Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Virginia

Overall, this is a pretty good Outback. I have been to the Stafford, VA location multiple times. The consistency is mostly consistent, and the food is generally good. This time I got the 11 ounce sirloin steak, and it has been one of the best steaks I have had at Outback in a long time. The steak was flavorful, succulent, and cooked to a perfect medium rare. The Caesar salad was also made very well. I usually get a baked potato with it, but for the first time I got the mashed potatoes. I had them "loaded" much like the baked potato option because they looked pretty ordinary without it. No garlic mashed potatoes here. What I didn't like was this occurred at a $2.99 upcharge unbeknownst to me. The loaded baked potato does not have this upcharge. Maybe it said so in the menu, but how often do customers just order without checking the menu especially the sides. I won't fall for that mistake again. What I also didn't like was the appetizer, Grilled Shrimp on the Barbie. It really looked and tasted subpar. The whole concept is bad...grilled shrimp on a piece of bread...is just weird and doesn't taste right. It also looks very plain. The sauce is good though. But this order, in particular, was not prepared well. The shrimp, especially for being grilled, looked and tasted mushy. This appetizer did not appetize! Another issue, which is common to most Outbacks, especially the older ones, is the location of the restrooms. Outback refuses to have the men's and women's restaurant doors isolated from the customer tables. As the hostess was walking us to our table, I had flashbacks to an Outback in The Woodlands, Texas where I was seated right next to these doors. I walked out of that Outback before drinks could be served. It was horrible. Luckily, the hostess seated us at a table before we got too close to the restroom doors. I was far enough away not to get a whiff of the restrooms every time the door was opened, but I could still see the doors. I just believe the entrance doors to a restroom in a restaurant should be out of sight and mind while dining. Outback still has not learned this lesson. I thought about asking for another table, but I was curious if such a table would distract me from my dinning experience. It did, and I won't accept such a table ever again. Now for the very best part of my dining experience this time, my server, Travis W. I actually have had Travis as a server before, and he is exceptional. Very courteous, very friendly, and very attentive. This time was no exception. It is always a joy to have Travis as our server. So, my overall impression of this Outback is mostly good. A few issues here and there, never perfect, but at the same time nothing overly horrendous and mostly enjoyable. Definitely worth visiting if you are in the mood...

One year ago I posted this comment and gave this location five stars “Service is good, made to order.”

UPDATE 2/7/19: I have had several bad recent experiences with this location particularly regarding carry out and delivery. I think in order for this location to get better reviews they should concentrate on the quality of the food and consider discontinuing their delivery and curbside services until they can deliver quality food in a timely manner.

Tonight I specifically ordered the seasoned and seared prime rib with the additional shrimp topping along with other items for my family. Not only was the food delivered approximately nine minutes after the estimated delivery time but the order was incomplete and most of the food was cold except for the delicious clam chowder 😌.

No exaggeration but my son vomited due to his displeasure with the food Taste, temperature, and quality.

We called back and were placed on hold for approximately another eight minutes before speaking with someone who was very nice and amicable about either re-delivering the missed items or providing us with a better dining experience next time. In my experience with this location do not except the “better dining experience next time” because they will forget who you are and claim to have no knowledge of that promise.

Now after this experience I would have to suggest that patrons skip this location totally until they concentrate on the quality of the food and services and can deliver as they have promised.

Also I finally received the missing items from my order approximately one hour and 10 minutes after the total order was to be delivered; needless to say I do not want to eat my steak at this time because it was not prepared according to what I was expecting.

The last thing I would also warn all delivery patrons is to record the time that your food is being delivered. I observed that the delivery persons are not pressing the doorbell. This is because now most people have the RING which actually records when people ring your doorbell and I believe that the doorbell is not being rung so that patrons cannot hold the restaurant accountable.

Anyone who has read my other local post know that I contribute because I Believe that the better the businesses are the more attractive the community is to live in. I Hope this review encourages this location to improve their services so that I can re-edit the review back to five...

Probably best you sit down before reading this review. Granted, I’ve only had one experience with this Outback. It was bad enough for me to no longer support the company: terrible food, service, outrageous price.

My group was seated, followed by at least two other groups roughly 5-15 minutes after us. The groups placed after us were immediately seen, made their orders, and got their drinks, appetizers, and entrees all the while, my group had yet to be seen. We had to tell the hostess. We weren’t seen for another 15 minutes. We waited 45 minutes before being seen and an additional 45 minutes before we received our entrees. In that time frame, it took 20 minutes for us to receive our drinks. Two beers, Coke Zero, and a Rum/coke. Another 20 minutes for the appetizers ( which were good). The entrees, as eluded to earlier, were not great.

First off, they ran out of potatoes. How does a major chain in a first-world country run out of potatoes? That’s like saying you ran out of salad. Secondly, the side I subbed the potatoes with was rice. Easy win. Boy, was I wrong. If I were a betting man, they through a packet of Uncle Bens's into the microwave and called it a day. I appreciate the creativity; what I don’t appreciate is the execution at least put the rice on a cold plate. Thirdly, along with my pathetic excuse of a steak (I thought I was chewing on steak-flavored gum), I had grilled shrimp again, similar to the rice; the shrimp looked like the chief had a bag of Tyson Shrimp lying on the floor somewhere, and threw it in the microwave, dumped an entire bottle of seasoning on the shrimp. And to much surprise, the shrimp wasn’t good. I took one bite and immediately knew God had other plans for me.

To wrap this up. People go to these world-renowned establishments to decompress from a stressful day at work. Hang out with family, friends, and colleagues. Laughing here and there and being able to tie it all together with a nicely cooked juicy steak. The exact opposite happened. The service and the food made my day worse, and to add insult to injury, I had to pay $48 for a sub-mediocre meal. Perhaps, that night the stars aligned, and we were just victims of circumstances; however, that does not excuse the fact there was never an apology for the long wait times. Ultimately, the lesson learned here is if you have to wait more than 10 minutes before being seen, get up and leave. The prudent thing to do is to avoid this...