Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Somerville

The worst service I’ve experienced EVER.

Starting from the phone call for the reservation, the person in the front received the call and was so quite, not speaking, or asking questions or interacting in the conversation and I had to talk my self and guide her and ask her if she needed any other info.

Once we arrived, no one greeted us, we had to stand waiting there for a while. After a while, the same lady from the reservation call came with a very rude and lazy attitude, and didn’t made eye contact, and we had to wait around 10 min although the place was empty and we made a reservation.

The server was judging us with what we order, and the steak came overcooked from what we ask. When we asked for a sauce we could put on the steak, she looked at us like she didn’t understand what we’re talking about, and brought us random sauce.

The server came to check in with us for the first time after we were almost done with the meal, and we didn’t have chance to tell her about the over cooked meat.

I was so frustrated and I asked to talk with the manager, and the manager was not giving a attention at all, didn’t want to hear us, and just said he will do something good and walked away. Felt like he just tried to run away from any issues and get away with it asap.

We waited for another 15 min after we talk with the manager (by this time we were done with the meal), and nothing happened, no one came, and we had to call them twice until they came.

They gave only 30% discount, and when I said that wasn’t fare, the manager asked “so what do you want us to do?” And we felt very uncomfortable.

We wanted to bring back our food which we couldn’t finished, but before we were able to ask, the server took away all our food and we were disgusted with her attitude.

Outback is my favorite restaurant since I was a child, and I have so many great memories. Back in my home country Japan, the food and the service were always amazing and I expected the same and was very excited to come back to outback here in the states, but I am so disappointed and sad at the same time as much as I was excited to come back. I felt I was very unwelcome, and I was ready to bring bunch of my friends but I will never come back to this specific chain ever.

I really hope the manager changes, and the restaurant will...

Strange and all of a sudden, I had a craving for Outback. I had not been in years and the nostalgia must have kicked in, so I hoofed it to Assembly Row to check out this Outback.

This Outback is easily accessible via car or via Orange Line. It's location is prime realty so it was easy to get here. I sat at the bar around 4PM and it was dead. There was heavy snow so I didn't expect much of a turnout, anyway. However, the place was fully staffed and it seemed there should be no problem having a quick experience.

Well, there was only one bartender on, which I assume is pretty much usual at that time of day, but considering it was slow most people were at the bar. The bartender was a frantic mess, taking 5-10 minutes between visits with me. After ordering a drink, it was another 5 minutes to get it, another 5 to be asked about a food order. Meanwhile, he was running back and forth between storage while 5 servers stood at the drink pass chatting with seemingly nothing to do.

Normally I am not too strict about service but I worked for a restaurant and always knew the ins and outs of what makes a good service, especially in slow periods of the day. When my food came out, I had no silverware, no napkin, and no way to flag down the bartender as he was gone again. It was only frustrating given that there were so many employees standing around.

Fortunately, Outback is decently priced. A Bloody Mary here was $7.50, easily over $10 anywhere else in the city. The food was great. The Blue Cheese Wedge Salad and Porterhouse were simply perfect. This was the redeeming factor here. I asked for a rare steak and received it perfectly, which is usually a good test for how good a kitchen is.

The only unfortunate part is that the service was disoriented and it seemed like no one was overseeing things the right way. Even though it's slow, it should be no problem to ensure a quick and efficient service for a guest while not having to hustle too much. This just doesn't make it worth the trip unless I was there for some...

My wife and I were celebrating our 15 year anniversary. She LOVES Outbak and because they've closed locations in our area it's not often we go. So we got a hotel in Boston and took our Uber over and we're sat almost immediately at a high top table by the bar. The manager on duty seemed to spend lots of time chatting up so.e regulars at the bar, and I one point I actually had to get up and move my seat over to the other end of the table. I wear hearing aids and all I could hear while trying to have a conversation with my wife, was the entire conversation at the bar the manager was having. My only issue with that was while he was "greeting guests", but mostly his friends, there didn't seem to be any eyes on the kitchen. I ordered a full rack of ribs, I only ate 2 ribs because the amount of salt was as if they spilled a container directly on it. My wife tried a single bite and had to literally rinse her mouth, not the quality ribs I'm used to there. My wife ordered her dish and specifically said "no mushrooms" her chicken came swimming in mushrooms. We ended up sharing her small piece of steak because our server was non existint and the manager was too busy talking about what time he got out and what local bars /spots hes been too. All the while the table next to us was in the process of sending back three plates of burgers that had an issue as well. Apparently the kitchen could have used some eyes in the expo area checking food quality. All said and done we spent exactly 100.00 and left HIGHLY disappointed to say the least. The only reason I didn't leave hungry was at least we had cheese fries and bread, not exactly a meal of celebration, but it took away my hunger. Also disappointed that the server could clearly tell that my untouched potato and a full rack of ribs still on a plate and I didn't want to take them to go because we told her they were way too salty, no care given....just an .....OK have...