Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Gurnee

**Update. I originally gave this Outback a poor rating based on our experience that night however Outback has been quick to respond in an effort to make things right. Based on the communication we shared, this business will have our future support.

I should have known when the online check in wouldn’t accept my last name as a real one. Okay. It must have been designed by a 15 year old boy so I used my son’s fiancés name for our visit 7/22/23 at 630. The hostess was neutral. It was a little busy bit our server was sweet. Aussie cheese fries… so good. Main course for me and my son… on point. His fiancé got the ribeye and there was SO mush gristle. My son got the upgraded side of asparagus and it was so tough he couldn’t eat it, and my side of seasonal veggies came halfway through the meal and tasted like what they had been… forgotten as well as rubbery with no flavor. The worst part was we were there to celebrate my son’s Navy boot camp graduation. He was so handsome in his uniform. That was before a server or kitchen person, not sure which, dripped a sauce, maybe a balsamic vinaigrette and it splattered all over him. It went all down the back of his arm and side of his pants. The lady looked up at us briefly seeming to realize what happened. After that she wouldn’t even look at us and seemed very angry as she rushed to the back for a wet towel. We thought that was nice that she was getting something to help him clean up. Nope. She walked right past us mumbling, wiped the floor, and disappeared. He was embarrassed and afraid to call out the fact his uniform was covered in some sort of dressing. He’d been yelled at for the last 10 weeks and didn’t want to say anything so I kept quiet about the whole situation out of respect for him. We couldn’t go anywhere after that without him changing because of the state of his uniform so we just went back to the hotel for the night. Like I said, some food was not great but some was. My one rating would have been slightly higher if not for the uniform incident. Oh! Did I mention there were two employees standing there and watched it happen and no one...

We came to the Gurnee location all the way out from Salem, WI. I had a gift card for 25 dollars left over from some holiday from my sister. We booked a table for 3 for 5:30 on a February nite in 2025. It was a saturday. We didnt know that when you book a table you still have to wait for one. They told us to wait another 20 to 25 minutes because they were busy. We waited probably 15 to 20 minutes in the car. We were seated at a tall table. It took the waitress around 5 to 10 minutes to start taking orders from us. I ordered the Strawberry lemonade. Once service started they were pretty attentive to us. My mom started ordering her dinner but she changed her mind after she ordered, which I could see that would fluster a busy waitress with an electronic tablet, but I feel like she didnt have to make a somewhat rude comment about it. Other than that she was a decent hardworking waitress, a husky older Boomer or Gen X white lady with long brown hair. The staff was very attentive about refilling drinks. We had 2 or 3 other servers that were coming by bringing us food and drinks. I had the Shrimp on the Barbie and mashed potatoes. They also set us up with Really good bread and butter. Everyone at my table liked the food. When we paid they literally gave us an electronic tablet that we had to figure out the payment method because I split the bill with my parents and I used a gift card. The atmosphere was very energetic upbeat pop music the whole night. The place was packed on a Saturday night. It was kind of loud in there, really had to speak up in that place. But overall it was an enjoyable experience. If I went back there Id try not going there on a Saturday again. But we were pleasantly surprised with the food there, just delicious. A little on the pricey side, but thats what you would expect from an upscale restraunt...

Service was horrible. Had a group of 6. 4 adults 2 children. Waited a long time for the server to take our drink orders. Ordered from their new seasonal menu only to be told they don't have all the ingredients to make the drink I wanted, so I ordered a sprite. They brought everyone's drink but mine. Waited several more minutes for our server to return and asked her for my Sprint again. Then we waited 20 minutes for her to take our food order. We waited another 25 minutes or more for our food to come out. Our entrees arrived before our salads and soup. We asked that they make salad and soup to go because we didn't want our food sitting under lights kept warm. Only to realize our dinners were all cold and we sent them back. 1 person had a dietary restriction and sent her meal back twice before they got it right.

All 4 meals were sent back accept for the kids' dinners. They were hungry.

The manager came out to apologize. Said they'll remake our meals. Our soup and salads were brought to the table but not as requested in to go containers.

We requested our steaks to be medium rear, 1 came out rare... it was so rare I couldn't eat it. I was so frustrated I kept it and ate what I could and brought most of it home for the dog. The loaded baked potato was far from loaded, and the mashed potatoes were thick and flavorless. Had to ask for butter a couple of times.

Waited several more minutes to go containers and longer for the check.

I'm sorry, but 3 hours sitting around waiting on service and subpar food is not my idea of good service. Also, the tables around us had ossues with their orders as well.

If this is the service they are provided now, I hate to see what it'll be like during Christmas.

I will not go back or recommend...