The Empress in Cambridge

Life changing pizza. We felt welcome

Great foods, great drinks, great vibes. We love the pub quiz (never won tho) and the free sandwiches they provide. They have student discount and loyalty cards!!! What’s not to love!

Lovely atmosphere, with a good selection of beers. The pizzas were lovely. An easy walk from the holiday in express. We sat inside, but there was a beer garden through the back.

Great environment with good beers. The pizza is good but I think it's a bit pricey for the portion, not quite worth it.

Lots of drunk and abusive customers

Legendary PRR (People's Republic of Romsey) venue. Blissfully quiet because no quiz, but love the quiz too. Pizza menu recently refreshed, enjoyed my Guinness Zero and Brixton IPA🍕🍺🙂

Amazing Food! The pizzas made by Chef Giuseppe are amazing truly recommend it, really nice place big garden. The food is Wooow! 👌🏼

Been here a few times and always enjoyed it, lovely staff and good drinks, tried their pizza for the first time yesterday and will definitely be going again. Can't recommend it enough.

I went here with my daughter for just a couple of drinks. On entering the old days in Cambridge came flooding back. What a great lively place with brilliant (and gorgeous) welcoming bar staff who made such an effort to make an old visitor very welcome. What was supposed to be a quick night out very soon became a "sesh." Would highly recommend it, if only for the Guinness. A very big thanks to all at The Empress.

Good pizza, but attitude toward customer service could really use improvement. My wife and young son and I visited recently, having dined here just once before, planning to enjoy the Monday two-for-one discount. We couldn’t remember the exact size of the pizzas, but I’d had an intense workout that morning and felt like I’d eat more than one. Ordering three pizzas seemed nonsensical with a two-for-one deal running, so we ordered four. When they arrived, the pizzas were bigger than we’d remembered, which we initially thought was lovely (we were very hungry!). We managed to eat only two and a quarter pizzas, leaving one and three quarters. My wife went to ask for a couple boxes, and here’s where things got uncomfortable. The man said no, and for a brief moment, she thought he was joking, but then he followed it up with an explanation that “the two-for-one deal is not for take away.” He agreed to give her one box, but she reported the interaction felt slightly condescending (like an “I’ll let you get away with it this time” tone one might use with a child). Then on the way back to the table, she overheard an employee talking in a very low voice, just catching the words, “…some people have caught onto it…” She came back and told me everything, sharing that she was embarrassed, like everyone thought we were trying to scam the restaurant. Hating to waste food, we managed to get all the remaining pizza in the box, but this meant it was needlessly smashed and messy. So what started as a nice evening, ended in us feeling quite uncomfortable, and we’re not planning to return anytime soon. I think the Empress needs to rethink the two-for-one policy, to make it more customer-friendly and flexible, even if that means re-pricing it. They also probably want to rethink the approach to customer service in general. Many businesses go “above and beyond” for their customers – this was the exact opposite.

Lovely friendly bar team. Great time 😁

I love The Empress, really great pizzas at decent prices (especially the 2 for 1 on Mondays!!!!!!) plus the student discount on drinks and food. They also have a big covered beer garden, pool table, darts board, and digital jukebox. Love this pub

Was alright, food wasn't amazing but can't complain. Reasonable enough prices.

Friendly local pub in Cambridge. Ended up there because of the rain and found amazing ales, amazing pizza and a great PuB Quiz atmosphere. My new favourite in town :)

We went at the end of the year and the pub was beautifully decorated with Christmas motifs. They have great beers and I really liked their mulled wine. Small, cramped, but pleasant environment.

