Disney World’s Old Hollywood Signature Restaurant Makes Strong Case for #1 In-Park Pick with New Menu

One of our unpopular Walt Disney World opinions is that Hollywood Studios has an underrated culinary scene, well-rounded restaurant roster, and is actually a good food park. At minimum, better than Magic Kingdom. Most fans seem to disagree.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios excels at themed dining, with two of the Best Themed Restaurants at Walt Disney World in 50’s Prime Time Cafe or Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant. Both restaurants are polarizing among fans for their food, but the complete package is fun and memorable. It’s a similar story with Minnie’s Seasonal Dine, which offers a mixed bag buffet, but is excellent as a character dining experience.

Everything else is equally contentious, including Toy Story Roundup Rodeo BBQ, Woody’s Lunch Box, Oga’s Cantina, Docking Bay 7, Ronto Roasters, ABC Commissary, and BaseLine Tap House. Each of those restaurants offers a strong strength, but also a glaring weakness. Nevertheless, we have a ‘warts and all’ love for about half the entries on that list, and find ourselves wanting to love the remainder.

Suffice to say, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the park at Walt Disney World with the most range in its dining lineup, from budget-friendly counter service restaurants to well-themed table service experiences to fun character dining to a couple of the best bars (for very different reasons). If you can look past the faults, there’s truly something for everyone.

The one conspicuous omission from our list above is Signature Dining. This category is Walt Disney World’s term for fine dining, and there are only a handful of these restaurants in the parks: Tiffins at Animal Kingdom; Le Cellier, Takumi Tei and Monsieur Paul at EPCOT; and the Hollywood Brown Derby at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Mediocre Meals at Brown Derby

Despite it being the rare in-park Signature Dining, the reason we seldom list the Hollywood Brown Derby when touting the range of restaurants at DHS is because it’s not on par with the rest of that list. In the last 6 years, our meals at Brown Derby have underwhelmed. It was Walt Disney World’s worst restaurant with Signature status.

The comparison we’ve repeatedly drawn to Brown Derby is Be Our Guest Restaurant in Magic Kingdom. That Beauty and the Beast restaurant is definitely not a Signature, but the in-castle dining sometimes gets categorized as such by Walt Disney World since it’s in-castle and costs 2 table service credits on the Disney Dining Plan.

Our comparison is a mix of a knock against Brown Derby, which we’ve long found overrated, and a tepid endorsement of Be Our Guest, which we think receives excessive criticism. (Be Our Guest is very far from perfect, but it’s better than many fans suggest and has become a victim of its own popularity.) In any case, we’ve felt Be Our Guest is a fair comparison for Brown Derby, which should say all that needs to be said about its actual status.

In recent memory, our only good experiences at Brown Derby have been during Jazzy Holidays at the Jollywood Nights Christmas Party (above), and that’s fundamentally different. It’s not Signature Dining then, it’s more ‘lovely seasonal lounge.’

Or rather, our only good experience until recently, when friends dragged us to the Brown Derby to try the new 2026 menu. This was far and away our best experience at the Hollywood Brown Derby in at least two decades, and perhaps ever.

We were frankly blown away, with Brown Derby firmly re-establishing itself as a true Signature Dining Experience. In fact, this Old Hollywood Haunt now makes a strong case for being the #1 in-park Signature Restaurant at Walt Disney World.

Brown Derby Basics

As basic background, the Hollywood Brown Derby is nestled between Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Animation Courtyard, Hollywood Boulevard, and Sunset Boulevard.

Brown Derby participates in the Disney Dining Plan as a 2-credit Signature Dining option, similar to a handful of other fine dining spots. It also offers 10% discounts for Annual Passholders and DVC Members, but never receives the ‘bonus’ savings of 20% to 40% off.

Like all of the buildings on Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards, the Brown Derby is inspired by a real world location. The original is a longstanding Los Angeles landmark and iconic restaurant that served Tinseltown’s celebrities during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Disney’s Brown Derby is a faithful but romanticized recreation of that, steeped in glamour and glitz.

Brown Derby Atmosphere & Theme

Located in the “style center of the world,” the Brown Derby sets the tone for the experience as soon as you step in the entrance. This is like stepping into a time machine and revisiting a bygone era.

Or as former Disney CEO Michael Eisner put it in his opening day speech (about the park as a whole), a place “dedicated to Hollywood–not a place on a map, but a state of mind that exists wherever people dream and wonder and imagine, a place where illusion and reality are fused by technological magic. We welcome you to a Hollywood that never was, and always will be.”

