Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Clarksville

My boyfriend had never been to Outback. He won't be going again, that's for sure... I wanted him to try the staple stuff as well as just get a great steak. But that didnt happen....

We ordered the Bloomin' Onion, of course. It was sooooooo greasy... Not good. 👎👎👎👎 They were out of the shark gimmick toy drink thing that was advertised on their Summer menu. Of course! Every restaurant that has a gimmicky item NEVER has it. Thats just a "more often than not" thing, for sure....

Anyhooooo, my boyfriend ordered the 15oz ribeye. We were told 10mins after we got our greasy Bloomin' Onion that they were out of 15oz Ribeyes. Sooo he settled for a 12oz.... 15 mins later, the manager comes to our table & apologizes cuz they are totally out of Prime Rib, which is what I ordered... 🙄🙄🙄🙄

Sooooooo IIIIIII settled for the 12oz Ribeye as well. Without the "Outback" seasoning, our steaks wouldve been less impressive than a Waffle House steak. Truly! We both ordered them to be cooked "medium". Mine was almost still mooing and legitimately HALF of it was inedible. My boyfriends was OVER medium and VERY chewy...

All of that being said, our server Evan was VERY nice and personable. He gave great suggestions on sides & such & was attentive. A real nice guy...

When he gave us our check he said "cant wait to see you back again" to my boyfriend.... It took everything in my him to not say " Oh boy, let me tell you! We'll never be back here again, thats for sure"....

Our total was over $80, which I expected, but the quality was complainable at a $40 price point. No lie.....

All of the staff was EXTREMELY NICE & is the shining element at that particular location.... We wont be back, but it's DEFINITELY not their fault. They were ALL pretty exceptional....

Maybe the manager shoulda given a 10% discount or taken the appetizer off after 3+ main staple items were unavailable though???... But I don't know if that'd even make my boyfriend want to try Outback again.......

Staff & Management Need Training!!!

Food & server was a 4, but it's not just food that goes into a rating. It's everything, from how the host(s) greet you, to how engaged the manager is, to how responsive the server is, to how the food taste, etc.

Let's start with the greeting: The host (male) greeted us and then told us we were going to have to wait. He appeared slightly stressed (it was a Friday). Looking to the right there were 4 empty tables. A person in my party asked if those tables were reserved, he responded with no, but the staff and kitchen were slammed and needed a break in tickets right now, so we were just going to have to wait to be seated. Okay! What do you say to this. This shows me that the host(s) are either a.) receiving minimum training or b.) no training. Because you just don't say this. It took a few minutes and another host (female) noticed us and sat us, apologizing for the wait.

The server, he was pretty good! He asked us if we would like drinks, apps, meals, dessert. Def. trying to up-sell and get the most ticket value for the table. And he managed to do it all without coming across as pushy or overbearing!

Management. He needs some training. Pronto! I get that the manager was younger. But I didn't once see him talk to any tables. I didn't see him carry any plates to tables. Nor did I see him pick up any dirty dishes from tables. The MAJOR problem I had w/ him is that he wouldn't keep his hands to himself. Almost every female employee he passed he squeezed their shoulders or patted them on the back. I may be completely off base and he may be innocuous. But one thing I have learned over the years is that most people don't like unasked for touching, even if it is not overtly sexual in nature. He could a really nice guy, but he needs some training on how to act appropriately both with staff and in talking...

I eat at a lot of restaurants and write a lot of reviews on social media. I hate leaving negative feedback, but this restaurant is terrible. Our food was just okay, but the atmosphere is blah and our experience was doomed from the beginning. We've tried several times over the last several years to give this Outback location another chance, but it fails every time. When we first arrived, they made us wait to be seated when the restaurant was half empty. We thought it was weird, but we waited anyway. After 5 minutes, we inquired again about being seated, the manager acted like he didn't know we were waiting even though we were sitting in the wait area in front of the hostess that took our name 😬? We only ate there tonight because we had gift cards, but we absolutely won't be back. It's never been the same since they moved from the old Clarksville location. For a bill that was over $100, I'd much rather go to Texas Roadhouse.

The bright spot was our waitress, and the guy who delivered our drinks was pleasant.

The other staff just weren't friendly and looked and acted as though they didn't want to be there. The hostess was disheveled, with a half tucked/untucked wrinkled flannel shirt. She watched a drink spill at our table and never offered a towel or more paper towels. She disappeared into the bar. I guess she can't deviate from her station unless there's a problem, then runs to the bar to hide. She wasn't busy the whole time we were there, so it was disappointing that she never offered to help.

The manager never once checked on our table or came to see how our experience was. That shows he has zero interest in making the dining experience better.

We were glad we spent our total gift card, so we won't have to come back in the future. If we get more Outback gift cards, we'll...