Brown Derby Review

[Rhonda]

Hi!

I just had lunch today at the Brown Derby for the first time. I have been looking forward to the Cobb Salad for a long time, since everybody raves about it. I found it to just be "ok". Everything was chopped up REALLY SMALL, as if it had been processed through a food processor!! In fact, it could almost be eaten with a spoon, instead of a fork! The taste was good (could have used more dressing), but definitely not the best Cobb Salad I've ever had.

My friend had the Thai Noodle Bowl. It didn't have much flavor; it was just spicy from the currey broth. It came with two chunks of Tofu, rolled in coconut. Those were tasted, but left in the bowl, unfortunately.

DH had an appetizer made up of BBQ pork and a piece of jalapeno corn bread. Now, granted this was supposed to be just an appetizer, but it was literally one bite of pork, and the cornbread was very small--about two bites. The flavor was good, but not much different than any other pork in bbq sauce.

The Grapefruit Cake was very pretty, but did not taste like grapefruit. But, it was a good, light dessert.

On the up side, the service was very good!

Overall, we thought it was overpriced, and the food was just ok. I probably will not go back. Maybe dinner would be better?

Any questions?

 

[Pats Dragon]

Thanks for the review. We are supposed to Brown Derby for the first time since the first year it opened, and now we know what not to order. I guess we'll go anyway though.

 

[DisMN]

The Cobb Salad was served exactly as the real Cobb Salad should be, almost pulverized. There is a back story as to why it's served this way but it is real different isn't it, especially if you didn't know about the way it's prepared.
I can't wait to get back there and treat myself to several lunches with the salad as the main course! *where's the YUMMY smilie?*

 

[BillSears]

I have been looking forward to the Cobb Salad for a long time, since everybody raves about it. I found it to just be "ok". Everything was chopped up REALLY SMALL, as if it had been processed through a food processor!! In fact, it could almost be eaten with a spoon, instead of a fork! The taste was good (could have used more dressing), but definitely not the best Cobb Salad I've ever had.

Yea, I love Cobb Salad or so I thought. Since the Brown Derby in Hollywood invented the Cobb Salad and the Brown Derby in MGM serves the original version I guess I really don't like Cobb Salad all that much. Who knew that all this time I liked the cheap knock off versions of Cobb Salad. I couldn't into the whole chopped into tiny pieces version.

 

[kaceyisme]

Yea, I love Cobb Salad or so I thought. Since the Brown Derby in Hollywood invented the Cobb Salad and the Brown Derby in MGM serves the original version I guess I really don't like Cobb Salad all that much. Who knew that all this time I liked the cheap knock off versions of Cobb Salad. I couldn't into the whole chopped into tiny pieces version.

me too

All these years I thought I loved Cobb Salad! I definitely don't like the one at the Brown Derby either. I like to taste my vegetables, not sip them through a straw

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your review ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[Hound 109]

I wanted to add my 2 cents. DisMN is correct, the Cobb Salad at BD is served the CORRECT (original) way. I love it because it IS chopped finely & because lettuce is NOT the key ingredient.

It's a salad for folks who normally don't like salad (like me). Almost equal parts of egg, ham, bacon, blue cheese & lettuce (yes, not much lettuce!!) & other stuff. (maybe others can help me on what else).

If you like big leafs of lettuce & goopy dressing, a Cobb Salad is possibly not for you. If you like meaty, blue cheesy with a teeny amount of mixed greans type salad (like me) then the Cobb Salad rocks.


hound

 

[Rhonda]

If you like big leafs of lettuce & goopy dressing, a Cobb Salad is possibly not for you. If you like meaty, blue cheesy with a teeny amount of mixed greans type salad (like me) then the Cobb Salad rocks.


hound

I don't necessarily like "big leafs of lettuce and goopy dressing", but when they brought out the small portion of all this stuff chopped up, we seriously thought they were going to bring some lettuce in a separate bowl and add this to it and toss it at our table! LOL!

I realize this is the Brown Derby's original way of making this salad, it just caught me by surprise, and I was just telling people what I thought of it. But of course, it's just my opinion, and I really thought that it just wasn't worth the money.

 

[chigirl]

I thought the cobb salad was good...I knew what to expect because there is a place in LA that serves the Brown Derby recipie, too and I had it there and it was a wee bit better than what I had a Brown Derby in MGM because it had a bit more dressing! I guess what happens with most "famous" food is that people have homogonized versions of it all their life (what coffee shop doesn't have a cobb salad on the menu?) so they get used to that taste. Then they have the real thing and it is like, "What the #%$%$## was THAT????" Or with regional tastes...everyone thinks THEIR ribs or THEIR pizza or THEIR hot dogs or chili are the best, when it is all about what you are used to. Like how Chicago pizza is better than New York's!

Just kidding! Both are great!!!!

In the Chicagoland area there is a chain called Portillos that serves all types of stuff like burgers, ribs, hot dogs, etc and they are known for their salads. They have a Chopped Salad that is similar to the BD's cobb salad, but it isn't chopped as small, plus they add dilatini pasta to it, which sounds gross but is great. If you're in Chicago and like a tasty salad, try it. It has gorgonzola vs. blue cheese, bacon, chicken, the pasta, ect all chopped up and with some good dressing. It is very tasty! But I think it is, in essence, a ripoff of a cobb salad.

 

[Hound 109]

Tell Portillo's to open a location in Austin.

And to anyone who is interested, another review (poster is Aviva 5675) was just posted that has pictures of Rhonda's controversial Cobb Salad. I mention it because they have a pic before & after it gets mixed together.

hound

 

[aviva5675]

I just posted some pics of our BD lunch with the Cobb salad, pre mix and after mix--its on the review board, We 3 11/1-11/6, if you want to see how finely its chopped. A pic of the grapefriuit cake too. We liked what we had, the orrichiette pasta especially, the cobb and the cake were ok. 4 out of 5. Maybe