Busting my Outback cherry
 

Ok, I told my friend I'd take her and her daughter anywhere she wants to go. So of course she tried the Red Lobster thing. But no, I had to veto. I worked there on and off for 5 years, the place makes me sick. She always orders like 2 lbs of crab legs and I have to sit and watch her pick them for an hour and a half after I'm done. No, only for birthdays or something horrible happened and you need to cheer up, that's it.

So anyway, choice two was Outback. I'm trying to talk them into Buca di Bepo, another cherry-buster, but I have a feeling I'm not going to get two vetos and Outback will be the choice. Some of you may remember my thread about restaurants you're proud to have never eaten in, and my choice as Outback. Well no more. I will follow up with a trip report on whether my proudness was founded all these years.

So what should I get?

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Appetizers: Blooming onion or the chees fries

Main Dish: All i've ever had was the Alice Springs Chicken, heres the description off of the website:
"Grilled chicken breast and bacon smothered in mushrooms, melted Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses, with honey mustard sauce. Served with Aussie chips"
I've heard the mad max burger is great too.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

How about a steak?

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

bushman shrooms = fantastic

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Bleh. I wouldn't describe anything from Outback as "great," or even, "good." You're looking for "okay," and I think that's about the best you're gonna do. I had $35 in gift cards there - good old dad really came through on my christmas present, as always - and I recently bought dinner for myself and a friend at work. I don't even recall what we had, but my medium rare steak was rare and her rare steak was medium - we did the whole curbside to go thing (probably a bad idea, but hell if I actually wanted to set foot inside that place) and I was really, really underwhelmed.

Bloomin' onion is actually half decent, if you like the sauce. Otherwise... I'd steer clear of the steaks, because in my limited experience, neither I tried was very good.

Buca di Bepo was a far better choice.

yasher

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

The lobster "crabcake" is actually quite good. The outbacker burger is tasty too. I only go there for lunch, so I don't know what to tell you for actual dinner fare.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

I've never been but I think you should get a bloomin onion because I liked the commercial.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

[ QUOTE ]
How about a steak?

[/ QUOTE ]

Are the steaks really really good? Because I only like steaks when they're excellent (buttery soft, rich aftertaste, hard to describe but you know it when you taste it) Otherwise I'd rather get something else. If you say they are really good, I'll try the filet I guess, or I like a good porterhouse.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

the steaks are pretty bad. the bacon cheeseburger is quite good though. so is the fried onion thing and the onion soup, as well as the potato soup. enjoy.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Maybe Outback's in Canada are different, however the one in Toronto has good to very good steak. 8/10. Also I have no idea what some of the items being suggested are.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Outback sucks.

I went last night for the first time and everything I had was mediocre at best.

The blooming onions had barely any onion, just a [censored] load of breaded grease.

The fries were stale as all hell.

I had a New York Strip medium cooked, and it was pretty eh. For the same price Boulder Creek is a much better alternative.

Oh yeh, and their garlic mashed potatoes tasted like they were made with some powder and water.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

I wouldn't get a steak there, from personal experience

they aren't good

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Everyone in this thread is smoking crack. Outback is fine. Get a steak, any steak. They're all decent. Obviously, you get what you pay for, so it's not going to be the meal of a lifetime. Still, the food is decent.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Homerisright.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Get the Bloomin' Onion and Alice Springs Chicken.

Love that stuff.

I don't get the hate.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Ok, I overstated with the "great". It is very good for what it is. Inexpensive chain restaurant food. I can't stand fridays or ruby tuesdays or any other restaurant of that caliber with the exception of outback. The cheesfries, however, are great and everyone at one point should try them.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Hoo boy, Outback. Classy.

(Go to a real steakhouse)

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

[ QUOTE ]
Hoo boy, Outback. Classy.

(Go to a real steakhouse)

[/ QUOTE ]

Steak snob.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

You give them the choice of anywhere to eat, and they pick outback? Bloomin onions are goot tho.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Alice Spring Chicken

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Hoo boy, Outback. Classy.

(Go to a real steakhouse)

[/ QUOTE ]

Steak snob.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hardly - Outback just eats balls.

Don't you have The Keg or Texas Roadhouse near you?

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Hoo boy, Outback. Classy.

