Darby’s on Fifty-Nine

This was a last second decision place, selected off a decent looking menu, but it definitely wasn’t special or worth revisiting. Everyone in the bar looked to be having a good time, but I guess they weren’t waiting for food. We ate outside, which the patio is nice, but the service is slow and not good. I don’t like that the servers don’t wear a uniform or atleast the same color so you can tell who to ask for help from. Our waiter brought out a grilled Cesar salad with no knife to cut the romaine hearts. I sat at dinner tearing it with my hands, because I had already starved in the 30 minute wait to bring out the salad, that I couldn’t wait longer for the knife. The fried chicken slider would have been better coming from Mr chicken, and the flatbread was cold. I can excuse somethings but never cold food. Overall, we waited 30 minutes for food, 15 minutes for the check, and we’re out 70 $, never again will we be going back or will we recommend this place because it is that unmemorable.

Loved this place. My husband and I had the Ohio burger and The Mac. Delicious!!! My mom had the prosciutto burger which she liked. Great ambience and beverage selection.

A spur of the moment dinner was great. Charming atmosphere. Service was fast and courteous. The grilled veggie salad and steak was tasty, and the chicken dinner with Mac and cheese was unbelievable. Will definitely be back!

I’m going to start by saying that I really, REALLY want this place to be great. It’s around the corner from our house, it’s cozy and quaint and has a great patio… but… I’ve been here several times hoping it’ll get better, but it never does. First, the service, while always very friendly, is painfully slow. Even at times when they are moderately busy. And the food, while never bad, is just average food at above-​average prices. When I have ask for things like salt and ranch dressing, something is off. I’m not much of a Unilocal reviewer, but I really like this place and really want to make it my go-​to neighborhood spot. So I hope the feedback is helpful.

I want this place to be good but it fails me every time. I brought my parents here for dinner and was totally embarrassed with my dining choice. I tried it two more times after that and continue to be disappointed. Their menu looks great but what is delivered is a total let down. To top it off, the service is painfully slow. The only thing this place has going for it is the dog friendly patio and craft beers. I hope someone reads these reviews as the poor service piece continues to be brought up as an issue.

The food is fine, not great, fine. I feel it is overpriced for what it is. I can’t say that a regular burger with caramelized onions or blue cheese is now a gourmet burger and charge too much. Several people have complained about the service and I agree — they are really understaffed. The staff is great but they have crammed so many tables into a very small room that the wait staff can’t keep up. This is an old house they converted into a restaurant/​bar so the dining area is the living and dining rooms. If the weather is nice, outside area is nice, but again, slow on service.

When I first heard about Darby’s, I expected exceptional food. I was sorely disappointed. Don’t know how this place gets four star ratings. The food was mediocre at best and very overpriced. Unfortunately, I won’t be returning.

