Exeter Arms in Derby

A great place. The staff were excellent and very friendly and professional. The pub is quaint and full of charm. Sadly I will never be returning as the prices were too high. £9.40 for a house double is way too much.

I had a drink and some delicious nachos at Exeter Arms. I've eaten at their other location in Belper and both the quality and taste were excellent, with generous portion sizes that are easily shareable between 2-3 people. However, the staff wasn't very friendly. We weren’t informed at the bar that there would be a 30-45 minute wait and when we asked about the status of our food, the staff responded rudely. While I understand it was a busy day, better customer service and more respect for customers would have been appreciated.

Food and service excellent enjoyed a nice Indian pal and some loaded chips very tasty and get value for money. Put in a very noisy part which did spoil it somewhat.

Beer heaven! 2022, beer, food and atmosphere as good as it always has been. 2025 To BAU, or to not BAU, well now the Tap is not selling it then then you always have the Ey Up duck 🤗

Nice friendly pub in the top 5 pubs in Derby and dog friendly 🐶🐶❤️❤️

One of the best traditional pubs I've ever been!! Great food, perfect service and a great choice of beer! A place to come back with no doubts! Bravi, ciao from italy

Good food and good beer with friendly staff. Bit pricey but is good quality.

Not here for food, but the service, drinks & atmosphere, made it a great venue to meet up with good friends.. 👍🤗

Managed to get the last table available here on a Friday evening, worth booking in advance. Great menu with good vegetarian options and loads of ales. Really friendly staff that told you the wait time on food at the onset. Food was very good and reasonably priced, really great atmosphere also. Its only a short walk from the town centre and certainly worth a visit.

Traditional pub. Great place. Great food. Been here many times for lunch or just a drink. Dancing Duck beer is great.

Super cozy pub and very nice staff! top!

Always one of my go-to’s in Derby. 10/10 food, music is always great, lovely little beer garden, great ales, and even better staff. Definitely recommend the Sunday roast or wraps/ roast cobs.

Heard great things about the food but was very disappointed. Went yesterday, told it would be 45mins which was fine, but I had the vegetarian fajitas. There was hardly any veg in there. All sauce!!!! Soggy wraps. Sorry please put some more mushrooms, peppers and courgette not a big ask for £15

Always great food and Ale here with awesome staff. One of my favourite pubs.

Got recommended this fine establishment from somebody who worked at the hotel I was staying at (travelodge cricket ground). First night I turned up way past 9pm, sadly kitchen was asleep - and deservedly so. Second night I tried again, but sadly it was a match night and the place was heaving with eager diners and footy drinkers alike. Third night I struck lucky and boy was I spoilt, bar staff (although run off their feet) were so attentive and accommodating, beers on tap appeared never ending, I tried three and the third (but) best happened to be tied into the pub in some way - the IPA was named “Abduction” Had a de-lish burger with great service and thoroughly recommend this place tucked away at the end of a street on the edge of town. Long live the Exerter Arms! - Archie P.s - big up them kitchen staff, didn’t see them personally but was sat next to the kitchen door and they sounded fun and exciting, almost wanted to be in the kitchen as much as I was happy being seated here. Food was exquisite. Nuff luv.

One of our favourite pubs. We have eaten here multiple times, food is exceptional. Only downside is they don't sell the gravy in pints ( the gravy is out of this world!!!!)

Amazing food. So busy we ended up in the conservatory which was cold

Brilliant as always with a good range of ale.

This is a little pub on the outskirts of Derby city centre, is a great place to eat lovely food . The place is a oldie worldly pub , with great food and very friendly staff .

I wasn't quite sure what to expect, seeing as it was our first time having food at the Exeter Arms. My friend had booked a table for the two of us for 8 o'clock on Saturday evening. It's always a bit of a gamble one takes, when trying out somewhere new, and I never like to judge a place, purely by the reviews of others. But my word... This place was fantastic! Although it may appear unassuming from the outside, you step into such a cosy and delightful space. It was quite busy, of course being a Saturday night, but we were seated pretty quickly by one of the very pleasant ladies behind the bar. They have a pretty big selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to choose from, as well as a diverse food menu (whether you're just after a snack or something much, more filling!) My friend decided on the Derby rib burger and I had the farmer and fisherman and were informed that there'd be around a 45 minute wait, which we were more than fine with. Well, the wait was worth it indeed! They certainly don't scrimp on the portion sizes here, you get a lot for your money. Everything just seemed to work well on the plate, from the combination of the garlic butter roasted king prawns and sirloin steak (cooked perfectly), which lay on a generous portion of chicken salted fries. The beef croquette was superb and, even though the name may sound off-putting, the bone-marrow mayonnaise was delicious! The flavours came together wonderfully and the tastes were exquisite. Yes, it was £25.95 but honestly? It was well worth it, because I was full after that with a smile on my face. The only thing my friend mentioned, was that his burger was a little dry. But he still enjoyed it and he himself, was very full afterwards too! It was a shame we didn't have any room left for dessert, as they sound superb! We'll definitely have to try them out next time around! The staff were really friendly, the food was great and the general atmosphere was wonderful, I would recommend coming here (cannot wait to return myself in the future!)

