Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Gainesville

An update regarding a recent visit(07/26/2024): Bad server this go round. Went to this Outback location with my adult son, initially to partake in a Blooming onion and then onto a main entree as part of a celebration for a birthday. The table service was extremely slow from the start, as we waited about 12 to 15 minutes to take a drink order after bijng immediately seated. We were eventually approached by a female server, who apologized for the extensive wait and who also explained she had a large table (about 10 people) that was leaving and that there was some difficulty with the billing for group that caused her to be delayed. Okay....I can understand that...that can happen. We ordered a single Blooming onion and two regular drinks, and were asked if we would like to receive a loaf of the bread that usually accompanies the drinks. We were glad to accept the offer of the bread while waiting for the onion. The drinks and bread took approximately 15 minutes to receive, but were eventually brought out by what appeared to be a busboy from the back. He smiled, and we said thank you. After consuming the bread, the onion was then delivered by the same busboy about 10 minutes later. We had finished our teas, and were looking for our female server to inquire about a refill. The onion, itself, was quite small; I don't think I've seen one this minimal in size in all of the years I've frequented the Outback. My son mentioned the small size as well, And it did not seem like a goodbye at $12 for an onion. But, we were hungry and it was tasty, and it went rather quickly because of the size. Our female server eventually stopped by our table again, as we did see her at one or two additional tables in the area, but it was about another 10 minutes or so before she came back by, and we politely asked for those tea refills. The refills took about another 15 minutes to receive and we were presented with another 'reason' for the delay.... "that the printer was down in the back, and so the staff did not initially see and thus were not cognizant of the drink refill request." It was at this point that we decided to not even bother putting in an order for an additional main entree because we were concerned with how long it might take to get the main meal, although I did see other server staff visiting their tables quite frequently. I don't want to even get into how long it took to get the bill receipt and it is extremely very seldom(almost never) that I do not leave a tip for a server, but in this case, I left nothing for a tip. We left the establishment and went elsewhere for dinner entrees. *This is out of the ordinary from what I have experienced with Outback before, even at this location, so I think it was more of a specific server/personnel issue than it was of a widespread business problem throughout the restaurant. We just got a complacent server who did not seem to care or be in any professional cadence for service to any...

Seemingly a lack of effective management at this location. We gave them the benefit of the doubt by trying them out a second time, but we won’t be back for a third.

I see good reviews for the service, but both times we have sat at the bar and the service was slow and inattentive. We were 2 of the 5 people at the bar, but the bartender still had to be flagged down to order drinks after 10 minutes of being handed menus. Another 10 minutes of waiting after we received the drinks before he made eye contact for us to wave him down to order food. Another wave down later for salt and pepper after that. I understand being short staffed, and they only had one bartender at the time, but I think I counted just 2 drinks come in from the dining room service the entire time we were there, and maybe two beers ordered by the others at the bar, so not entirely sure what the deal was. Really just poor training, as simple acknowledgment of guests or eye contact with them while moving between tasks is an easy fix there.

More poor management/training when the entire service staff was seemingly on break or changing shifts when we came in for lunch. The staff was taking up several booths in the bar area — which is fine because it wasn’t busy at all — however, one of them was playing YouTube videos on their phone on full volume. This lasted the entirety of the time we were there and no one ever asked them to turn it down.

Lastly, the food was average. We skipped the steaks the second visit because the first round they were pretty thin and just not great cuts (and this isn’t a Fleming’s/Mortons so not expecting much, but they were not on par with longhorn/etc.). The fries were cold, and the ketchup was served in packets, which is just odd. Understanding it’s covid times, but the salt and pepper were normal shakers. Maybe just provide a side cup so it feels like a restaurant and not a hotdog stand.

I’ll wait to there’s an “Under New Management” sign out front and give this spot a...

This location recently opened and seeing all the bad reviews, I almost didn't give it a chance. Everyone's experience will differ and depending on the staff and time of day, I'm sure there will be good ones and bad ones.

I made an order online for curbside pickup around dinner time. The parking lot was packed so I assume they were pretty busy with both curbside orders and dining in. My order unfortunately didn't come out until 35 minutes past the pickup time, so reviews are accurate about that. my guess is their online time estimator doesn't account for dine-in orders that need to be made in the same kitchen.

The food was overall pretty delicious! I had an 8oz sirloin with baked potato and Caesar salad. my wife had the combo with shrimp and same sides. The steaks were actually done perfectly. mine was medium and my wife's was medium rare. this wa surprising as I'm used to steaks being a little too done or too under-done, but they were perfect. the seasoning was spot on, only complaint is that they were dry and not juicy.

Tons of lettuce and enough dressing with the salad. I feel like the salad portion is way bigger than what you normally get on a plate. Baked potato was a good size too. The toppings came in a seperate container.

We also got the free serving of bread. nice and soft. didn't give us much butter though.

lastly we also got the blooming onion appetizer. same delicious taste and plenty of sauce, but unfortunately it was not crunchy. it got soft due to the condensation in the container, but I'm not sure that can be helped for to-go.

overall a good dinner! very...