The Empire Cafe is a restaurant in Leeds City Centre, Leeds. Rated 4.6 stars from 416 Google reviews. Known for rotisserie chicken and small plates and starters. Best for birthday dinners and small plates and sharing. Price range: £20–60.
Rankings updated
The Empire Cafe
| Rating | 4.6★ |
| Reviews | 416 |
| Best for | Birthday dinners |
Quick Verdict
Rotisserie chicken and steak executed with care, attentive service, and a relaxed open-kitchen room that fills fast.
You want rotisserie chicken and steak cooked with visible care in a relaxed room where staff know their menu.
About The Empire Cafe
Booking ahead is non-negotiable — the Empire Cafe fills fast, and turning up on spec means being turned away. Hidden down a Leeds city-centre side street, it runs a tight room where the open kitchen puts the rotisserie front and centre, and the half chicken, soft enough to pull apart between two with a starter and sides, is what most tables are here for. The small plates earn their place too: skate wing in masala sauce, truffle dumpling with pork, flatbread with smoky roast tomatoes and aubergine, smoked cod with butter beans — starters that arrive beautifully presented and hit hard enough to make the main feel like a bonus. Rump of beef with proper gravy and roast potatoes rounds out the menu beyond the bird.
In the last 90 days, The Empire Cafe has drawn 39 substantial written reviews (50+ characters of genuine feedback) — recent momentum that is one of the signals behind its place on the hot list.
What Stands Out
Rotisserie chicken
Multiple recent reviewers describe the half and full chicken as soft, buttery, and 'like butter very soft not one bit dry', with portions large enough to share.
Small plates and starters
Recent reviews highlight smoked cod with butter beans, prawns with scallops and calvados bisque, and crispy anchovies as flavoured and beautifully presented.
Service attentiveness
Recent reviews note staff as 'amazing', 'very attentive and efficient', and 'friendly and attentive', with the team handling dietary needs and menu adjustments 'with exceptional care'.
Practical Information
Opening Hours
Contact
6 Fish St, Leeds LS1 6DB, United Kingdom
Visit WebsiteFrequently Asked Questions about The Empire Cafe
The Empire Cafe in Leeds city centre is well-suited to birthdays: a recent reviewer celebrated a partner's birthday there and commended the amazing service and beautifully presented starters of smoked cod with butter beans and prawn, scallops and calvados bisque, with the team showing exceptional care when resolving a request.
The Empire Cafe in Leeds city centre requires a reservation. Recent reviewers note the place fills quickly and recommend booking in advance to secure a table.
The Empire Cafe's rotisserie chicken is soft and buttery, with recent reviewers describing it as 'like butter very soft not one bit dry' and 'the best rotisserie chicken in Yorkshire'. The half chicken is large enough to share between two with starters and sides.
The Empire Cafe offers starters including smoked cod with butter beans, prawns with scallops and calvados bisque, and crispy anchovies, all described by recent diners as flavoured and beautifully presented.
The Empire Cafe in Leeds city centre has a quiet corner available away from the bustle of town, where a recent reviewer enjoyed a tea in peace.
Also in Leeds City Centre
View allSee the full Leeds City Centre ranking
How We Rank Venues
Rankings are recalculated monthly from live Google Business Profile data. Our Hot Score weighs review velocity (new text reviews), baseline rating, and Google Business Profile completeness. No editorial picks, no paid placements — just what the data says this month.
Hot Score: 57/100 · ranked October 2026
The written profile on this page is generated from real Google reviews and reviewed monthly. Quotes are verbatim and belong to the people who wrote them — not to us.
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