Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Newington

Of course, Outback is a chain restaurant. None should enter expecting a legitimate steakhouse. This isn't Ruth's Chris. Still, one should expect adequacy across the board, and the Newington Outback is not adequate. ATMOSPHERE. This Outback is adequate in every way and exceptional in none. I don't quite understand the association of Australia and steaks, but the couple of generic Australian mementos are at least not distracting. Bathrooms are clean. The waiting area is passable. SERVICE. Here is one area in which the restaurant is especially disappointing. Simply put, there seems to be no connection between the front-of-house and the kitchen. Orders are taken in a reasonably prompt fashion, but the timeliness of the order promises nothing from the kitchen. Our server complained that this is due to the fact that the restaurant takes so many take-out orders, which slows the kitchen's ability to serve the in-house patrons. Still, the vibe of the servers is a little like that of workers in a warehouse. Nobody seems to want to be at this Outback. Rather than offering to refresh the drinks of patrons - or even to check on them - the patrons are left alone for far too long. FOOD. What the heck is a blooming onion? I've seen so many commercials with these things that I really wanted to try one. And...it's just the worst-tasting onion ring I've ever had the displeasure to eat. Sorry for those who feel differently. With regard to my steak, I chose a porterhouse. Which was served at entirely the wrong temperature. Which wouldn't be so bothersome, but the wait staff is told to recite the meaning of each steak temperature with each order. I asked for rare, meaning a cool red center according to our waiter. What I received was a medium steak. More specifically, the strip steak portion of the porterhouse was medium, and the filet was somewhere between medium rare and medium. To be fair, the seasoning was good, and the steaks were decent. At these prices, nobody is getting prime meat. Again, this isn't a high-end steakhouse. After calling out the problem with the cooking, the manager offered to replace the stake or comp me. I chose the latter, because I was with my family, who did not wish to wait longer. Either way, this was a fair response by the staff. I probably chose poor sides. The house salad was perfectly adequate, but the mashed potatoes were pasty and unappetizing. I'll acknowledge the nice warmed brown bread served prior to the appetizer and the adequate beer selection. SUMMARY. This was not a good dining experience. I am confident that there are independently owned places that can provide better food with much better service at equivalent prices. There may even be chains that can do this. It seems that Outback could do better, but this would require much better...

Melbornes are half the thickness they used to be. Two halves one atop another would be right. It cooks faster that way, instead of waiting for the heat to get through 1 inch steak. Half an inch now for 36. Feel ripped off. Good Melbourne, but no leftovers like I used to take home. Big Business getting cheap & tricky like that WILL ruin the business. It was very bad when the rack of lamb was takin' away. And the Cab Sauce(Cabrenet) and used to use it for steaks and bread. Found a new favorite and getting cheap on me is not what you wanna do when paying bigger money. Even though I'm well off, I don't like being ripped off a penny. You steal a penny from me, and bad goes out for millions. Which will cost multi millions. As a millionaire I am careful with my money, and that's one major reason I am a millionaire. I don't care for free so much as free is usually connected to a scam, and in some way it's bad. Like free refills, yeah great, soda, you can't eat right with gassy drinks. And full of liquid you have to wait. I felt rush. Steak brought out way to soon. Didn't even let my soup cool, and I live it broiled brown on top of the mozzarella. That made my steak cold. I like to eat my salad first, and save the best for last. Lettuce became withered as I waited, no covers to put over to keep cold or warm and fly-less(a nat was bothering me) It didn't bite, I finally chased it off. Love Outback and always tip 20%+ depending on how good a waiter is. I don't expect someone to stand there and watch me. But, do I have to hold my hand up, or be ignored when I say something to somebody walking past. It's what they make tablets(small as a smartphone or as big as a tablet) and paper, to remember what you have to get and for what numbered table. I used to work in 5 restaurants. First one was a friend's family was opening a business. I learned a lot. Dark restaurant, and was meant to be, with candle light before fake candle lights. Safer of course.

I want these matter fixed, and the employees were good, but I also talk about past waiters.

I hope you can implement these promptly, and any question call ask ask for idea's 860-721-8353(ask for Mark, and I will get back to you. If messages are full on phone, it will not ring. Dial (860)543-2714 & leave a message and extention to reach you directly. I be glad to help a company be better and better.)

In Connecticut, bring back the Cab Sauce especially, and Rack of Lamb(The Outback Rack), especially in Newington, CT, and Manchester, and Southington in Connecticut are where I have been going for decades.

Please take...

What started out as a mediocre, late Friday afternoon lunch at our first visit to The Outback Steakhouse, turned into a very satisfying meal topped with hot fudge and whipped cream! A very pleasant young man, Tyler, greeted my husband and I at the door, showed us to our booth and gave us food and beverage menus. He quickly took our drink orders, came back moments later with them and after some friendly chatting, our orders for steaks and sides had been taken. When our meals arrived, we eagerly sliced into our steaks, only to find them overcooked. My husband and I rarely complain about a meal, and this time was no exception. Our waiter, however, was extremely perceptive, and when he came back to the table to ask how our meals were, although my husband said everything was good (I said nothing, since I had been taught that if you didn't have something good to say, it was best to say nothing at all) Tyler observed my steak, and my husband's, to be well done, rather than rare as requested. He said nothing to us and a few moments later, a friendly young lady who introduced herself to us as, Suzette, General Manager, and she apologized profusely about the over doneness of our steaks, offering to replace them some that were properly cooked. We declined, since we had eaten some of it anyhow and really didn't want to wait while another order was prepared. She again apologized (while we wondered if there was a hidden listening device at our table, since we hadn't complained out loud, except quietly to each other, about the cook on the steaks) and said she " had to do SOMETHING for us to make up for the mistake." We assured her it was fine, and went on with our meals. Tyler came over to our table and explained he had observed how well done our steaks were, when he had come by our table earlier, and that he had noticed the pieces I had cut were not done medium rare, as requested. The final result was that we enjoyed an unexpected, delicious dessert and coffee, on the house, as well as receiving a generous gift card to come back and try them again, compliments of Suzette the GM. We highly recommend this restaurant, as customer satisfaction is definitely a priority here... and who doesn't like to...