I've been asked by friends visiting if Outback Steakhouse is good...have you been, what's good/bad about going there?

Yes, I’ve been to Outback. Did I like it?
It was exactly as I expected.
Which is neither bad nor good.
I don’t think I’d tag it with culinary arts though.

Is this like a marketing survey for free? If so, it does not belong here. If not, revise your question and provide some context for why you are asking, please.

I really enjoyed the bloomin onion….love ribs no matter who prepares and the only thing that prevents me from enjoying the eating out experience is he portions are far too big…eegaads….i have been away from the states a loooooong time (i know outback is australian but i had the good fortune of trying it last year in the states) ...

[edited] Fair enough.
In which case, I really love the bloomin’ onion! Mmmm tasty!

I’ve been there only once. The food wasn’t bad rather good. I loved the Coconut Shrimp. Way better than the Coconut Shrimp that I had at Red Lobster.

Cooks: I think if I were Outback Steakhouse, I’d be offended that you just compared me (how ever favourably) to Red Lobster.

Outback has some decent food, and a kind of rowdy atmosphere. It is exactly what it seems like, a middle of the road, themed, chain restaurant.

Give me some Alice Springs Chicken and a Bloomin Onion, and I’m a happy woman!

i agree with augustian. but the opening act of a sort of chocolatey sweet bread and butter is tasty. i remember going to this restaurant in 1995 for the first time. it was a date with my would-be wife. if you know anything about what was hot in the 90s, something about anything “down under” was a rave or novelty. everybody wanted to have the “aussie” experience. we must have waited 90 minutes to get seated and served. my wife was not impressed.

I found the food a little on the salty side.

They have the best fries and I love the coconut shrimp!

It’s a good place to go for a quick bite during the week. Way better than Fridays, etc. I wouldn’t go for a special dinner though.

@Nimis. The last I knew, they were owned by the same company. That was about 5 yrs ago, though.
I do like the Alice Springs Chicken, but do not like to wait that long to get in- which I think is, (or was), usual. There aren’t any where I live now.

Grey: Oh! I never knew that.

@hasembajwa Thanks for revising the question. Welcome to the collective.

I have been to Outback many times. It is very good at what it sets out to do: provide a moderately priced steak that has reasonable quality. The servers and the ambience are fun (that charming Aussie hospitality vibe).

I love their blooming onion appetizer. I would (and have) eaten that sauce on almost anything. (I usually put it on my vegies and have put it on fish too.) The steaks come exactly as you ask for them (unlike some restaurants) and the servers are expert at explaining how rare medium rare medium etc. will turn out.

That said, it is not McCormick & Schmick’s or Ruth’s Chris. (Or any really upscale steakhouse.)

So, it’s a fun place for a casual meal and the quality is pretty uniform.

It’s nice and predictable and yes, the meat is cooked exactly the way they say it will be. Last year in Puerto Vallarta we got too tired to continue looking for a fancy place we’d heard about and just collapsed into the local branch. It was so comforting…..

I have dined there often, and never been disappointed.

If there’s one in your area, Longhorn Steakhouse serves a much better steak for about the same price. It’s no Ruth’s Chris, but for the price, I’ve found L.S. a lot tastier than Outback (though, as a Texan, I find the ambiance a bit on the insulting side).

If there is a Stuart Anderson’s place near you, that is also a great place to dine, and the prices are very reasonable, IMHO.

Food from the Outback is only this side of okay. I had chicken there that wasn’t cooked properly, it was still pink on the inside. The waitress actually had the nerve to tell me that it looked pink because of the lighting!!! There is nothing even remotely Aussie about The Outback restaurants. We were the only authentic Australian products there!! They can’t even spell bonza correctly. They have it on their menus as bonzer. Give me a break, no self-respecting Aussie would spell it that way, let alone pronounce it like that!!!

That actually begs a good follow up question: What is Australian about the Outback Steakhouse? Aussies, chime in. Americans… does it matter?

i like the outback. i like their steak, which is way better than charlie brown’s. i like the sweet potato with the steak. the bloomin onion for me is too greasy and filling, and would make me not hungry for the food. service is good, like someone said they describe accurately the food, and they are attentive, for example they bring free refills without being asked.

I suppose there’s as much Aussie about Outback as there is Texan about my aforementioned restaurant, or Mexican about Taco Bell.

I always thought that Taco Bell was the Mexico City phone company.

