Brown Derby

File:Brown Derby on Wilshire entrance 1956.JPG

File:Brown Derby on Wilshire 1952.jpg

The first restaurant was opened in February 1926 at 3427 Wilshire Boulevard in a building built in the distinctive shape of a derby hat. Programmatic architecture was then in vogue, and the restaurant was designed to catch the eye of passing motorists. The Brown Derby name originated from a Malverne, New York-based restaurant of the same name that had been a hang-out for vaudevillians in the 1920s.{{cite web

|title=Historical Restaurant Mirrors Change In Los Angeles' Food And Drink Scene |url=http://www.iknownow.net/info/Historical-Restaurant-Mirrors-Change-In-Los-Angeles--Food-And-Drink-Scene/440320.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130821152945/http://www.iknownow.net/info/Historical-Restaurant-Mirrors-Change-In-Los-Angeles--Food-And-Drink-Scene/440320.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 August 2013 |work=IKnowNow |date=21 November 2007 |first=Matthew |last=Paolini}} It was founded by Wilson Mizner as a small cafe, across the street from the Hollywood hot spot the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel. Wilson was the front man; Herbert K. Somborn owned the property and Jack L. Warner put up the money. Wilson Mizner sat in booth 50 almost every day.{{cite book |title=Rogue's Progress |publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons |last=Burke |first=John |year=1975}} Unfortunately the original restaurant was small and suffered from acoustic problems in which sound from one end of the building bounced off the semicircular ceiling and traveled to the other side of the room.{{cite news |title=A Town Called Hollywood |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=May 10, 1936 |page=C1 |last=Scheuer |first=Philip K. |id={{ProQuest|164618483}} |quote= Well, they got the hat moved across the street, all right; and last fortnight it was opened for business, "The hat" (it really should be in quotes) is the original Brown Derby Restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard. A landmark since February, 1926. it has long attracted by reason of its resemblance to Al Smith's headpiece and also, I am sure the management would be pleased to have me add, its food. The new place, just opposite the old one, at Alexandria, is rather more elaborate, although the hat part is almost exactly the same. Only the phenomenon is gone... No matter where you sat, you heard voices; and the closer you were to the wall, the louder they seemed.}}

Most of the rest of the block bounded by Wilshire Boulevard, Sixth Street, Mariposa Avenue and Alexandria Avenue was occupied by the Chapman Park Hotel and Bungalows which wanted to acquire the rest of the block that it did not own, including the lot that the original Derby had occupied.{{cite news |title=Around and About in Hollywood |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=May 1, 1936 |page=10 |last=Read |first=Kendall |id={{ProQuest|164626961}}}} After the restaurant moved out in May 1936, the building was demolished and the hotel was expanded and occupied by October of the same year.{{cite news |title=Plans Made for Pueblo: Wilshire Boulevard Block Will Be Occupied by Extensive Project |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=May 17, 1936 |page=E1 |author= |id={{ProQuest|164623116}} |quote=Ten Spanish pueblo-type bungalows with apartments, facing a landscaped center and occupying an entire Wilshire Boulevard block... This project, constituting a distinctive little community of itself, will occupy the block fronting the Boulevard, Alexandria and Mariposa streets and will form an addition to the accommodations of the Chapman Park Hotel... The Brown Derby Cafe recently was moved to the northeast corner of the boulevard and Alexandria street to make way for the new pueblo project which is scheduled to be completed about October of this year.}} The hotel itself was replaced in 1967 by the Equitable Life Building.{{cite news |title=Way Cleared for Construction of Wilshire Blvd. Skyscraper |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=April 21, 1966 |page=3 |last=Cameron |first=Tom |id={{ProQuest|155398230}}}}{{cite news |title=Chapman Park Hotel to Be Modernized |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=January 15, 1967 |page=i7 |author= |id={{ProQuest|155633153}}}}{{cite news |title=Action Begins on 34-Story Equitable Tower: 34-STORY TOWER |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=July 9, 1967 |page=n1 |last=Sutherland |first=Henry |id={{ProQuest|155746125}}}}

In 1936, a larger building, also in the shape of a hat, was constructed at 3377 Wilshire Boulevard at the northeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Alexandria Avenue, about a block from its previous location (and directly across the street from the Ambassador Hotel).{{cite news |title=Spanish-Type Home Newly Constructed |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=March 15, 1936 |page=E2 |author= |id={{ProQuest|164574974}}}} The restaurant was able to move into its new home in May of that year.

