A great waste of time - The Outback Steakhouse
Written: Sep 03 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: they play good music
Cons: very long waiting times to be seated and to get your meal, overpriced
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| eyestar's Full Review: Outback Steakhouse |
My husband and I had heard enough of the Outback Steakhouse commercials to embed the song into our brain. We wanted to try it since we'd heard so much about it. I also really wanted to try a bloomin' onion, as I love onion rings. We kept saying we'd go there one day, but never seemed to get around to it... then one day we finally got to go.
When we arrived, the parking lot was very full. It was easy to notice the place was packed, which was seen from the groups of people standing outside waiting for a table. Since we were very hungry at that time and didn't feel like waiting, we reluctantly went in the door. We were greeted by a hostess who told us it would be about 35 minutes before we would be seated. As she was telling us this great news, another customer stomped in and demanded to know how much longer he had to wait for his table. (We should have taken this as a warning). We still decided to wait, since we really wanted to try the restaurant. She handed us a pager type thing that lights up when the table is ready. Since it was packed inside, we decided to go outside to wait. They had some benches set up outside of the restaurant, where we decided to wait. So we waited.... and waited....... and waited........ until the 35 minutes turned into 40 minutes and then into 45. My husband went inside to see exactly what the hold up was. When he went in, he noticed that we had one group ahead of us and then we were next. One table had already been seated that came in after we arrived, which we were not very happy about. He came out and told me the news.
I was discouraged to hear what he had to say. Already I was not having a nice time. The bench they provide for customers to wait on outside was about the most uncomfortable thing I've ever sat on. I had to keep avoiding all the people who came outside to smoke a cigarette also, since I'm allergic to smoke. I did enjoy the music they were playing though, which included some 80's songs.
We kept waiting, until about 10 more minutes passed. We both decided to go inside because it started raining. Right as we walked in the door, the lights on our pager went off. We headed to the hostess booth, where my husband noticed 5 other groups, who arrived after us, were seated before we were. Off to a great start so far...
We got seated in a booth, which was nice. Our waitress greeted us promptly, which was also nice. I looked around the restaurant expecting to see Australian type decorations, since that's what they advertise. I saw hardly any decorations. The restaurant was very dark and somewhat dreary. It reminded me more of a bar than a restaurant. We ordered our meals, and made sure to get the bloomin' onion as an appetizer. Our drinks arrive right away, and the appetizer in a fair amount of time.
Neither of us were impressed by the bloomin' onion. It was very spicy and was not as good as we expected it to be. Again we waited.... and waited..... and waited..... for our meals to arrive. Our waitress kept checking up on us, and must have refilled our Coke's about 3 times each while we were waiting. She kept saying "You're meals should be about ready, I'll check." Then she'd come back a little later and say, "I thought you're meals would be ready by now, I'll check again." She did this same routine about 2 times. We waited for about 45 minutes before our meals finally arrived. I was not very impressed by my meal either, it didn't taste that great and was overpriced. My husband felt the same about his.
To summarize, I was not impressed by the Outback Steakhouse. I had to wait an extremely long time to be seated and then I discovered 5 other groups who arrived after we did, were seated before us. I also had to wait an extremely long time for my meal to arrive. I felt the atmosphere did not match the advertising for the restaurant and that my meal was overpriced and did not taste that great. I did enjoy the music and we had a friendly waitress who made sure our drinks were always refilled. Overall I don't think I'll be returning to the Outback Steakhouse any time soon - if ever.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
eyestar
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Location: USA
Reviews written: 135
Trusted by: 116 members
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"Still talking to myself and nobody's home..." -Guns N' Roses
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