Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Madison

I’m still so frustrated with our experience at this location that typing this is hard to put into words but here we go. First off, have soon to be a family of 7 to feed so going to restaurants that end up costing us over 100 dollars is very rare and last night 8/26/2023 was one of those rare nights. I can’t even remember our servers name because she didn’t make a great impression on us and ticked me off so bad that I packed my toddler and infant up to leave, she has a septum piercing & black hair but that’s about all I can remember, so here we go. It took roughly 5 minutes to get my families drinks out and I knew then we might face service issues but I held onto hope because hey, it happens. From there we ordered a blooming onion which was delicious as always but here’s how things went south real quick. Between the drinks arriving and the blooming onion we were told “I’ll be right back to get your order”, 15 minutes pass and at this point we need refills and the blooming onion is dang near finished. I’m looking around and noticing our server is attending every other table including new seated tables very efficiently & timely yet we are sitting here done with an appetizer, needing refills, with no order put in. After bringing drinks to the table behind us who got sat about 20 minutes into us being there by the way, we are told “I will be back for your order” AGAIN. I’m already telling my husband we need to get the manager yet we have both worked the industry along with being extremely forgiving people so we hold onto the benefit of the doubt. 15 more minutes pass AND OUR ORDER IS FINALLY BEING TAKEN??? At this point we have been here roughly 40 minutes or so, tables are getting orders and refills before us that came in 15+ minutes later than we did. I’m losing my patience with the wait, my toddler and infant are now becoming distressed and can sit still can’t stop fussing or crying so I decided it’s time to go, tell my husband we are leaving and get the food to go. When I go out to eat I expect service to be so timely that my calm toddler & infant don’t start getting antsy until about the time we are all in the same page to wrap things up. Unfortunately, because of how INCREDIBLY SLOW & NEGLECTED our service was, my babies were already done and so was I. I should not have had to have an order I planned on eating in the restaurant packed up to go because service was that horrible and slow. Before we left I made sure my husband confronted the issue, however he waited until after paying around what he said was $130 dollars or so to say something because he has never had such horrible service and I was calling him from outside telling him he needed to handle it before my pregnant self caused a huge scene for him. Apparently when he confronted the manager who I also don’t have a name for because he was so ticked off he didn’t care to have her name either, especially when she started her reaction off with an attitude, it takes her a second to click that the issue was with service. He is simply telling her it’s a service issue not a food issue she’s asking, “so it’s the service that’s a problem” and at this point he is ready to go a step further, he asks to speak to the owner. Manager complies and grabs the owners attention to the matter, owner apologized and gave us gift cards in return for the service issue which we appreciate, however I felt this review was much needed. By the way, my husband is appalled that as he is waiting for the owner, our server clearly notices he is upset and tries to make relatable small talk about his tattoos. It gets so cringey and funny to us from there as he explains one of the tattoos he has is for a rap group we love and she apparently states he should be at their concert that was happening not too far from here asking why he isn’t there and he is just so over her at this point he goes along and keeps it short to get her out his face. This is the first and last time we will visit...

I'm going to expound up on this later as I am still here eating BUT YOU GUYS THEY MADE ME THE BEST BLUE FILET EVER, and I was so excited to share that. Okay, to those of you that know what a black and blue is ( a Pittsburgh if you will) I know you've searched a long time for a place that can cook steak in huntsvegas/Madison even close to how you'd like it. Now between the masterful communicator that was my server, Eli and the lass that cooked my steak... well the two of them made my strange steak order possible. How you can muster up so much flavor in a steak that is blue is almost borderline impossible, yet this lass knows how to handle her meat and take direction completely flawlessly. My friend had suggested Texas de Brazil and I can say I loved this steak way more than anything I had there(actually the potatoes augratin was my favorite thing as Texas de Brazil but I digress). I wish I would have gotten her name, the lovely chef I feel like I know more personally after tasting her delightful food but Eli will know, definitely ask Eli. Exactly what I communicated to him about my most pleasurable steak experience is what they delivered so... To my fellow hard to please steak eaters, definitely try this specific outback. I don't know who else gets excited about a truly blue steak at least American wise but if they can handle a blue steak they can handle ANY steak. Communication is the key. Also, I have to mention the tucker take home suggestion by Eli, I was already tipsy and forgotten the hungry at home so I am thrilled at the end of the meal deal offer, be it marketing sure but also it reminded me of those I left out today and what a great deal too. Also I know we are lengthy here but I wanna point out the tomato halves on the salad. Cherry and grape tomatoes get firmer when they're going bad before they get mushy so often times if they are left whole you don't know that they're bad until you bite into them, and one way to always know their state of decomp is to slice them in half. It's a tiny detail I know but if I bite into a rotten tomato I'm done for the meal it's an awful flavor and this one tiny step made all the difference. Management kudos to you on knowing how to place people within the machine to make a...

So I am writing to share my less than high quality visit with this location. Let me start this off by saying this is on a Wednesday night with the restaurant maybe 40-50% full.

I walked into the restaurant and was never greeted. The person at the front with the hula hoop in her nose barely acknowledged my presence and did so only after the person in the red shirt ( a manager I presume) walked up.

They seated me in the bar area where once again my presence was not acknowledge by the server (unsure, maybe Chris) for approximately 8 mins. He looks rather busy and likely needs some help, likely due to poor managerial planning. There’s about 30 folks. I suspect the bartender is supposed to be helping but I overheard him claiming to be busy. Please. That dude has made maybe 20 drinks since I have been sitting here. Red shirt manager is social butterflying with “certain” customers and barely noticing others. Wow. Clearly, if she is setting the standard for the behaviors, then it’s understandable that my experience has been so poor.

Next, a party next to me who ordered after me seems to have gotten their drinks, salad, and bread before I did. This is the worst outback experience I have ever had. What’s worse is I am only ordering appetizers. 30 mins in and I still have no salad, cheese fries, or wings.

My level of anguish and disgust with this place is at a 10. This is simply ridiculous. Then only 2/3 of my order shows up. No salad. WTH. “Calgon, take me away!” Oh! Also didn’t initially have silverware either.

My salad just showed up 11 mins after my food. Wow! He tries to explain that this was due to the order he put the food in Right. He forgot and lied. I hate liars. We are grown. Accept that you messed up and just say that. The truth goes over much better.

I have allowed this poor service and inept people ruin my dining experience. I should have went to the one on the other side of town, but this one was closer. Now I know better.

What a waste. Whoever owns this place and whoever manages this place, do...