Outback Steakhouse

There’s usually about a 40% chance your food will be correct. If you are with a party of four there is only a 6% chance everyone’s meal is correct. Not a mathematical paradox., Just a fact of eating at this mismanaged outback. Two stars is more than appropriate rating for this outback. Poorly trained staff often results in a poor dining experience. If you like frustrating dining experiences you will enjoy this out back steak house.

It hurts me to give Outback Steakhouse a bad review because I love this chain. Other locations have been fabulous, I enjoy their food and drinks very much. However, this location has to improve their customer service skills. Server was awful, I felt very rushed placing my order. She brought out dishes one by one.

This is not an upscale steakhouse, but still a great family restaurant. Whenever i go there, I receive friendly service, and food that is great for the price. I am actually very surprised to read some of the negative reviews, as I have been here a number of times over the past few months, and have had a great experience. I respectfully disagree. I like this location.

Went there last night with my family. The restaurant was not crowded still the service was horrible. The crab cake dish had no taste. Did not eat after one bite. French onion soup had no flavor. The only thing that saved the evening was the warm bread. Sorry but Will not visit again.

I like Outback but this particular location is consistently bad and this time was no different. Awful service from server Ashley, was never there often enough to refill drinks or take care of additional requests, and when the food came you can tell it sat there awhile before she picked it up because it was all cold. On top of that, I ordered a 6oz filet which was supposed to be cooked medium but it was completely brown — totally more than well done. At least they brought me a good tasting steak after I sent it back but I had to wait 10 minutes for Ashley to return to the table after dropping the food off to tell her I need it redone, and then it took another 15 minutes on top of it to receive my new steak. Good chain but AVOID the West Bloomfield location.

Quite possibly the worst dinner experience. Sloooooowww service. Waitress was completely overwhelmed and didn’t seem to have a handle on what was going on. Manager ended up comping the appetizers and taking a % off the total.
Food was cold and looked old. Waited over 10 minutes to get ketchup for a burger and never got a glass of wine that we ordered, even after 2 other staff said they were going to get it…
Went for my mother’s birthday… Ended up telling the rest of our party that we’ll have the celebration another day, since everyone left sad, hungry and tired…
Will never go there again! Definitely needs new management and A LOT of training!

This location typically performs well in the consistency of the meal and service.
Tonight we had a lovely server and our dinner was prepared as expected. This location almost always meets our expectations. If I had any complaints tonight it was only that although it was a Sunday and many open tables my food took far longer than usual. That wouldn’t keep me from returning however it’s relevant to writing an honest review.

I just had quite possibly the worst restaurant experience of my life. I sat down for a nice dinner with my 2 year old son, fiancée and his 8 year old son. The waiter was wonderful. We ordered an appetizer (the trio) which at the time the oldest 3 of us shared. Within 10 minutes my fiancées son and I had severe stomach aches. We had already ordered our dinners.
When the waiter brought the dinners the broccoli on my fiancées and my plate was soggy, and had black all over it as if it was moldy and it was cold! I simply said at that point, the broccoli is bad and needs to be replaced and by the looks of my «pink» chicken, I probably shouldn’t eat any of this since I feel sick from the (shrimp) appetizer trio that the shrimp was strange tasting, the dip had brown avocado, and the tuna smelt spoiled. Instead of just replacing the broccoli for my fiancée and just taking my plate away, he looked concerned and said he would get the manager. I said that’s not necessary and he stated because of this matter he should.
The manager came over and I said to him, I didn’t ask for you but since you are here and proceeded to tell him the same thing. He showed no concern but instead told me how he studied food borne illness and we couldn’t possibly be sick from eating there. He actually continued saying it over and over (how I couldn’t possibly be sick) and said «if you get sick and go to the hospital, here’s my card». When in fact here’s a little link on just HOW SICK you. An get from bad seafood.
Needless to say, I saved him the facts of my extensive medical background and let him tell me over and over again that I was wrong. So it’s 10:40 at night I’ve thrown up for the past 3 hours amongst other things, I’m curled in a ball and my step son is sick and I’m left writing this note. This is TOTALLY unacceptable.
Oh and last but not least… Thank the heavens I didn’t give my son anything but bread!!!

Came on a Sunday night. Waitress took too long to do anything. My salad had no taste and was mostly lettuce. Waitress did not seem to care since they were about to close. Just drive to J. Alexander’s or Champps down the road.

After we were seated, we had a rather long wait (about 20 mins) before we had a waiter, when we flagged one down (Keenan) who was not assigned to our area, quickly apologized and offered us a free appetizer, and was very apologetic… at that point the manager (James) quickly came out and apologized and assured us this was not the norm and reiterated the free appetizer… the thing that was noticable that OB does that most dont, is when the conversation is going to last a little longer than the norm, is that both Keenan and James actually got on one knee and talked to us at ‘eye-​level’ rather than talking down to us as we were both seated — a little thing, I know, but impressive nonetheless… i’ve never seen that at any other chain… Outback Staff and Mgmt have some people skills, and they truly cared! The Food was outstanding — we’ll be back!

