Empire: Uninspiring but not digusting

Favorite Broad Street hangout isn’t *totally* gross and offers *some* comforts.

May 8, 2009; 7:30 AM • by Tess Shebaylo

The skinny:

Two ramshackle stalls, conveniently close to the front door.

Pros:

The existence of two stalls means you rarely have to wait long for a turn, which is a valuable asset in the bar scene. There’s a nice, long mirror to check your face in, and the sink isn’t inside the bathroom so that cuts down on the clutter. Toilet paper is almost always stocked. This bathroom doesn’t strike me as overwhelmingly clean, but there isn’t garbage all over the floor.

Cons:

Yet another restroom with no purse hooks. At any given time, one or both of the stall doors are unable to stay shut, so you have to maneuver some way to take care of business while keeping the door shut with your foot, or with your purse lodged purposefully in the door jamb. Lots of dramatic, specific, catty graffiti graces the walls and contributes to the general squalor. The problem with the sink being in the hallway is that you have to wash your hands under the only bright light in the whole bar, usually spraying other people with the overzealous faucet in the process. And I’d say about 67% of the time, there are no paper towels, so you get the pleasure of walking back to your booth with dripping hands.

Empire
727 W Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 344-3323‎

(Image courtesy of F33)

May 8, 2009 7:30 AM 3