Best Restaurants for Special Occasions in Duarte

First real date with my newly girlfriend and it was honestly really nice to say that I took her there on our first date. The service was amazing and very friendly.

Wow what a great dining experience ! Start with the ambience, while it's a large industrial space the dining room is very warm and inviting. The use of hanging plants and lighting gives the feel of a Mediterranean garden. Loved the music. The food is excellent, we had duck nudja hummus, oyster mushroom kabob, grilled prawns, malawach and spiced pear cake for dessert. All were delicious, the standouts had to be the oyster mushrooms which were smoked and had the texture of a meat protein. The duck nudja hummus will ruin any other's you eat because this dish will be the standard. Every dish we had was special and I can't wait to return

Our first Thanksgiving at The Derby and it is official, it is going to be our new Thanksgiving tradition. We lost our mother last year on 12/31/23 and we spent the last 22 years going to pick her up, 80miles away, and going out to eat. She hated cooking but loved good food and dinning out. This was our first Thanksgiving in 22 years that we stayed close to home and without our mom. First words out of our mouths, when we tasted the food was, “mom would have loved The Derby”, we, three grabbed our delicious cocktails and toasted to our mom’s honor. From the ease of making reservations to the prompt seating when we arrived, we enjoyed every minute. The meal was both traditional and they also offered the usual prime rib and steaks. We opted for the Turkey Thanksgiving meal. It was a generous plate of succulent turkey and the best stuffing I’ve ever tasted. Included sweet potatoes , perfectly al dente green beans, a tangy home made cranberry sauce , mashed potatoes and decadent gravy. It was all so divine. We ordered a side of Marsala mushrooms (I almost sipped the juices from the bowl because it was THAT good). The pumpkin pie Made with love and you could taste every spice. The nightcap was The Derby’s version of a spiked eggnog… oh my… I could have had three of these as my dessert…amazing. Our favorite part of our evening by far was Marta our server. She was cheerful, attentive, personable, and made us feel like we were her only table…and it was obvious she had many..yikes, the place was busy, but she made our dining experience memorable as did the rest of the staff, clearing plates, filling waters, etc. We’ve been to Ruth’s Chris, Maestros , and others for Thangsving over the 22 years we went out wit mom. Not one came close to TheDerby. Mom, would definitely be proud we found The Derby for Thanksgiving.

We had a great time celebrating my husband’s birthday! This was his first experience and our chef Chris really made it enjoyable. The food was excellent and the drinks were tasty!

We had an absolutely wonderful dinner at Bestia. The service was warm & conscientious. The food was delicious, as always. The cocktails were fun & inventive. We truly had a fantastic night! My only complaint was that we were seated outside, & at one point for probably 5 minutes or so there was helicopter overhead that was so loud that it made it difficult to hold a conversation. I know that this was not the restaurant's fault, but I wish we had not been seated outside. The outside location of my table was not made clear to me when I made my reservation. Still, overall an absolutely wonderful experience!