Pizza is good, but it's just not a patch on what it was when Dave was there

Amendment: 30/12/23. After my earlier experience (below), the landlord of the Empress reached out. They asked whether I would like to return and try the pizza again at another time and hopefully they can meet my expectations, as they agreed that the pizza in the first instance didn't meet their own. I was very pleased to do so, as this is a lovely pub! My friend and I had the Empress Bad Boy & the Sausage & Onion pizza today. We were very impressed. Really as nice as every other review says, and with this quality, very well priced! It's great this pub has a team that cares. Image below amended to reflect just the pizza from this visit. 23/12/23: 3/5 stars. Disappointing! This place is a great pub, so love the drinks there but decided to try the pizza the other day and I was massively underwhelmed. I ordered the mushroom pizza, with vegan cheese (appreciate the option being there!), and a picture is below. There was barely any mushroom on the pizza, and I thought the pizza was just very lacking in flavour. Not much in the way of herbs or seasoning, even though I think the menu said it had a bunch of stuff going on. For all the reviews, I was expecting a bit more? The garlic bread was good, but it's a low bar as I don't think that is too difficult to get right!

Super busy crowded pub. 100% definitely need to do the booking beforehand. They do really good pizzas and pizzas only. Love the atmosphere and decorations. Had so much fun with my friends there celebrating Christmas x

Great pub friendly staff and they do good pizzas

A nice pub. The Christmas decorations are a must see.

It's Christmas again! Love this pub and the effort they put in. They also have a good range of beers and spirits. If you've never been, you should definitely go especially at Christmas.

Excellent ale rewards scheme and very reasonably priced.

Local to Romsey, diverse customer.

Great pizza and staff are brilliant!

Awesome place for a get together ❤️ Annika is the best bar tender, sorry fellas

Didn't have food but looked really nice a lovely pleasant atmosphere will go again

Very nice people came along because I got told loads of wings tried to beat the record only got half way the owner/chef is very polite chatty I recommend anyone to come to this place it's out of the way cozy.

Proper pub, great staff and a nice atmosphere

I had the pleasure of spending an evening here on a Wednesday. The service was great - staff are very friendly, welcoming, and always happy to have a conversation with you. It's a very traditional pub - a good place to socialise, and the decor is exactly the kind that you'd expect for a night out in a charming, off the main track kind of place. The food is great, with fresh pizzas cooked on order. Great variety in pizza options, too, so it's a very enjoyable meal if you like a good pizza and beer. My only downside is that it is a bit out of the way, and if you're unfamiliar with Cambridge (like I was), it will take some time to find your way there. It is, however, a 15-20 minute walk from the train station. I recommend this place for a stop off. Have a good sit down, relax, and there's an outside area in the back to enjoy the sun while you're there.

Lovely backstreet pub with a great range of pizzas and drinks.

Classic British pub with pool table etc. The pizza was brilliant - way above your average pub pizza IMO. Would recommend if you are looking for a casual and chilled stop

Amazing pizzas, and awesome decorations around Christmas time. Great atmosphere and staff

Tucked away with delicious food and lovely staff. The sweet pizza was especially good. Great selection of non alcoholic beers too which is a rarity

Great food, lovely staff and great atmosphere

Food was delicious (especially the sweet pizza) and the staff wonderful. The place is full of character, hidden Cambridge gem

They kicked out all those kids that ruined it. 5 stars

Best pub in cambs for me. Proper boozer with charm, friendliness, community and great pizza. Can’t go wrong!

Apprarently babies are not welcome to the Empress and rather than telling this to customers like decent human beings the staff prefers to start blasting loud music which stops the moment the baby leaves. Closer inspection of Tripadviser reveals that there are plenty of other reviews of rude and abusive behaviour of the staff. Therefore, I would recommend customers to avoid The Empress. There are plenty of nice pubs around. Absolutely disgusting behaviour!

Lively pub with friendly staff.

This is such a lovely place. My friends and I went to watch a World Cup game and had a wonderful time! The coolest thing is, The Empress has been recommended to me several times by locals. It’s just a very unique place to have a drink, eat some pizza and hang with friends :)

This place is the ultimate Christmas venue. It's lively and fun. The only downside is that you have to seek it out off Mill Road. It's well worth the effort.

Very disappointed with my local pub... work all week... pop down to the pub for a drink and a pizza at 6:00 and... WHAT ... all COMPLETELY BOOKED out at 6:15... and NO PIZZA. This is not the first time, lately. Seems the rules have changed for running a local. Well, cash in now... Brrr...how cold those wooden benches get without butts warming them in January and February... Not very welcoming at all.

