Places to eat in Derby

There's a restaurant to suit everyone's taste in Derby. You can make your way to the Cathedral Quarter for exquisite eating at places like The Wonky Table, chow down at a more casual option such as the Hide Burger Bar, or pop into The Post House – the cool independent that blurs the line between bar and restaurant with top-class eating and drinking until late.

But that's not all; to point you in the direction of some of the best places to dine, we've gathered several of our favourite Derby restaurants for you to take a look at, with some great options well within walking distance of our Derby hotels. 

Not only is QUAD a cool alternative cinema and art space, it’s also home to a well-priced café offering a range of home-cooked dishes spanning breakfast, lunch and dinner. Choose from any of the three menus, including vegan and kids’ options, but don’t miss the QUAD burger and their home-baked flatbreads. Plus, you can take advantage of their dinner and film deal available every day after 5pm. Oh, and you can take drinks from the fully licensed bar into the cinema with you.

An institution for over a decade, The Book Café is a multi-purpose venue that’s a cute book and coffee shop by day and a candle-lit pizza parlour at night. Housed in a Grade II listed building dating back to 1879, The Book Café serves up breakfast, lunch and dinner and, come Friday and Saturday night, hosts chilled acoustic bands in the restaurant with a licence until midnight. Choose from the comfy sofas or the dining chairs and tables, grab a coffee – or something a little stronger – and drink in the buzzing atmosphere at one of Derby’s coolest cafés.

An Instagram-friendly café, Jack Rabbits is a clean, pale wood and white-tiled place that serves food until 4pm each day. All the bread, cakes and biscuits are baked on site, while their hand-roasted coffee comes from renowned Nottingham roastery Outpost. Menu favourites include the Swedish potato pancake and the popular buttermilk pancakes, with a range of daily specials.

Sister restaurant to the Hide Burger Bar, which we’ve included in our round-up of restaurants in Derby, The Docks Eatery is another food-first outlet that was the best café winner at the 2015 Derby Food and Drink Awards. Their daily soups are a big draw, as is the Chai latte, said by many to be the best in the city. With everything from small snacks to full-blown meals, you’re bound to leave happy and very satisfied.

Held on the last weekend of every month, the Bustler Market is a celebration of street food, music and fun. Open from 5pm on Friday and midday on Saturday, the popular event attracts over 4,000 people each month to the Derby Riverlights venue. Choose from vegan burgers, over 150 types of gin, Canadian poutine or Belgian waffles from a variety of street food stalls that rotate month to month, dance to the market’s in-house DJ or get involved in a game of table football – the Bustler Market firmly puts the emphasis on fun.