When traveling to Walt Disney World Resort, we’re absolutely gaga over high quality sit down dining. We’ve dined at the Hollywood Brown Derby in Hollywood Studios a number of times and here’s a rundown from our recent visit in November of 2024.
A little about The Hollywood Brown Derby
The Brown Derby was a franchise that existed with multiple locations, primarily in California. The Hollywood Brown Derby at Hollywood Studios in WDW was fashioned after the actual Hollywood location. The original Hollywood Brown Derby opened in 1929 and closed in 1985.
The original Brown Derby restaurant was known for its caricature drawings of celebrities.
“Dine in an authentic replica of the famous Brown Derby, a Tinseltown landmark steeped in glamour and glitz,” is how WDW describes this location on their page. “The walls are adorned with caricatures of famous faces—a tradition that began with the original restaurant—and the upscale atmosphere harkens back to the Golden Age of Hollywood.”
The Brown Derby at Hollywood Studios is a table-service restaurant. Dining reservations are recommended to secure a spot at this signature dining location. The restaurant is considered upscale/fine contemporary American dining but there are plenty of options for most everyone.
The menu
Food options at the Brown Derby vary from traditional steakhouse offerings like filet mignon as well as comfort food like shepherd’s pie. Not interested in the beef options? There’s a lamb shank, a pork dish, chicken option, as well as salmon and halibut. No Brown Derby menu would be complete if a Cobb salad was not offered–and this location has that too.
- Filet Mignon
- Grilled Ōra King Salmon
- Free-Range Chicken
- Our Famous Cobb Salad
- Root Beer-brined Pork
- Pan-roasted Halibut
- Shepherd’s Pie
- Lamb Shank
Appetizers
Some of the appetizers and starters might be leaning more towards the upscale side of this dining experience.
The options include some savory as well as sweet offerings. Charcuterie, escargot, sake-braised pork belly, and other options are contrasted by a Grand Marnier liqueur-macerated seasonal fruit burrata, shrimp cocktail–or perhaps a dish straddling both worlds, prosciutto croquettes, composed of “pickled onion, herbs gel, ají amarillo aïoli.”
- Creamy Corn Bisque
- Sake-braised Pork Belly
- Charcuterie Board
- Shrimp Cocktail
- Escargot
- Prosciutto Croquettes
- House-made Ravioli
- Grand Marnier Liqueur-macerated Seasonal Fruit Burrata
Side dishes
The Brown Derby offers a few shareable “enhancements.” Au gratin potato, crispy haricot verts, and braised wild mushrooms are on the menu. At the time of our visit, Thanksgiving Day 2024, there was a sweet potato soufflé, but that seems to no longer be on the menu.
Kids’ menu
There’s a fairly decent kids’ menu–which you’d expect at a family-friendly destination that’s offering fine dining. Kids can choose from two appetizer options, which are à la carte; chicken noodle soup or chopped salad. For a main course, young diners can choose an entree and two sides.
Entrees
- Grilled Chicken Breast
- Grilled Seasonal Fish
- Grilled Beef Steak
- Hot Dog
- Macaroni & Cheese
Side dishes
- Seasonal Vegetables
- Mashed Potatoes
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Baked Potato Chips
- Fresh Fruit Cup
- Apple Slices
- Strawberry and Yogurt Parfait
Dessert options
There’s only one dessert menu at the Hollywood Studios Brown Derby–which there’s no alternate options listed for kids.
- Grapefruit Cake
- Crème Brûlée
- Poached Pears and Panna Cotta
- Orange-Hazelnut Chocolate Cake
- Decadent Chocolate Cake
Our 2024 visit to the Brown Derby
The fairer of my roommates and I first dined at the Brown Derby in 2011. That said, our 2011 trip was our second visit to the house of mouse as a couple, and our reservation at the Derby fell a few days after getting engaged in Cinderella’s castle. The Brown Derby always held a special place in our hearts, but beyond sentiment, their food and dining experience is exceptional.
Our last trip to WDW was over Thanksgiving and our junior adventurer was adamant, “I want to spend Thanksgiving in the Stormtroopers park.” With that in mind, it was a no-brainer to have our Thanksgiving feast at the Brown Derby.
