Brown Derby?

I've seen it listed as one of the "contenders" for best WDW steak. Never eaten there myself though.

I've eaten there once and loved the atmosphere. The food was good too, but I can't help you much since I had the Cobb Salad and you've already expressed your disdain for anything salad related.

Seriously though, it's one of WDW best restaurants, and the service and food are excellent. Remember it's a 2 pointer if you have the DDP.

Solo Friendly's going there in May, so you can get anothe report!

Yeah, except I plan to order the cobb salad too! (It looks fabulous!)

Sorry, I'm no help.

This is from a post I did while still a member of the Theme Park Rangers at the Orlando Sentinel:

This week we look in on Hollywood Brown Derby at Disney Soon-Not-To-Be-M-G-M Studios. I havenât done a full review of HBD since it opened in 1989, so when I visited the full-service restaurant recently it was like going back in time.

Which is precisely what Disney culineers were going for when they designed the restaurant to emulate a 1930s era eatery. Though not a replica of the original, Disneyâs Derby is reminiscent of an old-timey Los Angeles restaurant, with teak and mahogany accents, and the walls are filled with celebrity caricatures that duplicate those that hung in the West Coast restaurant. Actually, some 18 years after the first visit, those caricatures are less recognizable now than they were before as the stars fade further into the past. I could barely identify a fraction of the pictures.

But that isnât important. What matters is the food, service and ambience. The latter is really kind of nice. The sunken dining room with mezzanine seating on two sides transports guests from the hubbub of the park outside into a Hollywoodland atmosphere. Sure, youâve got big families with crying kids and people dressed casually, but just pretend youâre dining with the Jolie-Pitt brood and youâll be fine.

Service was good on my lunch visit. The waiters are outfitted in white tuxedo jackets and offer top-notch care.

I started my lunch with the barbecue pork rib belly ($8) served with succotash and a chunk of chili cornbread. The succotash and cornbread were good, but the pork belly was tough and beyond chewy. It should have started melting before I got it in my mouth.

The original Brown Derby is where the Cobb salad was invented. It was the creation of former Derby owner Bob Cobb (youâd think heâd go by Robert, wouldnât you?), who whipped up the salad as a late-night snack for a Hollywood VIP back in the '30s. The story goes that there wasnât much in the fridge the night the bigwig came in so Cobb just chopped up what he could find. Itâs the chopping that defines a Cobb today. A woman once wrote to me to chide me for my description of a Cobb salad at some restaurant saying that a Cobb salad was comprised only of ingredients that grew on a cob. Here the Cobb has greens, turkey breast, egg, bacon, tomatoes, blue cheese, avocado and chives. The basic salad is $14, but for two more bucks you can have some chicken cubes added. I splurged. The salad was delivered in a large bowl with the various ingredients grouped together. The man who brought the Cobb to the table asked if I would like him to toss everything together. I figured Iâd let an expert do it.

Except for being unable to identify the greens â" they looked sort of like soggy parsely but didnât have that sharp taste â" I liked the salad, especially the chewy bacon and salty blue cheese.

The menu suggested a wine pairing of Kim Crawford sauvignon blanc, but frankly neither the wine nor the salad did much to enhance the other.

For dessert I had the grapefruit cake ($6), which the menu touts as a Brown Derby original! The exclamation point was unnecessary, and so were the calories. The yellow layer cake with cream cheese frosting was undistinguished in flavor.

I was a solo walk-in just after noon on a weekday and waited only a few minutes for a table. Either most guests are looking for something a little less pricey, or maybe something less formal, or I just got lucky. Itâs always a good idea to make a reservation in advance, or, if you are already in the park, stop by and arrange a table for later in the day.
T
Scott

Thanks for this feedback, Scott. The bacon/bleu cheese sounds wonderful.

I think you're right that people are just a bit scared of this restaurant and don't try it out. The typical park-goer isn't in the market for tuxedoed waiters and wine pairings.

Come to think of it, this is just about the only dining billed by Disney as "fine dining" that you find INSIDE a theme park, right?

How do they deal with DHS closing so early? That's the only of the pricier restaurants I can think of where you can't get a late dinner.

We love Brown derby. Have had excellent steaks there several times. Last trip (Feb 09), DH had an outstanding pork dish, he is still raving. We have tried the grapefruit cake. DH likes it better than I do, I find it just ok but he thinks it a treat! They have other desserts, too. We've had some nice cocktails there also.

I've been hearing a lot of good things about the pork in WDW lately. Have you tried the pork chop at Artist Point?

No, haven't been to AP in a few years. Went with the bison steak while I was there. It was very good.

Do they have unusual/good cocktails? Any suggestions (I'm not big on rum).

The cocktail I had in Feb was some sort of chocolate martini...smooth & creamy & chocolatey, mmmmmmmmm. They had a cocktail menu which had some different things than the usual pool bar choices (not to disparage those!). On previous visits, I had fruitier things, although I don't remember details. Just remember liking it

Sorry, I guess that doesn't help much!

It's Outstanding!

IMO, HBD holds it's own as a signature restaurant. The salmon dish is outstanding. It's the best entree I've had at WDW in recent memory. Next time, I will ask them to hold the olive tapenade, but that's a personal choice. I don't like green olives. Our son's girlfriend ordered the steak last Oct., which is a pattern for her, & she said it was the best all trip. Sorry, but I can't remember what we had for dessert on our last visit. We've tried the grapefruit cake before, & didn't really care for it. That's been a long time though, so I don't really remember what we didn't like about it. We had the infamous Cobb salad for our appy. I won't elaborate on that.

Thanks again for the review. It seems that folks either love or hate that grapefruit cake!

How'd you find traveling with your son and his girlfriend? That can either be great fun or really awful I imagine...

It's not bad! We go our own ways & meet up for meals. If we tried to keep up with them, none of us would enjoy ourselves.

I'm feeling like this is a big missing part of my WDW dining resume. I haven't heard anyone who doesn't like this place and I've never been. Would you say it compares favorably with say California Grill or Citricos?

Sorry, but that's 2 of the signature restaurants we haven't tried. Of the signatures, we've eaten at HBD, Artist Point, Yachtsman, & Flying Fish. I think that's it. We seem to keep going back to the same places. We actually ate at Flying Fish the night after our most recent meal at HBD. FF was very disappointing after the outstanding meal we had at HBD. Strangely, until recently, I would have rated FF higher. Not anymore. HBD has really stepped up their game.

HBD would be your first pick out of that group?

HBD would be your first pick out of that group?