The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge

The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge: dining at Disney's Hollywood Studios — location and planning data on MouseHub.

The MouseHub take

The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge is the outdoor bar beside the park's signature restaurant, at the same Hollywood Boulevard address in Disney's Hollywood Studios. Disney lists it as a bar-lounge, and its menu page prints the full Brown Derby card rather than a short bar list: appetizers at $13 to $21, entrees at $30 to $56, and desserts at $13 or $14. Our Famous Cobb Salad is $30 out here, the same plate the dining room serves, and the Grapefruit Cake is $14. D23 records both as inventions of the Los Angeles Brown Derby this restaurant copies. The lounge serves 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM daily and takes no reservations, only a walk-up list.

The trade is the signature kitchen without a reservation, paid for by sitting outside in Florida. Reviewers who land a patio table treat it as the best seat on Hollywood Boulevard and watch the park go past over a drink. Reviewers who show up mid-afternoon in summer talk about the heat, the wait, and the birds working the tables. Adults and couples do well here. Families who want cold air and a set seating time should use the dining room next door, which takes reservations.

At a glance

Best for
Adults who want the Brown Derby kitchen and a drink without booking a table weeks ahead.
Skip if
You need air conditioning, a guaranteed seating time, or a table where small kids can wait out a long meal.
Worth ordering
Our Famous Cobb Salad, Grapefruit Cake
Reservations
No reservations and no booking button on the page, but My Disney Experience runs a Join Walk-Up List for the lounge. Tables turn over as parties leave, and reviewers report the wait swinging by the hour.
Value
Dining room prices on a patio: $30 for the Cobb Salad, up to $56 for an entree, $17.50 for an after-dinner drink. Reviewers count the cooking and the pours as worth it, the seating less so.

The good

  • You get the signature kitchen outdoors
    The lounge menu page prints the whole Brown Derby card, from $13 appetizers to a $56 Filet Mignon. Reviewers come for Our Famous Cobb Salad at $30 and never book a table inside.
  • You sit right on Hollywood Boulevard
    Disney's own gallery copy calls the patio a prime people-watching spot, and reviewers pick tables facing the walkway to watch the park go past while they eat.
  • The drinks come out strong
    Reviewers describe strong, creative pours. The Grapefruit Cake Martini at $17.50 rebuilds the house dessert with ruby red grapefruit vodka, vanilla vodka, cream, and a graham cracker rim.
  • A table out here beats standing in the crowd
    Reviewers use the patio as a sit-down break in the middle of a park day, close enough to the boulevard to see it and far enough back to stop moving.
  • Umbrellas cover most of the tables
    Large umbrellas cover most of the patio, and reviewers count on them to take the edge off an afternoon in the open.
  • Dessert and a drink is a whole visit
    The Grapefruit Cake is $14, the after-dinner drinks are $17.50, and the Dessert Wine Flight and Tawny Port Flight are $29 each. Ports run $16 to $34 by the 3-oz pour.

The bad

  • The Florida heat takes a toll
    The patio has no air conditioning, and reviewers say the afternoon sun turns a leisurely meal into a short one.
  • Getting a table takes patience
    You cannot reserve a spot, only queue for one, and the patio is small. Reviewers describe waiting nearby until something opens up.
  • Rain ends the meal
    Umbrellas handle sun better than a Florida afternoon storm, and reviewers report packing up and moving on when one blows through.
  • Birds work the tables
    Reviewers warn about local birds circling for dropped food and helping themselves to unattended plates.
  • Service slows once the patio fills
    Reviewers report waiting on drink refills at the busy hours, when the same staff are covering every table outside.

Veteran tips

  • Join the walk-up list in the app
    Nothing here is bookable ahead, but My Disney Experience offers Join Walk-Up List for the lounge. Reviewers who put their name in outside the lunch and dinner rushes waited least.
  • Split the Cobb Salad, or build it up
    At $30 it feeds two people as a light lunch. Adding chicken takes it to $37 and shrimp to $40, which turns it into a full dinner plate.
  • Ask for a table under an umbrella
    Umbrellas cover most of the patio but not all of it, and reviewers call a covered table the difference between a pleasant hour and a sunburn. Ask when you are seated rather than after.
  • Come for the after-dinner list
    This is where the lounge separates itself from the dining room: three after-dinner drinks at $17.50, two flights at $29, ports from $16 to $34, and Remy Martin VSOP at $20.50.
  • Ask what the bar is pouring
    The page advertises signature Derby cocktails and martinis, and the printed menu lists only the three after-dinner drinks, wines, ports, and cognacs. Anything else is a question for the bartender.
  • Plan around the 8:00 PM close
    The lounge keeps the same 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM hours as the restaurant, seven days a week, so it closes well before the park does. It is not a nightcap stop.
  • Flag an allergy when you order
    The menu carries allergy-friendly versions of every course, kids' plates included, and tells guests to speak to a Cast Member about an allergy-friendly request.
  • Count two table-service credits here
    The lounge takes the Disney Dining Plan at lunch and dinner and redeems 2 Table-Service meals per person. Work that out before the trip rather than at the table.

MouseHub editorial, written from visitor reports and official Disney sources. Last reviewed .

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