In 1947's Fun and Fancy Free, the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment ends with Willie the Giant's stomping through Hollywood looking for Mickey Mouse. Before the scene closes, Willie notices The Brown Derby restaurant and picks up the restaurant looking for Mickey. Willie notices the restaurant looks like a hat, places it on his head, and stomps off with the lights of the Hollywood Sign blinking in the background.

The Wilshire Brown Derby was frequented by director Ed Wood and his entourage,{{cite book|last=Craig|first=Rob|date=2009|title=Ed Wood, Mad Genius: A Critical Study of the Films|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XrjzCGsiyWEC&pg=PA260|publisher=McFarland & Company|page=260|isbn=978-0786439553}} including the psychic the Amazing Criswell and Criswell's wife Halo Meadows.{{cite book|last=Mikul|first=Chris|date=2012|title=The Eccentropedia: The Most Unusual People Who Have Ever Lived|publisher=Headpress|isbn=978-1900486828|quote=Mrs. Criswell used to turn up at the legendary Friday dinners her husband organised at the Brown Derby for years, frequented by Ed Wood and a host of Hollywood outsiders, [...]}}

In September 1980, the restaurant closed without warning.{{cite news |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/162920250 |title=L.A. Landmark: Brown Derby Closes Doors Amid Confusion |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 21, 1980 |page=A1 |last1=Perlman |first1=Jeffrey |last2=Fannuchi |first2=Kenneth |name-list-style=amp |url-access=subscription |quote=The original, world famous Brown Derby restaurant has closed its doors abruptly, prompting questions from city officials and fears from citizens' groups that think the landmark may be replaced by a high-rise building. |id={{ProQuest|162920250}}}} Local preservationists worked to stop the building from being bulldozed,{{cite news |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/162932031 |title=Another Version of Demolition Derby |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 29, 1980 |page=F1 |last=Mehren |first=Elizabeth |url-access=subscription |id={{ProQuest|162932031}}}}{{cite news |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/162984952 |title=Preservationists At Work: Conservancy's Edifice Complex Preservationists Work in L.A. |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=October 6, 1980 |page=F1 |last=Mehren |first=Elizabeth |url-access=subscription |id={{ProQuest|162984952}}}} and convinced developers to remove and restore the derby hat portion of the building. The rest of the restaurant building was demolished and replaced with a shopping center. The derby-shaped structure was placed on the roof of the new building.{{sfn|Geary|2016|p=261}}{{cite news |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/162982973 |title=Restaurant Demolished |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=November 23, 1980 |page=I21 |author= |url-access=subscription |id={{ProQuest|162982973}}}}

The parking lot was replaced in late 1985 by a shopping center known as the Brown Derby Plaza.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-05-19-re-9531-story.html |title=Brown Derby to Crown New Shopping Plaza |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=May 19, 1985 |first=Ruth |last=Ryon}} The domed structure was incorporated into the third floor of the building, and is currently vacant; it formerly accommodated a Korean bar.{{cite web |url=http://blog.zagat.com/then-and-now-11-wretched-restaurant-reinventions#more-64575 |title=Zagat Buzz Blog: Then and Now: 11 Wretched Restaurant Reinventions |date=June 23, 2010 |publisher=Zagat |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707121811/http://blog.zagat.com/then-and-now-11-wretched-restaurant-reinventions#more-64575 |archive-date=July 7, 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ciclavia.org/files/ciclavia_arch_guide_062313_web-9809.pdf |publisher=CicLAvia |title=The Modernist's Guide to Iconic Wilshire Boulevard |date=February 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101193125/http://www.ciclavia.org/files/ciclavia_arch_guide_062313_web-9809.pdf |archive-date=November 1, 2014 }}