Went to drink after a Christmas meal and the world cup was on. There was no seats to sit because it was busy but we had a great time! The decorations were great and both the staff and customers were all friendly. We even had a lady offer us her pizza she couldn't finished.

What a wonderful place. I loved my staying here. The decorations were maybe a bit too much but I liked it. The atmosphere is great, friendly staff that provides good services. The prices are fair for what you get. As a pizza lover I must say that I love your pizza! Great taste and I could feel good quality ingredients that were used. Overall we had a nice experience here and we're thinking to return. Thank you!

The best pub in Cambridge, without a doubt. The best atmosphere, particularly around Christmas, and such nice staff.

Very cosy and welcoming local pub just off Mill road area. Worth a visit for pub quiz night. They have outdoor seats as well. Very Christmassy here always 🎅

A bit cramped. Great pizza and fab quiz on Tues

Nice outside. But, it was quite empty Sunday night

A very friendly and quite lively pub. Nice beers.

Very good Pizza and enviroment!!!

ShaunHoop 2 reviews Reviewed March 25, 2022 Amazing service and quality food! I came here on a trip and I was not let down, the food was amazing, service was impeccable and I felt very welcomed when I came in, even though it was busy, the staff still made sure I was accommodated.

Very Friendly and a warm welcome. Had a good chat with the owner and staff. We only had a quick drink, as we were on the move. If we was in the area again, we would certainly stop longer.

Fantastic pub and beer garden with wicked home made pizzas, as with all things COVID table service; and the Empress table service was excellent. Service was personal polite efficient and friendly. The superb homemade pizzas was a roar away success with our group. The BBQ wasn’t on our night and if we were locals we’d have been back.Lovely place with great hospitality.

The Empress has a flare and character which make this pub so special and part of the fabric of Romsey. Great atmosphere and good pizza! I've always felt a little let down by the ales - the array sometimes tastes a little stale.

Cheerful staff on the phone and delivering our Friday night pizza treat which was delicious! Thank you Empress!

Pizza is great beer is good, staff not so good.. You can cant get the staff these days i guess. if you paying top money for a beer you would expect better

Dropped in for a couple of beers and an early dinner with a bunch of friends who are local. Service was friendly and personal, beer and pizza were excellent, and incredibly good value on the early evening deal.

Great pub, games for the family. Pool and darts, nice selection of gin. Great evening playing games.

Poor bar staff (again). Rude, unhelpful and entitled. My family invited us here for a pre Christmas drink. My husband asked for a diet lemonade to be told ‘we don’t do that here’. No alternative , just a glare. Then ‘could I have a slice of lemon in the g n t’?’ He got a grunt back. Is it too much to ask for some courtesy and professionalism in this establishment?Same bar staff (female) that also told me a few weeks ago that the reason the pizza took over an hour to cook for my daughter ‘wasn’t her aisle’. ‘I’m not the chef, he is’ as she pointed behind her. Dreadful, dreadful. You’ll always have the footfall guys and the Christmas decorations, but perhaps at some point you could loose the lousy bar staff that have lingered for far too long! Such a shame having this as my local for so long. Some things never change .... however, I do have to give credit to the lovely pizza chef who on the evening I write this, and he was a very busy man, gave my daughter much attention whilst she watched him making pizzA and wished us all a Merry Christmas as we left. Thank you for making up for the lack of service from the bar staff. He’d be suited to front of house by far!!!

Being a Cambridge lad born and breed myself and another ex Cambridge mate returned to see how much the place has changed, lots of pubs bars etc have closed , but the Empress is still there. It is Bonkers , the whole pub is just wall to wall Christmas as apparently it is from every Oct to Jan . The team have obviously gone to a lot of effort to decorate the place.the service was good We met a fantastic barmaid called Erin who was chatty friendly and just really nice. The locals were great and friendly also , we went twice on the back of a let's pop in .The pizzas are good and the even do a loyalty card get 7 stamps get a free drink ! AND the beer was lower priced than others in the area .If u love Christmas you MUST go and see it .Cheers Ian

There are numerous more attractive alternatives along Mill Road to this over-priced and over-hyped establishment. Some of the staff could well do with a refresher course in basic manners and customer service and remember where their wages ultimately derive from - namely paying customers. I notice that I am not the first to make this observation. Could do better - but probably wont.

