Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Opelika

I don’t usually write reviews; the only times that I do is when I have outstanding service or horrible service. Unfortunately, this is the latter. I will NEVER do the “to-go” “curbside”, whatever they call it, again. On Saturday, February 15th, I placed an order online because I knew it would take 20 minutes to get there from my house and we were taking it to my grandparents’ house to eat to celebrate me not having cancer and they are too elderly to get out much. Online it said our order would be ready by 3:44pm. We didn’t even get there until 3:50pm, so I was thinking we made good time since the order wasn’t confirmed to be ready. After a few minutes we still didn’t get an email saying the order was ready. My fiancé went inside to see if we needed to go in to get it or if someone would bring it out; since this was our first time using this service. He came back out after a few minutes and said that someone told him they would bring it out. Another 20 MINUTES go by with no communication whatsoever. I called the to-go line and no one picked up. Called the front, said they would check with the to-go person and then hung up. I waited a few more minutes, but by that point I was pretty upset. We had our kids in the car the whole time and our 2 yo started getting ill. I went inside and asked someone about my order. There were two people standing there and then they both walked away. I noticed a big bag sitting on the counter by the door (figuring it was ours). A girl came back and asked what I needed help with. I told her I needed to pick up the order for Anthony Marshall. She said she has been looking for apple juice and couldn’t find any. I told her that at this point to please just forget about the juice; I just needed our food. Sure enough, there it was, sitting on the counter for god knows how long. She reiterated that she was trying to find apple juice but our food had just come up. I told her to forget the apple juice because I have a screaming two year old in the car. Her attempt to apologize for the wait was just to say...”Well, we’ve been busy, so...” Yeah, I get that. It’s the Saturday after Valentine’s Day. Of course they are. But this is part of the reason we ordered ahead. However, there is NO EXCUSE for the complete lack of communication. There is a camera in there. Our van was visible right out the door and on the security camera. No one came to ask what we needed, or to say that they were sorry and were backed up on the order...NOTHING. Will never use this service again and it will be quite a while before I go back to the Outback in Opelika....

I visited your restaurant the other evening with my boyfriend, and I wanted to provide some feedback. First, I’d like to note that I am a frequent guest at this location, usually in the afternoons, and the service has consistently been excellent. For example, during one recent afternoon visit, there was only one server handling both the bar and tables, and she still provided outstanding service. Management and ownership were also present, checking on guests and assisting where needed. Those experiences are the standard I’ve come to expect here.

Unfortunately, our most recent evening visit was very different. Our server, Breyton W., seemed disengaged and unprofessional, and it appeared to be an issue with the entire night shift team. Some specific concerns include: • We were left ungreeted for quite some time, and I observed another table waiting over 10 minutes without being acknowledged until another server stepped in. • Our server’s phone was audibly going off with notifications during service, which came across as unprofessional. Phones should be silenced while serving. • Drink refills were not offered proactively, we had to ask each time. • When dropping off items such as to-go boxes or the check, he left immediately without confirming if we needed anything else. For example, our meal included dessert, but it was never offered, and we had to flag down another server to get our dessert after waiting 10 minutes. • Requests, such as asking for water, took around 10 minutes to be fulfilled. • Despite us having several to-go boxes, no bag was offered, and our server was unavailable to ask. • Throughout the evening, I overheard loud socializing and laughter from staff in the back, while multiple tables (including ours) were left unattended. At one point, there were no employees visible on the floor. I also noticed another table request a manager, and one of his other tables had to ask another server for assistance.

Overall, the level of service in the evening was far below what I’ve consistently experienced during afternoon visits. Based on my conversations with the owner previously, I know he is attentive to ensuring quality during daytime shifts, and I would encourage similar oversight during evening shifts, as the current standard seems to have slipped into a “hangout” atmosphere rather than professional service.

I’m sharing this feedback because I truly enjoy dining at this location and have had excellent experiences in the past. I hope this helps in addressing the inconsistencies between the day and...

The food was pretty good. The steak was just a little chewy, but everything else was great. Love the new blooming chicken. But the service was awful, she kept doing flybys and she only did it about three times the entire time we were there, that included when she finally brought the ticket and stood over my husband as he was filling it out and had to decide what to tip. I don't know when y'all decided that the waitress was going to stand right there as you signed the receipt and decided on the tip but that is poor decision making that you have to tip right in front of them. We sat there with glasses needing to be refilled. The other server who dropped the food off for us actually refilled the glasses, and that's the only time they got refilled. She was not friendly but not unfriendly. she just didn't seem to have time for us even though it was not busy. When we were set down she said we had just missed the rush a little bit ago. And I don't know if she was too caught up in that, to take care of her table. But she did not have time for us. We heard her talking disrespectfully to her other co-workers right near our table. I asked to keep the menu because I was going to order something additional, but she never came back by for me to place the order, so I ended up not doing so. Since we didn't have anything to drink with our food, we ended up just asking for a to-go box and taking it back with us. At one point she asked to see if we needed anything and when we answered she was literally walking by and never stopped to hear us and we had a blooming onion and didn't have any sauce to dip it in we had run out and was needing an extra cup of sauce and she didn't take the time to hear us to ever get it. Because she didn't stop when she asked, she just walked by, looked at us as walking, and kept going. She acted as if she was an upper level waitress, but how she got there, I do not know. My son has been a waiter for years when he was going through college and just cringed. I was so disappointed, what a...