{{more citations needed|section|date=February 2018}}

File:Brown Derby Vine.JPG

Despite its less distinctive Spanish Mission style facade, the second Brown Derby, which opened on Valentine's Day 1929 at 1628 North Vine Street in Hollywood, was the branch that played the greater part in Hollywood history. Due to its proximity to movie studios, it became the place to do deals and be seen.

In the first of the Hollywood episodes of I Love Lucy ("L.A. at Last"), Lucy (Lucille Ball), Ethel (Vivian Vance), and Fred (William Frawley) have lunch at the Brown Derby. During the misadventure, the trio dine in a booth with Eve Arden on one side and William Holden on the other. This leads to the disaster scene in which Lucy inadvertently causes a waiter to hit Holden in the face with a pie.

Like its Wilshire Boulevard counterpart, the Hollywood Brown Derby had a celebrity wall with hundreds of celebrity drawings, paintings and caricatures. Jack Lane drew many of the caricatures between 1947 and 1985.Lane, Jack. A Gallery of Stars: The Story of the Hollywood Brown Derby Wall of Fame, Luminary Press (2005) Another artist whose work was displayed was Nicholas Volpe. He was commissioned by the Brown Derby to paint portraits of up to 200 top recording artists to be displayed in the restaurant's Hall of Fame Record Room.[https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2014/10/27/676866/10104613/en/Storied-Hollywood-Brown-Derby-Art-Collection-Goes-on-Sale-at-San-Francisco-Art-Exchange.html "Storied Hollywood Brown Derby Art Collection Goes on Sale at San Francisco Art Exchange"], Globe Newswire, October 27, 2014Wanamaker, Marc. Beverly Hills: 1930-2005, Arcadia Publishing (2006) e-book In addition, his Oscar-winning star portraits were displayed in the restaurant's "Academy Room," created for showing Volpe's art.[http://beatlesportraits.com/volpe.pdf "Volpe: Portrait of an Artist"], Beatlesportraits.com

The Hollywood Brown Derby is the purported birthplace of the Cobb salad, which was said to have been hastily arranged from leftovers by owner Bob Cobb for showman and theater owner Sid Grauman. It was chopped fine, because Grauman had just had dental work done, and couldn't chew well.

According to Shirley Temple, the non-alcoholic drink bearing her name was invented at the Brown Derby in the mid-1930s. Temple herself never liked the drink and noted her personality rights had been used without permission.{{cite interview |first=Shirley Temple |last=Black |interviewer=Simon, Scott |title=nprchives |url=https://nprchives.tumblr.com/post/76356346354/i-realize-this-isnt-from-1984-but-wanted-to-post |publisher=tumblr.com |date=2014-02-11 |access-date=2017-01-30}}

In 1984, the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District was added to the National Register of Historic Places, with the Hollywood Brown Derby building and an unnamed compatible building to its north (at 1632 Vine St.) listed as a contributing properties in the district. Aspects of the Brown Derby noted in the register include its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, Churrigueresque detailing, arched entrance, wrought iron decorations, red tile roof, and its overall "extraordinary attention to detail," while aspects of the compatible building include its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, false gable focal point, and Churrigueresque ornament.{{Cite web |title=Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/236d3254-47ee-4b31-9045-c2999cc465f2/ |publisher=United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service |date=April 4, 1985 |language=en-US}}