Great pub, great location, great atmosphere and £5 pizza all day Sunday can’t be a bad thing either. If you’re in Romsey this place is a must! Great outdoor seating, log fire for those cold nights. This place everything traditional pub can offer, board games, darts, pool and Sky sports.

Great food & well-priced drinks, The Empress is full of atmosphere and old-fashioned community spirit. Once a month (Tuesday) is the best quiz night ever complete with vinyl singles, Pass the Parcel and Bingo. Great prizes - some rather outrageous -including cash; an unforgettable slice of British pub life.

We come every Tuesday for the quiz and have a great time. Pizza are made fresh and great atmosphere!

Had a great time on the pub quiz night, the atmosphere was great and loved the free sandwiches that night. The staff were amazing throughout the night and the drinks were decent price for the cambridge area. Would recommend.

Vine aquí después de un día ocupado para relajarse en el calor del verano. Con todos afuera en el jardín de la cerveza, el interior tenía mucho espacio para que me sentara y jugara algunos juegos de cartas. El personal era servicial y amable y la sidra también era buena.

Anoche mis padres y yo visitamos The Empress, como lo hemos estado haciendo desde que era un niño pequeño. Sin embargo, tuvimos un tiempo muy desagradable.

Food and drink is good in the empress and the support staff are great. Unfortunately, the landlord is a waste of space. He’s arrogant and letting the whole pub down.

Called in for a couple of beers. Friendly and pleasant staff. Well kept ale, would definitely recommend.

Just got back. It's a nice pub. Good beers and the pizza is nice. What wasn't nice was being served by someone who so clearly didn't want to be there.. grumpy and standoffish it totally killed the buzz of the place for me.

Incrocio tra pub e pizzeria. Personale molto cordiale. Poco spazio per consumare. Non mi ha fatto impazzire.

Base fina, aderezos encantadores y definitivamente una de las mejores pizzas que he probado en Cambridge. Elegí el Habeebi y definitivamente tendría esto de nuevo. Los precios varían de 8 a 11, los domingos y los lunes cualquier pizza es 5, solo se puede comer. El personal es super amable, el pub tiene un gran ambiente, los asientos al aire libre tienen calefacción y son muy grandes para esta parte de la ciudad. La atmósfera se enfría atrayendo a un grupo ecléctico de personas.

Muy mal servicio, no recibí mi pizza después de preguntar dónde estaba una vez. Al barman no le importaba que hubiera esperado 2 horas por una pizza. Muy decepcionante, y para colmo, el pub estaba lleno de lo que parecían ser niños menores de la escuela francesa en una visita de intercambio.

Vestidos con resmas y montones de oropel, con luces de Navidad bailando a todos, tanto dentro como fuera, el pub Empress realmente nos dio a mis amigos y a mí una excelente tarde de entretenimiento lleno de pub. ¡Las decoraciones navideñas fueron una sorpresa, pero lo hicieron un viaje muy festivo incluso para principios de diciembre!

Fui allí para un turno de prueba hace unas dos semanas para trabajar en el bar, al que se me pidió que volviera por segunda vez. Una vez que terminé mis segundos turnos, uno de los miembros del personal me iba a pagar por mis 6 horas de trabajo en total, pero antes de que el propietario tuviera que aprobar. Bueno, él no lo hizo, me dijo que se pondrá en contacto conmigo para ponerme en la lista de la semana que fluye. Nunca sucedió, así que intenté contactarlo varias veces y él ignoró mi correo electrónico, texto, etc. Sigo insistiendo y él finalmente respondió pidiendo mis datos bancarios. Envíeles todo lo que ha pasado más de una semana, así que le envié un mensaje de texto nuevamente para averiguar el comportamiento asqueroso y la deshonestidad del propietario. Dijo que creo que tienes un problema! Póngase en contacto con su equipo legal. Entonces, sí, este es el tipo de personas que se pueden encontrar en este pub por deshonestidad y actos ilegales. No es tanto por las 40 libras miserables. Pero el principal es cómo las personas se salen con la suya y no pasa nada. Aléjate de este lugar.

