Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in National City

Status Update #2

Well, shut my mouth! The ownership group's promise of gift cards came by FedEx yesterday, along with a nice letter. I will be raising the score I gave for the service from three to four out of 5 stars, and my overall experience star from 2 out of 5 stars to a 3 out of 5 stars. My wife and I will be going back to Outback again, although I am not sure if it will be the same one!

Status Update #1

I am happy to announce that my wife and I were contacted by the ownership group who apologized for our experience and have invited us to return after they've had a chance to speak to the staff. Because of how this has been handled, I will be raising the score I gave for the service from two to three out of 5 stars. I'll start off with the service. It was adequate but not memorable. The atmosphere was dingy, and the food was trash! Specifically, both the Bloomin' Onion and the Bloomin' Shrimp were super greasy. It was as if the batter and grease used desperately needed to be changed yesterday. The porterhouse I ordered was a huge disappointment. The seasoning was so bland that I asked for the A-1 Steak Sauce. On top of the fact that the lobster did not taste fresh, it was extremely dry as well. Lemon juice and butter were no help at all. Finally, about 25% of the plate of Bloomin' Shrimp was burnt crumbs, which I did point out to the staffer who brought out the food. And while he was kind enough to comp us one of the appetizers, it wasn't enough to take the bad taste out of my mouth on this one. The total for me, my wife & our youngest son came out to almost $150, which included 2 appetizers, 3 entries with 3 side orders, 2 premium non-refillable kiwi-strawberry drinks, as well as one Sprite. The discount for one entree brought the total down to about $137. Add in an 18% tip (yeah, ikr‽), and we basically burned $164 just to find out that the management team & cooks and dishwashers of the National City Outback Steakhouse need to be taken 'out back' to the woodshed for some re-training. Oh, did I forget to mention the food that was on my wife's drinking glass? My bad. Lol, and after re-reading this to my wife, she told me that the 'Strawberry Salad' that she ordered was also...

I went to grab an early dinner today. Asked for a table for two. The restaurant was mostly empty except for people seated at tables near the bar. The very young hostess peered over the wall into the bar area and said, “it’ll be about twenty minutes.” So we left because it just seemed disrespectful and silly not to at least seat us. From my perspective, it’s really crazy to not greet, smile at and seat people if the restaurant isn’t busy. By the time you give them menus, seat them and they look over the menu, it’s usually about ten minutes anyway. If the servers are still busy, the hostess could have brought us a basket of rolls, got us some waters and said, “your server will be right with you.” There were no other customers waiting to be seated. The restaurant was like 95% empty! I was planning to spend easily over $100. I really wouldn’t have minded waiting at my table for my server. As a former hostess, I would have taken drink orders if the waiters were busy, even go get the drinks, serve them and apologize for the wait. I might strike up conversation, exchange pleasantries. I often had repeat customers at the restaurants I worked in. The waiters I worked with always appreciated my hosting cause they got better tips when I worked. Anywhoo, we went to the Texas Rodehouse instead (for the first time). They were slammed, but everyone was hustling and working together. Everyone was super pleasant and caring. Btw, they had a line out the door. They told us it would be 10-20 minutes but seated us in five. We decided to wait because there had to be reason people were lining up to eat there! The steak was excellent. We were in and out in under an hour. It was a thoroughly pleasant experience! We will definitely go back. We love eating at Outback but this restaurant needs to train their staff better. I’m sure the waiter would have like the 20+% tip I always leave. It’s great to have an...

UPDATE Mother's Day dinner, not so much (although server was awesome). Blooming Onion was oily and not to our liking. "Mom's Aussie-style prime rib (sliced then seared to order) was tender, delicious, and cooked the way she likes it but the loaded baked potato was bland and flavorless despite the butter, cheese, bacon and sour cream they put upon it and the Caesar salad was just okay (too much of the mayonnaisey dressing). My sirloin was over-done ("You can over-cook it but you can't undercook it!"). My Potato was similarly bland. Prices have to increased to the point that it is no longer a budget option, and there are other local restaurants with better fare at lower prices. Bottom Line: done with this place for a (long?) while.

ORIGINAL REVIEW Overall, a very good dining experience in a chain restaurant that exceeded my expectations.

Another great dining experience at Outback! My adult son and I set out for dinner on a busy Friday night at peak dining hour with no reservations and the place was packed. The staff quickly found us a booth and the servers were fast, efficient and friendly. Both the prime rib and the ribeye were superb--properly prepared and seared to perfection. Dinner was preceded by oven-fresh bread and a delicious Caesar salad. My ribeye was fork-tender and accompanied by a remarkably flavorful baked potato (I ate it first before trying my steak!). Remarkably flavorful! Despite being seated in the bar area, we were able to have casual conversation and enjoy Game 1 of the World Series on one of several big screen TVs. Although we had no cocktails, I noted that the pours for other customers...