The Stepping Stones in Derbyshire Dales

Quick service,Nice atmosphere.Good food.

Fergus, the young man who welcomed us and the head chef were all very welcoming and accommodating. We will definitely be back for the friendly atmosphere and attentive staff

Always had a nice meal here. Nice friendly staff. Ryan was very nice helpful as always

Great service from Alex and Ryan, homely atmosphere, quality food, very friendly staff

Absolutely wonderful meal at The Stepping Stones. The Sunday roast was exceptional and well worth the money. The staff were helpful, friendly and the atmosphere was extremely pleasant. Would definitely recommend and I can't wait for another visit!!

A lovely meal, couldn't recommend anything better! Ryan was very attentive and we had everything we needed! Lovely pub! Highly recommended

Excellent service from Lucus. Very polite and efficient. Food lovely thank you

Ryan was really lovely and super helpful and amazing server!

We had Ryan as our waiter, he done a great job and made the experience!

We stopped here after being at Alton towers all day , we was served by Ryan who was very friendly and helpful , the food was good and the service was very fast

Great venue, Very accommodating worth a visit if in the area.

Came for a meal with my fiancée. I had Sausage & Mash which was excellent. Got to give a shout out to Ryan who served us. Established a very good rapport quickly and made the experience an enjoyable one for us. Would recommend.

Lovely meal at a lovely pub. The staff are extremely friendly in particular Ryan who took time to speak to us. Highly recommend

Fantastic service. Amazing food! We recognised some staff from previous times we have been visiting Alton towers each year & we have been pleased each & every time! Can’t fault anything.

Great food and service. Star was excellent, very polite and professional.

Nipped into the stepping stones as we was working int he area , ordered sticky chicken and a signature burger which both was really nice . Good service and nice and tidy . Spot on all around 👌

Great, friendly staff. Amazing food! No waiting around for drink or food & no pressure for ordering. Will be back k next year. Highly recommend.

Firstly we walked in to a very hostile environment. The staff were unwelcoming and seemed as if they didn't want us to be there. (it felt as if this could have been because of our un-local accents). We felt it was a bit on the expensive side, especially as a member of staff very obviously wiped his nose on his hands - hygiene? we felt almost intimidated because the staff was clearly talking about us behind the bar, this made us feel quite uncomfortable and on edge Interior was great, one if my favourite in the areas and would hope if me and my family returned in the near future it would give off different vibes Thankyou for reading our review October 13th

The staff are, as always, friendly with excellent service, Leonna was a ⭐️

Leonna was fab and very friendly. Let our little person help with the cutlery and tidying up when she started to get bored… thank you!

Best Banga and Mash ever. And our started of breaded mushrooms was also great. Could have done better with side lettuce or green salad sprigs. Thanks Ryan for a great service. XOX

Staff are friendly and helpful. The food is lovely and are good portion sizes.

***UPDATE*** Date of Visit: 08/10/2024 - The service from Beth was ***ABOVE AND BEYOND*** however the Steak ‘n’ Ale pie did have a rather strange ‘tang’ to it, which I personally wasn’t a fan of; however everything else was cooked fantastically well. It’s definitely worth mentioning that the dining area (in our opinion) was ***FAR TOO WARM*** and headache-inducing. We chose to sit away from the fire too, which is why I have raised the heating issue in this review; so it can possibly be addressed in future ? The lighting was also too dark, however all-in-all the service from Beth just about shone through - Thank you once again for your hospitality ! ***OLDER REVIEW*** The lady in the smart summer dress who greeted diners was excellent, her customer service skills were apparent to me immediately; she was also very personable as were all the staff that waited on our table (Jack is a credit to Stepping Stones and nothing was too much trouble !) Our food was all lovely and priced accordingly. I had the sausage ‘n’ mash, which was very tasty - My wife and I would definitely return. Enjoy the rest of the August Bank Holiday weekend guys :)

A lovely birthday lunch for my granddaughter. The staff really know how to look after you. Tina was a star 😊

Food was delicious, staff were attentive, service in general was speedy. Had a lovely couple of hours, just what we needed after a long day.

Lauren was fabulous! Lovely atmosphere, friendly staff and great food

Such a lovely breakfast this morning, Tina & the team are very welcoming & nothing is a problem. Gluten free options available. Will definitely be revisiting.

