Empire City Review

We live on the opposite side of Westchester, but whenever I pass by the Yonkers casino, I always say that I should stop in. My opinion was cemented when I went to a racetrack casino while working in Ft Lauderdale, we went twice with my office, and the opinion of the buffet there was quite favorable. Plus, when signing up for their players card, you were given a free lunch at the buffet and a voucher for playing. Just like that! I was expecting a similar experience at Yonkers

First, we got nothing for signing up. The place, as noted, is TREMENDOUS, which is nice because it never seems crowded, but not laid out well, with a small cafeteria style restaurant in one corner, and a snack bar in another. There were two small bars around the casino, but neither had a bit of a lounge to nurse a drink. We had to go upstairs for the restaurants, but it was really a steakhouse, that looked way too large. I was really surprised to see that, after coming from Atlantic City's larger casinos, where the restaurants were perennially half full, the management didn't comp enough gamblers to fill the place up a bit more. Also, I was surprised to see that there wasn't a hot club or young and trendy bar somewhere, a destination for people who aren't planning on gambling. More than anything else, the casino, while new and very pretty, looks like it was built on cheapness. It seems that when the thin carpet becomes a bit more threadbare, and the leather seats become a bit more cracked, will quickly revert to an awful eyesore in poor Yonkers.

810 Yonkers Ave
Yonkers, NY 10704
(914) 968-4200