Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Everett

Well it looks like Outback has changed a lot and I am not certain I'll be coming here again. Today my wife and I went there for beef. After all it is a steak house. For an appetizer we ordered the new 'Avocado and Crab stack'.. Fresh avocado and marinated crab with chips. The picture looked good and the server said many orders go out each evening. I took a few bites and pondered if that was real crab. One more bite and I asked our server if the crab was fresh...after a brief pause she said "NO it's frozen". That explained it and I sent it back. Actually the server saw the look on my face and said she would gladly take it back. Done, you don't have to ask me twice.

I looked at the menu again..."Fresh avocado...and marinated crab" I guess only the avocado was 'fresh' and marinated is code for 'frozen and covered in sauce to hid the freezer burn'.

On to the main course. The 12 oz prime rib sounded good for me and the 10 oz New York was what my wife ordered. My piece of meat was HUGE! Too bad it tasted like crap! It was done to my liking...just pink in the center, but I could hardly pull the fork out of it to take another slice at it. If it weren't for the Horseradish and the Au-jus, it would be a dry, pleasure-less experience. For $18.95 I did not get any dining value from this meal.

The New York was great. Even though it was a bit thin (5/8" or less) it was still juicy and tender. My wife loved it and I got a few snacks from it too.

So we opted for the vegetables instead of the various choices of potato and we got broccoli, carrots and yellow squash sauteed in butter. Add a good twist of black pepper and I'm on a roll...too bad they were frozen too. The small yellow squash tasted like ...well I don't know what...but certainly not 'fresh' squash in butter. The carrots were hard and grainy and the broccoli was almost passable...but lacked that crisp pop of fresh produce. I say 'almost' passable.

The server Colleen was great and was busy tending to her tables. Too bad the food was all messed up. We tipped normally for 'service' but feel they get no vote for food quality and taste.

For $55 plus tip (we had 1 beer each), we'll take our business elsewhere. I mean from now on! I used to have company meetings at Outback in Kirkland and Bothell and spent tons of money there every weekend. I loved the food. Shrimp on the barbie to die for. Sometimes I paid for 11 employees during our monthly meetings and I dined there enough they knew my name. That was maybe 8-9 years ago. The one in Everett has never been the same atmosphere but since they are a franchise I assumed the food all comes from the same 'freezer' so to speak. But because 2 out of the 3 items on my plate were frozen, no thanks.

The last time I was there maybe a month ago, the ribs were pretty good but the guy at the end of the bar sent back his sirloin saying it was too tough to chew. That should have been a sign...I...

I have been going here for years, mostly for their ribeye. A decent price for a pretty good ribeye has kept me coming back off and on for 2-4 times a month since 2014. (I even ordered quite a bit more during the pandemic, they were gonna stay in business gosh darn it.) Otherwise, I would have to drive to Lynnwood or Seattle for a good ribeye, which I don't have the energy to do after work.

Unfortunately, yesterday's experience left much to be desired. I ordered my usual ribeye with garlic butter. It arrived but looked unusual. I thought it was a top sirloin that had been served to me by mistake. Upon inquiring with the server, she assured me it was indeed a ribeye.

The shape was strange and rather quite a bit thicker than normal. Doubtful, I tried it anyway. The meat was dense and coarse, cut was heavy- not the typical glide, and there was no marbling. There was a little fat to one side but definitely no marble. I tried it, and it did not taste or feel like a ribeye. Upon a few bites to verify the weirdly thick & grainy texture was not due to it being overcooked, I was convinced it was top sirloin. Again, I questioned the server, and she assured me that it was ribeye because it was the only cut without bone.

Completely dubious, I tried a little more, I ate less than half of the steak total before the overwhelming disgust prevented me from continuing. No way was this ribeye, the only steak I've ordered anywhere since 2010.

I cut the rest of the steak to reveal the meat texture and sear. Was cooked to an outback medium (which is medium rare anywhere else), but the lacking flavor and texture can't lie.

Since I ate so much of the steak, I resolved to pay for it, but I told the server that there was no way this was ribeye. I wanted her to tell the cook, as I had to leave for an appt or I would have done it myself. I should have taken a picture, but I didn't think of it. I have never left that much steak on a plate before. (I either eat it or take the rest with me, but I couldn't palate this. I can still feel it stuck in my craw.)

She did mention that they recently changed where they got their meat from and gave me a 15% discount. I do not have issues with the service at this location. They have always treated me well. But this steak fiasco may be a larger issue than I can bear.

I say this not because I want money back, but because I'm concerned that my favorite local place to get a decent ribeye is disappearing.

I hope this is just an issue for the boneless ribeye, tho it had never been an issue before. (I alternate between the bone-in and boneless.) I will try the bone-in ribeye next time. If the issue persists, I will have to stop coming...

I never leave reviews, but I can't let this go unnoticed. My husband and I arrived at 750 pm for what we hoped would be a nice dinner out. To start we walk in and nobody is at the front or anywhere in the restraunt that we could see. There were no fellow patrons so I said to my husband" maybe they are closed?" My husband said he could hear some people talking/ laughing, so we waited a few more minutes and then called out hello?? hello? No answer. So we walked towards the voice he heard to see if we could ask someone if they were still open as the sign said open til 9 pm. Seeing nobody we returned to the entrance and called out again. Hello? Hello? A few minutes later a girl/ lady ( probably the rude manager)came out in a nasty tone saying..." Do you usually walk into the back of a restaurant when u come?" We said ... Well when we are here for 10 minutes and nobody came to assist us we tried to call out and see if we could be helped or to see if u were open so we could go somewhere else if not. This women then said " we were watching u on camera the whole time you weren't here 10 minutes. I said we were here quite some time, and she continued to argue & try to turn this into an us problem.Really?????? I would Never in my life step back inside this or any outback in my life. I will make sure all my friends and family are well aware how we were treated . She was so rude that I see why there was NOBODY in this place. If that's how they treat people who were just looking for a nice dinner then I could imagine how the food is. They were all so busy in the back laughing and talking that serving customers was the least of their concern. We were cutting into their easy paycheck just talking ... why would they want to actually work... Like I said I never leave reviews , but in 57 years I have never been talked to by a "hostess" /employee so rudely. I must say that this women was so condescending that I actually had to say something smart back to her. I bet this Outback will be closed within a year or less if they don't do something about their service. SORRY for the long rant I would just hate to see someone else go here and be treated this poorly. We left feeling verbally assaulted by the staff. I plan to call cooperate because I am in the service field. ( nurse of 32 years) and if I treated the public this way I would and...