Great Food, Wait, Awful! Hi Everyone, Remember way back, in "The Good Old Days" before 2019 when many restaurants were staffed well with Servers? Well the Food Service Industry was battered very badly during COVID with some restaurants we all knew & frequented, gone. Outback Steakhouse Bluffton, served us an aroma enticing, very tasty, well seasoned, tastebud exhilarating, diner last night which was exceptional! Surprised? We were a little too, at the level of fantastic taste, & euphoria we experienced in consuming our meals. Although, their food has always been good. Wait, Awful Fix: For one, hiring more Servers! Outback Managers either hire, train, & provide more Servers, or get directly involved in the cooking, & serving, themselves. Why? Because you either staff & manage, or you, do the work yourself. But the business requirements and patrons expectations do not change as they, "want to eat" which is why they are showing up at Outback's door. And because this Outback, on this night was packed w/a 45 min to hour wait for a table. Was the Manager in this Outback serving or taking orders to help alleviate the situation their Servers faced? He most certainly was not! When you have a fire, you are responsible. Especially when you earn your money from managing your team through a tough situation. Some of us believe that you do your best to put out that fire, making it easier, on all involved. So while we were stand/waiting, two seats opened up at the bar & we grabbed them. This Outback has a warm, earthy feel, & vibe because of all the interior wood look and tasteful decorating. We knew what we wanted, and tried ordering immediately but our Server told us that we would have to wait which we did for over 1/2 hr. Ordered meals with a glass of wine, wine up in 15 mins, meals up in 30 mins, after wine. Our one Server was handling the entire bar and 5 tables. Our diners were hot & delicious. My sirloin steak was medium rare as ordered. My gorgeous companion's Shrimp Alfredo perfectly cooked. Our compliments to our chef! Sounds great, doesn't it? Except for the wait times, right? But we dealt with it. I was so enjoying, my taste enthused, savory steak, so much, I ordered another wine. A couple beside us tried ordering but our Server said she would get their order asap. They sat patiently waiting for 30 mins to order, but after a total of over 40 mins, they walked out, stating "this is ridiculous, we can't even get our order taken". And they were right! In fairness, so was our/their Server as she was doing her best to handle all the customer orders. Result: Outback lost the upset couples order, and my guess is their future patronage. My 2nd glass of wine was still MIA after 25 mins, cancelled it, & took our desert, a very creamy, delectable piece of cheese cake which was marvelous, and oh...so good, to go! We waited another 15 mins for desert, & then 15 mins more for bill. Tipped our Server well, & left. Thoughts this morning, lessons learned: 1. When you wait over 1/2 hr to order we adjust exceptions, relax, and wait it out, or leave. 2. When your Severer offers a 9 oz glass of wine as ours did, instead of the 6 oz, in a full restaurant, take it, as you may not get another chance. 3. Call ahead to learn how full your restaurant is now, especially, if they do not take reservations. 4. After 40 mins w/no order taken, speak w/RMGN about lack of Severs expressing your displeasure because how else will they know unless we all speak up about it, each, and every time it happens? My hope is that Outback's upper MGN team realizes that the RMGNs they hire need to take action now and get directly involved taking orders and serving in an "all hands on deck" challenge to do their best to help relieve the stress on everyone involved. For if not them, who? If not now, when? In my over three decades long business career, I observed when customers are not treated reasonably, they, much like the couple will walk, & more often than not, they do not return, ever! Multiple Business studies have consistently proven, it costs 2.5 times or 250% more money to earn back a disgruntled customers trust in a product than it did to get that same customer, to try your product the first time. With the Food Service Industry averaging 2% to 5% profit margins, that is an extremely high cost to bear. Is Outback Restaurant in the Buckwalter complex a great place to eat? Yes, it most certainly serves terrific tasting food! Of course, in some instances, getting to eat their delicious food may offer some significant challenges when they are experiencing a full restaurant with a 45 min to hour long wait, that you are, or are not willing to overcome. Do we recommend you dine here? Yes, we highly recommend you try it for the first time, or return for another outstanding meal. Enjoy! read more

