I received a gift certificate to Outback Steakhouse which I was very excited about. I had not been there in years and I am not big on chain restaurants. My experiences there before were good and the food was good. So, I was pretty excited to take my girlfriend there and have a good dinner. \r
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When we arrived the hostess greeted us and right away turned her attention to her colleague to finish what she was saying to her. Just kinda rude in general, but... whatever... that happens all the time anywhere you go. I felt that we could live. \r
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So anyway, the waitress is fantastic and is very responsive with everything. Everything is going well until... the steaks come out. Now for those that don't know, Outback Steakhouse is a steakhouse. To me that means that their specialty is steak. So the first steak (my girlfriend's) comes out and it is ""well done"" instead of the medium that she had ordered. My girlfriend explains this to the waitress and the waitress happily agrees to take it back. We wait the 10 min it takes for the new one and it comes out. The manager brings the steak out and watches my girlfriend cut into the steak to make certain it is prepared correctly. It was, so we tell him everything is great. He proceeds to only look at me the entire time and tells me if we need anything just to let him know. He does not really address or acknowledge my girlfriend. I thought he was professional and very nice about everything, but it did somewhat piss my girlfriend off. \r
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She takes a bite of her steak, and does not like the Teryaki sauce they have marinated the steak in. I give her the ""give me a break look"" and she suggests that I try it. I do. I don't think vinegar and sugar counts as Teryaki sauce, but maybe we are just too picky. I agree with my girlfriend and tell her it does not taste good. \r
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The waitress comes back and we embarassingly explain the situation. We both agree that the steak is not good. She looks at us like, ""Oh well"". I tell her that we will pay for it and she accepts. We did not contact the manager or gripe. I don't want to go back period. They gave us excellent service but did not seem to care if we came back. It was in the actions. The waitress even had the nerve to say, ""Sorry.... come back next time and we will be better"". What?!? Really? So she even admits that it will be better next time suggesting that it was no good herself. \r
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I felt picky here, but... shouldn't a steak, a ""Steak"" be good? I forgot... we are talking about he Mcdonald's of steak houses. Next time I get a gift card to a place like this, I will go sell it at the place to a die hard chain restaurant lover for 1/4 of what it was worth. Maybe I would just give it away instead of wasting my time to drive all the way there. I don't know. I know this. I will never return to an Outback Steakhouse ever again.
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