I think that Craft Beer Bar needs to take some of the credit here. After all, had we not arrived there first only to find out that they were closed (a sign on the front door mentioned something about a «mechanical problem») we probably wouldn’t have discovered Darby’s. They were a fallback and we were pretty happy with it in the end.
It was a Saturday evening, 6-​ish. We arrived at the converted single-​family house not sure what to expect. Once inside the reviews of others were quickly confirmed — Darby’s is pretty, well, cozy There’s a bar that takes up about half of the floor space (you walk right into it when you enter the front door) with the remainder populated by a combination of standalone tables and a few booths that line the wall. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had told me that they could only seat 30 people. The décor is comfortable and laid back, basically like the vibe of the entire place. Wood on the walls, dark leather on the benches, chalkboards with drink and food specials. It felt worn-​in and modern at the same time. There are places that work very hard to get a vibe like this and it felt like Darby’s came upon it naturally.
We quickly spied a pair of empty stools at the bar — conveniently located adjacent to the ladies’ room — and took up temporary residence. The pace behind the bar was frenetic with servers coming and going, kitchen staff retrieving dishes and bartenders slinging suds and mixing drinks. Speaking of drinks, there’s a pretty nice offering of adult beverages including a healthy cocktail and wine list along with a craft beer selection (six rotating taps and dozens of bottles) that had the beer geek in my doing my happy dance — on the inside, of course.
Our server for the evening would be one of the several capable members of the bar staff. He presented us with menus, gave us plenty of time to peruse, and promptly took our orders. While the menu is filled with things that I would have ordered had my appetite been bigger — buffalo chicken potstickers, chorizo mac and cheese, and a beef short rib sandwich, to name a few — on this night, it was to be a lighter sampling. Sliders and other nibbly bites.
We started with the calamari, fried and served with a drizzling of sweet soy chili sauce. Delicious. Perfectly crispy, seasoned beautifully and eaten very quickly. Among the best calamari we’ve ever tasted, second only to Oak Barrel. Barely. After our tasty tentacles it was on to sliders and half-​salads.
There are about a half dozen different salad designs, all which looked delicious, and each is available in whole or half size. The sliders, all of which are served individually with a tasting portion of house-​made chips, average about $ 5 each. For an additional buck you can get more chips or fries. This may seem a bit on the pricey side, but once you’ve wrapped your lips around one, you’ll gladly hand over your wallet. We opted for sliders and half-​salads.
The Caesar salad was done traditionally with the welcome exception of crispy bites of bacon tossed in amongst the rest of the well-​dressed party. My wife had the pear salad with shaved fennel, pickled onions, chili-​spiced candied pecans and bleu cheese dressing. She thoroughly enjoyed it. All of the ingredients were fresh and lovingly plated.
The sliders were the stars of the show. Each was cooked perfectly and the house-​made soft buns bookending their innards were just right. The lamb slider was perfectly seasoned, cooked a beautiful medium and topped with tzatziki and tabbouleh. The filet mignon was cooked spot-​on, amazingly tender and juicy, and topped with slightly sweet caramelized onions and rosemary aioli. My wife’s short rib was ridiculously delicious, melt-​in-​your-​mouth tender, topped with a tangy, biting gribiche and fried onions.
We had a really nice time during our first visit to Darby’s. Sure, the place was crowded, nearly spilling out into the street with people, and it was pretty loud, but none of that really mattered to us. We felt like we were alone, in our own little world there in the corner of the bar. The service made us feel welcome, the food made us feel full and the memories make us want to return.

We love Darby’s! Best bartenders and service in town. Perfect for a good drink, great food, and the perfect atmosphere.

Great food, Tyler was awesome, asked our food preferences and suggested the perfect meal for my wife and I. Pear Salad was one of my all time favorites, 16 Oz Ribeye was fork tender and amazing. My wife got roasted veggie salad and Scallops with risoto. Great flavor. She is a vegetarian that usually has choice of bad pasta. I had to stop her from licking
the plate.

Love Darby’s! Always eat here after my step father and I shoot down the street on Front St. Their drinks are always cold, they’re always tentative and the food is delectable. Their sandwiches are great, so is their soup and salad. The atmosphere is always inviting and very quiet and friendly. I love this joint-​check it out!

Very overpriced food, very substandard food. Wait staff is a joke.
If you like being ignored in the front room of a one story house and being charged for it, by all means. Otherwise, go to freaking McDonald’s.

We ended up walking out and will never return. If you are not a local or regular to this place (we were here from out of town for business) you will be ignored. We waited for over 30 minutes for a table to only have several parties come in after us and be seated ahead of us and we even called to verify if they accepted call ahead seating and were told no.
Horrible first and last impression

This place is AMAZING!!! It’s under new ownership and it has not missed a beat — it has upgraded everything! The dinner was phenomenal — SHORT RIB SLIDERS — to die for!!! The desserts are killer. The atmosphere can’t be beat. A night at Darby’s is a night well spent. N

Another diamond in the rough… You wouldn’t even know Darby’s existed except for the twinkling lights coming from the outside patio. And even though it doesn’t look like a restaurant from the outside, this place is well designed on the inside. You can tell that a lot of love and care went into designing the space. Everyone I’ve taken there loves the atmosphere and the food. Even the fries are fantastic! Check it out…

Service was a little slow but the food was great. She was really nice, just a lot going on for only one waitress. Loved the sliders! Super cool atmosphere. Very rustic.