Il locale mostra tutte le caratteristiche di un PUB vecchia miniera, L'ambiente è accogliente e tutto, dal servizio ai piatti ricorda proprio un PUB; non è un ristorante, per tanto, chi cerca un locale Inglese dove trascorrere del tempo come alla maniera locale, questo è il posto giusto.

Cuando nos aventuramos en Cambridge en nuestras bicicletas para tomar algo y comer, siempre llamamos a la emperatriz en el camino a casa, ya que los abuelos de mi esposa siempre usaban el pub, pero esta vez nos obligaron a beber vasos de plástico baratos aunque estábamos en el bar y los otros clientes tenían gafas adecuadas, la razón aparentemente es la Copa Mundial de fútbol, ​​pero creo que fue la pereza del personal del bar. Vamos dave resolverlo

Fantastic service! Becky was very attentive and made sure our party of 3 were well looked after. The pizza was delicious but was so big I couldn't finish it. Nice selection of ales, good atmosphere and very friendly bar staff.

La pizza en este lugar es genial, deliciosa y no es cara en absoluto. Pruebe los domingos y los lunes la oferta de 2 por 1. Incluso sin eso, la pizza no es cara y repito. . ¡estupendo!

Had a great afternoon in here. Pizzas are great and the staff are some of the friendliest people I've ever seen in a pub. Place had a great atmosphere and will definitely return. Could have stayed all evening!!

Este lugar empeora - muchas luces navideñas destellantes desde noviembre pero poca atención a lo básico: la cerveza es plana y rancia, el servicio es fortuito. Está abarrotado y muy ruidoso todas las noches con caras diferentes y chiquillos gritando fuera de control. Hay un fuerte pop continuo a un volumen alto. Las mesas en particular nunca se limpian adecuadamente después de salir de los clientes. El resto del lugar está sucio. Ver las pizzas preparadas hace sonar las campanas de alarma.

I have visited this pub few times before. The atmosphere is always great. The lights and the fireplace make you feel at home. the staff is really friendly and smiley. Nothing to complain about it.

Nos quedamos agradablemente sorprendidos con la pizza en la oferta. La base era delgada, ligera, con unos bordes crujientes y uniformemente a través, de cocinado con ingredientes deliciosos, sabía que era realmente genial convenientemente distribuidos. Pedimos 2 pizza quattro stagioni, tipos de jamón y pesto, personalmente me hubiera gustado más alcachofas, pero eso a mí, Sin embargo, el jamón y pesto era ligeramente en el lado salado, el sabor era muy bueno y auténtico comimos todas al instante. Para aquellos con gran apetito también ofrecen un hombre vs desafío comida… quién sabe un día! :-)

Este es mi local y me encanta. Se las arregla para ser un alcohólico local, un refugio para estudiantes y un lugar ideal para familias, un verdadero refugio de cerveza, un paraíso de juegos y una excelente pizzería, sin mencionar la buena selección de cervezas y whiskys muy baratos. El personal del bar es amable y el propietario / señora realmente hacen un gran esfuerzo. Justo esta semana han pintado el exterior del pub rojo en preparación para la Navidad. El propietario está lleno de ideas, siempre con nuevas iniciativas, desde una discoteca para niños hasta una noche de solteros, sin olvidar el popular concurso semanal y las ocasionales noches de comida árabe. Perro - amigable también. Lo amo. Solo desearía poder ir más seguido.

That's right, they really do have the best pizza in Cambridge! I've been here 3-4 times for pizza in the last 3 months and it's absolutely fantastic!

This is a great local pub, nice staff, good food. There's a beautiful beer garden, pool table, darts, billiards to name a few and Man vs Food style pizza challenge. Different mix of folk and ages, drinks are a bit pricey, but that's Cambridge. Definitely worth a stop for a drink or 2.

A great pub ruined by bad management / poor staff. 3 of the 5 draught ales were off. Food wasn't on despite the sign outside and the menus saying that there should be food at that time. Expensive lagers compared to city centre also. A...