Great pub with friendly staff and a great atmosphere.

Food is excellent,staff so friendly,would highly recommend

Everything about this pub is superb. The atmosphere, lighting, proper fire, friendliness of the staff and of course the food and drink. We had a Sunday lunch and were amazed by the portion sizes - they were huge. The quality was so good. I also had a few pints of 22 - a really good bitter. The staff really looked as if they cared about their work and got a buzz from working at the Exeter. Can't recommend this place highly enough. If there’s one thing Derby has in its favour is the quality of its pubs and the Exeter is my favourite.

Lovely Sunday roast, 5 star food and service

One of the best pubs in Derby, great staff, building and Beer!

Excellent food worth waiting for, not a lot of choice for vegetarians but adequate. Great atmosphere and an excellent choice of local beers.

Came here for Christmas party on Thursday night Absolutely brilliant night great food great atmosphere lovely friendly people can't fault recommend to any one to visit this lovely traditional English pub.

We have just had our xmas meal out here Saturday, The venue was very busy, usually a good sign, but the location isnt the best or easiest to find, the food was disappointing, starters were the best course, the main Turkey dinner wasn't proper turkey, was one of those compressed turkey role joints you can buy, not alot of flavour in the dinner at all, puddings were terrible, Chocolate brownies (nutella) were burnt and hard, and most people left them. Couldn't fault the staff tho, nice friendly and mega busy. Personally I wouldn't now recommend either the venue or the food, for a 3 course xmas meal only the starters were up to scratch, Drinks were also very expensive compared to some other places.

We three ladies arrived 2pm on a football home match day. The place was thronged. What could have been an intimidating experience this could have been. But the lovely young staff worked their socks off to keep everyone well served. ByThe happy atmosphere continued after the footy fans had left. A lovely long lunch with a bottle of wine left us all full and happy. A thoroughly well run pub in every way with excellent staff.g ft

£8.10 large Melbec, no where to sit! Booked up but with empty seats at 8.15 with an hour wait for food, serving till 8.45. not entirely sure how that works out with the reservations?! Cold sit in the beer garden and left.

Lovely Sunday lunch today with friends. I'm the only veggie: the chestnut and cranberry roast was delicious as was the gravy and veg and possibly the best roast potatoes I've ever had. My friends' meat options looked amazing too. Lovely, friendly service and reasonable prices. Highly recommended.

Excellent little pub, open fire, snug, friendly staff, good beers, good prices, a little out of the way, but worth the walk. I will return in the future.

Came for a Friday late lunch with the family. The staff were friendly and helpful and when they noticed that we were thinking of having food asked if we had a reservation. We didn't but they found a table we could use if we weren't going to overlap a reservation. This was fine for us as we need to head off quickly. The food was really good, arrived in a good time and everyone enjoyed it. I had a very enjoyable Thornbridge ale. Thanks for finding a way to accommodate us

I’m so happy that I can have a tasty vegan 🌱 burger in a good old pub with my beer when I’m in Derby. This time I doubled the patty but it’s almost too much food then. Only do it when you are real hungry. 🤤 The atmosphere there is just amazing and I feel right at home every time I’m there.

Visited Exeter Arms before going to the football match. It is a traditional pub with really great food. The service was quick, especially as it was match day. The staff was really nice and friendly.

Not a bad Sunday Dinner plenty of meat friendly staff good choice of beers

Cosy pub, excellent food, good beer, polite friendly staff. Exactly what a pub should be.

Good food and beer friendly staff and people

Excellent service and the food is delicious

Very lovely pub........ nothing more to say

Just for a beer but the food coming out looked fabulous

Nice pub great atmosphere good sevice nice choice of food & drinks

Great food in a fabulous 👌 setting snd atmosphere

Great place ,recommend it to anyone

Lovely Dancing Duck Pub with a cosy atmosphere (and log fire as you enter) with plenty of alcoholic drinks & spirits including at least 5 Real Ales (3 Dancing Duck) and Cider. Large Garden area with plenty of tables. Menu has a wide range of meals to chose from, including some local twists; I recommend the Korean Sticky BBQ Wings, Pie³, and the Bakewell Tart. We sampled on a Monday early-evening and there were tables available with a roughly 30 minute wait on food, so I'd probably recommend booking on busier days.