The Hollywood Brown Derby closed for the last time at its original site on April 3, 1985, as a result of a lease dispute.{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/04/03/The-famed-Brown-Derby-restaurant-on-Vine-Street-closed/9467481352400/ |title=The famed Brown Derby restaurant on Vine Street closed... |newspaper=United Press International |date=April 3, 1985 |first=Vernon |last=Scott}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-04-04-me-19693-story.html |title=Last of the Brown Derbys Sadly Tips a Final Farewell |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=April 4, 1985 |first=Bob |last=Baker}} The building was later occupied Arbat Continental Restaurant, when, in 1987, an early morning fire destroyed the kitchen.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-09-08-mn-6756-story.html |title=Fire Hits Former Brown Derby |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 8, 1987 |author=}} After the fire, the building deteriorated further as it remained unoccupied and suffered frequent break-ins from squatters and gang members.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-11-me-1557-story.html |title=Landmark Is Abandoned--Yet Again : Young Squatters Say Brown Derby Isn't a Safe Place to Live Anymore |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=July 11, 1992 |first= Bob |last=Pool}} As a result of damage caused by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the building at 1628 North Vine Street was declared unsafe by the City of Los Angeles and was the first building in Hollywood ordered to be demolished.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-25-me-15025-story.html |title=Earthquake: The Long Road Back : Derby Demolition Begins Amid Protests |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=January 25, 1994 |first=Larry |last=Gordon}} It was razed the following month.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-02-15-me-23178-story.html |title=Broken Hearts as Brown Derby Is Demolished |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=February 15, 1994 |first=Adrian |last=Maher}}

The remainder of the Hollywood Brown Derby building then became home to Premieres of Hollywood, which catered to the revitalization of Hollywood Boulevard and the style of "Old Hollywood". Premieres of Hollywood offered an eclectic mix of American cuisine along with the original Cobb Salad (the recipe was found in the kitchen during the renovation).{{citation needed|date=November 2017|reason=There is no proof for claim, since building has been documented to have been destroyed by 1994 earthquake.}} Premieres of Hollywood was destroyed during the L.A. riots in 1992.

The land is now occupied by an apartment complex.

After the original Hollywood Brown Derby at 1628 North Vine Street closed in April 1985 a spokesman for Walter P. Scharfe, who had purchased the chain a decade earlier, told the Los Angeles Times that the restaurant owner was “99% committed” to reopening the business at a new location. Late in 1986 Scharfe opened a new Brown Derby in the Lieberg Building{{cite news |title=Pasadenans Warm to the Embrace of an Old Hollywood Favorite |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 26, 1986 |first=Rose |last=Dosti}} at 911 E. Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California. The new restaurant would utilize the dark booths, crystal chandeliers, and 1500 caricatures removed from the original location.{{cite news |title=Brown Derbies Ready to Duel at the Drop of a Hat: DERBIES: Restaurants Ready to Duel at the Drop of a Hat |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=October 11, 1986 |first=Bob |last=Baker}} Scharfe opened another Brown Derby at 1707 N. Vine Street in Hollywood in October 1987.{{cite news |title=A New Brown Derby Tips Its Hat to Past |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=October 23, 1987 |first=Steve |last=Harvey}} The location had most recently been a Howard Johnson's coffee shop and reopened as a more casual version of the famous eatery with a large painted derby hat gracing the exterior walls.{{cite news |title=Hollywood to Wear a New Brown Derby |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=May 29, 1987 |first=David |last=Ferrell}} In 1987 Scharfe told the Los Angeles Times that he had plans to open additional Brown Derby restaurants in Palm Springs, Honolulu, and Vancouver. Both restaurants closed after a short time. In 1994 Scharfe opened another Brown Derby at the Beverly Center shopping mall. The small location featured miniature replicas of the famous caricatures and closed in less than one year.{{cite news |title=Ask Chris: The Brown Derby's Mall Moment |newspaper=Los Angeles magazine |date=September 30, 2013 |first=Chris |last=Nichols}}

