Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Orange

I called 75 minutes ahead to make a reservation for 5pm for 7 people. I even specified that there would be 4 adults and 3 children. When we arrived, the 2 people at the front desk looked like deer in headlights and couldn't figure out where to put us. After 15+ minutes, we were finally sat all the way in the back next to the restrooms. Our waitress didn't introduce herself (the receipt noted Jenna) and asked if we wanted a round of drinks. We had to ask her if we could put in the kids food to be done first, prior to the adults. Overall her demeanor was stand offish and brief with us. She only gave us 2 kids menus, so we had to ask for another. (Nothing like starting a riot with kids from the get go.) At about 5:50pm she still hadn't taken the adults' orders even after dropping off our drinks. The salad/soups came without issue and with it came the kids food which thankfully was hot. We were pleasantly surprised by a girl named Heather (wish she had been our waitress!) who was quick in getting us all silverware (we were only given 4, not 7 for the whole table.) Unfortunately the "fresh fruit" was a poorly cut apple (w/seeds & the core not cut out) & some of the grapes were squishy. Once our food did come out, my small steak was cooked medium but tasted like it was old/frozen. There was a gray layer on the top and bottom of the steak that I could scrape off and it tasted mealy and inedible. Our waitress never bothered to ask how our food was, so I couldn't even have it redone. She did come back roughly 25 minutes later to clear some plates. Despite having our credit cards out on the edge of the table (we're 2 families & we split the bill) - she came back 10 minutes later to clear more plates and finally ask if we needed the check - YES! Obviously! She brought the check over a few minutes later and didn't wish us a good night, but did thank us for coming in. As if this all wasn't frustrating enough, the ladies bathroom was a mess. There was no toilet paper in the stalls and someone put a stack of napkins in the bathroom which caused one stall to back up and be out of use. There was water all over the floor. I had hoped the manager would make his way over to our area so I could speak with him, but sadly he did not. With 3 kids in tow - it was just our goal to get the bill paid and leave. I have spent nearly a decade as a server and normally I'm a bit over critical, but everyone at the table agreed it was just poor service. The whole experience and some of the food was just unacceptable. I'm hoping she just had a bad night and we were unfortunate, but it certainly didn't seem the case.

Update from 1 star to 3: I did receive a phone call from both the house manager and the restaurant owner. They sent me a good chunk of money to come back and give them a second try. The service was still a little iffy, but by the end of the meal she seemed more relaxed with us and got better. I'm not sure if it's because I order the 6 oz steak (I don't eat large portions) but again the texture was off. However, everything else was perfectly edible. I certainly won't be adding this to my list of regular restaurants, but for a night out with friends and the kids, it's at least a...

Kelly was amazing! She remained attentive of my entire family’s needs, and made us feel extremely welcome & taken care of. From the moment she introduced herself to us as our server; all the way through our time ordering and eating, and even while we were heading out. She genuinely seemed to care about my family enjoying our time spent there, over all else ❤️ And although the food was a bit overpriced for the portions we received , we couldn’t have asked for better customer service from Kelly. Truly an amazing person, during days with so many not so amazing people. Honestly , I’ve never had a better waiter/waitress in life. My youngest daughter(who struggles with a learning disability & anxiety) even mentioned to my wife during the car ride home, that “mommy next time we go to dinner we should go back there because daddy didn’t have to yell for the waiter when he finished his drink. Not even one time” . LOL which she was indeed correct about.

I have to admit, I am very picky when I go out to eat. But there’s not 1 thing Kelly could have done better. And it’s so rare to get good customer service these days, that I had to write this review. We will most definitely be asking for Kelly next time we eat there. Entire family all left feeling full, happy, and ready for a nap.

For anyone in the area who’s looking for a reasonably affordable sit down family dinner , with good food, and better service… well, here’s the perfect spot. Definitely ask for Kelly. She’ll take care of you and have you feeling like the days of when the “customer comes first”. 5/5 service from Kelly. 4/5 Food from me, but my daughter said her chicken was “AWESOME” , so maybe a 4.5 Food. 5/5 environment and setting. And it’s in a nice convenient area, close to the highway. Thank you Kelly and Outback, for the...

I absolutely HATE giving bad reviews, but last night's experience made me have no choice. So to begin with, my wife and I chose the this Outback to celebrate our wedding ceremony. It was busy, which is to be expected... But our experience since being sat at a table was by far the WORST! To begin with, after being placed at our booth (my wife and 2 kids) were not acknowledged for 5 min. After we got our drinks, we ordered appetizers and some more bread & butter since we were hungry after a long day. We did get our appetizers after a few minutes, but our food was non-existent. My children ordered more bread and 3 MORE drinks. We were getting annoyed since it'd been 30 min since we placed our orders. 10 min after that, ONE of the sides to our dinners came out...and that was literally it!! No food...so service (other than refills of the kids' drinks and bread). Other parties came in aufter us and had their drinks, appetizer amd meals served to them before us. 25 min later we FINALLY received our food, but we were so annoyed and agitated that we opted to take it to go instead. My 10 yr old son ordered a sirloin steak medium well and got a rare steak. We abruptly told the waitress that his meat wasn't cooked and she took it back to "fire it up" and bring "extra french fries" as a courtesy. Not only was the steak not cooked, there were no "extra fries" (to which my son was disappointed about). To place insult above all else, when we got the receipt, my (39 yr old) wife was given a "vigin" drink because she was never asked what she really wanted nor carded. So when we confronted the waitress about the error, she commented that's what 'she wanted', apologized and said she'd be right back. She NEVER came back. So we left disappointed and disheartened that our wedding day had...