Derby Cow Palace — Restaurant in Derby

What a difference a year makes. We had dinner at the Cow Palace this weekend and it was a shell of a restaurant. Cold, empty, and horrible food. Everything was either one of two extremes ... Undercooked or Overcooked. The quality of the food was atrocious and I was embarrassed for the waitress who had to serve it and take complaints back to the lone cook. Never again...

"This could be the local version of Cheers," is how a family member described the Cow Palace while we took two family members out for Veteran's Day dinner. She had never been to the Cow Palace before, and neither had I, so it was a good opportunity to discover a variety of foods. Dining in the pub area is a local experience, with plenty of stories being told and frequent f-bombs to liven up the atmosphere. I'd probably find myself here more often, but the Palace doesn't serve Guinness -- or anything dark enough for my regular drinking habit. Maybe if that changes (hint, hint), it'll be a regular hangout for me. What the Palace does serve is a wicked good elk burger at a decent price. Two of us ordered the elk, one plain, and mine as the Texas burger with onion rings, cheddar cheese, and a dab of barbecue sauce. My elk was lean and cooked nicely which can be difficult because of the reduced fat content in meats like elk, bison, or buffalo. Across from me, the other elk burger was reported as deliciously done. At the table, we also had a fried haddock sandwich with a decent portion of fish on a regular bun. As with the elk burgers, the protein was the highlight. The fish was cooked without a lot of greasy residue, and was flaky and hot without the usual fishy overtones. One of us ordered the unlimited fried shrimp dinner which was for the most part unremarkable as specials go. Though filling, the shrimp were smaller and had no unique seasoning or flavor. Each of the dishes was accompanied by an ample side of fries that were mediocre and lacking any originality. Huge servings of fried pickles and onion rings rounded out the sampling. Both were served promptly and crispy hot, but the pickles themselves were fairly tame and thin. Desserts around included raspberry cheesecake and peanut butter pie. The cheesecake was typical, and a bit dry. Mine was adequately cured by the very generous addition of a mountain of whipped cream -- compliments of our attentive, bubbly, and fun server who seemed to know exactly the right amount of whipped cream to make me smile! If only there was a pint of Guinness hidden behind the bar...I will be back to the Cow Palace as a new local, because there's more to the menu than elk, and if the servings of other items are as fair and decent as what I experienced tonight, it will be worth the stout sacrifice to enjoy another meal and the...

Great place. We were visiting vermont and didn't know this place close at 9 p.m. . We called ahead and they were nice enough to stay open for us and we were able to order our meals I had the rib eye steaks with scallops and my friend had the elk steak with fries he love the elk steak with fries and my scallops were actually very delicious in a ridiculous butter and honey sauce which I never would have thought but together but it worked . My rib eye steak could've been a little bit more chared on the outside looks more like it was cooked but it was still tasty Jessica was our waitress she was very very nice and we wound up meeting a local call the animal and he was really nice and actually paid for our tab. great place with a super friendly staff I would definitely...

We drive 45 mins to have dinner here last night, and let me tell you, it was the WORST food we have ever had. Not to mention I ordered a margarita and it had sone weird layer if slime on the top. The waitress came back and told me it was good and did I just want something else since I did not like it? I had one sip and was charged for the drink!!! The seafood casserole was horrible and the stuffung was turkey stove top. The "prime rib" was somloaded with pre minced garlic there was NO steak taste, and my husband was to the toilet in pain all night. I was smart enough not to eat my food, even the french fries were awful!! Absolutely the worst. Also, you can tell the waitress we had and a very loud abnoxious group of dude's were "more than friendly ". What a waste...