Second Empire Restaurant & Tavern

An outstanding restaurant! From the second you walk in you are given a 5 star experience. It's a beautiful place and the went above and beyond what we expected. Our waiter Oliver was absolutely incredible and mad sure everything was perfect. Other staff checked on us,brought us bread and made sure our drinks were full. The appetizers, drinks and food were superb. I had the duck and my husband had the grouper. Also the dessert is made by the pastry chef.

Second Empire is the best Restaurant in Raleigh and could hold its own anywhere. Its food is always amazing and the level of service here is not matched by any other restaurant I know of in Raleigh. My third time in I came alone and ate at the bar. Whitney and Jarrell were tending bar and provided the same impeccable level of service that you experience in the dining rooms. No small feat considering that they were slinging drinks for the busy restaurant while they did it. The bar filled and emptied several times with folks waiting for their tables while I sat and ate there. I started with an old fashioned Jarrell built in the glass with a generous pour of bourbon, a solid classic old fashioned. Whitney gave lengthy explanations of the specials and answered all of my questions with an impressive depth of knowledge regarding the menu. For dinner I had the Autumn salad and the NC Grouper. Both were perfect examples of what I love about the food at Second Empire and show off the genius of the kitchen. The dishes are busy with ingredients and texture that somehow all exist separately on the plate but come together in countless perfect combinations depending on where your fork lands. The Grouper with southern style collards and late season succotash with pineapple was an inspired dish. Every bite amazing. I love Second Empire and I enjoyed the casual atmosphere of the bar. This might be my favorite way to get dinner here. Previous reviews follow… I've eaten here twice since moving to Raleigh in 7/22 and Second Empire has the best food I’ve had in Raleigh. The proteins were perfect but the rest of what came with the proteins elevates the meals to magic. Balanced ingredients and flavors with beautiful presentations. Service was old school fancy restaurant. A team of folks delivered everything we needed/ordered. One career waiter with a couple decades of experience took our order and was extremely knowledgeable about every dish, every ingredient, and every menu item including wine and drinks. The wine list is extensive with bottles going for a standard 2-3 times retail from the labels I recognized. My only criticism would be that IMO the house cocktails were uninspired and borderline average in comparison to the rest of the experience especially when considering some of the great mixology happening in Raleigh. That said, Second Empire is still my favorite splurge/celebration meal in Raleigh, and one of my favorite anywhere.

The chef is a true culinary artist. This was truly an amazing five star culinary experience. Every dish was an absolute masterpiece of pure delectable genius. We went for the my Husband and Father In Law’s birthday! Every dish demonstrates passion and expert chemistry, the flavors are an extrodinary ensemble- everything made at the time of order. Everything is fresh, I had duck, my husband had seafood and my in laws had steaks - every dish was a home run. The waiter, his assistant and the entire staff were wonderful. Five stars for this gem!!!! Also i have a diary allergy and they were able to accommodate.

This was my husband and I’s first time here. We loved our experience! The wait staff was so kind and attentive. My husband put on our reservation that it was my birthday and I was pleasantly surprised that every person we interacted with wished me a happy birthday! I even got a menu with my name and date at the top with the chef’s signature. I thought it was pretty cool! We ordered the foie gras and charcuterie plate as our first course and the ribeye and rack of lamb as our entree. All of it was delicious! Dessert was pretty good, I think we were just so full to fully appreciate it.

We have been wanting to try this place for a while and it did not disappoint! Our waiter Wyatt did a great job explaining the nights specials and made sure the whole evening went smoothly! We tried the foie gras appetizer and the shrimp and goat cheese arancini both were amazing. Then for mains, we had the duck breast and one of the steaks, So good. But the star for us was the chocolate soufflé for dessert. 12/10 experience for us.

Service was great. The servers were very attentive and we loved it. The French onion soup and salmon carpaccio was really great first courses. The ribeye was good. The seafood paella was not worth it because even though there were mussels and scallops, it was also filled with dry salmon and a white fish and was unappetizing. Desserts were worth it. Other than the paella we loved our dinner.

My wife and I decided to give this place a try for our 13 anniversary. It did not disappoint! They didn't have a table available (call for reservations) but we decided to sit at the bar and order our food. The atmosphere was amazing. The bar kind of feels like a little speak easy. We started with the Foie gras and it was mind blowing! My wife ordered the wet aged filet mignon which was also amazing. I ordered the duck breast. Let's just say we will definitely be coming back time and time again!

One of the best places in Raleigh to celebrate an anniversary or have a romantic dinner. Beautiful environment, delicious food, and excellent service. We started our meals with the shrimp arancini (the portion was only two but they were a good size each), the pork chop and scallops for entrees and finished by splitting the key lime pie. Everything was excellent and we were both quite full.