Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Shelton

This place is startlingly authentic to Australia. When I first walked into this Outback Steakhouse I had to ask Denora, my chiropractor, to pinch me and see if I was dreaming. Once I was able to look out the window and confirm I was still in Connecticut, only then was I able to refocus on why I came to Outback. To convince my chiropractor, Denora, to forgive my debts to her by buying her a really nice lunch. I won't say how much money I owe Denora but I will say this: I don't go to the chiropractor a lot, but I definitely go to the chiropractor more than the average person. Once we were seated we both started looking over the menu and I saw Denora's eyes get really big. I looked down at my own menu and I immediately understood Denora's reaction. "Bloomin' Onion, Grilled Shrimp on the Barbie, Aussie-tizers" immediately I transcended to Australia in a very convincing way. Only when I ran to the front door of the restaurant to once again reassure myself I was in Connecticut. When I returned to the table Denora immediately greeted me with a big hug and a gracious "Thank you!" I asked what she meant in a cautious way. "For taking me on this amazing trip to Australia! You knew I wanted to go to an authentic Australian steakhouse so you took me to one. You remembered me telling you that the only way I could sit still on a plane that long was to take sleeping pills." I sat in bewilderment. I had looked out the window to confirm my whereabouts, Denora hadn't. I immediately knew what I had to do, I needed to ask the staff to cover all the windows of this location in order to preserve the feel. I spread the word amongst fellow patrons to talk in accents as if to portray the "locals." Part way into lunch it was all going well. Denora didn't know what was happening and I started to realize that my very modest (I don't go a lot) debt to Denora was paid in full. The staff really sold the whole thing and the chef even came out to sing men at work. Denora cried at one point and started whispering "I think I really needed this." All around I had definitely paid off Denora, how could she disagree? At the end of the lunch I convinced her some tums I had were sleeping pills and we left the restaurant. Once in the car, she released me of all my debts. Thank you,...

Went for a birthday celebration of a friend. Reservations were not needed but they put us down so when we did arrive, we'd be first seated at that time if need be. We had a great table with room for all 9 of us. We strolled in one by one over about 30mins, but our waitress, Rickey, was wonderful despite having a large volume of tables on a Friday night. The area we were in was pretty full of customers but we could still hold conversation at our table. Our drinks were good, the onion blossom great and we all shared one. The bread was nice and warm. Everyone was happy with their meals and most took some home. They even accommodate those with special requests, like no mushroom. There are bags hanging on every booth for take home containers. There are none at the big tables like we were at, but you just grab from the what is at a nearby booth (our just ask). A few of us even stuck around for quite a bit, to chat - and ordered a couple more drinks. Also, there were 9 of us and they were able to give us each separate bills. Something a lot of places won't do. So that is a huge positive! I'm a pescatarian, and mostly a vegetarian, but there were quite a few options on the menu for me. However, i opted for the blue cheese chopped salad. There was nothing else spectacular on the menu for me, I don't really eat pasta and I can make salmon and broccoli at home. But the salad was really good. It was sweet. There was mixed reviews of it by others that had it, but I really enjoyed it. I could easily have eaten a double order of it. They dang their happy birthday sing for our girl and brought out the cake we bought with plates and spoons. The waitress even took our group picture. Overall I had a great time. It was a nice choice.

Other notes: ample parking in the well lighted lot. Clean, spacious bathroom with baby change area. Roomy waiting area. And a great sized...

My family of three went for dinner midweek. It was empty, only a handful of tables were occupied. Our server was just fine, was patient with us taking a bit long to order, as some had never been to Outback. We shared an app, I had a fantastic glass of wine. One of us didn't like our unsweetened tea, they were great about offering an alternative with no charge. Meal 1: 8oz steak, med-well, with fries. Meal 2: burger, medium, with fries. Meal 3: 11oz steak, med-rare, veg and baked potato. Burger was ok, meal 3's steak and potato were fine. When meal 1's steak was brought out, it was black, charred. Upon slicing into it, it was clear this steak was cooked 'black and blue', charred outside and nearly raw inside. Since the cook, chef?, brought it out, he saw our reaction and offered to fix it. (He also reached over my plate, about 2 cm away from putting his sleeve into it twice. Yuck) He disappeared with the food for nearly 15 minutes. Upon return, the steak had juices pooled on top, the middle was brown, including on the small slice I had taken out. I believe he put it into the microwave to cook the center, because it was too burnt to return to the skillet or grill. I believe it took so long bc he needed to allow it to cool, as microwaves make food hot as lava. He should have been able to handle his error honestly. We haven't gone out in a while. This was awful food, too expensive. Our bill was 84.00 for two of the cheapest steaks, a burger, one glass of wine, an iced tea, coke and one app. 105 w tip. The waitstaff were were nice; cook/chef was dishonest with poor manners. This was the first time in about 20 yrs that I have been to Outback. As I recall, I didn't enjoy it back then either. Skip. Skip. Skip! Probably do better at...