Outback Food Had No Taste, Declining Quality

http://outback.com/contactus/contactus.asp?Category=CATEGORY19

that form should be working...

Jamie, does NotHappy ring a bell? I apologize to PFB for imagining I
saw it here. It was on the other one, wasn't it, Jamie?

Well, I work at Outback. You didn't say where your outback was
exactly. Here in Wisconsin we still top our potato soup with cheese,
bacon bits, and chives. I haven't heard of any policy changes on
that. The thing about your letter that I find hard to believe is that
you actually had to wait 15 minutes for a manager. Did you know that
all our managers wear pagers at outback? All we have to do is push a
button and they are there within 30 seconds, saying "who paged me,
what do you need?".
So either your server was completely incompetent, which I doubt, or
you are exaggerating.
Sometimes the fillets do range in size, but if it was really that bad
and that big of a problem, they would have fixed it immediately.
As for the toughness of the steak, how did you order it? If you order
it well done you may as well chew on a piece of your shoe because well
done steak is always leathery. And if you did order a nice mid-rare
filet, they would have done a recook in minutes.
As for the chicken strips, we cook everything in house everyday.
Seriously, the prep cooks get there at 8am just to make everything
when we don't even open till 4. I assure you it's not powder mix.
That must have just been a personal taste preference of your own.

Also about the bread- either you let it sit on your table too long
(which is often the case) or you really did have a cold loaf. Either
way what you need to understand is that there is one oven for the
bread and we load it all the time, but sometimes there is not enough
supply for the demand and the bread isn't quite toasty enough. If we
don't bring it out until it's warm you will complain for waiting so
long. If we bring it out right away and it's not quite toasty you
will complain too. So really, if your bread wasn't warm enough just
tell your server and wait 2 minutes. I promise it won't kill you.

I've been out of town the past few days so was just able to check in
today. This letter shows as being posted on 4/20, but I SWEAR I saw
it before I went out of town. In fact, I responded (jokingly) that if
I were served a filet that tasted like butter, that's a steak that
would be sent right back to the kitchen. Also seems to me it was the
second time they went there after a first complaint resulted in a $60
certificate, or something like that. Am I confusing two separate
letters. Or is that after a while they all get to sound alike? :)

Where are our super-duper detectives who can spot letters as repeats?
I don't know how to do it.

I guess I'm fortunate in living near an Outback Steakhouse whose
quality of food has not changed since it opened about 10 years ago.

I agree with the letter writer. The Outback's food isn't all that
good. I went there a couple of years ago and there steaks had no
taste. Although I eat my steaks medium rare this one tasted like they
just sliced it off of the cow and slapped it on my plate, with no
seasonings at all. The roll reminded me of a hockey puck and even the
Dew that I had tasted watered down. With there prices, I expected
the food to be better. I haven't been back and don't plan on going
back, unless someone treats me (hint-hint).

I don't care for writers who want compensation, especially when they
didn't even care for the food in the first place. But this was
actually a pretty good letter. Lots of details help qualify the
story.
I would like to know the location, though, as I have enjoyed the
Outback offerings at several other locations. That way I could avoid
eating at this one.
"The blue cheese dressing tasted like sour cream..." Very true! Years
ago I wrote PFB about that same issue, and even was contacted by
Outback who, of course, claimed their bleu cheese dressing was
terrific! They claimed they would even throw on extra crumbles if
requested, but I sure in your case they wouldn't have!
The best recourse: Don't eat there anymore. There are dozens of
excellent restaurants nearby, I'm sure, to try. Let friends (and PFB)
know of your experience, then eventually this outlet will
self-destruct. Perhaps even an Outback Executive will drop in,
UNIDENTIFIED, and try the Victorias Filet, bleu cheese-less dressing,
and topless water soup. Then something may actually happen! Are you
listening Outback???

I don't understand some of these letters. "You're food is awful, give
me some more awful food for free?" Does this make any sense?

Got good service are are making this up just to try to bribe them to
get a freebie.

You had your chance to talk to the manager and you gave it up. That
does not entitle you to free food. Nice try though.