Food nice ,beer nice staff excellent service. But over priced now so don't visit has much

Busy family gastropub even midweek but no problem getting a table for two. Efficient, friendly and allergy-aware service.

Ryan was fabulous, nothing was too much for him!!

Lovely experience. Food was great and Ryan was a great host, nothing was too much trouble 🙂

Beth was a fantastic help and catered to our needs for our furry animals 🐕 very friendly & made our experience pleasant. Thank you Beth.

Food all lovely. Fussy kids happy! Highly recommend. Staff very attentive.

Lauren is a lovely girl, very friendly and helpful!

Sean’s tales of his traumatic personal experiences entertained the waitress

We had such a lovely lunch at Stepping Stones. A really relaxing environment, food was delicious and very fast service. Beth in particular was fantastic, very friendly and went above and beyond to make our visit special and made a lovely doggy roast dinner for both our dogs which they thoroughly enjoyed! Staff are the backbone for hospitality and she is an absolute credit to Stepping Stones. Looking forward to visiting again if we are ever in the area.

Exceptional food and good value. Ryan was helpful and enthusiastic. He's a good apple!

Food was excellent, service was excellent, Ryan did an amazing job thanks

Good food, however slow service.

Friendly & attentive staff. Food arrived promptly with very generous portions. Can particularly recommend the steak & ale pie. There was no space for any more meat in that bad boy!

Laura was a fantastic host and attended to our table quickly. We had beef roast dinner and a steak americano. Thank you!

An atmosphere that felt like a traditional pub and grub to match. Wonderful attentive service from Ryan

Leonna was particularly great. Service and food were lovely. Will definitely be back

Good pub grub and friendly service.

Laura lovely and very attentive waitress as always a credit to stepping stones

Lucas was amazing, thank you everyone!

A really nice dinner. Right next to our hotel so very convenient and just what we needed after a long day at Alton Towers.

Lovely pub, friendly atmosphere . Table service was perfect by Emily.

Star was fabulous! You could even say, she was a star! 🌟

Beth was brilliant. Warm and friendly. Ensured our visit was pleasant. So thank you!

Served by Beth, very lovely - food was delightful, will be back!

Great value for money great service

Foood blooming lush as owt. Great service from Ryan, Beth and Tina and Barry the fish.

Went for lunch and had the 3 course deal, the cauli wing starter was smashing. Friendly attentive staff - especially our waitress Leonna.

Came to Stepping Stones for dinner whilst travelling. Food was outstanding and our server Ryan was great , very knowledgeable and helpful. He also recommended the chicken gravy to go with the chicken burger which was delicious and paired brilliantly. Great place definitely recommend.

Fantastic food with exceptional service from Ryan who was amazing. Would recommend this restaurant to anyone who is looking for good food while visiting Ashbourne.

Great service and friendly staff. Food tasty and menu varied.

Poor is a understatement for the service and standard of the food. Last min decision to eat here as we were staying in this area and passed it on route. Most of the menu was unavailable the service is spaodic, the bar service is worse, waited 15 mins for a drink and 45 mins for food, then it was awful. Generally no one cares about the customer, go somwhere else.

Good service by our waitress Lorena. Very friendly & efficient.

Had some Chorizo Mac and Cheese, Mrs had a Lasagne and my young daughter had a kids sausage and mash. All mains were perfect and tasty. We proceeded to have a choc brownie sundae, sticky toffee pudding and kids ice cream sundae. Ryan, Beth and Tina were great and attentive, Paul and Barry the fish provided great compassion in entertaining conversations. Highly recommend to anyone and everyone.

Brilliant service and customer service from Lorena and Tina. Really enjoyed the fact Lorena went the extra mile to help me out with last orders and fitting me in with options. + Buttermilk burger was amazing!

Had a lovely meal a couple of weeks ago. Was welcomed by I believe they manager or duty manager. Very friendly and accommodating. Gave us great advice on the meal to choose when we could not make up our minds. It was mid afternoon so was reasonably quiet but getting busy as we were leaving. After being seated by the above Lauren who took over and was only in her second day, you wouldn't have thought it. Very confident and pleasant a credit to who trained her. The manager was also attentive to our need's and experience. We were just passing trade and live quite away from the pub,but this won't stop us going back at some point hopefully soon. Loads more to try on the menu .

Lovely staff. Great food. Nice to relax.

Best pub in town for food and beer.

Lovely clean pub with great service from Emily. Food was a little bit slow to arrive but when it did it was lovely.