I ate at Darby’s for lunch today. I had the special — Shrimp Tacos! OMG — I’m sure I’ll be craving these in the future! The tacos are made with chewy tortillas… the shrimp is grilled and tossed with fresh lime juice, sour cream, lettuce and fresh pico de gallo. The tacos were served on a bed of spring salad greens. I was told that the tacos are the same as the Swordfish Tacos (a regular menu item) but with a shrimp substitution. Amazing!

From the moment we walked in the door we had a great experience. We were immediately sat, greeted and brought menus by I think a busser. Then our server Renee was prompt and got our drinks, (which never were empty all night). Our appetizers were the peppers and calamari and were perfect. Our server went over all the specials with great detail, I enjoy that because sometimes you may have a question. We both ended up getting the fried chicken, Mac and cheese and veggies. Amazing. Honestly, it was super crunchy and yummy! Then when we were done our server went over the desserts and we got the whiskey bread pudding. Wow. That may have been my favorite part! Lol! Honestly, I am a picky person and I give this place 5 stars. This is a quality spot.

Great little treasure! Darby’s is my favorite meal. Started with the perfect Moscow Mule. The Pear salad is the perfect balance of flavors-​fennel, pickled onions, blue cheese and candied pecans. Finished with my all time fave-​the salmon slider, on a fluffy roll with citrus aioli.
The place is intimate and cozy.

Went for lunch and found affordable but tasty options. Mostly sandwich options but a few salad offerings and some other stuff.
It’s still primarily a bar so the food should be viewed in that light. It’s a small place with minimal seating and, from that perspective, the food is far better than you would expect to see in a local bar. It’s a great place to watch a game.

Food was exceptionally good and would have easily gotten 4 – 5 stars, however, service would get negative stars if possible.
Our group of 6 was the only table in the restaurant aside from one other couple and we were able to place our order fairly quickly but once we did our server just disappeared. We got our food 45 min. later with no drink refills in between and when my friend asked for his to go (he was on a time constraint) by the time she brought out his box and check we were all done eating and signing our checks as well. She also messed up two of the checks and again, took forever to correct them and bring them back. Yes, the restaurant was still empty at this point.
All in all it took a full hour and thirty minutes. So, if you have all the time in the world to kill and aren’t thirsty, by all means I’d suggest eating here. My chicken salad sandwich was on the flakiest crunchiest croissant I’ve ever had and my fries were amazing. No food is worth that level of service, though, IMO.

This was our first visit here. We were looking for a location convenient to meet friends. We were hoping for a relatively quiet place so we could talk during dinner.
I wouldn’t base the atmosphere on this visit because it was St. Patrick’s Day and I’m sure that made the place louder than usual. It was hard to talk though. Will have to try again before I decide.
The food and service were great with one exception. Two of us had the spinach salad. It was good and we both enjoyed the dressing but it was light fare — lots of spinach with little sprinkles on top. I had a buffalo chicken slider. Good, but a hard call at $ 5. One of us had the burger. It was great and a lot of food. Probably the best choice of the evening.
Now the exception. One of us ordered the pulled pork sandwich. When it came, it was not «pulled» pork. It was an odd slice of pork on a bun. We asked if they could chop it up or something or replace it with pulled pork. Our waitress was very helpful and took it back to see what could be done. A LONG time passed, but she stopped a few times and tried to explain that she was trying. In the end, there was no sandwich. They didn’t bill for it, but maybe should have written off their whole check. None of us had ever encountered anything like this before.
We will probably try again to see if it was a fluke or standard practice. It was such an odd visit that I can only give two stars till I know more.

