The Derby Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Salem

If I could give 0 STARS I would. Came here all the way from California on 10/31/24 Halloween night with my wife. was in Salem for a week, I am no stranger to busy places & crowds as I am from La & understand patience and grace but was astonished by the attitude, rudeness and disrespect we received here I had came in for a couple drinks as we were walking around Halloween night & was served by a Caucasian girl with short bob blonde hair at the bar area , as I saw how busy it was I felt gratitude and left a tip only to realize I should have never tipped someone who would then refuse to try to serve us she started by passing us every time and asking everyone else if they were ok or needed another drink, at this point I start giving her the benefit of the doubt I politely sat and waited my turn as I didn’t want to rush anybody but as time went on I knew she was purposely trying to avoid us as I had to go out of my way and ask if I can please have another of my drink whenever she had time she snapped and said she’s busy, I had asked if she knew how to make a adios (which is very popular over here in the west coast) she then kept acting arrogant and saying she didn’t understand me I then asked for another drink presumably because I assumed they simply didn’t know what I was talking about then she grabs a napkin and pen and rudely hands them to me to write down what it is that I was saying. then my wife wanted a soda so I politely asked if we can atleast please have a cup of sprite and she looked at me with irritation & served me less then half a cup of soda and walked away. This is when I knew this was all purposely I then preceded to ask the male bartender next to her if my wife can have more soda as it was merely a sip the Caucasian girl had served us only for the male bartender to serve us the way we’ve always been served at any other bar we’ve been to he filled the cup and even handed my wife a napkin and asked if she wanted a straw. This is when I knew this Caucasian girl was straight out being disrespectful, me and my wife are of a different ethnicity so I’m not sure if we were being discriminated but that is my assumption because we were the only ones being mistreated at that bar by that girl while majority seemed to be caucasians. My wife then told me it’s best we just leave as I was furious about this whole situation as I’ve never experienced something of this sort I then walked to another hostess to ask for my receipt back because I wanted to make a little adjustment to the tip I had left the girl and explained to the hostess the mistreatment we felt then then kinda rolled her eyes & completely disregarded what I said & completely did not care. I’m not sure if I would ever return as we were super excited to visit this restaurant we heard good things about only to leave completely & utterly disappointed. I’m not the one to pull the race card but I believe this night we...

My husband & I were in town yesterday, on 4/5/25, for a bridal shower for our future daughter-in-law. While I was at the shower, I asked our daughter-in-law where she would recommend us to go later for dinner as we were staying the night. She instantly said the Derby, as she used to live in Salem. So later on, my husband and I went, getting there around 4:00ish. My husband ordered the Street Dogs wrapped in bacon, with pickled jalapeños and sautéed onions, and I had the chicken parmesan tacos. We also both had fries that came with our orders, and of course, BEER! The food was great, but what truly made our whole experience a 5 out of 5 stars was our server, Dakota. My husband and I repeatedly said throughout the evening that we haven't experienced service like the kind Dakota provided anywhere else, and we have been to a lot of places! Right from the get go, Dakota approached our table with 100% friendliness and we liked him instantly. He made us laugh right away, was easy to talk to, and was completely efficient in checking on us the whole time. Even while we chatted with him, he would always be looking at his other tables to see if anyone new had come in, so he was a complete professional, too. We really enjoyed him and wish we could have him working at our local home pub, too, lol. Even when we were finished and leaving, an older gentleman, a local named Adam, had come in and we spoke with him, too, and he said Dakota was his favorite as well. That sure says something about this young man. Dakota, if we're ever in the area again, we will be sure to ask for you when we stop in. Thank you for such a fun night!...

Replace and get a new owner, head chef and whoever is expediting your tickets. Nothing was served in order, and everything needed salt.

The $17 prime rib sandwich I ordered had no seasoning, neither did my wife’s clam chowder. The dip that came with my sandwhich was 1 part beef stock to 3 parts water. I guess the chef is afraid of salt or someone didn’t do a quality check of the food that was prepped for service. We ordered my 2 year old grilled cheese that wasn’t even prepared correctly. (The cheese wasn’t melted) lastly the Buffalo cauliflower was undercooked somehow.

With that said I understand that seating isn’t always going to be wonderful but we were sat at a window where we were told “the sun will be gone in no time behind the other buildings” and it wasn’t. Get some type of shades or tint if it’s a known problem for your guests. The sun was in my sons face the entire time which made it difficult for him to eat.

The runners were rushing so much they practically tossed our food on the table The gentlemen who I assume was the manager looked overwhelmed at the host podium and not doing his job.

What’s worse of all is that the place is so busy that these reviews don’t matter and the waitresses couldn’t care less about the quality of the service they provide. That’s not to mention the fact that the restaurant smelled of weed the entire time. This restaurant is overrated and they are out of their depth as far as a running a restaurant goes. Thanks for ruining our last...