The Empire

Nice location. Fast service, affordable, tasty food, more than fair portion/​serving size.

My go to Mid East sandwich.
No chain. AlibyeByes
Had eggplant (nicely cooked) and falafel sandwich wi extra tahini. Mid East drinks.
No yupsters here.6.50 for sandwich and drink
Great!

Delicious, wholesome food close to my house! Extremely Convenient for when I can’t be bothered shopping and cooking! I either get the falafel plate or wrap!

For $ 7.50 I got the most massive chicken shawarma plate that weighed at least 2 pounds. The meat was juicy and everything was pretty flavourful. It’s not the best I’ve ever had but it was really good and reasonably priced. While this place does have tables, it’s pretty dingy and not necessarily the type of place you’d want to stay and eat at. Service was good, too. I’d go again.

Yummy!
It’s a new favourite lunch spot for me! I’m here just about every week. They have great daily deals.
The guys who work there are also really great with substitutions and smiles. Hit it up!

Cheap and delicious, my husband goes here for lunch at least once a week. Chicken shawarma is my favourite.

Normal prices but the way they prepared the food ruined my taste. Touching money and then Rolling my shawarma with bare hands, no thanks. Opening hours and location is good. However, the owner should work on keeping the place clean and serving the food properly.

I used to come here for awesome weekly deals such as 2-​for-​1 falafel sandwiches, but then I recently discovered the Empire Combo Platter.
For $ 8.99 you get a heaping amount of goodness including chicken, beef, falafel balls, yellow & lentil rice, pita bread, various salads, etc. It’s a lot of tasty food for a great price. I’m a big lad and even I have a hard time finishing off this meal.
The food always seems to be on point. Sometimes when you go it will be quite the line-​up, so you might have to wait a good 10 – 15 minutes, but they tend to move quickly to get everyone served. They’ve got lots of side dishes to choose from as well.
Definitely a great take-​out option for the Bloor/​Dovercourt area.
Note: they don’t accept credit cards. Cash and debit only.

Love the spice mix they use in their falafels. They’re a bit different from your standard Ali Baba’s fare. Usually fast service. I usually take mine to-​go as the atmosphere is a bit lacking.

They may have great deals which can be worth it if you need a fix.
I’m reviewing the falafel only. I’ve been trying to find an overall good falafel package and have yet to find one. The falafel itself is good, but I think they stuff far too many ingredients in it and load it with too much sauce. A little tiny bit of sog at the end of your pita is okay but it’s a little too drippy for my tastes. There’s a slightly higher ratio of toppings to falafel and I didn’t even get tomatoes, I imagine it would have been far too much if I had.
Verdict: I’ve had better falafel sandwiches, so I probably won’t be coming back here for a falafel fix. Too much sauce and ingredients overpowering so I can barely even taste falafel.

Key Feature: Two Falafel for 4.99 on Mondays and Fridays
The Empire may not look like much from the inside, and the bathrooms — entrances to which are partitioned by sheets hanging from the ceiling — may remind you of your college days. But, it’s the food that matters. It’s the food that counts.
Having wandered through Toronto trying to find the perfect Falafel, I feel my quest may have ended at The Empire. Now, it’s possible better food may exist. There’s always a better place — but, here, right now, The Empire is keeping me happy.
Mondays and Fridays you can get two Falafel for only 4.99. And these are not the small Falafel sandwiches you might end up with at run of the mil chain stores. Each one of these is a meal onto itself.
If you walk in with a friend, and you both want the double deal, make sure you specify it. Normally they assume people are sharing one order of two. This is the only downside. And it’s easy to overcome.
Ask for extra pickled turnip, and you will not be disappointed.

I really like this place — it’s one of the best (and tastiest!) deals in the area. It has great specials every night of the week (Monday’s 2 Falafel wraps for $ 4.99 is a steal) and the service is always warm and genuine — Aman is really nice and always smiling. And he’ll make recommendations about toppings, if you’re not sure.
The falafels are tasty and cooked fresh to order –never old or dry. The toppings are outstanding — hummus, tabouli, pickled turnips and cabbage are all available — and at no extra cost, unlike a lot of other places I’ve been to.
Yeah, the room is a little dated, but this isn’t the sort of place where you care. The food’s good and the service is great, that’s what matters.

Mes amis saoudiens tiennent cette enseigne depuis de nombreuses années et dans le genre c’est un des meilleurs du quartier, peut-​être même de Toronto. Le propriétaire, toujours enthousiaste et sympathique vous préparera votre falafel préféré ou un plat au poisson à votre goût. Les prix sont très abordables et le style de la maison est assez imaginatif avec ses décors rococo en contreplaqué. Sans hésiter !

Ditto to Teresa C!
$ 3 falafel sandwhich with all of the fresh toppings you could want; really, what more could I ask for?
We came here after midnight on a Monday night/​Tuesday morning; the person working was on the phone performing orders at the time, which was no problem to us. When he hung up after a minute though, he sincerely apologized and gave us some seriously smiley, friendly customer service.

Consistently great shawarma. I often visit family that live near The Empire. This always means at least one trip to The Empire for eat in or take away. Always delicious. Fresh ingredients. Service is always pleasant. Excellent value. A delicious, affordable lunch.

I am a fan.
I am going to speak as someone who *only* orders the falafel sandwich here, so keep that in mind.
I am a fan because:
1. this place is cheap
2. there are pickles AND pickled turnip (most places only have the turnip)
3. i always ask for extra pickles and turnip and i never get irritated looks
4. and it’s tasty!
It’s a really decent place to get your falafel sandwich. No messin’ around here.

Kind of surprised by wide range of reviews on this place; I’ve always found it to be a consistent winner. The food is of a high quality, fresh, and a superb value. The Chicken is far better than average and the selection of sweets is a nice addition. As far as the comments about the clientele — this is Toronto — many people are from far, far away and speak languages other than English. Don’t get me wrong — it’s not pretty and you’re not going to get a warm fuzzy feeling from your interactions with the staff — but you’re guaranteed to walk out with a great meal.

Used to be a lot better when you could rely on the two regular guys working (one during the day and the other in the evening)). now they have
a couple of young guys working there … the first couple of shawarma and falafel wraps were good… but the last time I ordered (chicken, beef and falafel) they were all bad … how is that possible!!! Needless to say… that was a waste of money and the loss of a customer. I wont be returning… seriously it was really really bad… dry. sour, just awful.

I will temper my review by noting that I know more than one person who swears by this little neighborhood middle eastern shop as one of their favorite places. As for me, I generally give it a pass.
The food itself is decent and will pass for a Sarah’s meal if you had a blind taste test. However, I find the shop itself to be a bit dingy and a lot of the patrons to run on the more, shall we say, sketchy side? Sure, there are a whole mixed bag of people in this neighborhood and you have to roll with it in all kinds of spots, but I find a visit to the Empire is generally less than pleasant.
Overall, avoid unless for some reason there’s nothing else to choose from.