Oh, hey, THIS PLACE IS GREAT. I grew up down the road from it, when it was a skeevy-​seeming bar called Frankie’s that I only ever went to once, for a friend’s dad’s band’s performance. It was as expected.
So when Frankie’s closed for a year & transitioned to Darby’s, I was skeptical. Their space is teeny-​tiny, it’s in a sort-​of-​weird location… How good could it be? But I kept hearing, over & over, that it was outstanding, so I finally gave it a try.
A+, two thumbs up, would go back again on repeat.
The space is gorgeous, totally revamped from its Frankie’s days. It feels very clean & a little bit fancy, & somehow much bigger than before. Their food options are broad, from burgers & wraps to strip steak, scallops, & fried chicken with mac & cheese. I feel like there’s something for everyone (& every wallet preference) on their menu. They also offer a few different kinds of sliders, none of them burgers, which is sort of an interesting twist. Their lunch prices are particularly reasonable, & as a dinner spot, Darby’s is suitable for a date, a meal with Mom, or catching up with friends — casual or a little bit upscale.
At night, Darby’s transitions from restaurant to bar, with craft beer options & basic beer options alike, in addition to a full bar, that make it a great space for casual weekend nightlife.
I’m a fan. Well done, CF.

Went for the 1^st time ever for lunch on a cold Wednesday. Overall experience was excellent. It wasn’t busy at 1:30. A few tables taken. The guy serving us was super friendly. The place is clean and cozy. They have daily specials. I got the soup of the day which was tomato basil-​delish! We also got the buffalo chix potstickers, omg yum!
Then we each got a fried chicken slider. Comes on a mini homemade bun, score! Nice juicy hunk of chix, not a skinny frozen processed thing. Enjoyed the breading in it, but I did add some mayo and on some bites I dipped it in ranch … Sooooo good!
We will definitely be back!!!

After hearing good things about this place by multiple people, I thought I’d see first hand what it was all about.
Walking in the first thing you’ll notice is that it’s very small. Cozy, clean, and very busy. I noticed pulling in there was a outside patio however it was raining so I took a seat at the bar and waited to be served.
I’m assuming that someone must of called off because it was just one person running the show. Felt bad for the guy as he was trying but service was very slow.
The menu is simple but filled with lots of tempting options. I decided on the Black and Blu burger that consists of black pepper and piled high with bleu cheese and caramelized onions. All this for $ 9.95
Over all the burger was cooked to perfection. Asked for it to be cooked medium in which it was. The bleu cheese and caramelized onions worked well together and the size of the burger was bigger than expected.
Highly recommend this place

My husband and I went to Darby’s last night and sat on the back patio. It was maybe 5 degrees too cold but I was comfortable. We were quickly brought menus and a drink menu. I ordered wine, husband ordered a beer. The waitress told us about a special clam appetizer so we ordered that as well. We received our drinks and appetizer pretty quickly.
The clam appetizer was so not worth the $ 13 price. The dish consisted of 12 clams with chorizo, jalapeño, peppers, bacon, shallots, and a few other ingredients and 4 slices of toast to soak up the juices with. Unfortunately, the clams were extremely overwhelmed by the strong flavors of the sausage and peppers and the dish overall was way too salty. Clams are so delicate and slightly sweet, it was sad to not be able to taste them. The toast that came with it had an awful fuel torch taste to it. I think they were trying to imitate grill marks on the bread. It was very unpleasant.
The waitress asked us what we wanted to order. My husband ordered the swordfish tacos (appetizer) and a side salad. I tried to order the braised short rib sandwich but the waitress informed me that there was a new chef tonight and he had taken a couple things off the menu. Ok, I understand. So instead, I ordered the filet sliders. They were $ 5.95 each so I ordered two with a side of french fries. If I remember correctly, the french fries cost extra. Why? I don’t know.
The food came out promtly and looked really good. I dug right into the filet sliders. Perfection! Extremely tender, perfectly cooked to medium like I asked, covered in caramelized onions and a delicious, aoli. The french fries were nice and crispy and sprinkled with sea salt and pepper. Two sliders was the perfect amount of food for me. I’m glad I didn’t order 3.
My husband’s fish tacos were awesome! He let me try a bite and the fish was perfectly cooked and juicy. There was maybe a bit too much pepper on them but overall, they were delightful! His side salad was good. Typical lettuce, cucumber, tomato, etc.
We got our bill and it was $ 50. A bit pricey but the food was excellent quality (minus the clams). My husband was a little annoyed because they took his beer away before he could finish it. There was probably ¼ of it left in the bottle. Oh well. We had a nice meal and I think we would go back. It looks like they are working on building a bar on the patio so that will be pretty cool once it’s finished.