re-open, if they do, NOBODY goes there and they close for good. Is this too critical? HELL NO they are disgusting and do not care.