Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Palm Coast

I have to tell the whole little story about this one because it is a good one!

So I called this particular location because it is a Friday night and I am sure they are super busy! I spoke to a gentleman (if he gave me his name I didn’t catch it) and told him we were just about 10 minutes away and wondered if there was a wait and if so how long and could we get on a waitlist if we needed too! He told me currently there was not a wait and that he would go ahead and get us a table ready! We arrived at the restaurant in about 5-7 minutes. I sent the kids in ahead of me as I was finishing a phone call before I went in! When I did go in I was greeted by either Trish or Rosie (taller girl was first then shorter girl came up)! When I walked in the kids (15,16,17,&22) were at the host station and I proceeded to tell the taller girl that I had just called and spoke with someone and he said he was preparing our table for us? She gave me a look like I asked her to seat us and treat us like we were something special! Then the shorter girl walked up and asked what was going on, I repeated the short story to her. She looks through a couple things on the computer asks my name and says I don’t see anything so it will be 10-15 minutes! This would not have been a problem at all! However, once we stepped aside from the stand they both looked at my group, whispering something about how busy they were and both laughed out loud! Mind you I do have obviously gay children and honestly felt the two young ladies were laughing at my kids and the way we all looked not that we asked about a phone call! Mind you the manager was never called? When I asked who the guy was I spoken to and if it could have been a manager? The shorter girl tells me it probably was but it would still be 10-15 minutes! Again the wait was NOT a big deal I mean we are on vacation on a Friday night so honestly I was shocked when he said he would have our table ready! So after these two VERY disrespectful young ladies laughed at my family! While they seated several other people in a 10 minute time span, I called Bob Evans right around the corner to see if they had a wait and they said they would have a table ready for us and they DID when we arrived!!!! So I tell the young ladies both

I guess the moral of the story and why I am making this post is, I cannot believe that people are allowed to work in a public setting and be the face of a business, the first person you see when you walk in, and these two young ladies Trish and Rosie are allowed to represent such a good company! It is truly a shame, that I am having to explain to my kids that sometimes people are just rude and mean!

I did call back while we were sitting at our table eating at Bob Evans and got both the young ladies names and ask what the managers name was as well! Scott, you should really have a better handle on your restaurant! I get it these two NEVER involved you. But if it was you I spoke to then did you even mention our phone call? Did you get the tables ready? Did you do anything to follow up? Are you going to follow up on this review?

I can tell you this is what I do for a living, show businesses where they are missing some things and what they can do better! This company is a well known company, however sometimes companies get too big to care about the most important person in their company! THE...

My husband, my daughter and I ate at Outback last night. We love Outback and have visited several times but last night was horrible. Keeping in mind that it is "Christmas time' but it was not really that busy, plus we got there at 7 pm, it did not take us hardly any time to be seated and there was only 2 family sitting in the waiting room when we got there. Our waiter was a male and just seemed so spacy! He kept forgetting to get anything. When he first got to the table, his tablet would not work, he said he needed to go get another tablet, well we understood that, but it literally took him almost 30 minutes to come back to the table without drinks or anything, we sat there! Any time we asked for anything, we would have to stop somebody else to come and bring us whatever we had asked him to do, including drinks, 20 minutes before that. The food was very subpar and we were so unhappy! It took so long to get just a loaf of bread and when they brought it, it was cold! The butter would not melt on it! It did not taste like it usually does either. Our blooming onion, which cost $10, was so SMALL that we all looked at each other when they sat it on the table. There was literally a gap in it like somebody took a chunk out of it and ate it before it came to the table, but it was just a little onion that should have never left the kitchen, it didnt even cover the plate!.The blooming onions used to be so big, juicy and delicious! This blooming onion was so small and dried up and I almost returned it except for I couldn't get our waiter to stop by the table and it was not hot, it was just barely warm. Our steak's were not good at all and kind of dry to be honest. We had the prime rib and ordered them medium rare but they were medium well. I ordered the garlic butter on mine and my daughter wanted au ju instead of horseradish. They didn't bring either. Of course, we could not find our waiter to get either of these things and had to stop a lady to even get them. The steaks were barely warm at all. But I didn't dare send it back. The drink glasses were empty most of the time and we would again have to stop someone walking by to get a drink. The inside of this restaurant in Palm Coast is getting so run down and really needs to be remodel. The waiter never took a dish from our table unless we asked him to. When we left, we all still had our steak plates and bread plates piled up on the table. It was ridiculous! Obviously our check was over a $100. And when you spend that kind of money at a restaurant. You expect amazing service and food! I have had better food and service at McDonald's unfortunately! I have had much better food and service here before...

I ordered the 6oz steak (grilled to perfection!), Loaded Potato, 'half & half' tea (refillable, no extra charge).

My friend ordered a delish French Onion soup (next time!), 6oz steak, salad, straight tea with little, yellow Eco packets of dextrose & sucralose.

We shared two, small but really good Pumpernickel loaves with salted, whipped butter (I'm hoping it was real butter bc Margarine makes me ill!)... plus, one 'Chocolate Thunder', of which I ate only 1/4 bc I am not that big a fan of chocolate & my friend seemed to love this dessert.

This was my first & only meal of the day, yet after eating the potato, drinking one tea, plus eating 1/4 of the dessert, I couldn't eat more & had to bring the steak home!

Big screen TVs, full bar 🍸, thunder & lightning outside, not over-crowded inside, made Outback a great choice this afternoon to meetup with an old friend from out of town! And the manager, Timur, stopped by the tables, greeting folks with pleasantries, making a genuine effort to help everyone feel 'at home'.

Unfortunately, for me... I started throwing up 2.75 hrs after leaving Outback; 4 hrs later, I was still throwing up.

When I called the manager, Timur, to let him know I had become ill within a short time after leaving Outback, instead of offering to make it right, Comp the meal, issue a gift card... he made excuses & refused to consider any compensatory action. Food poisoning is no joke; I 'Thank God' I rarely suffer that 'gut-wretching' experience.

UPDATE: I reached out to my friend with whom I dined to see if she also became ill & she did not. But, then again, her body seems able to tolerate much more than my own. During that discussion, we were able to narrow the potential cause of my becoming ill to be the amount &/or type of oil of the Loaded Potato 🥔 that didn't mix well... at least, for me.

So, to be fair as a Reviewer... I've upped the rating, despite Timur's dismissive response. The one caveat I can offer: if you have an intolerance for oily food or margarine, stick to steak, soup, salad, bread & a beverage... all seemed great! And, maybe, even a Margarita to top it off, if those are served. I'll have to check, next...