Few places in Disney’s Hollywood Studios still exemplify that dedication quite like the Brown Derby. It’s well-themed. The walls are adorned with caricatures of famous faces, and the upscale dining room harkens back to Old Hollywood. Atmosphere-wise, it’s the rare restaurant that threads the needle on being swanky and sophisticated, but also approachable and family-friendly.

Many Walt Disney World restaurants do immersive themed design or fine dining well, but few excel at both. The Hollywood Brown Derby is the rarity that excels at both. This is why we’ve kept going back despite mediocre meal after mediocre meal. Like so many other DHS dining options, we wanted to love it.

My biggest critique of the atmosphere is that the center of the main dining room can get loud during the lunch and dinner rushes. Because of this, we typically avoid it during these times, especially around peak season. Our preferred seatings here are early lunch, early dinner, or late-night dining. When the restaurant is about half-full or less, it really shines. If every table is filled, it feels a bit less like fine dining and instead offers a firm reminder that it’s a restaurant in the middle of a busy theme park.

The Hollywood Brown Derby features contemporary American cuisine, and the new menu is no different. As far as Signature Dining goes, this is probably the most approachable option in all of Walt Disney World. Between its in-park setting and crowd-pleasing cuisine, it’s a safe option for everyone, from families to picky eaters.

Brown Derby Starters

All meals at the Brown Derby start with a complimentary bread service.

This is a nice touch, as many mid-tier Walt Disney World restaurants no longer begin with (free) bread. Unfortunately, it’s nothing special. There isn’t anything unique to it; it’s simply decent filler should you need that.

For our first appetizer, we ordered the Escargot ($21): Roasted Garlic Béchamel, Crispy Prosciutto, Puff Pastry.

While Sarah steers clear of escargot due to the texture and ‘its whole deal,’ I’m a sucker for it. This version is rich, flavorful, and buttery, without being overwhelmingly so. The snails are bathing in butter, and that plus the garlic proves potent without being excessive or overpowering. You can still taste the earthiness underneath, and the escargot has the appropriate chewiness.

I especially appreciate the puff pastry, which is delicate and adds to the texture of the dish, which should make the escargot more palatable for some. This dish is better than the escargot at Be Our Guest or aboard Disney Cruise Line, both of which we (well, me) had enjoyed recently. Highly recommended.

Next up is the House-made Ravioli ($15): English Peas, Carrot Purée, and Pickled Alba Mushrooms.

This is the lone vegetarian appetizer, making it the default pick for many guests. And it’s a good one. We appreciate dishes that are mostly naturally plant-based, and this qualifies. The sweetness of the creamy carrot puree works well with the pickled mushrooms, and the ravioli is likewise tasy.

It’s a good blend of savory and natural sweetness; I do wish there were 4 ravioli as opposed to 3, but it’s still easily shareable. However, we do not enthusiastically endorse it for a different reason…

That reason is the Beet and Kale Salad ($13): Spinach, Warm Bacon Vinaigrette, Goat Cheese Cream, Beet Purée, Candied Walnut.

Look, beet and kale are not exactly selling points for me. These are things I am often obligated to eat at home and am still given a slight scare when, ahem, relieving myself the next day (IYKYK). But as it turns out, adding goat cheese cream and warm bacon vinaigrette is an absolute game-changer.

It may not be much to look at, but my mouth is watering as I write this. Never thought those are words I’d write about a beet and kale salad (well, the first part of that sentence, certainly), yet here we are.

This gets a strong recommendation from me. It’s mouth-wateringly delicious and (presumably) healthy or healthy-adjacent without tasting like it. The salad is at once sweet, savory, and shareable. It’s also a great value for money, and is a strong contender for best overall salad on the Brown Derby menu (that’s right) when taking cost into account.

Our final appetizer is the Char-grilled Octopus ($20): Herb-roasted Potatoes, Chimichurri, Chipotle-Harissa Aïoli.

This is another home run. The highlight is, of course, the shockingly tender and flavorful octopus, which comes in a generous portion and has just a bit of char for texture and smokiness. The octopus pairs well with savory and slightly spicy sauces that do not mask its natural flavor. The potatoes are good on their own, while also making the appetizer a bit more robust.

More than any other dish on the menu, the char-grilled octopus signals that Brown Derby is taking its Signature status seriously. Most octopus dishes added to menus are short-lived, inevitably removed because they aren’t crowd-pleasers. (At a meal with a large group, I find this to be an asset, as few others will touch it.) This earns my highest recommendation of the appetizers, above even that beet salad.

Brown Derby Entrees

Turning to entrees, we’ll start with the Filet Mignon ($56): Rhubarb-Red Wine Demi-glace, Yukon Gold Potato, Seasonal Vegetable.

