Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Hurst

I usually leave star ratings only but have to write a review as this has been my experience the last two times I've had a meal at Outback Steakhouse. This time, the food was on par with what you'd expect, no complaints about food quality. The service was excellent! Our server, who was just two weeks on the job, was fantastic--very personable and accommodating, and made a point to engage and talk with us about her previous work which had taken her to our home state of Michigan after she noticed the Detroit Lions jacket my dad wore. That said, we visited this location at around 7pm on an evening when the outside temp was cool in the low 60s. Inside the restaurant, the temp felt like it had to have been in the 50s, as it was frigid and definitely colder inside than it was outside. My legs (in jeans and underneath the table where no air could blow directly on them) were cold, and I'm the kind of person who usually doesn't feel cold in my extremities; it has to get to my core. Again, Michigan born and raised--hearty stock and no stranger to the cold. Well, this Outback felt like dining in a walk-in freezer. Aside from this being uncomfortable and annoying, the food, which arrived hot to the table, cooled to lukewarm after the first bite. The place was not crowded, a few people at the bar or seated at high tops, a couple of booths occupied, and our party of five at a large round table, but it was so cold that every patron in the establishment wore a coat or jacket. I have heard of restaurants sometimes using this and similar tactics to discourage patrons from lingering and to quickly turn tables, but that would have been unnecessary given the occupancy load or demand for tables at this time of day. We mentioned to the server that it was uncomfortably cold, and she said she'd let management know and see if they could turn up the temperature. And, in fact, it felt like the a/c abated for a bit, but it was nevertheless chilly and short-lived before it kicked on again. I'm not sure if the thermostat set point is something corporate dictates to stores, as I've also recently visited a Fort Worth location that was excessively chilly (but it was at least excusable since it was still pretty warm outside). However, it was difficult to enjoy a meal when it was unanimous within our group (and the sentiment confirmed by everyone else bundled up) that everyone was...

Disgusting bathroom, untrained staff, and low quality food. These are the things you'll encounter at this fast food restaurant that identifies as casual dining.

First of all, the dead-eye zombie of a host tried to set up my toddler's chair in the middle of the main walkway so we would get scalding hot food dumped all over us. I asked for a different spot and there was a solid 5 second pause as he processed the audacity of basic common sense. Finally, i did his job for him by finding a table where we wouldn't be in a walking path.

Then there was the bathroom situation. The walls looked like a Jackson Pollock if he only used brown, and literally every single toilet was closed and overflowing. I went outside to change my kid in the grass because it was cleaner. I've been to dive bars with better bathrooms.

You'd think after all that, they'd at least get the food right, wouldn't you?

Yeah, i thought so too. Wrong again.

The ribeye was as thin as Philly cheesesteak meat, and the marbling was so awful I'm 90% sure they used commercial/canning meat, it DEFINITELY wasn't usda choice, nor was it select. Having been a butcher for several years, i can spot the difference pretty easily, and they are most certainly committing felony false advertising by selling meat that would be rejected by grocery stores.

Then when it was time to go, i asked for a loaf of bread to take home (since that was the only positive part of the experience) and the 15 year old waitress brought out a paper bag with a single container of butter. No bread, only butter.

Clearly, management is comically incompetent if their entire staff fails this hard. If it were only one or two mishaps, that's forgivable. But literally, not figuratively, the one and only thing they did correctly was microwave a potato, and they couldn't even get that right because it tasted old chewy, like it had grown roots and the manager made them cook it anyway to save money.

Manager/owner, if you're reading this (which i know you will, because you're certainly not doing your job) you need to put down your phone, stop playing on the computer, and actually captain this ship.

Not only will i never return to this location, the terrible management has turned me off of the entire brand.

Maybe I'll share with the health inspector, because there's no way this dump is...

My husband and I got the keys to our family’s new home today. On the way home we decided to grab an appetizer and drink at the bar and order some to go entrees to take home. When we ordered our entrees from the female bartender (one for each of us and one for our teenage daughter), my husband clearly told her at the beginning of the order it would be “to go”. 10-15 minutes later, our steaks come out on plates. My husband informed the bartender they were supposed to be to go, he disappears without a word and told his co-worker she messed up the order. We never saw her again. The male bartender then came back out, said nothing to us and generally avoided us while providing much better service to the regular customers who came in after us, and the old co-worker and every other customer at the bar. After about another 10-15 minutes, he puts the tab in front of us, without asking my husband, whose glass was empty, if he would like another. We then ask him if he is refiring our entrees as my husband and I ordered Med-rare steaks, which were sure to be practically well done in the time we waited. He answered he was “not sure”. Then proceeded to ask a co-worker in front of us if they were re-firing it and she responded that there was “no ticket up” for our order. Meanwhile the couple of regulars next to us were bought out a bag of free food, they didn’t even order. No one said anything to us to update us on the status, offered a single apology or even offered us some bread while we waited. We waited another 15 minutes with no communication from the bartender, before paying cash for the items we had at the bar and leaving. We own and operate restaurants and my husband is a chef; we are more understanding than most customers, as we are industry. This service was abysmal, but the lack of care shown by the staff was absolutely appalling and insulting. Even worse, a manager came over to the bar to socialize with the old employee while we were sitting there looking upset, not being served and she did not notice, nobody seemed to care. It ruined our entire evening and we were left at 9:45pm driving around looking for food. We...