Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Roxbury Township

Let me tell you about a fall from grace.

Outback steakhouse in Ledgewood NJ has been my celebration haunt and favorite restaurant in general since at least 2006.

I’ve gone with my friends and family for nearly every event. There were even periods where I was going once per week for months at a time with my friends. I just love the food.

However, over the years the quality has been on the decline. It has become entirely too inconsistent for me to order things without taking that into consideration. That doesn’t only apply to the food either, but to the service.

Some nights I show up and our waiter or waitress is really on point. Other times the server disappears for very long periods of time leaving drink glasses empty for long enough for everyone to start noticing.

I try to take into account how busy a place is when these issues happen but it really doesn’t seem to matter. I’ve had great service during busy times and lousy service during slow times.

Then there is the food. I was able to say confidently at one time “I’ve never had a bad steak from Outback.” But no longer. Every time I order a steak I’m rolling the dice.

A few months ago they were running the 22oz Ribeye steak. I tired it and it was the best steak I ever had. The following week I had it again and my plate was filled of fat and gristle at the end that I spent an uncomfortably long time cutting away.

Ribs have suffered from the same treatment. Will they be fall off the bone delicious? Or tough and slightly foul tasting?

A week ago me and my friends stopped in. Service was exceptionally slow, steak was not good. Took us 2 hours from the time we sat down to when we left.

On the drive home we started to discuss how Outback just isn’t the awesome place it use to be and we really should start to look at it a bit more objectively. So it’s with a heavy heart that I say we will be abstaining from future...

Joined the waiting list via the app. Walked in and gave my name to the hostess. She said “20 minutes but since you called ahead, 10 minutes.” Odd. When our table was ready, the hostess said that they only had a table and a booth would be another 10 minutes. We agreed to the table. However, as we were looking over the menu, the empty booths all around us were suddenly being filled with guests. When our server came over and took our drink order, we asked for 3 simple sodas. It took a different person over 10 minutes to finally deliver them to the table. We thanked the woman who brought us the drinks and she didn’t say a word. Fast forward to our salads coming out. Same woman delivered the salads. We thanked her again and all we heard were crickets. When she brought out the entrees, all of us in our party said thank you at the same time to which she finally managed to mumble a “welcome.” On to the food. The mashed potatoes were so cold, stiff and un-creamy that it honestly looked like a scoop of ice cream. The baked potato was burnt and was hardly edible. The sweet potato had seen better days. Next, the steaks. All 3 plates had steaks but here is the kicker; the amount of dried blood on the plates was so unappetizing that it made them difficult to eat and enjoy. They were not rested enough or over-rested causing a very unappealing presentation to say the least. At this point, our waiter was no where to be found and we were fending for ourselves. When he finally appeared, I just asked for a refill on my soda. I think he must have walked to ShopRite and back to get it because thats what I could have certainly done in the amount of time it took for him to bring it. All in all, the experience was dreadful. We should have gone...

Outback was always one of my favorite places to stop for lunch with my husband and Son, it’s no longer that way. Last Friday when we stopped in for lunch, it was decently busy. My server Dani started off great. I told her not to worry about us as much because I did realize she was busy. Our first problem was our wing appetizer took 20 minutes to get to the table. Like we knew, they were busy so we ignored it. When it was time for the food to come out, I noticed my filet was extremely over cooked. I tried to grab my server, and she said she would be back… 10 minutes passed, I made a joke and said you’re very busy! I’m sorry to bother you but can I please have a new steak remade? This one is WAY past medium rare. She then took my plate, rolled her eyes then went back to the kitchen. I was in awe… we were trying to be as patient as possible. When my steak returned, it was slightly better. The time I got my steak, my son & husband were already finished. When she asked if the new filet was better, I shook my head. I went to help her stack the plates and she said, “she’s got it,” and rolled her eyes. I then proceeded to pick up our plates, then wiped the sweat off her head at the table… I couldn’t believe how unsanitary & gross that was! It’s one thing for your filet to get messed up, but to get hit with your servers sweat is another! Ew! My family felt like an inconvenience to their staff, & I am not returning to...