Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Hamilton Township

We arrived about 7:30pm on a Sunday. The hostess was very nice and informed us there would be a 30 minute wait. When our table was ready we were seated and promptly greeted by our server who said she would be right with us after getting the next table their to-go boxes. The place was very busy and employees were bustling all over the dining room. We appreciated that the server told us what her plan was and when she would return. This allowed us to estimate the time she would return and if we had time to decide on our meals. Excellent communication. When our server, Amanda S, returned she took our beverage order and allowed me more time to scan the menu, as this was our first visit. My partner ordered an Aussie Palmer and a coke, and I got a bar beverage and a raspberry iced tea. By the time our drinks arrived we had decided on our meals. We both ordered steaks. I had the filet mignon and my partner had the sirloin. The restaurant considered soup and salad as side dishes and we both ordered French onion soup and caesar salad. The salads came out first and was rather enjoyable. The dressing has a heavy anchovy flavor that I enjoyed because I like anchovies but my partner could not eat. Next came our soups. My partner got a hearty serving of onions and I had 3 in my entire bowl. Since we already had our "sides", the only part of our meals we were waiting for was the steak. Just a piece of beef on a plate. My partner ordered medium rare and I ordered medium. The steaks arrived at our table at 9:15 and were both done medium rare. Although undercooked, we were running out of time before we had to leave so I did not send it back to have it cooked further. The server was very busy and did her best to attend to us. Right before our steaks arrived a beverage was dropped off at our table that we had not requested. The runner did not say what it was or anything at all. They just dropped the glass off and left. Amanda saw my glass empty and rang in a refill but ordered my partner's drink instead of mine. Her intentions were good. Unfortunately, due to other circumstances that needed staff attention, the entire service was extremely slow and we did not have time for dessert. During our visit we watched 2 tables have beverages dropped on them. One fell on a customer and another was all over the meals the table was just about to be served. That one could have been avoided if the runner with the beverages had said "behind you" or did not try to squeeze past the server who was already set up on a tray stand. A third table, family of 6, got up and walked out just as they got their food. I am not sure what dissatisfied them.

All in all it was not a satisfying experience and I doubt we will return to...

This place is so inconsistent. I've had some great meals here for a chain restaurant, but more often than not lately, there have been issues. This most recent trip, we were seated at a small booth. While the table was clearly wiped down, there were tons of crumbs all over the seats and we used coasters to clear them ourselves. The blooming onion app came out but it wasn't cut enough to pull the pieces apart. Grabbing one piece would literally lift the entire onion making it hard to eat. Entrees came out and both steaks were the wrong temp. The filet was very under (at best mid rare when mid-well was ordered) and the prime rib was over (ordered mid rare and it was mostly well done). There was also a chunk missing from the prime rib which was odd. They discontinued the horseradish sauce but the server said she could make some. A runner brought the food but there was no horseradish. It took over 10 minutes to flag the server down to get it and refill the lemonade that was sitting empty since the salads and she shouldhave checked the table on her own accord. It was also not busy as I'd say about half of the tables were empty. The filet could have been refired too had the server checked the table in a remotely reasonable amount of time, but we were starving so we just ate it. On other visits, I asked for extra horseradish with the prime rib only to be told it was discontinued once the meat was served to me. Had I known, I would have ordered something else. We've had our entrees delivered literally less than 2 minutes after the appetizer was dropped off. Yes the manager came over to apologize but it's still happened twice in the last 4 visits. It's just sloppy and lazy serving. What kills me is that I've had some great prime rib dinners here were things all went smoothly, so it's not like they're incapable of getting it right. I understand this is a casual chain and not fine dining and I adjust my expectations accordingly but the problems seem to be more likely than the good meals and there are too many other restaurants around to get a good meal for that kind of money. The manager told me that there was a new owner or GM so I gave them a couple more tries to see if they worked out the kinks but it's clearly...

Just a couple observations for this particular Outback. I’ve been to a lot of different Outback Steakhouse’s so I feel I can do a fair comparison to others. Every time I go into this Outback there is always a table outside of the bar filled with employees socializing, eating & rolling silverware. This most recent visit, which was dinner time, there were six employees sitting down and eating while they were rolling silverware. My issue with this is optics and the unsanitary practice of eating finger foods and talking while rolling silverware for customers. You can’t apologize for slow service, again when six employees are sitting down at a table and not all of them are rolling silverware. I know everyone wants to blame Covid saying that they can’t get good help but I think it starts with management.

My other issue with my latest visit was a manager who was wearing a baseball cap, shorts and a T-shirt who i would never have known was affiliated with Outback restaurant until he went behind the bar to train a prospective new server on the drink menu. Now it just may be me because the older I get the younger everyone looks but this particular trainee looked very young and in my eyes not old enough to drink and I found it disturbing when that same manager gave the trainee a sample of a drink on the menu. Again just me, but I feel optics are very much something to consider when you are in a management position.

I voiced my concerns to someone who I thought was another manager but very well could have been just a host. Judging by his response or lack thereof he was not very concerned.

The optics make it seem like the priority is more of a fun place to work rather than a great...