Excellent Sunday roast. Staff were amazing

The menu has gluten free options such as Burger, fish and chips, loaded fries etc. I ordered the Saxon burger to be told the chips weren’t gluten free and they had no gluten free cobs left leaving just the burger contents with mash or veg. As a result, I ordered the “I can’t believe it’s not batter” with just mash. After over an hour wait for the food to arrive (when there are plenty on empty tables), the meal arrived with chips. I asked for the meal to be swapped to a gluten free option. The waitress responded with an eye roll and attitude. When the food arrived, I was assured it was now gluten free. Even though the change seemed to be almost instant. When the food arrived, it was salty and bland. I would NOT recommend this place to anyone who is celiac or gluten free. The options are unbelievably limited and cross contamination can not be guaranteed.

Visited here for food one night, and liked it so much we came back the next day for more. The beers are good, and the food is excellent, particularly the 3 Pies, and the fish (haddock) and chips.

Great atmosphere. A little pricey but good value for money.

Great food, friendly accommodating service. Was glad to get some fish and chips. Cheers from America!

Great food, great drinks, slow service. But would return, is very popular

Top draw place in Derby. Book for quality food. Six real ales excellent condition. Had Jaipur 5.9 quality. Highly Recommended

One of the very best taverns in England.

Lovely pub food and drinks are great,ps the staff are 1st class but don't tell them.

Food was actually good but the pub itself is just a bit cold and old. Could do with renovation

Really good food, loved the pub , great staff and service.👍👍

Very busy, but very accommodating, managed to find a table for two in a lovely little snug, even though it was only 5:15 pm the place was very busy. Free house, so lots of different ales to try. Very imaginative menu. Delicious spicy wings sharer starter, pork Crockpot and trio of pies, all hot delicious and hearty, maybe we shouldn't have had the wings!! Definitely want to revisit this place.

Further to the review by David Burrows I was part of this group of friends and these comments echo my thoughts exactly. I was not directly involved as I was about to leave to catch my bus. However I was thoroughly disgusted at the attitude and arrogance of the bar person. He also said that he had been here 7 years which had no relevance whatsoever to the situation. We have no issue with the owners and will be happy to frequent the Silk Mill and the Devonshire but will now stay away from the Exeter. It is a shame as I have always liked it and sometimes use it with other friends and family.

I have always liked this pub; it is one of the Derby real-ale venues. So we were very surprised when five of us walked in to the pub at 10:10pm to be told that they had "just rang last orders", although we did still get served. The pub seemed quite busy, and I commented that they must be doing well if they could afford to shut up shop so early and turn away good customers. Anyway, we sat and drank our pints, whilst all of the time, customers continued to go to the bar and get served. At 10:40pm, we asked for another drink, only to be told that the bar was now closed. Less than one minute later, another customer went up to the bar and ordered and paid for a pint. When we questioned why we could not be served, we were told that the party being served were friends and family of an ex-employee. SO WHAT??? It wasn't "a lock-in", it wasn't after time, in fact it was well before the 11:30pm closing time that they advertise on their website. We simply wanted to be treated like everyone else in the pub and be served during normal licencing hours. When we tried to make this point, we were accused of "getting lairy"!!! The Exeter is a good venue, but it shouldn't make the mistake of living off its past reputation. There is a certain level of arrogance that seems to have crept in to the people running the pub. A shame really. They probably think that one group of customers won't make any difference. But each one of those five has friends, and it takes longer to gain a reputation than to lose it. I wonder if the owner would comment on how he might feel if treated in this way.

Copious and tasty plates. Waiting time but since all the tables were occupied, that leaves time to have a drink.

It takes a lot for me to be impressed by food but this was something special. What I thought was going to be a quick pub ready meal turned into some very nice dishes.

All I can say is the best food in derby and pub the chefs are incredible at what they do. Been 4 times now and will 100 percent be back again soon. The staff are so friendly and welcoming

A friend recommended the Exeter arms I had never been before so thought I would give it a go when I'm not working I tend to dine out a lot and this place has turned out to be my go place every week now I thought the food couldn't get any better than the food I've already tried as I've been 4 times now in the past month and today I tried the Sunday dinner for 2 the birds and the beast and as it was delivered to our table I couldn't believe my eyes it looked amazing and tasted amazing too ! Everything cooked to perfection so well done to the chef . I will be back next week to try something else from the menu as I want to try everything .

Lovely staff, good local beer, great memorabilia about HMS EXETER.

Popped in for a swift pint, and a black pudding scotch egg with brown sauce. Both were excellent.

Great place for good choice of well kept beer and food at reasonable prices. If anything the only downfall is this pubs own success on DCFC match days because it is so popular you struggle to get in. But that is a compliment in itself and I will definitely use again.

We had a family meal here on the 17th of August 2024. We have a large family and the Manager and staff were absolutely awesome. Our meals were outstanding (complements to the chef and everyone in the kitchen). I would definitely recommend the Exeter Arms to everyone. Thank you so much for making my daughters birthday celebration special.