Un gran pub. Parte de la comunidad. Un montón de juegos, incluyendo el bar billar (ver que ya hecho mucho), fútbol de mesa, dardos, billar y pinball, concurso noche y una pizza. Bien cuidado ale. No generalmente un pub, pero fanaticos tienen noches especiales cuando...

Buen pub local. Tenía una cerveza en stock de mi ciudad natal en el norte. ! Bonito jardín y en general un gran pub.

Its a place, that once you know where it is, its easy, and could be really missed if you are visiting the Mill Road area of Cambridge. Being a newbie to the Mill Road area, it reminds me of the Old Carnaby Street in London. It has many curio shops, even, and don't faint, a 1950's type of hardware shop, with some of the 1950's stock is know intimately by its owner, a charature chap worthy of note.

We arrived to the pub to take a look at the annual Christmas light extravaganza, but only half of the lights were actually turned on. To top this off, they ran out of pizza dough by 8pm so we couldn't even order food! Expected so much, got so little...

This place has been my local for 2 years and I've never had any trouble from the bar staff who are always friendly, the general atmosphere is warm and Christmassy! The pizza is good too. It's also great to have a dukebox. I'd say it's a much better pub than the White Swan on Mill Road as they don't clear your pints away ;) best pub in Camb.

This pub is my local and it's great. Good value beer,a great range of pub games, pets and kids welcome. There's a large paved beer garden at the back. They do good pizza in the evenings (2 for 1 on Sundays and Mondays) and there's often some special event on like a barbecue. I'd recommend avoiding Tuesdays as it's always rammed with the pub quiz, but other than that, always worth a visit.

I used to come to this pub for Sunday lunch and I enjoyed it even if the menu choice was limited. Now apparently they have nice pizza I'm looking forward to trying them but it's twice now I have turned up at 12:00 on a Sunday, when it opens, just to be told they are not doing lunch, just dinner. No sign outside indicates when they are serving food, so I remain in the lark as to not serving lunch is a "one" off (the first time I was told the chef was ill) or an on going thing. They do a newsletter the put through the doors of the neighbourhood but their week timetable has always been a bit of a mystery. Could you be more dependable please so we can plan?

The Empress isn't anything special to look at - it's a local pub, small tables, decent beer, friendly staff - but it hosts a great pub quiz on Tuesdays, and serves some of the best pizza I've ever had.There's a great warm atmosphere and it's the perfect place to hang out with friends for a catch-up or to test your general knowledge. Reasonably priced for drinks and pizza, and a fantastic part of the local community.

Sono andata diverse volte a cena in questo pub. il suo interno è un pò old fashion e poco luminoso. ha una veranda all 'esterno molto carina , ideale in queste serate per cenare in gruppo di amici. Accettano la carta ma il pagamento minimo è di 10 pound . In media una pinta di birra si aggira intorno ai 4 pound. il lunedì fanno sempre l 'offerta per le pizze , ossia ne prendi due e ne paghi una. ovviamente paghi il prezzo di quella più costosa. la pizza è buona se comparata agli standard inglesi e anche ben condita. il personale è gentile.

This is a backstreet local that sells a range of ales and does some food. But when we visited on the 2nd Jume the bar person consistently served "pints" of beer that were not pints, I had to ask for them to be topped up. This is happening in more and more pubs these days - a pint is a legal measure and where landlords consistently short measure they are ripping off the punter and putting money in their pocket.

old school pub (agree with the tile from another review), pretty simple venue with good choices of beers.There is a back garden with seats for up to twenty people, they can prepare an excellent pizza!!!! (and I am from Italy)Pet friendly, dogs are welcome!Not a fancy hot fashion place but good for a relaxed informal chat.

On a back street of Cambridge we found The Empress. Inside was cosy and warm. My partner and I played boardgames (provided) and drank their delicious Guiness for a few hours. The locals and bar staff were all welcoming and many came over to chat. We didn't have anything to eat but saw their pizza oven fired up and some delicious looking pizzas come out of it. We'll be back to try one of those!

Fabulous find for a chilly afternoon with lots of good beers, sport on tv, board games to entertain the children and food to boot. Highly recommended