The last time we had Thanksgiving in the parks was back in 2022 and Be Our Guest was our Turkey Day choice.
The restaurant had most tables full, with patrons coming as others left. But it was not uncomfortably noisy and the service did not suffer. All in all, the service at the Brown Derby is always top notch, with a very attentive wait staff.
Our dining choices
Since it was Thanksgiving, there was an option to order a traditional Thanksgiving meal. However, we opted against that and went with some different dishes. The two stately travelers shared a Grand Marnier liqueur-macerated seasonal fruit burrata. For dinner, I ordered the pork, my eldest roomie got the salmon, and our junior adventurer got a steak. For a shareable side, we got the sweet potato soufflé. Dessert, we ordered the orange-hazelnut chocolate cake.
Grand Marnier Liqueur-macerated Seasonal Fruit Burrata
One of my travel companions goes gaga for burrata and crème brûlée. You can guess if it’s the junior or senior traveler. Since I was in no mood to have an overrated charred pudding for dessert, we opted for the burrata as a shareable appetizer as a compromise.
The Grand Marnier liqueur-macerated seasonal fruit burrata was really good. The way the sweetness of the fruit and liqueur danced with the tartness of the greens and mellow profile of the pine nuts was delightful. The burrata was plenty creamy and there was a good balance between the two cheeses.
Grilled Ōra King Salmon
The salmon was a good dish. A nice size portion of the fish was presented on a bed of black rice. The dish configuration, since our visit, seems to have changed. My roomie’s meal did not have the accompaniments that’s listed on the current menu at WDW.
In a March 2025 AllEars.net post, their description is consistent with what was ordered at the time. “Grilled Ōra King Salmon – Black Rice, Citrus Butter, Sugar Snaps, Crab Bisque.”
The salmon was flavorful and not dried out at all–which is important with protein options.
Root Beer-brined Pork
Cooked to order, the root beer-brined pork was excellent. The pork comes over “Creamy Polenta, Pickled Corn, Herb Chimichurri, [and] Barq’s® Root Beer Lacquer.” The sweetness of the root beer did not overpower the dish, but rather it complemented the polenta, offsetting the bite of the pickled corn. The herb chimichurri was subdued and added a hint of flavor. Juicy and tasty.
Grilled Beef Steak
My youngest roommate loves him some steak, and so he went with a steak. When the server asked, “How do you want your steak cooked?” Junior adventurer said, “On a stove.” Chuckling to himself, then he followed-up with the desired temperature of medium.
There was no requirement that the kids’ steaks get prepared done at the Brown Derby. We’ve brought this up in past posts. While visiting the Skipper Canteen, we were told that menu items for kids could not be ordered less than done. However, when visiting Space 220–not a WDW owned restaurant–we were able to get a kids’ steak prepared medium.
The steak was satisfactory to the palette of our little gourmet, as were the accompanying yogurt and fruit side dishes. The steaks for kids’ meals always look sad on the dishes, garnished with nothing.
Sweet Potato Soufflé
At the time of our visit, the sweet potato soufflé was on the menu. According to the current menu, it’s not there. There’s no love loss there. None of us liked the soufflé–all stop. In our opinions, it was awful, and it saddens me I have nothing constructive to say about it. It was gross.
Orange-Hazelnut Chocolate Cake
This was a nice option. The cake was Daddy Warbucks rich–in a good way. I’m honestly a sucker for desserts with vanilla ice cream served with them, and one of the weirdos I travel with likes burnt pudding–therefore, this was a slight departure from what we might normally get. This was a good choice to share and one we’d try again.
Espresso
I get an espresso after every meal when it’s offered because I love it. This espresso was great and had a nice–albeit required in my book–crema.
Overall experience
We love the Brown Derby at Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World Resort. The ambiance and dining experience is top tier. The quality of the food and service is superb. There are plenty of options that would appeal to most palettes. Overall, we loved our visit to the Brown Derby and we’ll be keeping it towards the top of our list of locations to revisit.
