Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in San Antonio

My boyfriend brought me here for dinner Friday evening. First time for the both of us. Very friendly staff and management. Our waiter was very apologetic for the broken down fountain drink station and extended wait on our food. That wasn't an issue for us. The atmosphere didn't have even a spark of Aussie other that the themed menu. The boring pop music and bland decor set the tone as we were seated. The 5-10 minute wait for a table was nice. The sweet tea was incredibly watered down. Not enough to fuss about. But what bothered us was something that really can't be fixed by management. Everything was cooked properly. Our medium rare steaks came out exactly that way. However, our issue is the quality of meat and flavor was below standard in our opinion. When I order a mouth watering ribeye, I don't expect a tough cut of meat full of grissle. A $30 ribeye at med rare should be tender with amazing flavor. It was tough and chewy. It seems a "general seasoning" blend is used for everything from the steaks, grilled shrimp, and their blooming onion (which was tasty but had the inedible outer layer of skin on it still). The seasoning wasn't bold or memorable. It was that zesty nothing taste. The grilled chicken was quite good though. That was tender and juicy. The brussel sprouts were also tasty but still had that same seasoning as everything else. All in all, for the price spent nearly equivalent to a nice dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse our steaks just didn't do it for us. Food quality. Tough meat. Not much on flavor. Not much on atmosphere. It's more like a Chilli's type quality food ingredients which should be priced accordingly. Wonderful staff though.. It...

It started with a craving for a Bloomin' Onion and a side salad. While devouring our meal, my colleague and I decided to take a chance and ask an unusual question. We work for a hospice and one of our patients has been requesting a filet mignon for several weeks now. We have mostly been joking about it, but today I decided to ask if we could order one for her to be picked up the next day. I explained our request to Payton, our waitress, who promptly relayed the request to her manager, Arthur, who promptly relayed the request to his boss *sorry, I did not get his name.

When Arthur returned to our table, he expressed that Outback would be happy to DONATE the meal for our patient, along with a few other 'goodies'. I was surprised and excited and did not know what would be waiting for me when I came to pick up her meal the next day! First, it was piping hot right on time! Second, the staff at Outback provided the requested meal, a personalized card that everyone signed, an honorary Outbacker of the Month cup, some pins, ice cream and toppings and a HUGE dessert platter for the staff at the personal care home where our patient resides.

When we delivered this meal, our patient was not expecting anything, and she was 'almost' speechless! What a precious outpouring of love and care for someone the staff at Outback will never meet. They far exceeded our expectations, and we are forever grateful. And our craving for a Bloomin' Onion and side salad has never better rewarded!

Many Many Many thanks to Outback Steakhouse, Payton, Arthur and unnamed boss on behalf of Cardinal Hospice of...

We reserved the banquet room for ~45 people so our family could get together the night before our wedding. It is great that there is a place large enough for a group like this, however that is where the positives really stop. We got there at 7pm and it was just shy of 8pm before we even got regular drink orders (not even including alcohol). I think everyone was ready to order apps and food before they even took our drink orders, and then we had to wait for them to serve those before they got the apps taken. Once it was finally time to order meals, many of us were told that they were out of a featured item. I completely understand being out of stuff, especially for a large group. But when it took over an hour just to take our orders, it would have been helpful to know in advance that a featured menu item was unavailable so we could have made a different choice.

All said and done, we were there for 3 hours, taking over 2 hours to get entrees. Family members came and apologized to me because they felt so bad about how things were going, and yet the staff never really acknowledged the situation. I've waited tables at similar establishments in the past so I can definitely give grace for slower service for a large party, but this was beyond what would be acceptable. A look in the main dining room showed the restaurant wasn't incredibly busy either. A number of family members actually left before getting entrees because it took so long.

All in all, the food was good and it was a good night with family. But I would not ever do a large event at this...