I felt bad for the poor bartender. She was the only one behind the bar on a Saturday night. She had a full bar and the high tops behind the bar. No way in the world could she be expected to handle that all on her own. She did her best. Unfortunately, it took forever to order our food and get our drinks. We had to ask for the bread twice and ordered two drinks at a time because we knew we wouldn't get another. We ordered a wedge salad and she came back and said they were out and gave us another salad that we didn't order. Then the food came out. The steak was SO salty!! Took one bite and couldn't even eat it. God awful! Couldn't send it back because we couldn't get waited on. Now the cream corn and Mac and cheese was good. My wife order a quesadilla and had asked for sour cream. Never got that until it was time to ask for boxes and pay our tab. This is part of the reason I avoid chain restaurants. It's just not good and inconsistent. We only went because we met people there. This is a one and done for us for sure. read more

Took my father in law after touring assisted living apartments which is a stressful time. We always like the soup and salad option and the other lunch specials offered. Things got off on the wrong foot when my FIL asked the lady server if he could order off the children's menu before we could stop him. We told him to just order off the regular menu. And yes MS Huffy the server, multiple restaurants do allow 90 year old people to order off the children's menu. She treated him ( and us) extremely rudely despite him ordering off the regular menu. What an attitude. I normally would have addressed it but he had been through enough that day and I didn't want to make a scene. The steaks were overcooked and tasteless. Soup and salad were good except for the bad taste we already experienced with that server. You will age one day girlfriend! And yes, one of your competitors does offer that option for someone who has lived and contributed to society for 90 years. We will go there next time. read more

My family and I ordered takeout from outback today 6/13 for my birthday. I ordered the wedge salad with the blooming chicken and rice, what a horrible mistake! The chicken was dry and over cooked, the salad was wilted soggy and brown, most of it went in the trash. One thing I know for sure, they won't get anymore of my money. Especially when the portions don't match the price. read more

With the exception of the bread, the entire meal was terrible. Even the ice tea tasted watered down. My husband has been to Outback Steakhouse at least 60 times all over the country. This was the only one where the meal was subpar. Husband's steak was not well done and it had to be sent back to the kitchen. My steak had so much seasoning I could not eat it. I usually give places the benefit of the doubt because I used to be a waitress and realize things happen. I could not get past this though. We will never go back. read more

Me and my family went to this location on June 20th around 5PM for my birthday dinner. The food was overall bad. The mac and cheese was fixed with spoiled cheese and had a nasty smell to it, the shrimp was cold and all the food was extremely spicy. The waitress notified the manager who came to inspect the food, he took the bowl of mac and cheese to the back and told the waitress it was bad. The manager never returned to apologize for the condition of the food. read more

I generally prefer locally owned non-chain restaurants, but every now & then we end up at a corporate chain. As far as those go, I generally like Outback much better than their competitors. What spurred this visit was that Hubs wanted the steak & lobster special. He had a ceaser salad and a fully loaded baked potato. He was happy with everything except the lobster tail. The first one they brought out was seriously undercooked. The replacement looked fully cooked, but he said it tasted very fishy I ordered the chicken & shrimp pasta. It was a-ok. Our server Erin was excellent - she took great care of us. read more

Really slow and poor service. Ordered filet got a sirloin and never got refills, bread or a return from the waitress till it was time to checkout. The other staff in the place is equally inept and not helpful or concerned with anyone but themselves read more

Another chain restaurant that needs to go and hopefully soon! How much worse could they get. Poor service, high prices and microwave food, yes microwave food in the Australian Outback! Amazing! Tonight I ordered the chicken on the barbie as did my wife. It was easy to tell that these chicken breast's were frozen chicken and not fresh but that they were microwaved too. They were warm in the middle and cooler on the outside, and when served were in a puddle of water. Tell tail sign of frozen, microwaved and served! No grill or barbie taste or smell. To make matters worse they charge almost $19.00 for this terrible microwaved dinner! It has been a few years since we have visited Outback due to poor quality, we thought that maybe time would have fixed it. We were wrong! It will be many many years if we ever visit again! read more

I use this outback for mostly takeout. The order is always on time and everything is accurate and nicely packed in there. I have had bad experiences with take out at other locations but this one is very dependable. read more

