REVIEW: Come With Us to Try 4 NEW Menu Items at This Iconic Hollywood Studios Restaurant!

There is no lack of food options in Disney World! All four parks have lots of great meals to choose from, plus you also have Disney Springs and all the Disney World hotels. One of the toughest decisions on your vacation is figuring out where you want to eat.

We want to ensure you have all the information you need for the best vacation ever, so we are heading to an iconic Disney’s Hollywood Studios restaurant to try some new dishes (we know, we know, it’s hard work, but someone’s gotta do it). Are the new dishes worth a stop? We are finding out!

The Hollywood Brown Derby is located on Hollywood Boulevard in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This restaurant is a replica of the famous Hollywood landmark restaurant and will make you feel like you have entered into the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. This restaurant just debuted some new dishes, so, of course, we had to stop by to try them out!

Atmosphere

Walking into the Brown Derby is like walking into the Golden Age of Hollywood!

The whole space has a cozy vibe that will make you want to stay for hours. There are lots of lamps with warm lighting, and there are framed drawings of famous celebrities on the walls.

There are booth and table options, and the booths are big! They are so nice to relax in during your Hollywood Studios day.

Before you head out, make sure to check by the book in the front! It’s filled with signatures and notes from famous people who have dined there. There’s also sometimes a pin board at the host stand that looks like the famous Brown Derby hat. We’ve been able to get some good pins from this board!

Food

Your meal comes with a bread service with sea-salted butter. The bread service is a great start to your meal. The butter is creamy and light enough that it doesn’t stick to the roof of your mouth, and the sea salt on top adds a wonderful bit of saltiness. The rolls were soft on the inside and easy to pull apart. We are off to a good start, so let’s start on the new dishes!

Let’s start with the Grand Marnier Liqueur-Macerated Seasonal Fruit Burrata, which costs $13 and features lollo rosso, frisee, caramelized spiced pine nuts, and a citrus vinaigrette. We really enjoyed the cheese and strawberries on top. The caramelized spiced pine nuts were a unique addition, and you definitely tasted the spice in them.

Along with the light vinaigrette, we thought this was a tasty salad. We wish there was some bread to go along with the burrata, but it is still tasty, and bread likely would have weighed the dish down a bit. The spiced pine nuts could be a bit too much for some people, but they added a flavorful addition to the salad.

Up next, we tried the Sake-braised Pork Belly, which features apple-ginger puree, shiitake mushrooms, tasso ham, and shiso. You can get this dish for $18. The pork belly had a nice layer of fat, and it pulled apart super easily. It had great flavor, but getting all the components in one bite was hard.

The ginger in the puree was definitely the prominent flavor, and we would have loved to taste a bit more apple. The mushrooms, ham, and shiso were all on the bottom of the pork belly. They were a lovely complement to the fatty meat but a bit hard to get in a bite with the pork belly.

Moving on to our next dish! The Lamb Shank costs $45 and comes with a quinoa-pea salad, paneer paratha chips, and mint yogurt. The rub on the lamb is very flavorful and full of Indian flavors. The meat is tender and pulls apart easily. When we went to pull it apart, it pretty much melted off the bone. While the meat is tasty alone, the mint yogurt compliments it well.

The quinoa-pea salad was tasty as long as you like the taste of quinoa. It delivered on the quinoa and pea salad description, as that was exactly what it was. While we weren’t overly impressed with the quinoa-pea salad, we really loved the lamb shank and highly recommend it.

Finally, we also tried the Au Gratin Potato that features Black Diamond cheddar and costs $12. While this may just be an enhancement for your meal, it was one of our favorites that we tried.

There was a crunchy layer on top, and it had just the right amount of cheddar cheese to potatoes. The potatoes were cooked wonderfully, and we didn’t even run into a straggler that was a bit crunchier than the others. Overall, we were super impressed with this dish and would definitely get it again.

Magic or Tragic?

Should you head to The Hollywood Brown Derby? If you’re looking for a slower meal where you can relax during your park day, enjoy classic dishes, and want a Hollywood-themed meal without it being over the top, this is a total win! It gets a MAGIC from us.

That said, we’d probably say to skip this restaurant if you want more modern meals, need to rush to your next attraction, or want a brighter space or to sit outside (but do check out the Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge).

Overall, we had a wonderful meal at The Hollywood Brown Derby! The bread service kicked things off right, and we enjoyed all the dishes. The Au Gratin Potato was one of our favorites — it is hard to beat potatoes and cheese! We thought the salad was lovely and light, with a uniqueness thanks to the caramelized spiced pine nuts. The pork belly was tender and flavorful, and the lamb shank was fall-off-the-bone tender with lots of flavor.

To say we left full and satisfied is an understatement! It was another great meal at The Hollywood Brown Derby, and we think these dishes are an excellent addition to the menu.

Before you make your way over to The Hollywood Brown Derby in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, make sure you check out our complete guide to Hollywood Studios! Not only will you know of a great place to eat, but after watching the video, you will also know all the ins and outs of the park:

Stay tuned to AllEars for all your Disney World tips, tricks, and news!

Check out the best food in Hollywood Studios for 2025!

Will you be trying any of these new dishes? Let us know in the comments!

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