Empire Ale House (Mount Vernon, Washington)

July 2018

The Empire Ale House is located at 314 West Gates, Mount Vernon, Washington, USA. downtown Mount Vernon, just off the Interstate 5. The new owners, Wife and Husband Morgan and Jeff bought this place 2 years ago.  They are so nice and friendly.  Beleive it or not but it is even better than before!!  The main part is pretty much the same as before.  What they have done is take over the store and expand the bar.  On the east side is bar and on the west side is the room you can book for functions and it also is used for over flow.  The main sit up bar seats 13 people.  There is a pub high narrow standup for 8 or so people, and 2 booths for 2 remain.  The bar is over 21 and there is a small family area infront that has 5 tables.  They also have a sidewalk patio in front.  There is a cool little upstairs area but no alcohol is allowed up there. This place has an awesome feel and we loved it here. There are 25 different local beers on rotating taps. Nice selection of wines helps out too!  The food is very good.  I had the grilled Panni that is stuffed with th most awesome mac and cheese and thick pieces of bacon!  You gotta try this out.  My partner had the Ruben sandwich and rated it as one of the best she has ever had and puts it up with the Ruben at Uli's in White Rock, B.C. Canada and that is saying a lot!!!  We saw several burgers head out to tables and they looked killer, they were huge! Happy hour is 3 to 6 pm.  This is one of my favorite places, a definite 2 thumbs up for sure!  We will be back very soon!
We were back in August and just as good s ever!!!

July 2019 what a difference a year can make. Went here for lunch and found out they now open only at 3 PM.  Asked around and found the most recent owners had not paid the rent for 6 months and had not paid taxes.  Bruce and his wife who are the previous owners had to take it back after they were enjoying retirement. The kitchen  is now closed but they apparently have many menus from local establishments and can order that way.  Sad to see such a wonderful place come to this.  The Porterhouse 1/2 a block away is style I'll great and they are open for lunch.