(Go to a real steakhouse)

[/ QUOTE ]

Steak snob.

[/ QUOTE ]

Although sounding snobbish, he's right. The steak there is not good.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

How many cherries can you bust in one day?

I like Outback steaks and the cheese fries with ranch are awesome.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

get a Bloomin' Onion with a side of cardiac defibrilators.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

All,

I haven't eaten there in a few years but although their steak is not great but it's a helluva lot better than the rest of their menu. Why would you order chicken at a marginal chain steak house?

OP,

You act like it is a hardship to eat a decent to good steak. This makes you seem pretentious and toolish, stop. You worked at red lobster for 5 years for [censored] sake, get over yourself and enjoy a nice meal with a friend.

J

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Seriously, their steak is the exact same as you'll get in any similarly-priced place. Exact same, as in comes-in-the-same-Sysco-box same.

Don't expect anything more than what you'd get at Chili's, etc, and you won't be disappointed.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Another vote for them not being able to cook a steak, as I had to send one back 3 times...and it was awful by the time I got it. Luckily they had some decent baked potatoes and after 3 of them, one with each returning steak, I was getting pretty full and they didn't charge us for my steak. Won't be going back there willingly.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

From what I can tell, there must be major quality differences between Outbacks. I've only been to two and food was decent but not great. Not where I would choose to eat steak, but not terrible.

Try the sirloin. At least, if it's not that great you didn't spend as much as you would with the filet.

And I'm pretty sure "Buca di Bepo" is italian for "We're just a little better then Olive Garden"

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

I go to outback something like 5 times a month. I love it. I'm in the midwest, so the steaks are really good cuts of meat. But I always get:

An onion.
11 ounce sirloin (medium, since outback cooks all their steaks slightly less than other steakhouses).
Baked potato.
Extra side of broccoli.

Oh god, so good. The waiters know me.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

for some reason i thought this read: "busting my brokeback cherry"

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

[ QUOTE ]
From what I can tell, there must be major quality differences between Outbacks. I've only been to two and food was decent but not great. Not where I would choose to eat steak, but not terrible.

Try the sirloin. At least, if it's not that great you didn't spend as much as you would with the filet.

And I'm pretty sure "Buca di Bepo" is italian for "We're just a little better then Olive Garden"

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't like Buca at all. I think Olive Garden, however is pretty good and really good value.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

what the [censored] is up with everyone hating on outback, is that the cool thing to do nowadays?

I like the bloomin onion, the bread, the salad, the loaded baked potato, and a fat steak cooked medium rare.

So yea, Bloomin onion followed by 12 ounce special with mustard viniagarette salad, loaded baked potato, and medium rare steak

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

[ QUOTE ]
Everyone in this thread is smoking crack. Outback is fine. Get a steak, any steak. They're all decent. Obviously, you get what you pay for, so it's not going to be the meal of a lifetime. Still, the food is decent.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Hey you [censored] potatoheads - he asked them where THEY wanted to go, and THEY picked Outback.

There's some sort of kid involved - he's lucky he's not going to Chuckie Cheese, for chrissakes