The filet mignon is a staple at Brown Derby, as well as other fine dining restaurants around Walt Disney World. Sarah has ordered it on several occasions in the last 5 or so years, and has never been overly impressed. Previously, there had been very little, if any, distinction between the filet at Brown Derby and Be Our Guest. (Good for Be Our Guest, not so for a true Signature.)

This iteration seems like a more premium cut. The portion is fairly large for filet mignon. The meat itself is top-notch, with the characteristic tenderness and flavor you’d expect from filet mignon. It’s not a particularly interesting entree, but if you’re looking for meat and potatoes competently prepared, great-tasting, and fairly portioned, this is for you.

For a more interesting twist on the filet mignon, one of our friends ordered it with the Famous Cobb Salad. (Normally, the add-ons are chicken or shrimp.)

The Cobb Salad is a Hollywood Brown Derby classic, and for good reason. This famous dish is made up of spit-roasted turkey, bacon, egg, tomatoes, blue cheese, avocado, and a classic dressing. If you’re looking for the iconic dish at Brown Derby, look no further than the Famous Cobb Salad.

This is an excellent, albeit expensive way to add some oomph to the salad. I didn’t try this dish, but I would hazard a guess that it tasted like filet mignon combined with cobb salad (bold statement, I know). I’ve had the Famous Cobb Salad many, many times at Brown Derby, and it’s the one entree that consistently has delivered over the years. I’m personally not sure that adding filet mignon is a worthwhile enhancement. I’d probably just order the two entrees separately and share.

The other ‘meat and potatoes’ option is the Braised Center-cut Short Rib ($54): Hominy Purée, Roasted Vegetables, Smoky Adobo Glaze, Beef Jus.

This short rib is fantastic, with a fun southwest-style preparation. Although I sampled almost everything for quality control purposes, this was my primary entree and I was incredibly satisfied by it. The short rib is both sophisticated and fun, with a perfect cut of short rib (not too fatty but tender, rich and flavorful) and a symphony of flavors from the accompaniment.

For me, this is the far more interesting entree than the filet mignon, but at the same time, it’s a tad tough to justify a short rib being priced at only $2 less than a filet. I’d order this over that just in terms of what I enjoyed more, though. It’s an excellent entree, and highly recommended.

Another excellent option is the Pan-roasted Halibut ($54): Leek Vichyssoise Risotto, Pea, Citrus.

This is basically Brown Derby’s seafood-edition steak. A thick, meaty, and firm cut of fish, with a rich and semi-sweet flavor. I’m running out of ways to say that the kitchen executed it expertly (only so many times you can write “perfectly prepared”), but it’s true again here.

The rich and creamy risotto is a great accompaniment, being both absolutely delicious and making for a well-rounded and filling dish. All around excellent, and quality commensurate with what you’d expect at a Signature. I’d order this over either of the (beef) steaks. Highly recommended.

The primary plant-based option at Brown Derby is the Stuffed Butternut Squash ($34): Potato-Chickpea-Vegetable Filling, Roasted Spring Vegetable, Mushroom-Lemongrass “Cream” Sauce.

I didn’t try this. It looks like a fun twist on stuffed butternut squash, but that’s about all I can say.

Saving the best entree for last, we have the Fried Pork Chop ($45): Yuzu Beurre Blanc, Summer Vegetables.

This is not how the fried pork chop looked when plated; it was hidden under a very hearty helping of salad and summer vegetables. The medley of radishes, peaches, and other vegetables is a nice accompaniment to a heavier dish, but it’s one of the lesser sides on the new menu.

This pork is essentially a sophisticated schnitzel. My concern was that the fried exterior would result in a dry or overcooked cut of meat, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s as if the breading locked in the flavor, and the meat itself was shockingly tender and juicy. The flavor of the pork with the breading, and seasoning is culinary magic, and the portion is massive for the cost. (One of my friends ordered this and could only eat half; I dutifully finished the rest, not wanting to contribute to food waste.)

The fried pork chop is absurdly delicious. It’s easily my #1 entree on the current menu at Brown Derby, worthy of being on a Signature menu, and a better value for money than the other meat entrees. This one caught me by surprise and is highly, highly recommended.

Brown Derby Desserts

Starting with the staple, we have the Grapefruit Cake ($14): A Brown Derby Original. Vanilla Sponge Cake, Grapefruit Syrup, Cream Cheese Icing.

If it’s your first time at Brown Derby, you have to order the Grapefruit Cake. It’s one of those time-tested, iconic Walt Disney World dishes that’s been around forever. We always recommend it on that basis.

