Outback Steakhouse

Had a great experience here. We did a call ahead, and we had 9 of us. Our waiter was wonderful. I got a filet and some got other types of steaks and the lobster. Everything was cooked perfectly. They went out of their way to make us feel comfortable and important. I had not been here in a while. I recommend this to anyone. Just make sure you call ahead.

Our experience here was a bit conflicted. The hosting staff was absolutely incompetent. (Well, the young guy holding the door was kind at least. One lady we didn’t interact with at all.). The two men «hosting» couldn’t quite manage to figure out what they were doing. After multiple groups with the same number of guests who came AFTER us were seated BEFORE us, we were about to just leave and take our business elsewhere.
Thankfully we didn’t though because our dining experience with Courtney was great. She was always very kind, polite, and attentive. Our drinks were always full and she made it a point to check in on us throughout our meal, which was great considering we could see how busy she was. When she was seated with a large group she made it a point to refill our drinks and check on us before taking their food orders. The other servers who ran our food out were also very kind and attentive.
Clearly the hosts tonight were incapable… hopefully if we come back it’s not when they’re working! However, at least it seems that the wait staff has it figured out! 0 stars for the guys hosting and 5+ for the wait staff.

I came to visit from California with my family. We got seated next to these African American girls that were mad because they’re food wasn’t cooked right so they were giving the waiter and manager a hard time. After the manager started serving us and we thought she was upset over the incident that had occurred. After a while she was being very blah to us. The food was great but she shouldn’t take it out on other people. If this isn’t what you can deal with you shouldn’t work in the food industry.

Oh Outback. Maybe people have moved on from dining at Outback. However, I was given a gift card, so I made the journey. I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised. The soup, salad, steak and dessert is a great deal. It’s more food than the body can handle. =) French onion soup was amazing. Caesar salad was very nice. Steak was cooked perfectly medium rare. Carrot cake to finish it off. Sadly couldn’t finish the dessert portion.

Horrible food and very expensive! Use to eat all the time! Won’t again!!! Could not even cook a hamburger well done! Was rare!

1÷16÷2016 7:30pm
Having worked in the service industry in one fashion or another in the past twenty-​eight years, I have become accustomed to tipping at least something no matter what. I can count on one hand how many times I have been disappointed to the point of not tipping. My wife on the other hand rarely tips more than more than five percent. Our visit Saturday night resulted in an hour and forty-​two minute waste of time with the waiter receiving no tip on a fifty dollar and ten cent bill.
Being Saturday night, I realize that we would have to wait a short time due to how busy the restaurant was at the time. A thirty minute wait time was actually forty-​two minutes, we were finally seated and handed menus. Almost ten minutes later, we had our waiter arrive, he did not introduce himself, and proceeded to ask what we would like to drink. Sensing that we probably would not be seeing our waiter anytime soon, we ordered our food with our drinks. We received our drinks, bread and salads but had to ask for silverware to eat our salads. Add in asking for refills on our drinks and bread while we waited for our entrees.
Not happy.
Finally got our entrees, my wife’s hamburger was super greasy to the point that the bun and the toppings were falling out and her fries needed salt. As for my porterhouse steak and baked potato, the filet side of the steak was so tender but the strip steak part of it was as tough as shoe leather. The waiter did not even ask if I would like some type of steak sauce.
After one hour and forty-​two minutes, I used a gift card that we had received at Christmas and paid the balance without leaving a tip for the first time in a handful of years. Probably will never go back unless we receive a gift card again. Will make sure to tell our family to get us a gift card to the Texas Roadhouse next time.

The service here was great! I went for lunch on a Sunday and they serve their lunch menu on the weekends too. A lot of places do not do that. I had the endless soup and salad. The potato soup is fabulous! I mentioned that I would like to take some for my lunch tomorrow and my server said he would get me some. Because it is endless after all. He also packed the cheese and bacon bits in separate containers. That was great! Love this place.

We were in Champaign on business Thursday evening and went to Outback for supper. The hostess was able to seat us right away and even moved us to a different table because there was a very large group beside us with several small children. The server we got was GREAT! Sorry I don’t remember her name, but we were sitting in a booth in the bar area. My husband ordered the small filet, medium-​rare to medium, and it was perfect. His side was the baked sweet potato. He asked for brown sugar only, no butter because he’s lactose intolerant. The little cup holding the brown sugar has a big ball of butter right on top, but he was able to take it off and the brown sugar was fine. I ordered the grilled salmon with steamed veggies and it was perfect. I like that choice better than the Firecracker salmon with mango salsa. It was cooked correctly and not overdone. We don’t always have great success with restaurants in the Champaign/​Urbana area, but Outback was great.

