The gift cards from the Outback restaurant had been sitting on my desk since the holidays just waiting to be used. The Outback restaurant in my city has been a favorite for years. Night after night, the parking lot is full. I haven’t been to the Outback for a few years but I have many fond memories of “Shrimp on the Barbie,” ” Bloomin’ Onions,” and the Petite Filet Mignons.
Recently, after receiving a flyer advertising Outback’s new meals under $15 and noticing their new website, we decided to give it a try and use up our gift cards. Since my husband, drives by an Outback on his way home from work, we decided to “click and pick up” using the restaurant’s curbside take-away online ordering system. The restaurant is only a few minutes from our home so we figured the food would stay warm.
Outback’s Curbside Take-Away ordering system is easy to navigate. Just choose the Outback where you wish to pick up your food, make your menu choices, tell the time you’ll be there and submit your information. When you arrive you will be met by a cheerful employee at the curbside parking space with your hot steaming food. You don’t even have to get out of the car
Picking up the food was easy and we were really looking forward to a fabulous meal. We made our choices…..mostly fish and seafood. We did not order the beef items since we have been perfecting our own Steakhouse Grilling techniques all summer long and are a bit tired of beef, and a little concerned about our saturated fat levels. We figured, at least we were not eating beef, and it was time to use those gift cards. Also, it was hot out. I had just cleaned the kitchen and deserved a little reward. I was tired and didn’t feel like making dinner for hubby, myself and our son…..you know the routine.
The food was packed nicely and was still hot, but except for the excellent Grilled Atlantic Salmon….13.95, and the Caesar Salad….10.95, most of the food the three of us ordered was a disappointment.
The Bloomin’ Onion was fair…not crisp and tasty like we remembered…..price 6.25
Crab Stuffed Shrimp…one of the new appetizers was described as “Tender golden shrimp stuffed with succulent lump crab meat and drizzled with a light lemon butter sauce, turned out to be a few small, mushy shrimp topped with a mound of stuffing and a few crab meat flakes covered with an oily sauce……price 4.95
Shrimp en Fuego….another new menu entrée, was described as large crispy shrimp, sliced mushrooms and fresh tomatoes in a spicy, creamy sauce paired with fresh steamed French green beans. There were no large crispy shrimp, just more of the afore mentioned mushy shrimp, this time in a salty heavy, oily cream sauce with mushrooms and tomato, on top of rubbery, long green beans. Both shrimp dishes seemed like reheated leftovers. Even the baked potatoes we all got, seemed old. They were hard, and had that brownish color leftover baked potatoes get after sitting in the refrigerator for a few days……..price 12.95
Rack of Ribs ….OK, nothing special, but they also seemed old and reheated….price 16.95
*In their advertisements Outback claims they “start fresh every day to create the food you crave using the highest quality ingredients to inspire your taste buds, all at prices that will make it easy to come back more often….. Exit the ordinary, enter the adventurous.”
I did so look forward to a great dinner…but now I feel the Outback promises much more that it delivers. Perhaps some of their food doesn’t do well as take out. This “live adventure” into the Outback’s curbside ordering takeout, cost us nearly $90…and was a huge disappointment. I expected much more. My meal was awful and now my gift cards are gone.
Sources:
Outback.com
Personal Experience
