Hollywood Brown Derby vs. California Grill... And it's a knockout!

[profdsny]

Interesting. We went to CG sometime in the last year or so and it was okay. The waitress was very good, and the service also. Can't recall the food necessarily. We didn't get a window seat, but were one over. We didn't even go out to see the fireworks from the deck, but they did look nice from inside.
However, when I went down for a golf trip a few months later I had made reservations for the first night. When we walked in the level of noise was so pronounced that we spent about five minutes there before deciding to go somewhere else. I can't recall the noise from the previous trip, (maybe because I was with ELW instead that time). But generally, I wouldn't hurry back. I think this trip will be Brown Derby. Thanks for the write-up.

 

[stagemomx3]

I'm glad to read the positive review of Brown Derby since we will be eating there in a few weeks.

 

[Mom2PixiePrincess]

We just got back from our first vist to Brown Derby and LOVED it! We've wanted to eat there for a few years, but just never made the ADR's. Our DD was still very much into the character meals. This was our first trip with less character meals and more "regular" meals. So here's my review:

We showed up about 1 hour prior to our ADR's because we were starving and just wishing to get in early. To our delight they were able to seat us right away! Woo Hoo!
The atmosphere was quiet (we had to keep reminding our DD5 to use her hush voice). Overall it was just a very relaxing, peaceful enviornment!

For appy: I ordered the crabcake and it was out of this world wonderful. Made with fresh crab and had a yummy potato shred over it. DH ordered the pork belly thing, he said it was good. (he isn't too much on descriptions. It's either good, ehhh, or bad). My DD ordered the chicken soup off the kids menu. She didn't like it, only because it had fresh celery in it. I ended up eating a few bites and thought it was yummy, all fresh ingredients. However she did eat some of my crab cake and liked it!

Main Course: I ordered the grouper(baked). It was the most wonderful piece of fish I've had in a long time from a restaurant! It was a substantial size of all white meat. When I stuck my fork in, the fish just fell apart. The meat was so tender and flavorful. I don't even remember what came with it, the fish was so tantalizing! DH ordered a steak, he enjoyed it. DD ordered grouper fingers. She picked the breading off and ate the fish. Her response was "this is delicious". The one downside, I do wish they would put a smaller size of the baked grouper on the kids menu. My DD is getting the point where she would rather have something off the regular menu; she loves seafood that isn't fried!

Dessert: I can't remember for the life of me what the rest of my family ordered. Neither can they! This was because we were all so focused on MY dessert: The banana's foster plus thing (sorry I don't remember the official name). It was dreamy. It was heavy on the banana flavor, but we LOVED it! The whole dessert was a melt in your mouth eupohria!

Our waiter was great! He was very attentive to our needs but didn't crowd us. A big bonus(as this is a pet peeve of mine) our drink glasses stayed full! That is truly the measure of a GREAT server, keeping the drink glasses full!

We will def make Brown Derby a regular!!!!!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

The food was good and the server was friendly. The atmosphere was just teeth-grittingly hectic and rushed. All three of us felt it. Just not a pleasant dining experience at all.

My family (DH, DS(16), & I) prefer quieter dining experiences also. We consider CG every trip, but still haven't been there. I'd like to try the food, but the atmosphere keeps us away. Regardless of how good the food & view are, a loud restaurant doesn't equal fine dining as far as we're concerned. I'm glad you enjoyed HBD. We're trying it again in Oct.

 

[davinakb]

Glad to see a favorable review of Brown Derby, we don't eat there often but enjoy it when we do. And have to agree with you regarding CaliGrill, about the atmosphere and noise, it really does take away from the experience.

 

[crazykids]

I definitely agree that anyone who reads other's reviews take them with a grain of salt. One person may love something that another hates. You definitely need to try the restaurants yourself to make an adequate decision on whether you like them or not.

We just came back last week & ate at Cali Grill for the first time. It was noisy & we did go around the fireworks time, but it was one of our best meals of the trip! We were never rushed, there were actually a couple of times where I wished the server would pick up the pace, but then again, the place was full! I had the filet & they brought me a steak knife w/ out asking. The sushi was fantastic! Sorry you didn't get to enjoy the same experience.

We tried Brown Derby on our last trip this past summer & the food was very good there as well, but I didn't think it compared with Cali Grill. My kids we're not fond of this restaurant & found it to be on the boring side, so that may have influenced my opinion. Brown Derby is definitely a lot quieter than Cali Grill, but I really don't worry about noise all that much. I'm at Disney World and I have 3 kids so I guess I always expect noise!