Local Restaurant Review - Valentine's Dinner @ Outback

Okay, in all fairness, we did our Valentine's dinner a day early, on Friday... the 13th. Perhaps this was our fatal flaw. In any case, we headed over to the Outback Steakhouse on Illinois next to the Mickey D's... because sans babysitter- we had the kiddies in tow. Those of you that know us, are fully aware that we have a brood of three fun little kiddies, ranging in age from 19 months to 5 years old. Why did we choose to go Outback? Well, perhaps it had something to do with how adorably our three year old was singing and dancing to the tune, "Let's go Outback tonight!"

Actually, Outback used to be a pretty good choice for parents with kids as young as ours. The booths are very spacious, offering enough room to prop a baby's carseat, & cram several coats, a full-sized mom, and at least one toddler all onto one side of the table. The atmosphere is noisy & busy enough that the neighboring tables won't necessarily hear that your child may be at any one moment loud-talking/fussing/arguing with a sibling/or singing along with the music playing overhead. Also, the kids can be successfully distracted by many of the cool Australian-themed objects generously adorning the walls... We try to sit within sight of the jersey-wearing crocodile hanging on the wall. This is handy so that if there is some kind of trouble at our table with the girls, I can say, "Hey, stop that! Uh-oh, look- that croc is checking you out!" This serves well as a useful momentary deterrent.

Well, everything started out well enough... except that we arrived later than we normally would have liked, and rather than the usual large booth, we were seated [with no wait] against the wall at a 1/2 booth with the neighboring tables a little too close for comfort. Also, on one of our last occasions to eat at Outback we were horrified to discover that they had taken away our favorite menu items. No more Towoomba or Cyclone Pastas, no more Asian Short-Ribs... although we were told you could still make a request for the ribs if you like,however , they may not taste the same.

For starters, we ordered the Bloomin' Onion and my husband ordered the wings with ranch dressing. These came out quickly enough, as did our Wedge salads, the Bloomin' Onion was tasty per usual, but the wings... I've never seen my husband NOT devour a plate of wings. He can make a plate 'o wings DISAPPEAR before your eyes in seconds, but he only munched on two. He also was not a fan of the fact that the wings actually appeared to have little 'hairs' where they were not plucked well, not an appetizing factor. The actual meals we ordered were only fair, not good, or great. The kids' meals were just okay as well, the chicken tenders were very good, nice and crunchy, tasty, but the fries were awful. The potato soup I ordered as a starter was actually the best part of my meal. My shrimp pasta was a little dry, it did not really have enough sauce, and the shrimp were not particularly bursting with char-grilled flavor. Really just sub-par considering the money we spent. The service was very friendly and fast... but overall the experience was a big V-Day bust.

I think we will be avoiding Outback Steakhouse for awhile... at least until they change the menu again and we have an incentive to try again. Overall, great service, wonderful atmosphere for kids, but the menu needs some help.