With that said, the Grapefruit Cake isn’t my favorite. For one, it’s changed over the years and doesn’t have as sharp of a flavor as it once did. It’s still good and reminiscent of the original, but I’m not convinced this iteration would become a classic on its own. The flavor is more subtly sweet, which works here, but if you’re expecting the powerful punch of grapefruit (and maybe most guests aren’t), you won’t find it here.

Next up is the Honey Pot de Crème ($14): Strawberry Compote, Salted Streusel, and Ginger Sponge Cake.

Almost like a deconstructed strawberry shortcake, this is exquisite. It’s fun and fantastic, with the rich and decadent flavors working well together, along with the various components and textures. It seems like everything here is complimentary, from the creaminess of the creme paired with the sponge cake to the ginger with the sweetness.

Not my personal #1 pick, but it could be at a different restaurant. I preferred this to the Grapefruit Cake.

An alternative on this end of the spectrum is the Vanilla-Fruit Cheesecake ($14): Vanilla Cheesecake, A Peach Sponge, A Streusel, a Strawberry-Peach Compote, and a Mango Crunchy Tuile.

If you’re looking for elevated yet comforting cheesecake, this is the dessert for you. Everything here is high quality, and as you can see, there are a lot of different flavors and textures playing together.

With that said, it’s more one note than the Honey Pot de Crème and borders on being overly sweet. Again, this could be the #1 dessert at a different restaurant, but at Brown Derby, it ranks #4 for me. (Still ahead of the Grapefruit Cake.)

Next we have the Decadent Chocolate Cake ($14): Chocolate Cake, Raspberry Sauce, Chocolate Ganache, Fresh Raspberries

Simple and straightforward as it might seem, this dessert is deceptively delicious. Decadent is definitely the operative word, and I’m not sure what else to say about it beyond that it does what it sets out to do (be really rich and chocolate) quite well. The cake is moist, dense, and packs a punch. It is not nuanced.

I couldn’t eat the entire thing by myself, but very much enjoyed it and would recommend this to anyone wanting a big, bold dessert.

Saving the best for last, we arrive at the Orange-Hazelnut Chocolate Cake ($14): Chocolate-Olive Oil Cake, Hazelnut Cream, Coffee Whipped Cream, Praline Cookie Crumble, Orange Panna Cotta, Chocolate Sauce.

This one takes the cake for me. If you’re looking for something rich and chocolatey that also has a lot going on, and is nuanced, this is the pick for you. The coffee is not overly potent, nor is the orange, but each adds just enough to give this dessert a bit of pizzazz.

This is a great counterpart to one of the first two desserts, following a similar formula but with decadence and chocolate as opposed to fruity and sweetness. They pair really well, and we recommend ordering one from each column. The only challenge with this cake is that it’s less shareable than the previous one, but it’s still easily my #1 dessert at Brown Derby.

Ultimately, we were blown away by our meal at the Hollywood Brown Derby. It once again felt like true Signature Dining, with the menu finally matching the atmosphere and setting. The quality and portion sizes, two issues we’ve had with Brown Derby over the last few years, were both stellar. The dishes are at once familiar and comforting, while also having sophisticated sensibilities.

Being located in the middle of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, it’s important that Brown Derby is approachable, but it’s also elevated. We’d be equally comfortable here doing an early lunch with our toddler or a late-night date night as a couple. It would likewise be on our shortlist of options for a nice, multigenerational meal with the grandparents who might be a bit pickier of eaters. The restaurant has great range, all while feeling upscale.

The Hollywood Brown Derby is not quite on par with the best fine dining in the resort hotels, but that isn’t really expected. It’s also a rung below Takumi-Tei or Monsieur Paul, but again, those aren’t really comparable thanks to their $200+ prix fixe price points. Also at EPCOT is Le Cellier, and Brown Derby now surpasses that.

The comparison here thus becomes Tiffins Restaurant at Animal Kingdom, which has been our go-to Signature Restaurant over the last few years. Based on our previous few meals, the two restaurants weren’t even in the same league before.

I’m not prepared to say the Hollywood Brown Derby takes the crown bowler hat away from Tiffins as the #1 standard in-park Signature Dining, but it comes really close. (Tiffins being 40% off whenever we eat there makes it hard to beat, but that discount obviously doesn’t apply to everyone.) Brown Derby is now worthy of its Signature status and becoming one of our Old Hollywood Studios haunts.

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YOUR THOUGHTS

Thoughts on these new menu items debuting at the Hollywood Brown Derby for 2026? Have you dined here recently? How do you think Brown Derby stacks up to other Signature Restaurants at Walt Disney World, or other table service options at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!