Beth was very nice. Slightly grumpy greeting from the doorman/waiter. Main meals were nice, good fish and chips!

Laura was lovely - very attentive and kind. Will come again.

A normal chain pub quick service eceptaple food Esther service was very good

Food was amazing, staff member Lucas was very helpful and kind.

Lovely meal, very friendly staff. We had the seabass and belly pork special. Both were delicious. Emily and Laura were very friendly and attentive servers.

Great meal and Lucas was very helpful!

Great time Lucas was Great! Can’t complain 10/10

Emily and Laura were friendly and helpful. Food tasty and good portion sizes. Great value for money.

Leonna and beth were great serving us, food was nice and the atmosphere cosy

Perfect service from start to finish, highly recommend Ryan was brilliant attended to my requests. Highly recommend.

We were a party of 11 and the staff were able to get us all together. We had a lot of different dishes and the feed back from everyone was that all the dishes were good. It was a very friendly atmosphere, made particularly so by the 2 persons looking after us (Alex and Beth). They were so helpful and nothing was too much trouble which made the evening a delight. A big thank you to them both for making it such a lovely evening. We did not have to wait long for our food after ordering and we were all served at the same time and we were there on a Friday evening. I did not give the food 5 stars as it is not a Michelin star establishment and does not pretend yo be so. Nor is it Michelin Star prices. Just good food at a good price.

The venue was clean, tidy and calm. We were sat at a table with plenty of room for 2 pushchairs which was one of our requests.

Service was great!! Shout out to Lorena and Beth who made the evening enjoyable!! Food was good no faults

Great food and fantastic service from Beth & Lorena!

Me and my partner have come here from South of England on holiday and came to the stepping stone as a treat. It was an amazing experience! We don’t get this good of service or especially the food quality it’s all about making money down south. Would definitely recommend this place for food!

Excellent staff … we had both breakfast and dinner here both great but the husband and wife in charge were brilliant.

Molly, Beth, leona and Laura was super lovely and helped us make our get together even better.

No food available, expensive drinks and staff unpleasant and unwelcoming. No atmosphere in the pub because there was more staff then customers

Repeatative menu and loads not on as they always waiting on an order

Excellent food. Ryan as well as the other servers were lovely and accommodating.

Very good service, friendly staff, food was lovely and quick service too

Very nice place. Good food. Good service 👍 Definitely a go to when you're in the area.

Visited a few weeks ago for food not long after I'd had surgery, Couldn't have asked for better service from TINA, Friendly, professional & accommodating with my meal. Definitely return 😊

Great meal at stepping stones, food has certainly improved, felt homemade, was great and thx to Beth for looking after us 👍

great food and service - Leonna was lovely!

Lovely service from Ryan and his colleagues, all very welcoming and accepting of our 2 year old who demolished the childrens mac and cheese along with some of mummy and daddy's meals (I'd suggest if you have older children the children's portion may not be enough). Thanks for a stress free meal!

Ryan was the best server we have ever had. He also has a great accent!

Ever dependable, even for spontaneous stop-off. Salads bit pricey for what they are. LUCAS impressed on first day in job.

Great service with a smile off Lucas on his first day very attentive ☺️

My waitress was lorena and she was absolutely incredible, polite , well spoken and kind. A lovely person and pleasure to meet

Went here for lunch And it was delicious. All the staff were friendly. Lovely place to go.

We were visiting the area to spend a day at Alton Towers and needed somewhere to refuel, The Stepping Stones didn't dissapoint at all and is just what we needed after long, busy days! Our server Ryan was lovely, made sure we had everything we needed and service was prompt and delivered with a warm smile. The food was hearty and tasty and arrived quickly too, highly recommended.

FOOD All of our food was spot on and was really tasty, came from the kitchen piping hot. however I don’t recommend the cheesy garlic bread. It was very dense and not as cheesy garlic bread should be in my opinion. SERVICE In a more positive note service was great by Beth & Alex both were very friendly and nothing was too much trouble for them. ATMOSPHERE The atmosphere in the pub was great a few tables with other customers on made for a relaxed dining experience with the hum of general chatter.

Good and reasonably priced food, exactly what you'd expect for standard pub fayre. The best thing was the service, Ryan and Tina looked after us brilliantly!

Went in on a quiz night..... not quite sure why it needed to be that loud you couldn't talk? Staff were fantastic