File:Beverly Hills Brown Derby.jpg

Bob Cobb opened the third Brown Derby in 1931 at 9537 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills,{{cite news|author=|first=|date=November 1, 1931|title='Get License,' Brokers Told|page=D3|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/162506823|url-access=subscription|access-date=|id={{ProQuest|162506823}}|quote=The Wilshire Boulevard Association of Beverly Hills... reports that eighteen new places of business have opened on that thoroughfare in Beverly Hills since July 1, including Brown Derby Cafe...}} across from the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The building had previously housed a women's clothing store called "The Petite Shop.{{cite news|last=|first=|date=April 24, 2014|title=Beverly Hills Then & Now|newspaper=Beverly Hills Weekly|url=https://bhweekly.com/issues/pdf/2014_760.pdf|access-date=}}" One of the dining areas was called The American Room and featured charcoal portraits of Academy Award-winning actors by artist Nicholas Volpe on the walls.{{sfn|Willems|1996|p=85}} The Beverly Hills Brown Derby featured a revolving door (the first in Beverly Hills){{sfn|Willems|1996|p=92}} and a uniformed doorman.{{sfn|Willems|1996|p=93}} A 1938 expansion with a bar{{sfn|Willems|1996|p=96}} and private dining room{{sfn|Willems|1996|p=96}} was called "The Derby House" and was decorated in Old English style.{{sfn|Willems|1996|p=96}} It was closed in 1982 and demolished shortly afterwards.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-02-09-re-6274-story.html |title=Brown Derby Site in Beverly Hills Sold |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=February 9, 1986 |first=Ruth |last=Ryon}} Developer Douglas Stitzel purchased the vacant property in 1986 to build the One Rodeo shopping development.

The building that formerly housed the Los Feliz Brown Derby at 4500 Los Feliz Boulevard has been in use as a restaurant since the 1920s. Film mogul Cecil B. DeMille, a part owner of the Wilshire Blvd. restaurant, bought the building, a former chicken restaurant named Willard's, and converted it into a Brown Derby in 1940. It uniquely combined a formal restaurant with a dramatic domed ceiling with a more casual drive-in cafe outside.

In 1960, it was purchased by actor Michael St. Angel (aka Steve Flagg) and became Michaels of Los Feliz,{{cite news |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/167685466 |title=Estate Sells De Mille's Brown Derby |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=March 16, 1960 |page=B1 |author= |url-access=subscription |id={{ProQuest|167685466}}}} and in 1992 it was transformed by new owners Tony and Tammi Gower {{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-08-22-vw-26219-story.html |title=A New Day for an Old Derby |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=August 22, 1993 |first=Bill |last=Higgins}} into a nightclub known as The Derby. In the late 1990s, it became one of the centers of the resurgence of swing dancing, which launched the careers of modern swing bands such as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Johnny Crawford. Oregon rock/swing/ska band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies recorded a song that cites the venue, titled "Brown Derby Jump", on their album Zoot Suit Riot.

The Derby was prominently featured in the 1996 film Swingers, in the scene where Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn's characters bypass the line at the front door, enter through the service entrance, walk through the kitchen, and into the club where Big Bad Voodoo Daddy are playing on the stage, in an ode to the classic restaurant scene with Ray Liotta in Scorsese's Goodfellas.{{cite news|last1=Cowan|first1=Jared|title=Your Favorite Movies Were Filmed at These L.A. Restaurants and Bars|url=http://www.laweekly.com/arts/your-favorite-movies-were-filmed-at-these-la-restaurants-and-bars-5137416|agency=LA Weekly|date=January 22, 2015}}

File:Los Feliz Brown Derby postcard.jpg

In June 2004, when Hillhurst/Los Feliz LLC purchased The Derby and adjacent lots with a view to demolition and replacement by a condominium complex, the planned redevelopment became a cause célèbre for historic preservation activists. An independent coalition called "Save The Derby" fought to prevent the demolition, and, on May 19, 2006, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to designate the entire structure an official Historic Cultural Monument of the City of Los Angeles.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-may-20-me-sbriefs20.5-story.html |title=Los Feliz Brown Derby Is Historic Monument |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=May 20, 2006 |author=}}