This is a great pub. It has a fantastic atmosphere with a series of small rooms, good beer (although personally I am not a great fan of dancing duck beers), and interesting food. The food always seems to take quite some time to arrive, hence the 3 for service, but the staff are friendly, polite and helpful. However the food is well worth waiting for. I had the Korean chicken, which was very tasty without being too hot. Other dishes included the fish platter with the homemade smoked fish sausage! A departure from the usual pub grub and worth seeking out. It gets very busy so worth booking ahead of you want to eat. Some areas have steps and the rather cramped layout means it is not great for wheelchairs.

Came here for the first time yesterday. From the outside is an unassuming pub but inside is a really lovely place with a great atmosphere and authentic feel, great job at retaining the old world feel but serving up some spectacular modern meals. The meals and puddings we had were all perfect. A real gem of a place which I'll definitely return to and recommend to family and friends!

Staff were friendly, efficient service and lovely food

Love it here. Although they do serve food here, the is still a true feeling of being in a proper British pub. Beer is always top notch. Please support the Exeter next time you are in Derby for a pint. It's even better outside in the summer when you can sit outside.

First time here, though recommended by friends. Good beers, dirty vegan fries are good, service good and friendly 😀

Went for my mums birthday lunch today and everything was absolutely fantastic. The service was quick and staff were so friendly, Amrit and Tash in particular looked after us and they were great. My mum did the nachos were the best we've after had and her fella couldn't finish his main which is the first time I've ever seen him not finish a meal! 10/10 would absolutely recommend!

Waited over 1 hour.pork faggotts and bubble and squeak was ordered. Faggotts very nice. But sloppy mash and under cooked onions was not what I expected for the bubble and squeak. ,manager did offer to do another plate of food but couldn't have waited another hour. Left hungry .

Lovely pub. Haven't sampled the food but I suspect it's excellent. Great character. Great choice of ales👍🍻

Excellent food and beer . Staff always friendly.

Proper pub, great food. Always good service.

Food dire for the second time in row. Bland tandoori chicken in the burger and wedges that were soggy as hell yet burned on the outside. They blame their potatoes. Not eating here again

Chips were awful, burnt on the outside but soggy inside. It felt like they’d just be recooked in the fryer, just tasted like grease.

Not sure if they were a manager, or an owner or what but they were berating their staff so much, and so loudly, the other day I don't think I'll ever be back to give them any money. real shame. but jeeez.

The food, or rather my choice of food here was mediocre at best. I ordered the kebabs on recommendation from the bar staff, which consisted of a chicken kebab and two beef. The chicken was nice but the beef was tough as boots. Cheap cuts with grissel which made for very unpleasant eating. For the price circa 18, completely not worth it.

Lovely food and beers! Friendly staff! Proper pub!

Great beer at great prices. A welcoming pub.

The best pub in Derby by far, fantastic beer, amazing food & quality staff. Can't praise it enough

What a cracking Inn!! Strongly recommend for a good slurp and great scran. We will definitely be calling in again.

Very welcoming pub, dog friendly too, staff friendly, nothing too much trouble & the food was amazing - highly recommended

Absolutely brilliant as usual! Our favourite one in Derby. Thank you to all the stuff!

Best food in Derby, and great beer to match, service great, warned of slightly longer time to get food to the table but it was just right, even the teenagers were happy and wanted to come back!

Wonderful team the food is delicious and the atmosphere was brilliant on our visit and the manager even came over the personally check everything was alright which was a nice touch.

Absolutely gem of a place. Always great reception, super beers and food it outstanding. 040624 - still a great pub

Lovely boozers, friendly staff, lovely food 😋 not cheap though

This was our first visit since the reopening following the floods and, I have to say, we were extremely disappointed. As longstanding admirers of the quality of the food, and in particular, the legendary Chippy, with its claims of crispy battered haddock, we were saddened that, on this occasion, the fish and its coating was both soggy and tasteless, with very little in the way of crispness. We definitely won’t be rushing back🙁

Just called in for a few pints with a mate after attending the QUAD event "why punk".

Little gem in Derby. Quirky pub with a good atmosphere. Food was really tasty and fresh.

Amazing food and excellent customer service. Amrit was lovely and welcoming, fantastic experience

Food on point! Top notch service from Amrit, great banter while serving us. Couldn’t ask for anything more!

Absolutely the best place to be in Derby for the finest food, drinks and a service that is beyond reproach!! Thanks Guys!

We went for Sunday lunch with friends from Worcester. What a lovely meal we all had. There was plenty to eat with gravy to die for! Thank.👍

Excellent place great graphics fantastic beer and food.

Excellent friendly staff, lovely food great atmosphere both inside and outside the pub and the best pint of guiness in derby by far