Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Ocala

I went tonight on a Saturday, I know it gets busy in all restaurants, so I waited until after 7:30pm to arrive. There was wait time, no problem.. so I thought. I was told 30 minutes, it was more like an hour. When we were finally seated we had to wait over 15 minutes for a waitress to come over and take our drink order. Also by this time we noticed that everyone that arrived was being seated right away and getting drinks and service. We thought next time we come even later to get the same! But we had to wait another 10 minutes for the drinks, more for the refill while waiting for our food. I was still just rolling with this. But the food was the worst! I ordered a medium well steak, it was red and bloody in the middle I was disgusted. When done properly on an open flame a ribeye is delicious but mine was undercooked, lacked flavor and seasoning. I guess I expected too much for a steakhouse. Also, maybe it is only me, but I want a grilled steak to have grill marks and look like it. This one seemed to have been cooked on a flat surface or skillet… yuck! To make matters worse, our waitress did not come by to check on us until I had finished my side dishes, loaded mashed and veggies were delicious. Not impressed at all and the service was lack luster to say the least. If you know people that work there you get the royal treatment, food right out, server coming by to ask about their food and refills right away, seen that as well. I don’t recommend this place and like I mentioned before I was just chill and was rolling with the wait, but it...

06/13/2023, Tuesday : I was commuting from Jacksonville to Tampa where I live when my company truck I was driving suddenly broke down. Luckily the establishment that I had it towed to in Ocala was not too far away. After having an emotional and aggravating day this is the last thing I needed to happen not to mention still over two hours away from my house. When chatting to the garage regarding my company vehicles condition and if it was repairable, they gave me more bad news. I was told that it wasn’t anything that they could do for me today that I would have to come back tomorrow at some point when it could be fixed. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed an Outback. My mind at that point was already made up. I crossed the street to have some drinks and to digress. So I was greeted and seated by Joanie my server and her energy was exactly what I needed to help forget my ridiculously stressful day. Joanie you made my day, I didn’t realize a strangers kindness could impact me like it did. From making sure my order was correct, double checking my drinks were cold to physically helping me out by charging my phone so I could get an Uber to get back home. Your absolutely the best and I appreciate everything you did for me. I will go out of my way to visit this place again and will also recommend it to my company, friends and family. Joanie I can only imagine how hard your job can be but honestly you make it look...

I've been to Outback more times than I can count, but I've stopped going almost entirely, now on rare occasion, because of the service. Its almost always very poor, at least out of most the times I've went. (Majority at this one in a Plaza) Not the servers themselves, they're super sweet usually, but the time is different. It takes a really long time to get anyone to serve us and to check how our meals are, and the food takes almost 40 minutes to an hour to come out. So if something in our orders are incorrect, it takes an additional 20 minutes to get it fixed. It's really annoying especially when you're starving, waited long enough, and the meal isn't right so you can't even eat still. Don't get me wrong, the flavors are delicious, but my stomach is almost eating itself by the time I finally get my food and the food is relatively on the expensive side for somewhat small portions, so it's even more frustrating. I really do love their food it's delicious, sometimes pricey, but that service time is really starting to kill it for me. I'll still go though on those rare occasions if it's for a family dinner or not as timely/super hungry manner. And for the money I'm paying, I much rather go to Cheddars or something to get my money's worth. If you do go for those great flavors, just be prepared to be extra patient just in case you get one of those slow...