In January 2009, the nightclub closed its doors.{{cite news |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/01/the-derby-closi.html |title=The Derby in Los Feliz likely to close soon |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=January 23, 2009 |author=}} The current landlord chose not to renew the lease, not long after a shooting inside the club. In 2012, the Los Feliz Brown Derby space is occupied by the gastropub Mess Hall Kitchen{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/food/la-xpm-2012-sep-14-la-dd-mess-hall-open-los-feliz-20120914-story.html |title=Mess Hall is open in Los Feliz |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 14, 2012 |first=Amanda |last=Natividad}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2012-nov-24-la-fo-gold-20121124-story.html |title=Hello muddah, hello faddah ...: MessHall takes the flint spark of Scout trip memories and coaxes it into a themed restaurant with glassed-in fire pits, upscale but homey food and strictly counselor-cabin cocktails. |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=November 24, 2012 |first=Jonathan |last=Gold}} and a Chase bank, dividing the dome in half between the businesses. The interior framing details of the dome construction have been exposed and are now visible from inside the restaurant.

{{cite news|last1=Los Angeles magazine|title=Mess Hall|url=https://www.lamag.com/newrestaurants/mess-hall/|agency=Los Angeles magazine|date=November 26, 2012}}{{Cite news|url=https://la.curbed.com/2010/12/14/10491166/no-martinis-but-maybe-toasters-los-feliz-derby-to-become-bank|title=No Martinis But Maybe Toasters: Los Feliz Derby to Become Bank|work=Curbed LA|access-date=2018-07-03}}

A fifth Brown Derby opened in 1955{{cite news |title=Hollywood Holiday |newspaper=Photoplay |date=May 1955 |first=Fredda |last=Dudley}}{{Page needed|date=November 2020}} at the Broadway Crenshaw Shopping Center, now known as the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was a 24-hour coffee shop designed by architect Rowland Crawford and located near the center's Desmond's men's store{{cite news |title=Coffee Shop Set For Brown Derby |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=June 13, 1954 }}{{Page needed|date=November 2020}}{{failed verification|date=November 2020}} The address was 3625 Stocker Avenue, Los Angeles, California.{{cite news |title=Dining Out Directory |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 23, 1956 }}{{Page needed|date=November 2020}}{{failed verification|date=November 2020}} The location later became an early location of The International House of Pancakes{{cite news |title=Display Ad |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 15, 1977 }}{{Page needed|date=November 2020}}{{failed verification|date=November 2020}}

The Brown Derby began a licensing program{{Cite web |url=http://www.originalhollywoodbrownderby.com/licensing.html |title=Original Hollywood Brown Derby website |access-date=September 7, 2008 |archive-date=October 8, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008205129/http://www.originalhollywoodbrownderby.com/licensing.html |url-status=dead }} in 1987, with an agreement with The Walt Disney Company for a replica of the original Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant at the new Disney-MGM Studios in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. In 1990, the Walt Disney Company entered into three additional agreements for the Walt Disney Movie Studios at Disneyland Resort Paris, Tokyo Disney Sea at Tokyo Disney Resort and Disney California Adventure Park at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. In 1996, a ten-year agreement was entered into with MGM Grand Las Vegas Las Vegas, Nevada; in 1998, the MGM Grand Detroit, Michigan temporary facility was added.

