Updating this review due to last visit there. The restaurant was crowded as we sat down in a booth. Our waitress was amazing though. She was prompt, kept us hydrated, checked on us, & brought everything we asked for. I had the prime rib. I ordered it medium, but it was a bit underdone for me (not a reflection of the restaurant as every chef tends to cook this steak a bit different). I apologized when I had to ask our waitress to take it back & have it done a little more. She came back with it done just right. I apologized again & she said, "Don't worry about. We want to make sure our customers are happy." What???? Rarely do you see such good & friendly service today. I more than appreciate her work. My husband got fish. I tried it....it was so good. Fresh, light, & practically melted in the mouth. I'm pretty picky when it comes to fish out anywhere, so I was pleasingly surprised to enjoy it. As always we will be back. Love Outback!! read more

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Horrible experience with the manager this evening (Christmas Eve 2021). Very unhelpful, had an attitude and seemed bothered that I asked to speak to a manager after we learned that earlier in the week when we called about their "call ahead seating", that we were lied to and mislead. We have visited this place for the past 15+ years on Xmas Eve and her lack of empathy, willingness to even apologize... just means we will take our tradition to another, more appropriative and professional restaurant Luckily Prime Steakhouse in Crown Point was happy to work with our party of 9. Not sure we will visit that Outback location anytime soon. Suggest you take your money elsewhere too. CB. read more

Counted 15 open tables and their waiting room is filled and the wait is 30 minutes????? Never seen such a waste of space and people's time!!! read more

Absolutely horrible. Do not waste your time going here. We were seated and the waitress was so slow to come order our drinks. We waited for our bread and it took 10 minutes FOR BREAD. Eventually it came out to us and we ate. Waited another 10-15 minutes waitress still hasn't came back? Finally after 20 minutes she walks over to take our order. We ask for more bread and we wait. 20 minutes later still no food or bread. After 30 minutes we finally get everything. The grilled chicken was drier than the Sahara desert, the fries were bland tasted like they were heated up in the microwave. Once we finished eating we ask for more water and for boxes to pack up and go. It took another 10 minutes for the water and boxes. Overall the service was horrible, food was so dry and plain, and for the price you pay its so not worth it. Thanks Outback for a horrible experience. Definitely not going back. read more

Curbside takeaway is horrible! They told me everything was in there. We get home and it's like they missed a whole bag. No ranch, au jus for the steak, no sour cream, NOTHING. What's worse is I call and they ask if I was wanting to drive 30 minutes back to get some. I was told there was nothing they could do then. I asked if I was talking to the manager and they said no even though I told the first person that was who I wanted to speak to. I can see why reviews are so low, bad customer service! Definitely not with the trip! 5/12/19 Went with family for dine in. Service was excellent, but shrimp arrived cold although everything else was hot. Not enough servers for large graduation crowds. read more

A few things to consider, food, service, and ambience....... Well this will be short. went in on a Friday night. Place was not busy and we got seated right away. That's the good. in the 10 minutes we sat there looking at the menu, our presence wasn't even acknowledged. No introduction, no water, no nothing. Multiple servers walked by us and didn't even acknowledge us. So, we left so maybe we could actually eat somewhere. Too bad to because I love me some Outback but I won't be back to this one. read more

This was one of the of the worst dinners we have ever had. Our prime rib was so tough and full of gristle that it was almost impossible to cut and find a piece of meat that was edible. Our vegetable sides were cold. The only thing that was okay was our baked potatoes. Hostess and waiter were pleasant but since the restaurant was not that busy, the service should have been better. We do not recommend and will not be returning. read more

3:pm on a Saturday afternoon in an empty restaurant and you would think you'd get right in and out after a quick meal. Crickey! No way. 80% of tables open and we waited 15 minutes to be seated. They gave us a pager when no one else was waiting. Finally seated and another 15 minutes to get drinks (I've been here for an hour and still yet to receive water or a refill on ice tea) Bloomin onion comes out after almost 30 minutes and it's not hot. Still have yet to see our food yet. Wow. The time it took me to eat here I could have flown to Australia and back. read more

