Outback Steakhouse

Personal Review {23-April-2003}:
One certainly sees a lot of hype for Outback Steakhouse. And just about any time you pass by one of the chain restaurants, you see a lot of cars in the parking lot. The waits are usually very long, ranging from 30 min to a couple hours. I'm told that while you wait, some locations offer you free appetizers, etc. None were offered to those coming in later and waiting (though, admittedly, the wait was not that long yet).

Well, as much as we wanted to try Outback, we didn't want to wait, or didn't have time wait, more than 30 minutes. However, when the opportunity presented itself about a week ago...no crowd...we gave it a shot. We walked right in at Hunt Valley. Our first impression was mixed. At least the bathrooms were in the non-smoking section so you would not have to suffer the indignaties and health problems of getting there through the smoke. There was a smoking section, but we didn't really notice the smoke that much on this occasion (fans were going and we sat far away). The feature in this, and many newer restaurants, we don't like is the wide open environment and loud music (though the music this time was not overwhelmingly uncomfortably loud as in many cases). The atmosphere feels rushed and busy in addition due to the increasing crowds and the two large TVs over the bar... which add to the noise level. Even the web page for Outback is brightly colored and feels very busy.

As for food and service. We ordered the Ribs on the Barbie and the pair of Lobster Tails. We started off with the house dinner salad. Now, if you're on a diet or have a problem with cheese, you're in for an unexpected surprise. The salads were covered with shredded cheese, something my wife did not appreciate! Be sure to tell your server when ordering to leave the cheese off the salad if you don't want it (they don't tell you about it; and it is not described on the menu). The Lobster tails were good and reasonably priced. The clarified butter looked a little unusual (not clear), but tasted fine. The ribs on the other hand were not the mouth watering ribs advertised on the menu. They were salty and relatively bland in flavor. If I were going out for ribs in the future, I would opt for the superior quality of Tony Roma's over Outback any day. The vegetables were cooked just right (not dead and gray as is typical of many establishements). The cinnamon apples provided with the ribs were imersed in a thick surypy goo that was not appealing at all... and too sweet. The baked potato was also very heavily salted on the outer skin (WHY!). For people who like to eat the skins for taste and nutritional value, this was a BIG turnoff. It was horrible. I ate the innards and left the rest.

All in all, after all that waiting to try Outback, we were not impressed that much. For the moderate prices charged, one could definitely do better elsewhere for the same price or less. We gave it a shot, but we're not likely to make another run to Outback.