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

*RANT*

Outback pretty much has the worst french fries I have ever eaten. On the other hand it is also the home of the best burgers I have come across. My favorite burger is the Mad Max burger. Another route you could go is to order the No Rules burger and build it yourself from scratch. The bloomin' onion is highly overrated. It's pretty much for outback rookies who've seen commercials or something. Granted, it is better than Chili's or Texas Roadhouse's version. My favorite appetizer on the menu is the Bushman Shrooms. Even if you don't see it on the menu, you can order them. Trust me. And I'm not even a mushroom guy. The first time I really dug mushrooms was this particular dish, and only now at 25 am I beginning to appreciate them. Daryn likes the crabcakes and the shrimp appetizers, I'm not a seafood guy so I'll take his word on that. For a main course, my staple for years was the Prime Ministers Prime Rib. Beautiful cut of meat, always cooked to perfection. Every year I go to the Outback on my birthday and get a Prime Rib that is as many ounces as I am years old. The largest they offer on the menu is 16oz I believe. You can add an ounce to any steak for $1/oz. Another nice bit of knowledge. I'm not a fan of the bread. It was much better 5 or so years ago, before restaurants got too involved in the bread wars. Now I dont even touch it when it comes out. The side salad with honey mustard dressing is superb, especially for a simple side salad. If you want salad for a meal, you must order the queensland salad. Its a load of chicken salad on top of a regular salad. It is so good it is able to be eaten without any dressing, in my experience. Alice springs chicken is the chicken dish that everybody talks about. Instead, I would reccomend the Cyclone chicken. It's not on the menu anymore, but you can still order it. They have a version of it on pasta, but believe me, you want the dinner version, the old school way. Its a chicken breast covered in all kinds of good stuff like alfredo-like sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and other goodness. For side dishes, I already said I hate Outback's fries. If you want a starch , go for the loaded baked potato. Or even better, I think, is the steamed vegetables. Sure, they're covered in butter, but man are they delicious! Desserts at Outback are top notch as well. Go for anything involving ice cream and a chocolate brownie.
I know I don't write much anymore here, but Daryn brought this thread to my attention saying he was pretty upset with all the Outback hating that was going on. And who better than fatmongo to set everybody straight on such a good chain. Yes, Outback is a chain. A large chain. But that doesn't mean you have to hate it. I've only been to one Outback in my life that didn't live up to my standards. If you're curious, it is in Methuen, MA. It pretty much sucked and offered nothing other than the big screen plasmas. But every other Outback I have been to has been of good quality. 2 years ago after Caribbean Poker Adventure I was quoted as saying that the Bahamas Outback was THE greatest meal of my life. That still holds true to this day, even though it was not as impressive when we made our return trip last month.
Sorry that was long. Though, if you read it all, consider yourself well educated on the subject of the Outback menu.

*END RANT*

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

[ QUOTE ]
From what I can tell, there must be major quality differences between Outbacks. I've only been to two and food was decent but not great. Not where I would choose to eat steak, but not terrible.

Try the sirloin. At least, if it's not that great you didn't spend as much as you would with the filet.

And I'm pretty sure "Buca di Bepo" is italian for "We're just a little better then Olive Garden"

[/ QUOTE ]

Funny, around here it's Buca's that has the patent on quality differences, it can be anywhere from above average to terrible.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

[ QUOTE ]
For a main course, my staple for years was the Prime Ministers Prime Rib. Beautiful cut of meat, always cooked to perfection. Every year I go to the Outback on my birthday and get a Prime Rib that is as many ounces as I am years old. The largest they offer on the menu is 16oz I believe. You can add an ounce to any steak for $1/oz. Another nice bit of knowledge.

[/ QUOTE ]


Great move. I'm usually too lazy to cook, I love prime rib, and I live 5 minutes from Outback, so I probably pull this move way more often than I should. But hey, if you can't enjoy six or seven pounds of rare steak a month, what's the point in living.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Ok, I only read that first sentence. It was a long rant, had it been paragraphed I suppose I could have read it entirely. You are insane, the cheesefries are great. That is all.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Outback restaruants must vary in quality throughout the nation, because I've been to two Outbacks near me and they are both crap.

Blooming onion is like 30% onion and the rest is fried up batter grease. This dish has been good 1 out of the 4 times I've tried it. The onions were rotten or something because there was a very bitter taste even the dip couldn't mask. It's $5 for a friggin onion and you can't even use fresh material? Fail.

The bread is embarassing. It is edible within the first 2 minutes because as soon as it gets cool it becomes a lump of wood. Considering every single chain italian restaruant can offer half decent bread now, there's no excuse for this.

Finally, I just don't find the steak that good. At my Outback it is usually cooked okay but the meat is never hot when it hits my table. I also have to drown it in sauce to get any flavor, and you just shouldn't have to do that with decent steak. I don't expect a $16 steak to melt in my mouth, but it's not even tender.

A basic steak meal with appetizer and a drink will usually run $20 a person. I feel I am getting maybe $10 worth of food quality. However, these Outbacks are consistently packed for dinner everytime I go so maybe I am the food snob. But mostly likely it is because most people have absolutely no standards for good steak.

Re: Busting my Outback cherry
 

Outback is a fine cheap steak, and a very good burger. It's not fine dining, but if you expect it to be, that's your mistake. Blooming onions are good, and the garlic mashed potatoes are much, much better than their fries.