It’s a decent steakhouse, but everywhere I’ve ever lived there have been better non-chain restaurants. So if you’re in an unfamiliar city craving steak, it’s a reasonable choice; if you don’t live in the back of beyond, look around for a better steakhouse.

I have had their bloomin onion, steak, and salad. I haven’t been in quite a long time but they were very average. There are other places I like better like: Houston’s or Long Horn Steaks.

Houston’s…yum.

In our town, Outback is the only place left to have a decent prime rib. I also like their blue cheese dressing on their house salad, as well as the brown bread they serve as a starter. The hamburgers are good in a Chili’s kind of way. However, the servings are huge, so we usually order one entree and an empty plate, or we order a take-home box at the same time we order the food.

The primary thing Australian about Outback is simply that they have at least one boomerang up on the wall of every restaurant (tho’ I suspect it might say “Made in China” on the back). Otherwise, it is simply yet another of the box restaurant chains: decent but not great food, at an okay but slightly stiff price, where you don’t have to dress up, and almost every table can see at least one TV showing one of the many versions of ESPN.

It is not a place for vegetarians.

Being an Aussie, I can confirm as I said before, there is nothing Australian about the food, decor or service. They don’t even play aussie music. When I’m there I’m the only authentic aussie product in the place. As you said Darwin, those boomerangs aren’t likely from australia. If they are authentic, then they would be the only things in Outback that are.

I ate there once and never went back. You can get the same Bloomin Onion at Chili’s.
The steaks were much too seasoned for my taste. And if I remember correctly, it was expensive for what you got. I love a good steak, but like to taste the—steak—, not have it seasoned to death.

The Outback sometimes offers fresh halibut fillets. While other places can ruin it through overcooking, they cook it perfectly! All I’ve ever had there is their grilled fish – whatever they’re offering at the time, and I like the fact that I can have a salad, really great, simply prepared fish, and steamed vegetables while everyone else can order stuff I don’t generally eat.

Their Chocolate Thunder Down Under (HORRIBLE name that sounds more like a euphemism for dysentery than a dessert) is a pretty good take on a brownie a la mode.

But their Key Lime Pie isn’t.

darwin: you don’t like it? i thought it was decent. california pizza kitchen has a great key lime pie. ever go there?

Outback offers something at they call “Key Lime Pie” but it is NOT Key Lime Pie. It is a dairy-based citrusy concoction, but it ISN’T Key Lime Pie and won’t fool anyone who has ever had the real thing.

Red Lobster actually offers a decent and authentic Key Lime Pie.

We don’t have a California Kitchen in our town – I’ve never seen one even in San Antonio or Austin. Are they in Texas?

California Pizza Kitchen I’ve been to in NY, Washington DC and Boston. i think they’re in all states or most states, – not sure about texas.

Should The Outback have Kiwi lime pie, instead? Oh, wait…I guess kiwis are from New Zealand. Never mind.

@Darwin…I agree – what they serve is not a key lime pie!

There is one about 10 minutes from our house and we’ve been their three times in 6 years. That’s about how much our family likes it…it’s usually only when we have a gift card for Outback and that’s about the only reason we go. (however, there is a Bonefish Grill near and we use them there, now!)

The food isn’t bad, but it’s not great, either. I hate the atmosphere, though. It’s too loud, too crowded and I hate waiting 90mins for a table there – not when I can find something better for less time.

If I want a steak, we have too many good steak houses to waste the time going to Outback; however, if I want lunch – a salad, some of the bread and tea – Outback is just fine with me.

LOVE the filet, love the blooming onion.
but be careful how much of it you eat

Outback Steakhouse, as with most corporate-run chain restaurants, is glorified fast food.

That’s neither a condemnation nor an endorsement.

If you have any friends who are gluten intolerant (allergic to wheat and gluten) or celiac, Outback is one of only a few restaurants who offer a separate gluten-free menu. This is makes dinning out a far better experience for non-gluten eating folks!

My hubby is an Aussie and agrees there is nothing Australian about the food, except the random Aussie words they throw in. Like “Alice Springs Chicken,” or “Walkabout Pasta.” We do like the Ned Kelly “art” they have going though.

According to Men’s Health, they have the fattiest dish in the US—their cheese fries.

I went there once, because they are the only restaurant in town that offers prime rib. Waited in line for hours, finally got seated, finally got to give them my order, and they were out of prime rib! Grrrr! My disappointment was extreme enough that I don’t remember what I ordered instead or if it was any good.

If you like Steak it is a great place, but there isn’t much else for the non-steak lover. Great chain restaurant if you dig that sort of thing!