I arrived and walked in the door, where I had to wait on a couple in front of me. There was some confusion about which table was available. The host and the server had a quick discussion, and apparently, a misunderstanding ensued. The guests ahead of me were seated but then had to move to a different table because the server was not taking tables. I don't know what was going on. I was seated promptly--I literally only had to wait 45 seconds, if that--and was seated at a clean table. My server came over, greeted me, gave me a menu, and took my drink order. About 12 seconds after he left the table, another gentleman walked up and addressed me as "big man." He then asked me what I'd like to drink. I told him someone had already gotten my drink order. He asked me who and then said, "Was it a big guy?" I replied, "No, it was a little guy with a brand new mustache." Shortly thereafter, my server, the little guy, brought my drink out, along with the bread. The top of the bread was either burnt or had been left in the warmer too long; it was as hard as a rock about a quarter of an inch to a half inch into the bread. I told him that apparently, there was someone else bidding for my service. "The guy who called me "big man"." He walked over, had a few words with the other server, and he inevitably was the correct server. The little guy took good care of me and was an excellent server, checking on me regularly. Overall, the restaurant was clean. The outside, the patio area, and the parking lot were all clean. Everything appeared to be up and up, perfect. I ordered a steak, baked potato, and salad. The salad was good with no problems. The steak and baked potato arrived, and the baked potato looked amazing. But as soon as I stuck my fork in it, I encountered an entire onion top that had been haphazardly and barely cut, so it was an entire piece of onion top about 5 inches long. The steak was supposed to be a ribeye; I'm not sure if it was or not. It was a very tough steak but was cooked to the correct temperature and seasoned correctly. The baked potato and the salad were good. I did call my server's attention to the enormously large onion and told him to remind the back of the house that their job performance directly affects the earnings of the front-of-the-house employees. Servers don't get minimum wage; they work for tips. If the back of the house, who gets paid sufficiently to do their job, doesn't do their job, then the front of the house suffers financially, and that is very unfair. So, back of the house, get your act together. The front of the house is depending on you, and so are the customers! There was a pretty good amount of horseplay going on when I arrived because they were so slow, and at one point I heard a female's voice saying no quit it quit it no stop it Like she was being harassed or bullied in the kitchen or the back area somewhere. Hopefully it was just a YouTube video... read more

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Hubby & I always go to the Lakewood branch, even if it's further fr where we live bcos they prepare their steaks well, unlike the Torrance branch read more

Such a great and friendly welcome. Everyone smiling and great atmosphere. Great Food. Highly recommend!!

I'm never disappointed when I visit this location. We had the best servers Armadie & Presley. Please have Armadie train all new hires. Food great and always a delightful atmosphere read more

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We took my mother out for her 94th birthday. The server took his time coming for our order then never came back after we got our food, some of which was missing. We had to keep getting up to ask whomever we could find for things. I finally went to the hostess to ask to speak to the manager. She did not go right away so I asked her again. She copped an attitude and left, I assumed to get him. Instead our server finally showed up. I told him directly his service was poor--no apology he just stared at me--so I asked him for boxes and our check. I spoke to the hostess again on the way out about speaking to the manager, to make a long story short, she started arguing with me until another hostess stepped in and said the manager was too busy to talk. I told the hostess she had an attitude and she kept on arguing with me so I walked out-- no apology for any of it. Never will I ever eat at that Outback again or any of them. It was that bad. read more

My husband and I went to eat and had a waiter named Peter. He was the best waiter we have had. He steered my husband to the right steak. Very friendly and let us know that they had a big table and let us know when our food would be out. He almost read our mind and answered any questions before we asked and know I had a dog and told us about him. He is a keeper read more

It is not often that I'd come back to a restaurant for the people. The exception is made for the people of Outback. Their food on the other hand... Their portion, presentation, and my palate leaves me puzzled as to why I paid for this. But as far as American diners go, what they offer is what you get. My reasons are beyond what they offer in their menu. It is their service that I look for. As a healthcare worker, some days can be extra exhausting. With particular attention to the two bartenders (Karen and Erin), I appreciated the times they've spoke, and tended to my wellbeing as they served me my beverage of Rum & Coke as I quench away the fatigue of healthcare. Their company, is far more palatable than the menu, and that alone makes my stomach and heart, full. read more

just had lunch and the food and service was great. Peter was friendly, helpful and attentive. We had a baby with us and they were very understanding. The blooming onion never fails. cheesecake was delicious and the chocolate sauce put it over the top. but the best thing was the rice. i'm always nervous ordering rice, but it was flavorful and soft without being mushy. made my birthday special. thanks Peter and everyone else at Outback. read more