I love Outback. It’s one of my staples. I can always count on consistently good food from Outback. The set-​up is generally the same regardless of where you go. The have lots of tables and booths on the outskirts of the store and the bar and first-​come, first-​serve eating area in the middle. It’s usually dimly lit with a more intimate type setting but families are definitely welcome. You will see a range of interaction from dates to large party celebrations like birthdays and graduations.
While it is traditionally a steakhouse, I rarely order steak. My go-​to hidden gem on the menu is the salmon. Oh, the salmon. It’s perfectly cooked, grilled to perfection. You can see the grill marks in parallel lines evenly distributed across the salmon. It’s moist and light yet equally satisfying. And since I love dips and sauces, I get the mango salsa and the bloomin’ onion sauce on the side. It’s seriously pure bliss. I also love the mashed potatoes. You can tell they use real potatoes. It literally looks like they cook the entire potato with the skin on, just nice and hearty carb heaven. I also always add a garden salad, hold the onions and croutons with the tangy tomato dressing. The tangy tomato dressing is delicious! Drinkable by the glass delicious. It’s the perfect balance of sweet and sour. It comes mixed on the salad but I always need extra on the side.
This time, my eating companion and I decided to get appetizers with our meal. We went with the tried and true and never disappointing coconut shrimp. The marmalade that it comes with is a perfect complement as well. We tried something new as well and went with the tomato and basil caprese salad. The mozzarella and the balsamic vinegar added a nice balance. It also came with a couple of crostinis. And last but not least, you can’t forget the bread. They bring you out a nice, brown, warm loaf of bread with smooth, creamy butter. I could eat that bread as an entire meal myself. They’re usually really good about giving you a loaf to take home as well which is really nice.
I know some may not think very highly of Outback but it will always have a special place in my heart.

The food was really good. My wife and I both got a blooming onion and steak. Both came out good. We checked in on line before going. It saved some time but we still waited about 30 min. Besides the wait our waitress was great and the food was good. Definitely go back. We had a gift card and a 15% off coupon you can get online.

Haha. One star on here says «Eek! Methinks not.» If there was a zero star rating with an even more dire warning, that’s what I would go with.
We arrived at approximately 6PM this evening. At that time there was a 45 minute wait. Well, my husband and I were planning to make a movie across town, and didn’t want to wait that long for a table, so we said «Thanks anyway», and turned to leave. As we were exiting, we followed out two men who had just finished dinner. They knew we were leaving, and suggested that we go take a table in the bar. They stated that is what they do (and they had just vacated a table), since the hostesses do not seat people in that area.
After a couple seconds of consideration, my husband and I decided this would be a good option for us. So we went back to the hostess station and asked if they were seating in the bar. They also told us that the tables in that area were on a first-​come-​first-​serve basis.
At that point, my husband and I entered the bar area. They had 2 open booths, which were not cleaned off yet, and a small 2-​topper table available. The 2-​topper was way too small for us to really enjoy our meal, so I suggested to my husband that we wait for a table to be cleared. We chose one that was literally backed up right behind the hostess desk, as it was being cleared as we were looking around. We waited, and when the waitress was done cleaning the table, we thanked her and sat down. I made a comment about how nice it was to be seated in her section and not have to wait for the 45 minutes at the door. She smiled, agreed, then went and got our silverware.
When she returned, she took our drink order and brought water. My husband and I started to chat. About 10 minutes later, I realized she had never returned with our drinks. Funny, but the bar was 10 feet away. There was no bartender. I glanced at the 2 topper table. A gentleman had been seated there, and he had a salad and a pop in front of him.
Twenty minutes after our drink orders were taken, the second table which was not cleaned when we arrived, was now cleared and a new three-​some had seated themselves there. They were having their food order taken. The people in the booth connected to ours had left, the table was cleared and more people were seated.
My husband and I were confused, and he made eye contact with our waitress. She walked on by, doing her best to avoid looking our way.
There WAS a bartender. He came back to the bar, and was washing some glasses. He was NOT working on making our drinks… I’m fairly certain he was never given our drink order.
No manager walked by.
Twenty-​five to thirty minutes after we sat down, the gentleman at the two-​topper was enjoying his meal, the people at the second open table had there beverages and order taken, and the people in the booth connected to ours were having their drinks delivered and their meal order taken. My husband had made eye contact with the waitress at least 3 times by now.
When the waitress started to take the order of the people next to us without even acknowledging that we were waiting for service, we decided it was time to leave. Funny, but we weren’t even out the door and our table was being cleared!
My husband did take the few seconds to let the manager (who had stationed herself at the hostess station) know how poor their service was. How she didn’t see it, I will never know. She had the nerve to say «I’m sorry. Can I give you a card for your next visit?» REALLY? A next visit? We will never be back.
On another note, I have had 2 other bad experiences at this restaurant. First, about a year ago I ordered a Walla-​be-​darned (mixed cocktail). It came, and I kept getting course, gritty bits as I drank it. Come to find out, they had broken a glass, and I was literally eating glass fragments!!! Secondly, we went there for a family birthday meal (10 people), and the service was AWFUL! We would start chatting, and before we realized it, an hour would have passed without anyone coming to check on our table. A normal meal takes about an hour when our family gets together. Last month, our dinner took 2 ½ hours!!! We had to call the wait staff to the table when we wanted anything. Again, the service /​management at this location has been dropping the ball more and more at every visit!
I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS RESTAURANT.