I’m from Chicago and needed a place where I could get some lobster and shrimp and I was very happy with the service as well as the food by the way they had endless shrimp!
I had been stopped by a train and I still received excellent service and I’m glad I came!
Matt the manager and Mike our hospitable server, made our dinner a memorable experience, thanks!

Very disappointed with the call ahead seating that doesn’t put you in the queue until you check in at the door. Called at 11am for 1:30 seating. When arrived told the wait would be 40 minutes because several large parties were waiting ahead of us. A table large enough to seat our party set empty for almost 30 minutes. We were ultimately set at that table and the manager told me when we were seated that he still had 4 minutes on the time they told us when we checked in at the door. As if that was supposed to appease me. NOT! The prime rib advertised on the «Mums Day» special was not available until after 3pm. No napkins or silverware after finally getting seated.

I like Outback but their service sucks. Made online reservations at 6:50 got seated at 7:40 at 8:10 food arrived.

We used to live going to the outback for an outback special. Well after last night we won’t be going back soon. The ceasar salad was drenched in dressing and the steak was initially way undercooked for a medium as was my wife’s. The second steak had no taste and just did not do justice to what once was an outstanding restaurant. It’s a real shame to see how downhill things have gone.

Well, my boyfriend and his two teenage children went to Outback last weekend, at about 7:30 on a Saturday. We had a brief wait and we were then seated but received no menus. The waitress (who informed us it was only her second week and she was really busy) then came to take our drink order without menus. It took her THREE trips to bring 4 drinks. and forgot straws. finally I had to ask a hotess for a darn straw after waiting 15 minutes. Finally, she came and took our order. we had an app and ordered salads and soup. The app came about 20 minutes later. we deperately needed refills and plates! NOTHING CAME! Again, we asked a hostess. The manger at this point was walking around. talking to people and then proceeded to talk to the FOUR hostess standing around. Then, a half hour to 45 minutes later. the soup and salads arive. STONE COLD SOUP and no dressing on the salad– we ate it anyway. Then the entrees come out and she informs us she messed up my order, didnt tell me but chose to subsitute it for something I did NOT order without bringing it to my attention first. Well, the subsituted food was cold. VERY cold. She incorrectly wrote down the tempatures of mine and my boyfriends steak and didnt even break us steak sauce after we asked TWICE– again, we went to a hostess. About this time, we were 90 minutes into the meal and have gotten refills once (via the hostess) and the food was not only terrible and incorrect but cold. We left around 9:30. no manager ever came to talk to us and NOBODY helped this girl on his first week. it wasnt even that busy but she was sinking and we were just left in the corner to fend for ourselves. My boyfriend NEVER complains and he was visably upset and we couldnt get out of there fast enough. We will probably NEVER go into the resturant again. Its no wonder its never very busy and doesnt get recent or decent reviews– its hidden away at the end of North Prospect for a reason– nobody wants to go there and get bad service and even worse food.

We attempted to have dinner at Outback. Attempted is the operative word. We went in and were seated immediately. The restaurant, though slightly busy, was by no means full or overly crowded. We sat for 15 minutes until a server asked us if we’d been helped. We still had menus and no water, of course we hadn’t been helped. She then proceeded to try and sell us alcoholic beverages and offered to get us water while she looked for the person who should be waiting on us. The clincher was when we saw another table, seated 10 minutes after us, get helped immediately. We walked out and as we did the manager asked us how our meal was. We told her we never got served and were leaving. She offered to pay for our meal but by that time we both had a bad taste in our mouth and declined. Dinner across the street at Oishi was terrific.

We went last night, 7÷7÷12. We don’t usually frequent chain restaurants, but we had a gift certificate. We went early to beat the rush and were immediately sat. The hostess was friendly and out waitress greeted us warmly. The service wasn’t bad, honestly.
For an appetizer we ordered the Awesome Blossom, the big onion. It was awful. Very disappointing. I had been years ago and I remember them being awesome. I was bummed. It seemed like the onion still had skin on it and many of the onion petals were only thin skin, not bites of onion. It was really bad. I barely ate any. Luckily, the salads followed quickly and they were good.
I got the small sirloin with sweet potato fries. My husband got a bigger sirloin and a baked potato. The steaks were cooked perfectly, mine was a perfect medium and my husband’s was a perfect med. rare. However… the steaks had no flavor. I had to ask for A-​1 and I don’t even really like the stuff. Another disappointment. The potatoes were fine though.
I had some blackberry cocktail and that was super awesome. Sweet cocktails aren’t usually my thing, but it looked awesome on the menu and tasted just as great. My husband asked for a draft beer (forget which one exactly) and he got a bottle. He wasn’t thrilled about that, but he was happy about the cold mug that came with it.
Overall, the food isn’t enough to bring me back, but at least the service was good.