Portions were much larger then other outbacks in Florida and Georgia I have been to lately. The take out staff was friendly and courteous. Will definitely go back for more. I had some items left off my order and they nailed it. read more

My mother and I stopped by here to have our Mother's day dinner together. We waited 45 minutes to get our food. By the time we got our food. My mom's steak was cold, the mac and cheese was room temperature, and the sweet potato was slightly warm. When we brought up this issue to the Manager she was extremely passive aggressive and accused us of "practically yelling" at her. Extremely unprofessional and wholly incorrect and inappropriate. Although her attitude was extremely poor, she did offer to pay for our food and she brought out re-done steak and mac and cheese. The food was good once we were able to eat it. Overall very bad experience. I would hope the owner has a conversation with this manager on her professionalism and how she should conduct herself in the service industry. read more

We got there with a group of 12 with reservations. When we got there our table was "given away" per the hostess and she had to clean another. Mind you the restaurant was empty. We sat down and the bad experience started. The waitress was extremely rude and acred as if we shouldn't have been there. Then the salads get there. The lettuce was brown and rotted. The Caesar salad tasted like trash like actual garbage. We didn't say anything to that, our entrees came out, the steak was undercooked, broccoli was brown and rotted, chicken smelled like fish, some steak was so burnt we couldn't even cut it. We had one plate that had a baked potato. Another person in our group asked our waitress where her baked potato was. She came back and said they were out however, they weren't out just lazy. We finally had had it and asked for the manager, he told us to just go and not worry about it. We left, we now have people who have food poisoning. Save your money and time and go elsewhere. read more

Service: Not good. Food: spouse had Caesar salad. No salad dressing, wilted lettuce and very few pieces of chicken Daughter had shrimp and chicken pasta. This had to be sent back bc it was ice cold. I mean cold like it had sat for hours. My broccoli tasted and looked like it was cooked several hours before and reheated. My Alice springs chicken was dry but once I slapped honey mustard sauce on it- it was tolerable. Sweet potato was perfect. Overall, the shortage of staff doesn't make up for poor quality overpriced food. read more

Overall a decent meal. The Cesar salad was drowning in dressing, so it was not acceptable but the server gladly replaced it with a house salad with balsamic dressing and it was nice, heavy on the cheese but otherwise nice. We ordered the Alice Springs chicken and BBQ Ribs but with the Outback potatoes these were great. The chicken was moist and seasoned well. The ribs were a little salty for my tastes but everyone else enjoyed them. My only complaint was that there were only 3 tables occupied in our area but a table with 2 adults and 3 kids were seated on the bench seat beside us. When the little girl jumped on the seat, she actually kicked me. This was way to close.. why ?? I understand that you want to keep areas clean but why seat everyone that close together? read more

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Offer seeing the reviews here I was a little worried. But we love outback so we thought we'd take a chance. We had a great experience. The service was prompt and professional. The food came quickly and it was good. We're here on vacation and will likely be back. read more

The girl at the front desk did not even smile nor did she ask us how many we were. Our waitress was great the food was not bad, however it took well over an hour and a half to get a baked potato a bowl of soup chicken tenders and a chicken sandwich. They ran out of bread at 6:30 pm. read more

Steak was tough and full of gristle . Should have sent it back, but didn't want to cause a fuss in front of our guests

Don't know where to start! Was it the empty restaurant that I should have turned away from right off ? Perhaps it was the bartender too busy trying to hook up, maybe it was the long awaited arrival of my nearly inedible food, the lack of properly cooked fries, the underwhelming signature burger , the two staffers smoking cigarettes outside during my 30 minute wait. Could it be the line cook who made our flattish, gray shredded lettuce meant for a burger used for the side salad who could not cut the few veggies evenly. If ever was a place for undercover boss, this is it. The executive chef for the region could do it without a costume because they have never been to this location. They keep the lights pretty dim for cover. McDonalds might have a point investing into robots if this is the caliber of employees. . I wish I had McDonalds tonight, it would have been more satisfying. read more