We always get great service at this location and the food is great for a great price. My kids and I always get the sirloin or filet medium and its always tasty. We love their bread and butter. We also love their fries and mashed potatoes. And their potato soup is amazing as well as the house salad with extra ranch. The lettuce is always crisp and fresh. And a good meal can run around $ 11. You just can never go wrong here except for one thing. Do not ever get the tuna anything! Its always brown and disgusting.

Even we made reservation a day before, the waiting time was 45 minutes. The blooming onion was too burned and spiced. The restaurant was out of 11 ounces sirloin steaks. The steaks we have were not prepared right — they were undercooked, and then they were overcooked. It was the worst steaks in our life. Our decision is not to go to this place anymore.

Had lunch on Saturday Sep 20^th. Place was empty, except for a few tables in the bar area. We sat in a booth in the bar area. One bartender was working the entire area. Service was very slow. Didn’t get a drink order in until sitting for about 15 – 20 minutes. Food took forever. Ended up spending an hour and a half for lunch and the food wasn’t that great. Probably would not go back there again for dine in service.

Terrible service. Terrible food. Terrible time. Never ever again. Everyone that got seated after us got there meals before us. From the time we got there to the time we left it was horrible.

Good service.
The bloomin’ onion we ordered was burnt but a new one didn’t take long to come.
Ordered the teriyaki fillet medallions. Asked for it to be cooked medium but it came out super rare.
Other than that, food was decent.
Mediocre experience.

Ruined little girls birthday dinner.
Girlfriends daughter turned 10 last night and when asked what she wanted for dinner she oddly said «steak». I expected to hear Gummy Bears or something but we decided to go to outback. Friday night at 6:30 and expected a wait but when we got there there was only one small group ahead of us and were told it would be 10 mins. It took 35 (kids got a bit antsy). I asked the hostess (while the kids were not looking) if they did anything for birthdays like bring a small cake and sing or something. She said yes, but they had sundaes instead of cake and she would relay that to the waitress to surprise the kids after dinner.
We placed our food order with a Bloomin Onion appetizer. 30 mins and onion had not arrived and kids drinks had ran out (kids got more antsy and grumpy). I looked around restaurant and caught our waitresses eye and she gave me an «oh crap» look and ran to the kitchen realizing she had forgotten us. Dining room was not busy now– only ¾ full. Manager brought the onion minus the side of ranch we ordered for the kids to dip so I asked him for the ranch and drink refills for the kids. Almost our entire onion was eaten before the ranch and drinks even came. Kids complained regular dip was too spicy which is why I ordered the ranch in the first place. They did take it off the bill for being so late.
Ok, so I guess that when an appetizer is served, that is when the food order is placed. The appetizer was forgotten so the food order was never put in. 20 more minutes after the app was finished, our food arrived. My girlfriend and I ordered identical dinners with different steak temps. Temps were not marked so waitress just guessed which was which (doing a back and forth switch-​a-​roo several times). Didn’t matter since both were the same when cut into.
Meal is done and expecting waitstaff to bring our sundaes we secretly ordered at the hostess stand and assuming they would sing or something. Waitress either was never told or she forgot. Was hoping for that moment for the kids to be surprised and wonder how they knew it was her birthday. I had to remind her in front of the kids ruining the surprise. I had asked hostess for sundaes (plural) but waitress dropped off ONE small golf ball sized scoop with a candle (apparently they don’t sing) and 4 HOT plates. We sang and I did get the waitress to bring us unheated plates but she said one was dirty so could we do with only 3 for the 4 of us (to split one golf ball sized ice cream).
We had planned on going to laser tag after dinner but by now, it was closed.

I feel like Outback ought to learn a few new tricks. we have visited this one several times and some other identical copies elsewhere and the bloom seems to be off the rose. Sure the steaks are not too bad. They are not prime cuts of course, but they are not grade z restaurant meat either. And the service is always pretty good. But after eating here the last time, I though «…it’s the same old same old.»
The down under charm has worn off.