This is a new Outback location that opened earlier this year - I had higher hopes for it considering it was still brand new, but my experience has soured my desire to go back.
When we first walked in, there was almost nowhere for parties to wait (standing or sitting room) - there are a few benches outside, but the inside of this Outback Steakhouse is significantly smaller than others I've been to.
It took over 15 minutes for our waiter to greet my table in order for us to order regular drinks (water). Normally I could understand if things were insanely busy, but even with a dinner rush, stopping by the table to let us know he'd be right with us would have gone a long way. After we placed our drink order, it took 27 minutes since we first sat down to receive them - the only reason we even did at this point is because I had to flag him down and ask if he could bring them out. At this point someone else had finally brought bread by, but without drinks, it was incredibly dry and hard to enjoy. We were given an excuse that they have a system - the waiters are not the ones who bring the drinks to the table, but instead, a different type of associate, and they get upset if the waiters mess with their system. If this is true, it's a horrific serving system, leaving huge gaps for customers to receive service. The waiter himself finally brought them over to us another 10 minutes later, joking that he wrestled the tray away for us.
It seems like all waitstaff here are instructed to encourage Dine In Rewards sign ups like a Best Buy credit card push, and I was honestly extremely offended by our waiter with this initial impression because while he took the time to explain it, he only directed eye contact and his words to my husband, never once looking at me. So the entire time he's talking about savings, money, and dining in general, he didn't acknowledge the woman at the table once. I have never been met with more blatant "the man has the money" service in my life.
We had decided to put our entree order in when we placed the drink order because we figured we would not see our waiter again based on the already long wait time, and I'm so glad we did. The food took over 35 minutes to come out, with our waiter stopping by our table twice to let us know that it was coming out soon (20 minutes before it was ready, then again 15 minutes before it was ready). I completely understand this is the kitchen holding it up at this point, but I do wish that instead of "wishful thinking", he had just been honest with us about the wait.
My half rack of ribs and premium side of steakhouse mac and cheese was good - I'd give the food a 3.5-4/5. The incredibly poor service has me seriously questioning if I want to come back. This is my first ever review below 3 stars. read more