A horrendous dining experience!
My significant other and I decided to have dinner at the Outback Steakhouse in Medford, Oregon on August 8, 2002. We arrived at 8:45 p.m. and were pleasantly surprised that it was not busy and we were seated right away. However, we were there for about 10 minutes and had already decided what we wanted to order with no service person in sight. A few minutes after this our server arrived to take our drink order. At this time I ordered a bloomin' onion and let him know that we would be ready to order when he returned with the drinks. He brought our drinks back to the table and we were very specific about what we wanted for dinner. It was almost a half an hour before our bloomin' onion arrived. It arrived overcooked and appeared to be burnt on the underside. We were starving at this point and ate what we could. Someone removed the plate and we waited and we waited! About 10 minutes later a manager came up to us and said that our order was somehow lost and it is cooking now! Give me a break! So he walks away and a few moments later our waiter tells us the same story...as he walks away I said can we please get our soup and salads first please? A very unfriendly girl brings us soup and salad without a word or a smile! No bread...so I asked her if we could please have some bread and she acted as if I had bothered her. She came out with some bread with the same attitude. About 6-7 minutes later we get our food! We weren't done with our soup and salad...What terrible timing! My soup had bacon on it with very little cheese when I specifically asked for no bacon and extra cheese. My significant other ordered a rare steak. It looked good but it had a bad texture because the meat was cut in all different ways and a lot of fat was left on the meat. Now...I am a waitress and bartender and my significant other is a chef who has also been a server/bartender. I have had service this bad only one other time about two years ago and he had NEVER had an experience quite so horrendous. The manager felt as if comping our bloomin' onion was going to suffice but alas it did not. I asked if I could get a comment card. He brought me a blank piece of paper. This just would not do. I then asked for the address for the corporate headquarters. He could not find it. I asked to speak with the proprietor and he supposedly was out of town. We had to wait another 10 minutes for our check and yet another 10 minutes for them to take our money/credit card. This was the most horrendous dining experience that I have ever had!    [10 Aug 2002 00:43:10]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Quite a few but not on August 8, 2002

     ­Anonymous   

Best Chain Restaurant
I would like to say that Outback Steakhouse is one of my favorite places to eat. I love the coconut shrimp and Victoria's fillet is always great. I 've always had a good time.    [08 Apr 2003 10:34:57]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: fillet or shrimp

     ­Scott Byland   scoto1 at hotmail dot com

I think that Outback Steakhouse is one of the best restaurants around. I've been to many, but my favorite so far is the one in Medford, Oregon. The service has good timing, the people are efficient and friendly, the proprietor is honest and polite, no matter what. The food is fresh and never a bit below perfect. And the atmosphere is fabulous.    [10 Jul 2003 11:56:23]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: any of the deserts, coconut shrimp, bloomin' onion, most anything

     ­Amber   auroraborealis281 at hotmail dot com

The Outback Steakhouse provides a fabulous atmosphere for dining, the friendly staff and high quality food makes it one of my favourite places to eat.    [22 May 2004 16:05:33]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: everything, if you dont like it it just means you havent really tried it

     ­Chris   chris_train01 at hotmail dot com

Steak was blah
I was really disappointed with my experience at Outback in Medford. My husband ordered a $20 steak and I had the baby back ribs. The steak was nothing to write home about. It was average at best. The ribs were wonderful though. That was probably the only outstanding thing about our whole dining experience. What surprised me the most was how unappealing the food presentation was. The side salad was just plain iceberg lettuce with a few tomatoes on top. It looked like something that you would get thrown on your tray in a cafeteria line! Also, when we got our main course it was simply the meat we each ordered and French fries. No garnishment, no colorful veggies- nothing. Everything looked so boring and unappetizing.

Finally, the décor. Who on earth though of put low hanging lamps in every booth?! I was looking around at the other diners and everyone in the entire restaurant was sitting there squinting at each other. We finally figured out that if we each sat at the very end of the table we would actually be able to look at each other with out that intrusive lamp blinding us. The restaurant’s only saving grace was that the service was excellent and hostess was very friendly. If you plan on spending $60-$70 at a nice steak house, I suggest going elsewhere.    [04 Jan 2007 15:29:23]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Baby back ribs

     ­Anonymous