Brown Derby

We reserved a party of 15 including small children. The party ended up being 13. We had 2 birthdays and mentioned in advance. They said they don't do anything but we brought a cake and they stored it and brought out serving items for us at the end. We were told we could come a little early but when I arrived 15 mins early they had us wait while they set up. We had a really nice waitress who was as efficient as she could be. She should have had someone bus for her because she was having difficulty keeping up. We ordered a couple of appetizers. I ordered calamari. It was supposed to have "gingered slaw" per the menu instead had ginger sauce on it, no slaw. Calamari was pretty chewy, I wouldn't order it again. 2 orders of mozzarella sticks were ordered. We had to send one back because it was cold inside. She brought us 1 basket of bread at the beginning and said more was coming. That basket of bread was dark and crispy. The next basket didn't come till after the salads and was pale and underdone. The butter is whipped and sweetened and I asked for some plain. Had to ask a second time and didn't get it till after the entrees. Salad was family style and tasty. We asked for ranch, Italian and blue cheese. They were served in little cups on a plate that lay inside the large bowl on top of the salad. The table was set up with a stack of bread plates, salad bowls, etc. With all that and the dishes from appetizers, water, silverware, etc it was very crowded. Very difficult to feel comfortable. The waitress was so busy that very little bussing was done. We tried to help by stacking things after we were finished but the dishes just kept piling up. There was no blue cheese dressing served and I had to ask a second time and it came after the main courses were served. Most of us got steaks and baked potatoes. Baked potatoes were tasty but there was mixed quality regarding the steaks and their doneness. My strip was dry, chewy and a little overdone. Others were overcooked as well. Some, mostly the filets were ok. We were offered to take some back but after waiting and all the confusion we said no. The manager came after the meal and apologized. We were over it. All in all for being a Brown Derby, which I've been to several over the last 50 + years I was very disappointed. Also we chose this place because we wanted steak. Could have gone to a steakhouse for much less for similar or better quality. Even though the waitress tried very hard, the service fell short for a party our size on a Saturday. Most of us would not be back. The big joke was for a steakhouse, our one vegetarian said she got the best meal with her salad and baked!