Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Tyler

Picked up my order to go. Only 2nd time eating here in over 20 years. Food was alright, I ordered door dash pickup because we wanted a steak & I drove over 40 miles to get it. My chief complaint is there is no clear signs for where to pick up orders or "curb side". I parked directly in front of the restaurant & called inside to check if the order was ready before going in to get it. The girl was very polite and checked on the order. When she returned to the phone and said it was ready I told her I would come in to get it. She said they would bring it out & quickly got off the phone before I could tell her what I was driving. So I just figured I would wait until sometime came out with an order and flag them down, as I was parked directly in front of the main entrance facing the doors. After about 15 min & quite a few people coming out I went inside & advised the hostess I was picking up an order. She directed me toward the back to speak to the curb side staff. My order was ready and on the counter, and had been ready since I called inside... and was getting cold. I told the young man that I had called in and I was parked in front, that's when he advised me that pickup was on the North side and pointed to the empty parking spots right outside his door. All that to say... #1 My phone number was on the ticket because of the way I placed the order - they could have called me back after a few minutes of my call when they didn't see my car. #2 The staff should have confirmed on the phone, when I called to check on the status of the order, that I was in the correct location. Treat each customer as if this is their 1st time to pick up an order - as this was mine. #3 Place some signs directing people where to park for pickup orders. It isn't obvious & a first timer doesn't automatically know where to park. #4 Be a little proactive... If a customer has called to say they are there to pick up an order and you don't see anyone parked in the designated area for pickup orders, or the order is still sitting there 15 min after they have called to advise they are there for that order, maybe go looking for them or call them back. All in all the food was good, the order was accurate. Those most important details are SO very important, especially when someone drives from Rusk to Tyler to pick up a steak dinner & spends $86 on the meal, probably $20 in gas, making it over a $100 expense for the evening. Thank you, I hope the staff sees this and possibly makes some procedural...

I saw a tiktok of someone ordering a few items off of Outback’s new holiday menu and I thought they looked pretty good. Especially the bloomin fried shrimp. I’m also a sucker for anything with chimichurri.

I grabbed my wife and 2 of my boys (the other was at work) and we heading on over to Outback Steakhouse. We were politely greeted as we walked in and quickly shown to a table. Our waitress came by shortly after and took our drink order, as well as our appetizers.

A few minutes went by and they brought our drinks out and some bread and butter. Unfortunately the bread wasn’t even remotely warm, but we still ate it.

A few more minutes went by and she brought out the bloomin fried shrimp and the 3 cheese steak dip. The shrimp were honestly sooooo good, especially dipped in their signature bloom sauce. The steak dip was also really good. We all enjoyed it.

Maybe 5 minutes or so went by and they brought out the rest of the food. I couldn’t help but laugh on the inside when they sat my steak down😂. I understand that the food that’s brought out won’t always look exactly like what you see on the menu or even the commercials. Unfortunately, mine wasn’t even close. Prior to eating there, I watched a few different tiktoks of people ordering the chimichurri steak and theirs actually looked like (pictured below) what you see on the menu, so I don’t really feel like my complaint isn’t warranted at all. I also asked for the bloomin carrot crunch to be left off, seeing as I’m not a fan of carrots.

I asked the gentleman who dropped the food off to bring a manager by whenever he had a chance.

The manager stopped by the table and asked if they could either remake it or remove it from the ticket. I chose to have it removed. The filet itself was rather tough, so I really didn’t want to take a chance of it happening again. She was very kind and quick to resolve the issue. They also forgot to take off the onions and tomatoes from my wife’s wedge salad. Although my wife picked them off, they still were nice enough and made her a new one without us even asking.

My twins steaks came out perfectly cooked and very tender.

I’d go back for the shrimp without a doubt and I highly recommend everyone trying them as well. The waitress and the manager were all very polite and they honestly made the experience suck a...

I feel like Outback, at least this one in Tyler, must be struggling. We went last night (Friday) and there was no wait - the dining area was mostly empty. The busiest part was the bar area, which was maybe at 1/3-1/2 capacity.

Nonetheless, we were seated directly in the center of two of the only occupied tables in the dining area, and one of the parties was very loud and obnoxious. Not the restaurant's fault necessarily, but I would have loved to sit... anywhere else in the mostly-empty restaurant. They've also somewhat remodeled since the last time we were there, but I honestly think it was better before. 3/5 atmosphere.

Our server was fine - not super personable but she may have had a long day. She WAS quick and efficient, so I did try to leave a good tip. 4/5 stars for her. The host seated us quickly of course, but I didn't like where he chose to seat us. I'm sure we were clustered together to make it easier on the server, but maybe give at least a single table of "buffer" between the couple on a date (my wife was all gussied up, we did look like we were on a date) and the table loudly-braying donkeys. 3/5 for the host. He was a nice young man though.

The food was pretty disappointing. We got steaks topped with garlic butter and grilled onions, and the onions needed to be cooked longer - they were a little too raw and crunchy. My wife likes chewing on hockey pucks (well-done), and hers was more like medium-well. She did soldier through it though. I got mine medium and it did come out cooked right in terms of pinkness, but it was a cheap cut of meat, made entirely out of fat, gristle, and boot leather. Very chewy, had to rest my jaw after every couple of bites. And the flavor was okay at best. Had it been a steak from IHOP or something like that (a place that also offers steak, not one that specializes in it) I would've been fine with it, but for a "steakhouse" and a $100 check, I expect more. The bread was as good as ever though. 3/5 stars for the food - better than a $10 fast food meal... but not 10x better.

Overall, good staff/service. Atmosphere meh, food meh.

I hope they manage to turn it around, as Outback is historically one of our favorite date places. Lots of...