Time of Wait:
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October 1997: We got to the Brown
Derby lobby about ten minutes early, and were seated five minutes
or so after that.
October 1996: We were seated in just a few minutes,
down on the main floor as I'd requested (there's a ramp for
strollers, so it was easily done) and at a table with a nice spot
for the stoller.
November 1995: Virtual walk-in with Priority Seating |
Food Review:
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October 1997: Barb ordered the
Cookie Magic ($2.95) specialty drink (an old favorite) and the
filet of beef sandwich ($17.95). I stuck with the traditional Cobb
salad with chicken ($13.95) and just had water to drink, but added
a grapefruit cake ($4.25) for desert later. Allan had chicken
strips with fries and vanilla ice cream for desert ($4.75) and
enjoyed the ice cream much more than the entree. On the way
out of the restaurant, I saw a book for sale about the history of
the Hollywood Brown Derby written by one of Bob Cobb's relations.
It also included some of the most famous recipes from the original
restaurant and has turned out be a lot of fun to read through.
October 1996: Since this was a Food 'N' Fun meal, we did
it up good. Dad, Barb, and I all ordered the Oreo cookie drink and
Mom had a Orange Smoothie (ice cream and strained orange juice
blended together). For our appetizers, Mom and I both had the
chicken Cobb salad, Dad had the traditional Cobb, and Barb ordered
a gazpacho with scallops and veggies. All were very good. Mom and
Dad, especially, raved about the Cobbs...and I picked up a copy of
the recipe at the counter for Mom after our meal (printed on a
brown derby-shaped card, no less). For our main entrees, Dad had a
barbecued pork sandwich served with a very unique potato salad
while the rest of us had the chef's selection New York Strips
served with garlic spiked mashed potatoes and sautéed mushrooms.
For desert, I ordered the grapefruit cake, Mom and Dad both had a
chocolate wafer pie kind of a thing served with strawberries. Barb
had yet another Oreo cookie drink. I think she really likes 'em.
November 1995: After the stunt show, we walked over to
the Brown Derby for lunch. I've been wanting to eat at this place
since the Studios opened in 1989, but the prices always scared me
off. With the Food and Fun cards...no problem. Mike and I both had
the Cobb salad for an appetizer (I had chicken, Mike had shrimp
$12.50 and $15.50 respectively). Stacey had a scallop appetizer
($7.75), Barb had chicken tenders with peppers and a mustard sauce
($5.25). The Cobb salad is a very interesting dish.
It doesn't resemble a salad when everything is mixed together. The
French dressing, by the way, is very light...mostly vinegar...not
creamy, red, French like I was expecting. The salad was good, but
very hard to describe. As for beverages, the Brown Derby had
some ice cream drinks that were excellent. Mike and Barb both had
"Cookie Magic" that was vanilla ice cream blended with
Oreo cookies ($2.75). Stacey and I sampled the "Hollywood
Junior" made of vanilla ice cream blended with a Nutrageous
candy bar ($2.75). Very good stuff. For the main event,
Stacey had the chicken Cobb salad ($12.50). Barb and I both had a
steak special (very good meat), Mike had baked grouper ($15.95).
For desert, I tried the traditional grapefruit cake (excellent at
$4.00, I just wish I had been hungrier at that point, so I would
have enjoyed it more). Barb had chocolate mousse ($4.00) and Mike
had a raspberry mousse ($4.00). |
Atmosphere Review:
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October 1996: One of the things
that was fun during the meal was that an older guy came into the
restaurant and was introduced as Sid Cuehuenga (supposedly the
proprietor of the One-of-a-Kind Shop at the entrance to the park).
He stuck around for quite awhile doing impersonations of several
old time Hollywood Stars including Jimmy Durante (he came over to
our table and introduced Mom as Mrs. Calabash), George Burns and
others. All in all, an excellent and entertaining meal. One of my
all time favorites at Walt Disney World. One thing we
noticed...This year at the Derby we did not receive a telephone
call during lunch. As a previous highlight of our meals there,
this was a disappointment.
November 1995: A couple fun things happened during our
meal. They had to bring a phone to our table because Goofy called
to let us know about his hand print ceremony at the Chinese
theater. Also, a couple of streetmosphere guys came in and hammed
it up around the piano. They might have been playing actual people
from the 1930's, I don't know. But it was hard to follow what was
going on anyway, since we were up in the nosebleed area of the
restaurant. |
