Is the Hollywood Brown Derby good?

[Nermel9]

Hi everyone!

Just made an ADR for dinner at the Hollywood Brown Derby for our October trip, and I was wondering if anyone here likes it! I never really see it talked about much! There aren't many places to eat in DHS, and we've been to Mama Melrose's twice and Sci Fi once, so we wanted to try something different! The menu looks good, and I was thinking it has to be pretty good if it's a signature!

Thanks!

 

[MickeysMommy]

We love it! You'll get mixed reviews of course but I feel everyone needs to try places for themselves. It's a must for us every trip. Love the Cobb Salad and they had the most delicious filet there but took it off last time we were there. Their grouper is great too. We are going here for my birthday this year and I can't wait. Why not give it a try?

 

[Okh]

We ate there Mother's Day and I thought it was pretty good, and I'm a complete food snob.

 

[bleeps]

We've been several times; most recently, November 2010. Although quality has been up and down over the years, our recent experience was absolutely outstanding. I would recommend it highly!!

 

[Ramsfan28]

It is a wonderful restaraunt - enjoy!

 

[kathie859]

We ate there last trip (4 adults and 3 kids) and for the amount of money it costs, we were under-whelmed. The service was lacking and the food--just ok.

 

[GeorgeG]

I agree with bleeps about the ups and downs, but even the downs have been pretty decent. There are certainly worse choices in the studios.

 

[deej696]

We visited a few weeks ago and enjoyed it. I'm not sure it's worth two credits if on DP, but it was a great meal. The cobb salad was awesome.. I wrote a review on our experience here...

 

[prttynpnk]

We've alays enjoyed the food and the atmosphere-

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Brown Derby is my favorite theme park restaurant. I love the old Hollywood atmosphere. The tuna tartare, Cobb salad, grouper, and fruit cobbler are all really good.

 

[sja03a]

We love Hollywood brown derby! We like the Cobb salad of course. There r many other dishes that are yummy too. We got the noodle bowl once and didn't care for it but it was ok. Everything else is delicious!

 

[kimcshan]

We love, love, love the Brown Derby--it's our one true "not to be missed" restaurant at WDW. That being said, I have to admit that it's almost certainly as much for the atmosphere as for the food. We love the old Hollywood glamour, and my husband really, really, really loves the Margaritas. I have to say that I think the grapefruit cake is something special too. My son just revels in the fanciness of it, and so for us it is a destination as much as a meal. Don't get me wrong, we've enjoyed the food, but not that much more than we've enjoyed other much less expensive meals. It's the whole package that has us hooked.

Kim from Kansas

 

[Nancy F]

Cobb Salad! Yum! And the Bananas Foster is to die for!
Nancy

 

[ransom]

We've been there several times, most recently in December 2010. We've always enjoyed our meals there and have always had good service.

 

[cd&kids]

It is a very good restaurant. We give it a B-plus, A-minus. I think the problem with it is its own reputation. Many people expect it to be outstanding and they probably leave with a "it was okay" attitude. But if you don't expect much or went there knowing nothing about it, you'd say "wow, that was really, really good!"
Disney considers it a signature restaurant (2 meals on the Dining Plan). I think that's a little bit of a stretch. Maybe it's more than just a regular meal, but not quite worth 2. Maybe a meal-and-a-half.

 

[llb]

We always eat there. My oldest son loves the Cobb Salad, so trying to cut corners I went for lunch instead of diner, thinking lunch is always the less expensive menu. well, they don't offer the Cobb Salad on the lunch menu. won't do that again. everone in my family enjoys it, the food and the atmosphere. enjoy!!!!!

 

[Johnny_B]

I've eaten at HBD almost every trip. It's become tradition. I would agree with other posters that it's very good, but not great. I've had quite a few menu items. I wasn't impressed with the lamb, but thought the chicken and short rib were very good. It's famous for the grapefruit cake -- sometimes it's great, other times it tastes like it was defrosted. I did NOT like the berry cobbler -- very bland. For apps, the onion soup was my fav.

The decor is amazing and I've always had excellent service. That being said, if you want a 3 course meal, be prepared for at least 90 mins. Like most signatures, it takes a while. Like another poster said, HBD is the best "in-park" dining experience.

 

[Babbletrish]

Went there for the first time during our latest trip down and it was very, very nice. We went a little later in the evening, which may make a difference. As others have said, the "Old Hollywood" atmosphere is wonderful. The Cobb Salad is very unusual but worth the experience. The much-touted Grapefruit Cake, on the other hand, we greatly disliked. Felt a little bit too much like eating breakfast for dessert, if that makes sense. (Ask yourself if a citrus-flavored muffin is appealing to you after having eaten a big chicken or steak dinner.)

Ze Menu,care of AllEars.net.

 

[disnutt]

After years of avoiding HBD because I thought it was going to be too 'snobby' with 'fussy' food, I went with my 14 yo DD in October for Lunch with an Imagineer. We weren't looking forward to the meal but that's where we HAD to go to meet with the Imagineer.

Well, we were truly and completely blown away.

They had a mushroom bisque that my daughter and I (devout mushroom haters) just tasted to be polite. I still hate other mushrooms but if that stuff is ever on the menu again I'll buy gallons of it!

The Cobb Salad was beautiful to look at and completely delicious. I've had them at other restaurants and not been impressed. This one was a work of art with each item chopped to the same size/shape and laid out like a rainbow on the plate.

Our main course (she had a veggie tofu noodle bowl and I had some kind of yummy beef) was just as tasty but we both swooned over the Grapefruit Cake for dessert.

The theme turned out to be glamorous and not snobby.

So, completely humbled by learning that my assumptions about this restaurant were so far off the mark, the first reservation that I'm making for my upcoming November trip with all the family will be at Hollywood Brown Derby. My DD and I can't wait to show off our new favorite place.

Edited to add: Try to do it as part of Lunch With an Imagineer!!! The Imagineer, a librarian for Disney, was also completely amazing! When he introduced himself as a librarian I thought, "I paid this much to come to this snotty restaurant to meet a LIBRARIAN???" He was so interesting and informative. My whole world view was blown away that day because I learned that librarians can have cool jobs at Disney and that Hollywood Brown Derby rocks! Definitely worth the price of admission!!!

 

[TDC Nala]

We always eat there. My oldest son loves the Cobb Salad, so trying to cut corners I went for lunch instead of diner, thinking lunch is always the less expensive menu. well, they don't offer the Cobb Salad on the lunch menu. won't do that again. everone in my family enjoys it, the food and the atmosphere. enjoy!!!!!

The lunch and dinner menus are now exactly the same (including the prices), and they do offer cobb salad.