Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Plant City

I'll start with the fact that we enjoy outback quite often. First time at this one in Plant City. Building looked new from the outside and decor inside is tasteful. We arrived for lunch and were sat 7 tables away from any other table, and you guessed it, the one by the bathroom. Not a major issue as they keep the high chairs in that corner, and we needed one so they didn't have to carry it as far, but we all know, no one wants the table by the bathroom, especially when there are other options. Our server was pleasant, but simply talked us through his tablet prompts. After ordering drinks and a blooming onion, the drinks were brought out with some bread. He asked us as this point how everything was tasting... and their bread is good... but we don't have food yet. We ordered and continued chatting and coloring ( 3 kids). Our food was brought in record time, before the onion of course. But good news, since the onion took longer, they comped it off. Ironically they would have needed to comp it anyway as it was terrible. When our server checked back I asked for an extra side of bloom sauce. When he brought it, he asked if we wanted dessert. Shocked by the timing as we are just starting to eat lunch we declined, so he brought me the check. I've had two bites of our food, and dessert options are off the table. As far as food, the onion was soft, soggy, still clumps of the powder uncooked, inedible (it was left on the table). My wife's salad was borderline a soup as it had so much dressing on it. My burger was a burger but not anything you would crave to go back for and the side of veggies were undercooked, swimming in some melted butter water. I'm giving the food 2 stars as the bread is good, and the kids like their Mac n cheese. We spent more time driving than at the restaurant. Sitting back in the car seemed surreal as I felt like I just got out of it. I've never felt so rushed and unwanted in...

Ok, so most of the time my reviews have pictures of the food and they seem to get a great deal of attention, but this time my focus isn't the food but the service we received and the guy who gave it. The Food was as expected at one of the better locations Outback has in the southeast that I have visited, but the server Dee stood out as one of the best food related customer service experiences not only in a mid line chain restaurant, but even in the high-end dining experiences that we frequent in Major cities. Not only was he one of the friendliest out going servers in a while but he was on his A game with his craft. He was he attentive, outgoing, but also on top of every little detail of the experience. The Food came out and was served with extra butter, cinnamon sugar, sour cream, cheese ect even though we both forgot to ask. When we said thanks we forgot he said well "that's the way I expect it when I'm out so I've got you". Every time he walked by the table he looked over to check and without bothering us he would check for a nod with his thumbs up gesture and a big smile. I also overheard the table next to us talking about the experience they had almost written off outback at another location over and how Dee had turned them around on the chain as a whole, and the table on the other side of us were also commenting on his level of service. When we did engage in conversation with him he was extremely friendly and outgoing...Regardless of the good food I highly recommend anyone seeing this to ask for D to be their server. If this is his norm (and I have a feeling it is) He will make it a good night...

Super interesting visit. Showed up at 12:25 on a Saturday for lunch. Ordered our appetizer and drinks. Got our bread and gave our order. Manager came over and said our appetizer "fell apart" and they had to make it again. 8 minutes later our main meals came out. About 5 minutes later our appetizer came out. To make things worse our server ordered a wrong meal, so now they had to remake it. When that came out, it was wrong again. Beyond frustrating. Server was incredibly friendly but just wasn't good. Empty plates, empty bread cutting board and drinks sat the entire time. Didn't clear the table until we asked for the check. We watched her walk circles on the floor without doing anything, yet couldn't take our empty drinks when she brought the new ones. Like I said she was incredibly nice, but seemed beyond flustered. I don't know if they were down servers or kitchen staff or both but man was it a mess. Its been years since I've visited an Outback and probably won't be back. Manager was going around and apologizing for issues, but it didn't seem like they provided the proper training to create a better situation for the customers. Lunch for 4 of us took over an hour and a half. I can deal with time issues because of lack of staffing, but when everything else is a mess the problems are deeper than improper staffing. Would not visit this...