Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Stafford

I have been a customer of this place since they were in Sugar Land. The new location is bigger or at least it feels bigger. There is no question this place is understaffed. Let’s begin with the host. This is a hit or miss. Some time the guys are on their game, others you are wondering who hired them. I have been in this place several times so I will only comment on my last two visits. Arrived, hostess asked how many. My wife (MW)said 9. H are all 9 here? MW, yes. H ok it will be a few minutes. H asked MW you said 9? MW yes. H ok. Come w me. As we are walking H stops looked at MW and asked again are all 9 here. MW turned to the group behind her and showed the H, here they are. H ok follow me. We got to the table and the waiter was very nice. He definitely knew his job and the menu well. He made suggestions and had patience to deal with my 92 yr old dad. This time we came to celebrate my mother’s birthday. As the time passed the waiter offered desserts, took the order and never came back. After about 20 minutes waiting we couldn’t find the waiter. Someone in our party went to the back to look for someone as suddenly the entire dining floor was without servers. This was odd. After one of our party went to the back asking for the dessert a manager came to the table and informed us that our waiter had an emergency and left. Totally understandable and acceptable. What was not acceptable was the fact that if this mgr is on top of her game, she should have known that there were at least two tables that the guy was waiting on and she totally forgot to follow up or assigned someone else to these tables. She was not apologetic at all. It was more like it happened and just move on. Well I have been in the food service before and that is not how you treat your guests. As a mgr you are responsible for the operation of the entire restaurant. Good or bad it is the mgr’s responsibility. The fact that the waiter left is not his responsibility to find someone else to take care of his tables. If the mgr is on top of her game she should have come to the table, informed us that the waiter left and that someone else was going to help us. But she was clueless. She didn’t realize that there were more than one table waiting for a server. This manager need to be coached. Again I understand that many restaurants are under staffed but these were careless mistakes. Just pay attention to your floor instead of spending time on the back distracting the only few employees that were working.

The previous visit we called asking for a particular product as they don’t have it all the time. They acknowledge having the product. When we arrived they claimed that they only had one when we called. If only one was available they should have let us know. We were taking visitors from out of town there because one of our guest wanted that product. The amount of time waiting for a server was much longer than in the past. He came very apologetic for his delayed. We noticed that he was helping the bar so it was understandable. At least they showed up to work and were very friendly. Here I ordered a filet medium and came out well well done. I don’t like to send the food back as you never know what is going to happen. When the waiter realized that my meat was super overcooked, he took it back. I finished my side everyone finished their meals, we asked for second rounds of drinks and my filet was still not coming. One of our guest ordered dessert. She got her dessert and I got my filet (properly cooked) by the time my guest was finishing her dessert. Everyone joked about it, we made the best of it but the truth is this is no way of running a rest.

I will be back. I like the products, but for sure I will only go with my wife. It is not reliable to go there...

First time here. Never been to this chain.

The atmosphere is nice! It has this upscale vibe. Dim lighting with a modern look. The bar had 3 large TVs. They have high tables, regular tables, and lounge seats.

FOOD AND DRINK Old fashioned: 2/5 Ribeye steak and grilled shrimp: 3/5 Alice Springs Chicken: 3/5 Coconut shrimp: 3/5 Mashed potatoes: 3.5/5 Blue cheese pecan chopped salad: 4.5/5 Baked potato: 4/5 Chocolate thunder from down under: 2/5

The bread they serve was goooood! The best thing I had here. In-house butter that was super soft. The bread is soft and moist.

The person I was with ordered the old fashioned drink and didn't like it. It was definitely strong. Had too many bitters.

The coconut shrimp came with a very sweet Fruity dip. Maybe it's just me but I prefer a savory dip with coconut shrimp. The dip was too sweet for my liking. The shrimp itself was fresh and served very warm. Not crispy enough and lacked flavor. No salt or seasoning if you’re eating it by itself.

The second best thing I had was the blue cheese pecan salad. I would have preferred to pour the dressing myself. The salad was drenched in dressing hence my rating.

Alice Springs chicken was grilled chicken breast with bacon strips, mushrooms, and cheese on top. The breast wasn't dry at all. Quite juicy. Overall, the dish kind of had a lot going on. Better as a sandwich. Had a side of mashed potatoes with it.

The ribeye steak was cooked medium. It was moist and juicy. Bear in my mind, steak isn't really my thing and this wasn't my dish.

We ordered the chocolate thunder to go and it was ok. We didn't know we picked the wrong brownie dessert. The ice cream it came with seemed like it might have been homemade. The brownie was soft and moist but I hate nuts mixed into any dessert.

Service was very good. Our waiter checked in on us and gave us fresh bread to go. The bartender asked...

Two lady’s called me sweaty, hope that doesn’t mean what I think it means; I’ve been in Texas and have family around the southern, eastern and western hemisphere so yeahh I’m not so sure on what to think.

I will say, I went a little too casual; underdressed but they treated me right wished I could’ve tipped more but I was on a budget for my self. Had the Wednesday special, the steak was a bit under cooked, too rare, a bit charred but I didn’t mind, it was still good.

Next time I’ll send the steak back; jokes aside I think they have new staff and they’re still learning.

They have cable, the gentleman near me asked for the Rockets game, and they had it on for him. The game was alright but I had to leave before it finished. I appreciate him asking for the game, they also have golf showing, didn’t see footfall but I’m sure if you know the channel they will deliver if you ask nicely.

For the Wednesday special I had the stake, potato soup, darkened bread and salty-sweet-butter. I used the salty-sweet-butter for my steak and I don’t regret it. Te taste of the ‘steak and butter’ together was bitter-salty and sweet, but didn’t last long it was perfect in my opinion.

‘WALK-A-BOUT WEDNESDAY’

Now, the special is great if you’re on a budget, $15 didn’t do me wrong just note that if you get a beer it’ll be an extra $5 and not all beers are included. I recommend you get the fries, or mashed potatoes and the steak to have everything come in at the same time, otherwise you’ll have separate trips from the lady’s or gentleman working there, and, get a glass of wine, instead of beer, or just get water; the sprite is included in the price. Sit at the bar if you’re dinning alone.

If you’re taking a date, ask if she eats steak, if she says yes, let her know to order it fully cooked unless she knows her steak better than you. Or knows’...