Darwin and Bear — Restaurant in Chesterfield

I had heard lovely things about Darwin and Bear so decided we would start our girls night here with Bottomless Brunch on Saturday. On arrival, downstairs was buzzing, it was lively with chatter and music - a lovely atmosphere. We were seated upstairs and all of a sudden that atmosphere had gone. It was cold, the decor was grungy, there was no music. I don’t think our table had been wiped before arrival. The cocktails arrived and tasted like juice, hardly any alcohol, the coke was flat and several weren’t even made in line with the menu- eg being made with pineapple instead of peach! (Luckily we had no allergies so this was just an inconvenience but could have left some seriously poorly). One of the cocktails turned up 1/3 glass full, looking like it had been half drank. The staff were based downstairs and rarely came up to check on us. The food was ok but not fantastic. The fries were red hot which made it more obvious that the burger had been sat around waiting. The toilets were awful. The flush was taped onto the wall with yellow and black sticky tape. The toilet roll dispenser had fallen or been pulled off and not refitted so the tiny bit of loo roll that there was was just sat on top of the dirty bin and there was no hand dryer or paper towels to dry your hands. I also do not understand why we were made to pay on arrival when other customers were not because in all honesty I would not have paid the money as it was not worth it. We paid over £115 between 4 of us and left feeling very disappointed. There were no customers downstairs as we left and therefore no staff around for us to talk to. Safe to say we will not...

Things to note:

Time went: Wednesday 17th August 2022, 17:40 How busy at time of review: Not busy at all Seated: Immediately Uniqueness: Retro Games console in booths. Pool table on 1st Floor Cuisine: Mexican at time of review Mains: Chimichanga and Chilli Con Carne (both came with Rice and salad) Sides: Chips, Wedges and Jalapeño poppers Drinks: Terry’s Choc Orange Shake and Baby Peach Mocktail

Seated very quickly and very politely Table was clean and games console was good to use Menu had a good selection and was not too big

The hostess was pleasantly polite Wait time for the food was about right Food portion was generous and request for sauces was honoured well Food tasted very good. Chimichanga was well seasoned and tasted very good Chilli con carne was also very well seasoned and rice went perfectly with it Rice was very well seasoned Wedges and chips were well seasoned and jalapeño poppers was also good Asking for the food to go was also honoured well Drinks were very good Price for everything was ok (~£45 for both of us with all items)

A very good experience. Will recommend if ever in...

Getting worse on each delivery. Sadly what was a great 1st experience with Darwin & Bear has quickly declined with 3 more orders.

1st order was very tasty (pickupl

2nd order was dry and cold in parts cold (delivery)

3rd order took nearly 20 minutes longer than expected delivery time and was cold (delivery)

4th (and probably final order) the entire order practically inedible. It felt like the food had been overcooked but then left out too long. Wedged were burnt but soggy, the garlic bread was basically cardboard, the chicken wings were completely different in size than (smaller) but I feel cooked at the normal time as the larger wings. They we inedible, rock solid, dry as a bone. The chimichanga was a soggy mess.

I feel like they're not quite equipped for delivery's yet, sadly. Either too busy or their timings are off.

If you do want to order I would advise collecting. If you catch them on a good day they're delicious. The best wedges I've ever had and super tasty wings.

But for use well be seeking a different take away treat...