Went here on a Thursday night at 8pm and it was very slow and we had a coupon for a free steak dinner. The manager introduced herself and sat us at a table around a few other people. My GF and I were very hungry, and about 10 – 15 min went by and no waiter came to greet us. Very frustrated by this, and seeing this as a bad sign of the service to come. we just ended up walking out and going across the street to our goto restaurant. Chilli’s, where I’ve never had bad service and the food is good.
To add to the insult, the manager and hostess that opened the door both saw us walk out and thanked us for coming in and to come back and see them soon. I’m pretty sure we were about the last couple to walk in. it was pretty funny how bad the service is.

Inevitably I end up here when a family member wishes to have a steak. Unfortunately, the cooks cannot for some reason cook a steak to proper temp. It only takes a thermocouple that most cooks have in their kitchen (instant reads only take 2 – 3 seconds to measure proper internal temp). So, I’ve given up expecting my steak to be cooked to perfection– it won’t be.
Went back tonight upon request, and I was shocked at just how salty everything was. And, let me tell you, I’m a salt fiend– especially sea-​salt. [Others look at me with disgust as I lick the deer salt-​lick– ok, mostly joking here, but I love salt.] But, salt and syrup on my sweet potato fries? A bit much. Salt all over my burger? and the bun? it’s a bit much.
For the price, I’d say there are better places in town for a better steak. At least the manager won’t argue with you that you are incorrect on the steak cooking. [Seriously, someone buy these guys an instant read thermometer…]
[and it appears the upset stomach around 8 hours later is yet another feature of my visits — this happened last time as well]

Not too shabby. I went with some gift cards, and lowered expectations (chains usually underwhelm this local food partisan) to soften the blow, but in the end I was pretty happy. The martinis could have been bigger, but my lobster was better than expected. The lady’s steak, a ‘victoria filet’, was perfect. The standout was the rare tuna app. Prices were high for what you get, and the ambiance and location sucked, but service was friendly and skilled.
Probably my favorite thing about dining at corporate chain hell restaurants is their renaming of standard dishes/​drinks in line with the chain’s theme. Outback’s Bellini is called the ‘Wallaby Darned’. Flair.

I like supporting local businesses, but sometimes I just want a cheap and delicious corporate steak. Of the family-​style chains in town, Outback Steakhouse is probably my favorite. I’m a big fan of the $ 10 6-​oz. steak meal, which is the right portion for me. Ironically, the dish I love the most here is one of their specialty side salads (the one with candied pecans and bleu cheese).
Below, I’ve detailed some complaints, but these problems are rare incidents. I’m usually very satisfied with my visits.
While I’ve mostly had good steaks here, the quality of cooking kind of varies (especially on busy nights). For example, on a crowded Saturday night, my friends and I all got our steaks cooked to different degrees, though everyone ordered their meat medium-​rare. Lesson: avoid popular nights and go for quieter weekdays, if you can.
Before our meals arrive, my friends always want to share a Blooming Onion, Outback’s delightfully salty snack that has proven deadly to one’s cardiac health (no, seriously, there are always news stories about America’s fatal attraction to the Blooming Onion). Because of its popularity, the cooks usually keep an onion in the fryer (especially during dinner rush hour), so sometimes we get it within 30 seconds of placing our order. Most of the onion is tasty, but 50% of the time, we receive an onion that is still partially raw… no fun.
On one occasion, my friends and I ordered a few alcoholic beverages. I bought a peach-​flavored cocktail and my friends all got 22-​oz. beers (Sam Adams, I believe). I openly admit that I am a lightweight (I usually get drunk off a 16-​oz. beer), but I felt nothing from my cocktail, even on an empty stomach. While I can understand the low alcoholic content of my girly drink, none of my friends got even slightly buzzed off their sizable beers. Weird… and kind of unfortunate considering the $ 5 price on most drinks.

Since our little sisters had never eaten at Outback and I have some fond memories of Outback in Seattle, LA, and Vegas, we took the two little ones here.
However, the steaks were mediocre at best and dessert was probably its only saving grace. At least, the Chocolate Thunder from Down Under was welll worth it. It was this still warm chocolate brownie (maybe microwaved to be warm?) with a HUGE scoop of vanilla ice cream on top (see picture).