Has anyone had a good experience at the Brown Derby?

[msce2]

We have an ADR at the Brown Derby for our trip in June. However my parents just got back from spending Christmas at Disney and said that the service was not great, the food prices had gone up, and the food quality had deteriorated. They said the restaurant was mostly empty. This used to be one of their "must do's" and they told me to skip it. Has anyone had a good experience here recently?

Thanks!

 

[TDC Nala]

I had lunch there on 12/7 and I really enjoyed the seared tuna.

 

[BLTLDZ]

We ate there in september, for dinner. (Fantasmic package).

We too were nervous, but, it was ONE OF THE BEST MEALS OF OUR TRIP , next to Citricos.

Here's my review of it:
(I am still in the process of writing it, which is why it is not posted formally).

Brown Derby. Day 1 9/25
We did this as part of a fantasmic dining package, and based on so- so reviews we were unsure, but it was one of the best of the whole trip!!! Our server was Ken, and he was fantastic
Very attentive, and really helpful. Even though he was waiting on QUITE a few tables, he still was on top of his game. YAY for Ken.
Ken really gets all the credit for our food selections, as we asked him what we should order, and we went with EVERYTHING he said.
When he found out we were celebrating our recent engagement, he gave us a complimentary glass of wine, which was really nice.

For appetizer, I had the Crab Cake, FH had the Cobb Salad....We split both, and both were divine. We were arguing over the last of the Cobb salad…
For entrees, I had the grouper, and FH had the Tuna....again, EXCELLENT.
For dessert, we split a banana mousse....YUM. Ate this too fast, and forgot the pic!!
After dinner we hit up Fantasmic..All in all, a GREAT first night.

 

[LUVDZNY2008]

We had dinner there in August (our third time there), the food and service were very good-I've never had a bad meal at HBD!!!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Ate there in late September and loved it. As always. For our meal at least, the food and service was awesome!

 

[cbg1027]

I ate there on 12/14 and enjoyed my meal. I would def go back.

Service was good, and the food was mostly excellent. Cobb Salad was great, my friend loved his Salmon entree, and the Grapefruit Cake was amazing. My only complaint was that the pasta part of the ravioli I ordered was somewhat undercooked.

 

[Pygoplites]

I eat there every trip and it has always been good. The only negative was a rude host a couple years ago. He must have been having a bad day, because he was just amazingly snotty to every party. But the food has always been good.

 

[Shenanigoat]

I usually eat at the Brown Derby when paying OOP, but while on the DxDP last Oct I didn't. It's a nice experiance, but not worth 2TCs for me. I did go twice to the Brown Derby on my trip last Jan though. My DR is linked in my signature if you are interested. Overall I always feel I get fine service and do enjoy the restaurant. It is one of the prettiest in WDW in my opinion. I love old school Hollywood though, so that probably taints my perspective.

 

[msce2]

I'm glad that there have been some good meals there recently. Maybe they just had an off day. It's been one of their favorites for so long, it was odd for them to tell me to cancel the ADR. They had just been in May of 09 and were really looking forward to it in December.

I did end up subbing it out for Artist Point since no one wants to go anymore.

 

[lemondog]

We love it! The crab cake app. and seared ahi tuna entree are FABULOUS!!! I like the lower crowds...makes for a nice relaxing meal. We are doing it w/ a Fantasmic Pkg. this trip.

 

[jamstew]

I've been disappointed the last couple of times I've been (September & December), both with the service and the food. Both meals were at lunch, so that may have made a difference. When I had dinner there last May, it was wonderful in every respect. FWIW, they have recently changed chefs.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Hubby, my mom and I tried the Derby for lunch last September. I was hesitant based on the poor feedback it seems to get here, but we went for it. And it was DELICIOUS! Service was wonderful, wine list was perfect, and the menu options at least for lunch couldn't have fit better for us. We all had the crab soup with the thyme emulsion drizzle, the cobb salad, and we shared the grapefruit cake. We all agreed for our upcoming trip in a few weeks, HBD has to be done.

It definitely wasn't busy, but nothing was at that time of year (TSM was literally a walk on the entire time we were there). Service was very nice. Our waiter gave us recipe cards for the salad and cake. During the meal, he suggested we poke our heads in some special room on the way out. I don't recall why; some sort of special nicknaks or something in there. Well, we did and unfortunately interrupted a family's meal with an imagineer! OOOOPPSSS!!!! We apologized and quickly got out.

But we can't wait to go back. I wish we'd tried it out sooner instead of always doing 50s PTC or Sci-Fi.

 

[Mary T in PA]

We ate lunch at the Brown Derby on our last trip, Dec 3rd to be exact, and we loved it. When DH and I tried it many years ago, I hated it and boycotted it all these years. I figured that I would give it another shot, and I'm glad I did.

Mary

 

[DisFan10]

We've been to the Brown Derby dozens of times, both for lunch and dinner and we've always been satisfied with the food and service...

 

[DiznyDi]

We ate there in December with the Fantasmic Dinner pkg. Our meal was very good, service was outstanding and the restaurant was packed. My only negative would be that they brought DH the incorrect entree. He ordered the grouper - also excellent - and they brought him the filet mignon. I ate without him so my meal wouldn't be cold and in turn when his arrived some 20 minutes later I was finished. They did bring me a free latte, though.

 

[Pygoplites]

We ate there in December with the Fantasmic Dinner pkg. Our meal was very good, service was outstanding and the restaurant was packed. My only negative would be that they brought DH the incorrect entree. He ordered the grouper - also excellent - and they brought him the filet mignon. I ate without him so my meal wouldn't be cold and in turn when his arrived some 20 minutes later I was finished. They did bring me a free latte, though.

Doesn't service cease being "outstanding" when they bring out the wrong entree? Being served the wrong food is bad at any restaurant, but totally inexcusable at a signature restaurant.

You should have made them take away both plates, bring your husband's correct entree and remake yours (not just keep it warm). While you waited, they should have offered a complimentary drink and a manger should have come to your table with sincere apologies.

 

[Castillo Mom]

I usually eat at the Brown Derby when paying OOP, but while on the DxDP last Oct I didn't. It's a nice experiance, but not worth 2TCs for me. I did go twice to the Brown Derby on my trip last Jan though. My DR is linked in my signature if you are interested. Overall I always feel I get fine service and do enjoy the restaurant. It is one of the prettiest in WDW in my opinion. I love old school Hollywood though, so that probably taints my perspective.

Exactly. We ate there last trip. The food was good but not work two TS credits.

 

[msce2]

We ate there in December with the Fantasmic Dinner pkg. Our meal was very good, service was outstanding and the restaurant was packed. My only negative would be that they brought DH the incorrect entree. He ordered the grouper - also excellent - and they brought him the filet mignon. I ate without him so my meal wouldn't be cold and in turn when his arrived some 20 minutes later I was finished. They did bring me a free latte, though.

I hope they comped his meal too. That's a shame he had to wait 20 min.

 

[Ramsfan28]

The Brown Derby has never let me down. I have ordered everything from the Cobb Salad to the Crab cakes and the food and service has always been wonderful.

 

[purpliequeen]

We ate there for dinner on the DDP when the regular DDP included an appetizer, entree, and dessert per person. The food and service was good, but I didn't think anything was better than "good." I think that this is disappointing because I seem to constantly rank Coral Reef, Teppan Edo, and other one-credit table service restaurants "better than good" and, like I said, they're one-credit. Not two. Brown Derby is no where in my eyes comparable to the following two-credits: Cali Grill, Narcoosee's, Citricos, and Jiko in terms of atmosphere and food though-- other than in price.