Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Springfield

I went in tonight around 7:10 pm for a birthday dinner as they advertised the AYCE shrimp and steak dinners and I thought I would splurge. Hadn't been to the new Outback since they moved and was surprised how much room there was inside but also how few patrons there were.

Was seated right away and watched how five minutes later two men were seated at the table next to me and immediately were served and a drink order taken while the waiter walked away like I was chopped liver...

However, a couple minutes later a different waiter came out and I placed my order, the biggest fillet with baked potato (lots of butter and sour cream), a salad with no onions and honey mustard AND a glass of water with lemon. Let him decide on which of the two types of shrimp but informed him I was going to get both and bring LOTS OF BUTTER.

He brought the bread and water (without lemon) maybe five or so minutes later. Then the salad another 10-15 minutes later. Now in the past I had loved the Outback salads but the croutons were hard as rocks and it was much smaller than I recall.

Now the wait(s) began.

Finished the salad but took my time after slicing the bread and buttering them. Did I say that I had also asked for extra butter but had not received it. The two guys next to me had their food and we're finished before I even received my meal.

Finally the plate came out with a different server but no shrimp. Speaking of shrimp, here I got the largest fillet but it was bigger than the dwarf baked potato!!! And, it only had sour cream, unless what little butter it had been initially provided had evaporated. Asked for more butter...again.

Now I don't normally get a fillet (I still did NOT have my shrimp) and this one looked dry and overcooked. Luckily, it was between medium-rare and medium but I wanted it more towards rare - as I requested. And, it had been seasoned with a spice that left a burning sensation AND AMAZINGLY there was absolutely NO JUICES coming out of the fillet. None. Nada.

Finally the shrimp arrived, all six or seven burnt, puny ones. I would have been embarrassed to serve that when I worked at Ponderosa in the 70's...if they had offered shrimp.

Had to ask another waiter for water as he refilled the two guys next to me and gave them their check. I saw lots of staff but for what ever reason(s) I, along with a new table of patrons, were having to wait. My second choice for shrimp arrived and looked like they had thrown bait shrimp onto the platter after seasoning them and grilling?

I had finished the crispy chunks earlier as I was pacing myself on the steak due to its spiciness and lack of butter for the potato, for they ALL required WATER to compensate.

I could go on but you all should get the gist of my experience(s). Had to once again ask for water refill that took another five minutes. Three times for additional butter. The steak was dry. The crisp shrimp cremated. The garlic shrimp dry. Potato the size of a seed potato. But the inside of the restaurant was very nice! No one other than my server talked to me, asked me how I was doing, etc.!!!

Yes, I was offered a free desert for my birthday and that took nearly 15 minutes to retrieve from the back. Fifteen minutes...

See the picture below but it doesn't do that mess Justice and I took the picture immediately upon exiting the Outback in Springfield, Illinois.

This whole experience took more than two hours!!!

Happy...

If I could leave nothing I would...went out for father's day. Had a party of 7 for a reservation at 630. At 5:55 we received a text stating table was ready. Staying across town at the time this worried us because we wouldn't get there until almost 630 as we were just leaving. We get there and they aren't busy, no surprise. We were sat immediately with our table set up minus silverware (we only had 2). After about 10 minutes the server told us she would be right with us as she "had to take care of a table who had been waiting almost an hour for food" That should've been my sign to leave but we figured it was just last bit of dinner rush that put them behind gave them the shadow of doubt. After another ten minutes she returns to get drink order. At this point we knew everything we wanted however she quickly walked away after taking drink order. Then a different ?server? Brought back drinks 10 minutes later without 2 bar drinks. So after 30minutes we finally have drinks and we flag down our waitress and try to order apps and food she let us order apps and walked away. My husband added on a blood mary to go with our drinks that we still hadn't gotten and she seemed irritated we added it. The blackberry sangria was brought out after apps were consumed. And still no straw/kiwi rita in sight. She comes to take rest of order and I ask about my 'Rita and she said she'll go check. Then about 10 MORE I finally got my drink at this point it had 45mins... then just to make.things worse food came out cold, undercooked, overcooked, and dry from being in windows depending on what was ordered AND WE NEVER RECEIVED MORE SILVERWARE!!! we asked the expo for silverware and she never returned. Our server didn't come back to check on us after food was delivered to get anything corrected or give us silverware. Having 4 steaks at the table this was hard to enjoy.without utensils. The blood Mary never did come and we told them to forget it server said "I understand I'd cancel it too all day we've had problems with the bartender picking and choosing which drinks she wants to make and it Makin it hard on us servers" This left the father at the table not even getting his drink on father's day. The whole place was not viking. Management was walked around but that's about it. So many issues at every table he couldn't handle them all. Sounds like a retrain for the whole staff would be required to ever make a come back from how poor the...

The cooks in the kitchen are completely untrained. They use automated grills and rely solely on the technology. They do not know how to cook or check meat for temperature.

The management admitted to selling different sized steaks depending on temperature. Mind you, for the same cost.

I received an 8 oz Victoria filet. It was 3 inches thick. It was brought out purple and raw when ordered mid-rare/mid. Another steak was brought out to replace the mistake. The new steak was 2/3 smaller than the original. That is when management admitted to selling smaller steaks for warmer temps. I was told this is due to the automated grill! Unbelievable! They tried to serve me a medallion at the same cost as a full 8 oz center cut filet.

The automated grills also do not cook their bone-in ribeye correctly at all. The fat around the bone could not render properly because of the automated steak press not actuall touching the meat because the bone was thicker than the muscle. The steak was tough as shoe leather! A ribeye ordered medium should never ever come out tough!

We ordered 2x seared tuna apps. They were brought out completely smothered in their proprietary sauce. The tuna was swimming in it. It was also served without Wasabi. This was a travesty to anyone who enjoys tuna. 2 people at our table do not eat sauce on their tuna. They prefer to actually taste the fish. So, they did not get to enjoy the app at all.

The servers rely on runners to take out their food and whoever the back of house manager is, either has no clue how to expedite and ensure quality control or simply refuses to care about the food or their job. There was a complete communication breakdown between the front of house and the back of house.

The management knows the automated grills are a terrible idea and had stated that he has had several complaints since their inception. We also had to hear complaints from wait staff and kitchen staff. The customer isn't supposed to be hearing complaints from the staff, let alone have the staff complain directly to them.

The Outback is now the McDonalds of steakhouses. We will never return as long as there aren't cooks who actually cook. We will adamantly tell others to stay far away until the Outback gets rid of automated grills and hires competent staff, including...