Came in on a Sunday at 12:30. Place was dead. Sat for 10 min before the hostess came and took our drink order. Manager came and took our orders shortly after. My 12 oz ribeye was just disgusting. Not sure what else to say. Didn't finish the one bite I tried. Why wife's sirloin could barely be cut by the steak knife. Like a hockey puck. Was supposed to be medium. Not sure what's going on. We used to ear here all the time. Do not recommend at all. read more

On Sun. Feb 26, 2023 my family was dining at this Outback location. A few minutes after our food was served, my mom was taken ill. We got the Manager Tim to our table and he called 911 immediately and was so very kind and patient with us and the 911 operator. He stayed with us and the Emergency responders the entire time. After Mom was taken out of the restaurant he met us outside with our food all packaged up and never charged us for it ! His generousity , his compassion and his patience was enormously appreciated. Thankfully mom is ok and after 4 hrs. in the ER we were able to come home and enjoy our Outback meals ! Thanks Tim ! read more

Great service and quick. Nice environment. The food from the bloomin onion to the overstuffed baked potatoes is simply not good. Their top steak was awful and chewed like Shaq's sneakers. I think the buy glued meat. read more

Worst Texas Roadhouse I've ever been to!! Service was terrible food undercooked and tried to say we ordered things we didn't overcharged us and didn't even make up for the undercooked food and it was for Mother's Day it was so bad 0 rating read more

This place doesn't even deserve a star I order a medium rare and got rare + my asparagus is soggy and took a hour for it to be served. The waiter didn't even come to ask how the food was. The salads that we got were soggy like it was cooked in the microwave . We even saw multiple people took back food to be cooked. DO NOT EAT HERE stake was salty.. place should be shutdown. read more

Outback Steakhouse - Dog food..straight blood - Steakhouses Near Me - Bluffton, South Carolina

I stopped in at 7:00 on Sat night knowing it would be quite busy. I placed an order to go and sat at the bar and had a drink while awaiting my order. The bartender was the only one working the bar and she was insanely busy! I asked if she could make a good Manhattan and she said yes. After waiting and waiting, my Manhattan arrived. It was fair, at best. My dinner order came out after about 40 more mins. I had ordered the 6 oz Victoria's filet (one of their specialties), salad and baked potato. When I got home, the steak was as tough as nails!! Every bite I took was gristle! And, it had no flavor! I had to throw it away! The potato tasted old and like it had been reheated! The salad was decent. Buyer/eater beware! read more

We eat here often and its often great but today we were disappointed. Don't open if you only have one server. We, along with other tables were waiting... waiting to place an order. After seeing that this was going to be a disaster. .. we left. read more

Outback Steakhouse - Enjoying the bread! - Steakhouses Near Me - Bluffton, South Carolina

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Ate there today for late lunch. Potato soup was cold, baked potato was the smallest I've ever seen and had very little butter. Blooming onion tasted good but wouldn't come apart. Never tasted pickles like those served. They were terrible. Burned our mouths! Food didn't all come out together. 3 of us were finished when food was delivered for other 2. Waitress wasn't friendly and failed to check with us for any additional condiments needed (Butter for potato and extra bbq sauce). When the bill came, the waitress asked how I wanted the change. I've never had that before. Told her small bills. She did come back with $5 and some $1s and a $20! Wouldn't recommend! read more

I love eating at Outback Steakhouse! So much better than Longhorn. Beautiful dining room & bar, excellent service & food, varied menu. I don't understand why they only get busy evenings. Their lunches are great too. read more

Just a horrid take out dinner. Blooming Onion should be renamed Blooming Salt Shaker. Steak, onion, potato all had globs of salt that made them near inedible. While I do not have any health issues, anyone with cholesterol, heart, kidney stone, etc. issues (or those who do not want to develop these aliments) should stay away. read more

Great atmosphere! I ordered the crab cakes. All crab meat, no breading. Delicious! My friend ordered the grilled shrimp, and side salad. The shrimp were small but they were good. The server was pleasant. I can't remember her name. It wasn't crowded after 10 on a Friday night. I will definitely go back. read more