Outback Steakhouse - 3:pm in the afternoon and empty - Steakhouses Near Me - Merrillville, Indiana

If I didn't see commercial on TV, I think I won't never walk into this steakhouse. Decoration looks fancy and clean, but service is very slow. We had to call somebody there to refill our drinks and take empty dishes away at least four times. Food is not that great and enough to eat too. My husband was sick after eating, his sandwiches is not fresh and taste frozen. read more

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Horrible location they aren't prepared when it comes to a holiday or large crowd at all. The wait times were outrageous and inaccurate .

We had dinner here last year and it was not a good experience. Today however it was great! Things have turned around so much from the greeting and quick table to the tasting food and great service. We'll be back! read more

It took more than an hour to get our food. I had to ask for it and it came out incredibly cold for pasta and shrimp. I don't usually send back any food to the kitchen. I should have but then I didn't want to wait much longer. The manager came out to apologize. She gave us 10% off the order. I will never come back to this restaurant. It seemed like everyone was confused with all the orders and everyone around me felt the same. Looks like management is just going around trying to make up for what the poor service issues were taking place. However it seems she should be working more on getting the employees to stop making mistakes and take care of the customers. Staff not friendly at all. read more

The server was nice. The ambiance was also good. Those are the only positive things I can say about this establishment. There is a break down in communication between what you ask for and what you get. I went with a group of 9 the messed up the order for at least 5 of us. The food wasn't particularly inspiring. I wouldn't recommend this business to anyone. I gave it one star because I couldn't give it no stars. Please stay away unless you like to be upset. read more

Let me start by saying I have given this location "A LOT" of opportunities to correct the many issues that I have brought to managements attention over the last several months and once again tonight I decided to give them yet another chance to NOT DISSAPPOINT and THEY FAILED MISERABLY!! I went online and ordered the Glazed Pork Chop Dinner (received my order confirmation number that it would be ready for pickup in 25 minutes. Well, 10 minutes later I received a call from the Outback telling me they stopped selling the Pork Chop Dinner months a ago????? What's this I just ordered it online. I asked for a manager and she initially told me the same thing and when I asked her to clarify how I could order something online that according to her they stopped serving months ago, She changed her answer and said that they were out of the Pork Chops and would not have anymore in until Thursday(2 days from now) and she just went online and removed them from the menu for that location??? while on the phone with me, there was no empathy or apology, I understand now why the staff has attitude problems. Management is definitely leading by example. read more

After ordering over $80 worth of food for two people, showing up 5/10 minutes before designated pick up time, and speaking with the lady delivering take out meals..we still received our order almost cold and unsatisfactory, our chicken tender meal came with no sauce and fries that you could tell sat in a plastic box for too long (the humidity made them soft), our tbone and ribeye (which seemed to be more fat then meat) steaks were not hot (we came from across the street) my mashed was unnecessarily salty and our mac had little to no cheese, we were offered almost hard bread and zero condiments, the two natural lemonades we ordered had more ice then drink. We will not be dining here again. read more

Outback Steakhouse - Fatty $20+ steak - Steakhouses Near Me - Merrillville, Indiana

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Everything was perfect! We were seated right away, service excellent & food was amazing. I got the filet with garlic butter topping & would recommend . Several people attended to us with bread, salad, refills and meal. Price is fair for the amount and quality of food. read more

Have been here several times, Always ordered the 22 oz Ribeye, come to find out; it is now an 18 oz. Ribeye. Price didn't change, only size... Usually have leftovers, not any more. Steak was 1/2" thick on one end, 1" thick on the other. Cook or Manager, should never have sent this steak out. Not happy about A $28.00 steak overcooked on one end and underdone on the other. Poor management in my opinion. Usually A pretty good meal, felt very let down this time.. Going back? Not sure... read more