• Hollywood Hotel – Hollywood Brown Derby{{cite book|last=Cohan|first=Steven|date=2018|title=Hollywood by Hollywood: The Backstudio Picture and the Mystique of Making Movies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WLRwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA54|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=54|isbn=978-0190865788}}
• The Blue Dahlia - 1946 film - Beverly Hill Brown Derby
• Stand-In – Wilshire Boulevard Brown Derby
• Dragnet (1987 film){{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092925/locations/ | title=Dragnet (1987) - Filming & production - IMDb | website=IMDb }}
• Ed Wood – the titular film director is shown hosting fundraising parties at the Wilshire Brown Derby; as the restaurant had since closed, shots featuring the exterior of the restaurant were filmed using a recreation built on the grounds of the Ambassador Hotel, opposite the remains of the actual location.{{cite book|last=Reeves|first=Tony|date=2001|title=The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=125|isbn=978-1556524325|quote=The Brown Derby restaurant, where Wood hosts a fundraiser, is long gone. It was recreated in the grounds of the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard, opposite which you can actually see the shell of the famed hat-shaped landmark.}}
• Chinatown (1974 film) – filmed at the restaurant The Windsor{{cite web | url=https://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/restaurant-royalty/article_ef0bda81-6a5e-58cd-bc8e-42b277f99f00.html | title=Restaurant Royalty | date=November 25, 2002 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-02-23-fo-11-story.html | title=Old-Time Elegance Prevails at Windsor | website=Los Angeles Times | date=February 23, 1989 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-01-17-ca-1843-story.html | title=Windsor: It's a Restaurant in Waiting | website=Los Angeles Times | date=January 17, 1993 }} represented as The Brown Derby{{cite news |last1=Kudler |first1=Adrian Glick |title=The ultimate 'Chinatown' filming location map of Los Angeles |url=https://la.curbed.com/maps/chinatown-filming-location-map/brown-derby |work=Curbed LA |date=19 June 2014 |language=en}}
• Dawn of the Dead (1978 film) - filmed at Monroeville Mall, Pennsylvania. Brown Derby can be seen in the background of multiple shots throughout the film
• Swingers (1996 film) - filmed partly at the Los Feliz Derby.

• Chasen's
• Perino's

{{Portal bar|Companies|Food|Los Angeles}}

• {{cite book |first=Richard |last=Alleman |title=The Movie Lover's Guide to Hollywood |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1985 |isbn=0-06-091262-6}}
• {{cite book |title=L.A.'s Legendary Restaurants |last=Geary |first=George |year=2016 |publisher=Santa Monica Press |isbn=9781595800893 |url= http://santamonicapress.com/celebrating-the-famous-places-where-hollywood-ate-drank-and-playedl-a-s-legendary-restaurants/ }}
• {{cite book |title=The Brown Derby Restaurant: A Hollywood Legend |last=Willems |first=Mark |year=1996 |publisher=Rizzoli |isbn=0847819256 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lH8KAAAACAAJ |via=Google Books}}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Brown Derby}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090228093404/http://www.originalhollywoodbrownderby.com/ Website of The Original Hollywood Brown Derby – an affiliate of the original Hollywood location.]
• [http://www.savethederby.com/ Website outlining the history of the Los Feliz Brown Derby and the campaign to save it from demolition.]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110818002455/http://www.blogto.com/city/2010/11/a_visual_history_of_yonge_and_dundas_/ A visual history of Yonge and Dundas]
• [http://www.50slucy.com/more-on-the-brown-derby.html Re Hollywood Brown Derby - the mission style "fragment that remains" is the facade of the Dinner Bell Cafe formerly at 1604-1/2 North Vine Street next to the Taft building - it is not a piece of Hollywood Brown Derby which was further down the street]
• [http://www.lookbackandhanker.com/the-brown-derby-scene-in-george-cukors-what-price-hollywood-1932.html Movie clips showing interior and exterior of the original Wilshire Brown Derby, ca.1932]

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Category:Restaurants established in 1926

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Category:Defunct fine dining restaurants in California

Category:Walt Disney Parks and Resorts restaurants

Category:Restaurants in Greater Los Angeles

Category:Companies based in Los Angeles County, California

Category:1926 establishments in California

Category:Hats in popular culture