Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Virginia

Phenomenal.... After trying to figure out where to eat from multiple restaurant choices -- high-end restaurants to fast food I thought about the Outback. It hadn't come to mind because it had been 5+ years since I'd been there -- no particular reason why I hadn't. BEST DECISION EVER. As soon as I entered the door Forest (bartender) walked over to greet me and to take me to my seat which I was pleased to see as i was walking the restaurant was spotless and the music was at a nice level and appropriate for the setting. As I sat down I was immediately greeted by Troy G. He was extremely professional, gracious and knowledgeable of the menu providing me answers and suggestions related to my questions. I waited less than 2-3 minutes for Troy to reappear with my complimentary loaf of bread and glass of water and within a couple minutes later with my Peach Bellini (new on the menu) nicely garnished with fresh mint. Then within minutes Troy came with my meal. Everything was hot and absolutely delicious and fresh -- from the Alice Spring Chicken and Shrimp on the Barbie to the mixed fresh vegetables. After receiving my drink Forest smiled and asked how was it and throughout my meal Troy checked on me. May I add the price of the entire meal was more than reasonable. Everything was so great I would have been remissed not to ask Troy G. to speak to the manager and in a blink of an eye Delante (kitchen manager as well assist in the front) showed up. Once again I was met with professionalism kindness and a great deal of enthusiasm and knowledge of the overall establishment. He spoke to me about their yearly goal to make $5 million dollars. (I am sure I'll be helping them achieve that goal. I plan to bring my family the next time we go out to eat.) While talking to him he even cleverly acknowledged his supervisor Ray while giving him credit for their success and wanting to do the same as he continues his career. I didn't ask to speak to Ray because he was busy at the bar. I did immediately notice he was dressed professionally and was clean shaven. In all of the changes in the food industry it can be extremely difficult to find such excellent service when visiting a brick and mortar restaurant because of understaffing and the high demand for pick up and curbside orders -- well today I did. Hats off to the Outback team at the Patrick Henry area store on Jefferson Avenue, Newport News! [Thank you Delante for the free Bloomin Onion coupon during my...

Update: We went back as a group. Had a waitress who was still in training. She was very good.

We waited 25 minutes to get a table, despite many tables being open. We expected a wait, so this is not a complaint. I am guessing their staff was low. We sat at the table for 15 minutes before the waiter greeted us. We were ready to order, but he just took our drink order and blooming onion. In 15 minutes, our Blooming Onion was out, but no drinks, silverware or promised bread. Another 10 minutes and the drinks came, but they were wrong. When the waiter came back we asked for our correct drinks and silverware. The drinks again came wrong, but we just accepted them at this point. We werent given refills for over an hour when we requested them from another waitress. That was the only time we got a refill. I finally went to the hostess and explained we had been their almost an hour by then and no silverware and she asked our tables it could be sent to us. But eventually she just gave us silverware. At this point, we are starved. When the waiter finally took our order, his tablet died, so we ordered twice. No big deal. When the food finally came out it was cold. My steak was overcooked. My kids' steaks were undercooked. But my wife's steak was just right. Other than being cold, the food was decent. I ended with dessert. I got the new chocolate-peanut butter Tim Tam dessert. It was decently good. It was very thick and felt drier than most similar desserts. But it was just my first experience with it. I would recommend ice cream with it. While it was good, the chocolate thunder would be my most recommended dessert. I asked for a box at the end. I waited over 25 minutes for a box that never came. Our waiter never came back and constantly checked if we had left, but didn't look long enough for us to get his attention. Our waiter gave another table a box who asked after us. Eventually we asked another waiter for a box. He agreed, but never came back. Finally, my wife tracked down someone near the kitchen and got a box right there. We noticed during the experience that other tables that sat after us and were gone long before us. Despite being forgetful and slow, our waiter was very friendly. While we did not have a good waiter, I am guessing issues at this location go deeper than 1 person. The whole experience from start to finish was just...

Ordered our $52.99 (including tip) in food from this Outback via Curbside Take-Away at 6:21 pm with a pickup time of 6:40 pm. We got there at 6:40 and parked in the specific Curbside parking. We then waited in these parking spaces until 7 pm (they seemed to be pretty busy).

At this time, I went inside the Curbside room and waited for someone to assist me in locating my order. I waited until 7:10 pm and then went to the hostess in the dining area to speak with a manager about locating my order. She pointed me back to the Curbside room to wait for the manager there. At 7:15 pm a manager showed up, she was very nice, but had no idea where my order was, as she wasn't specifically working the Curbside area. At 7:20 pm she came back and told me that they burnt the cheese fries and were waiting for more, which is why it took so long (not sure how accurate this was because it said the order would be ready at 6:40).

The manager provided me with my order at 7:23 pm (over an hour after ordering). When I got back to my house (5 minutes down the road, if that), my entire order was cold. I opened my "Bloomin Burger" ($13.98 because I added bacon) and found a piece of paper stuck to the side of my burger. I looked at the paper in more detail and it was part of a cook receipt (what the cooks look at to know what to make). I threw this burger out, without taking a single bite out of it.

Overall, this restaurant shouldn't offer Curbside Take-Away during peak times. They absolutely cannot keep up with the demand. They should also follow-up with customers who have had issues and reported it to management. The food quality on this visit was poor; and the service provided to customers was extremely poor. I'm also still waiting on a follow-up call from Outback (called them on Nov 10th and they said they would contact me...