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Outrageous Outback - Never Again! My wife & I arrived about 7:15 on a Tuesday night at this once popular Bluffton, SC eatery. The usual dinner rush seemed to have subsided. The place was about 1/2 full. The front desk was staffed by a teenager more intent on hugging her co-worker/girlfriend who was about to depart than on greeting us. Manager Bob arrived at the podium and intervened by tersely asking: "How many?" No Hello; No Welcome; No warm smile. No warm anything. Ashley, our waitress, was pleasant and asked "Can I start you guys with something to drink?" We are over 75 years old and don't usually think of ourselves as a couple of "the guys." But let that go. We ordered a Cosmo and a glass of wine. Then we waited -- in silence since there is no Wi-Fi in this restaurant. Hmmm: probably encourages family togetherness and lively conversation. When our waitress finally returned with our drinks, we were shocked to see the Cosmo garnished with a skewer full of OLIVES. Oooops -- maybe the bartender is new or perhaps Ashley just figured that since a Cosmo is technically a martini, she'd just plop in some olives. She looked dumfounded when I told her the drink should be accompanied with a piece of lime. Our food eventually arrived and it was as ordered. I ordered the combo Ribs & Sirloin while my wife ordered the Philly Steak sandwich. Both meals looked and smelled delicious. The ribs were tasty and juicy but the sirloin was a long way from tender. After trying to eat a couple of slices of this old bull, I gave up the endless chewing. ¾ of the steak remained uneaten on my plate throughout the rest of the meal. The Philly Steak Sandwich was tasty ... at first. However, it was liberally doused with too much pepper or some other spicy-hot ingredient and my wife could not finish eating it. 1/2 of the sandwich remained uneaten on my wife's plate throughout the rest of her visit. Since our table was a booth just inside the door, the hostess, the manager and the entire staff had ample opportunity to notice that we were not eating much of our meal. No one bothered the ask us if there were a problem. As the dining room continued to empty out, Manager Bob wandered aimlessly throughout both sides of the restaurant, sometimes, clutching an electronic notepad that usually displays the floor plan of tables. He never stopped at our table (nor anyone else's for that matter). It seemed that he was purposely ignoring us. Perhaps the uneaten entrees still on our plates signaled him that there was a problem which he didn't want to deal with. The final insult happened towards the end of our meal. It was about 8:00 P.M. and we were the only ones left in this dinning room. The huggy huggy teenager who had been stationed at the front desk throughout the evening to greet 'n seat and/or hold the door for departing guests suddenly appeared at the table right next to us. She carried two racks of silverware fresh from the dishwasher then left only to re-appear with a stack of unfolded napkins and drawer inserts for sorted silverware. It became immediately clear that she intended to camp right there next to us while she rattled the flatware, sorted it, and then wrapped the napkins into "roll-ups" for the next rush of patrons. While dutifully engaged in this side work chore (which is usually done in the kitchens at most restaurants), some departing patrons would head for the door. Each time, the girl mumbled a half-hearted "good-bye" but never attempted to unglue herself from the seat she occupied. As far as we were concerned those "good-byes" were more like "good-riddances." And that's exactly how we felt as we left this inhospitable "Down Under" watering hole. read more

Outback Steakhouse - Steakhouses Near Me - Bluffton, South Carolina

Went to this local Outback steakhouse a couple of times since moving to the area and after last evening's experience, I've decided never to return again. My husband and I sat at the corner of the bar and it was filthy. The server was just going to put down a plate on top of the filth and I let her know that it was dirty and needed to be attended to. The look I got was not very sweet, to say the least. I went to the ladies room and there wasn't one drop of soap available. There were plenty of drops of water all over the counter though. It needed attention badly. The food we ordered to share was the prime rib sandwich. It was probably the worst bite of prime rib I've ever eaten. Thin sliced, very dry. Not worth the $16 they charge for it. As we were leaving and the sun was shining on the Floors and walls I noticed how spills have been happening, and no one is cleaning like they ought to. The rug by the entrance looks like it hasn't been vacuumed in over a week. Yeah we're breaking up Outback! read more