[Quiet Man Cometh]

What was it about the first books you liked? The whole "I'm a drow and no one accepts me" thing does get a fair bit of screen time in the early books, but stuff does switch around a bit later on. Jalaxle, Enteri, and Drizzt are probably the three most popular characters in the series. Salvatore writes his books in such a way that you probably don't need to have read all of them in order, but it does help, as characters made cameos and jump across books and sometimes authors.

Khelben Arunsun, for example, appears in the books of both Salvatore and Elaine Cunningham. Cadderly, the priest from Salvatore's Cleric Quintet (which a number of people think is better than his Drizzt series) also appears in the Drizzt book Passage to Dawn, if memory serves.

If you're an elf fan in general, try reading Evermeet, Island of Elves by Elaine Cunningham. It deals with Elven history, right down to how Lloth appeared and how the drow ended up in the underdark.