Outback Steakhouse

Let's be clear: the wait staff was very good at this Outback (Terre Haute, IN). Sarah C., our server, in particular, did all she could to mitigate the issues. And we appreciate that.

However, on Sunday evening, 24 April 023, we decided to have a treat and use some Dine Rewards points to go to Outback on south 3rd, Terre Haute, IN. My wife received an email saying that she had $20 in rewards available. But more on that later.

We ordered the fried mushrooms for an appetizer. Terrible choice. While there were plenty of 'shrooms, they were all very overcooked. Might even call them burnt. They certainly tasted that way. Fortunately, we had a coupon for the free appetizer, so no real loss there.

The real surprise came when we received our 'house salads:' shredded cabbage with dressing. It seems that the restaurant ran out of lettuce, so they were substituting shredded cabbage (cole slaw, actually). Who can eat that much dry shredded cabbage? We couldn't. Agan, our server tried to make this right by substituting a different side for my wife and crediting my meal $4.

Top off all this with entrees that were, at best, OK. We usually like the Alice Springs Chicken. So we both ordered the dish. The chicken seemed rubbery, and the baked potato's taste was 'off.' Overall, we maybe ate less than half of the meal.

Then came the bill. Seems that the email sent from Dine-Rewards saying that we had $20 in points was really about TWO $9.99 coupons for Bloomin' Onions. So, we spent $40.47 plus tip for a terrible meal.

Again, the wait staff was wonderful. But the food was terrible, to say the least.