As I here finishing up my dinner. The past few times we have came here it wasn't like it used to be in their old spot. But today... it was spot on! If you look back the past few months reviews they are bad. Today the manager of the restaurant and the kitchen both came up to talk over the past experiences here. There's a new manager in the kitchen to fix the bad habits that were there. The food was so much better then the last few times we have stopped in. Never had problems with the wait staff no issues there. Now I'll be back in a month to try it again. Hopefully I'll be able to follow up with another great review. read more

I have visited many Outback's in my work travels, I can always count on consistent menu options, cold beer and good service. This visit i was disappointed in that the Ahi Tuna was sold out, service was slower than I'm used to, but COVID has hit service pretty hard. read more

Came in for dinner around 5:30 today with my boss for dinner, asked for high top seats in the bar section, was told we couldn't sit there and were dragged to a spot in the back like a Montgomery bus in 1955. Sat for at least 20 minutes with NO SERVICE, watched a table get sat 15 minutes after us, yet had drinks and bread brought out to them, as well as 2 tables sat in the allegedly off limits bar section. Waitstaff were completely oblivious despite walking by dozens of times, and hostess was MIA when we had enough and went to Gino's down the road. Sat immediately there and were happy to contribute $120+ to their bottom line. read more

If I could give 0, I would. I had an awful experience at this restaurant. I had a party of 7 that I called ahead on. We get to the restaurant and they make us wait over an hour to be seated even though we called ahead. After making us wait they finally seated us. Menus are already on the table but no silverware or napkins. We waited for our waitress for 20 minutes! I had to ask the guy that seated us to get our server. After ordering our dinners, they bring out something completely different than what I had originally wanted. I ordered a sirloin well done and what they brought out was NOT a sirloin. It was cold and not cooked throughly! The mashed potatoes were watery and the green beans tasted like straw. I spoke with the manager and she had an attitude. No refunds but I could get a new dinner order for no cost. Our server was all over the place and kept skipping our table. I've been to this place twice, had the same experience and will not be returning. The food is bad and it's not a friendly atmosphere. Save your money and go elsewhere. read more

For a chain steakhouse I just want to say that in the past year the majority of them have messed up my steak. I've tried other chains and they can never seem to get a rare steak correct. Outback has made me happy in the many years I've eaten here as I have never had to send back a steak. I like the way it's seasoned too. The bread they give you is good, salads... I'm still obsessed with the ranch dressing. Service? I know quite a few people have complained here on yelp. My husband and I last went on 2/26 and I forgot to update like I said I was going to. Our server was Tynissa and she was sweet as pie, couldn't be more down to earth and friendly if she tried. We had a nice time chatting and joking with her on a night I really needed my spirits lifted. read more

Was seated. Our server finally showed up after sitting 15 minutes. We still don't know her name. A couple seated after we were got warm bread and butter then she finally brought us some. Arrived with our appetizer finally. We had to ask for plates to eat the shrimp off of. She came back and basically slammed the plates on the time. She was rude and clearly hated her job. We have now been here over an hour. We won't be back!!!!! read more

The food here is absolutely gross! I tend to avoid places like Outback due to not being at all impressed by anything on the menu. However, my sister was in a hurry and wanted to meet up here so I reluctantly agreed. The items on the menu sounded good but when I tasted my dish it was a complete letdown. I ordered pasta with chicken and shrimp which was not executed in an appetizing way. The shrimp was on top of the cheese sauce which did not mix with the seasonings on the shrimp. The chicken was dry and insanely seasoned with something high in sodium. The pasta sauce was nasty and tasted like something straight out of a dollar store can. The noodles were too thick and undercooked. I do not like wasting food but I could not stomach this food which is among the worst I've ever had. The men's restroom here is a disgusting mess. I come from Los Angeles and this restroom was similar to ones that can be found in the dirty parts of the city. There was urine all over the floor, the sinks were dirty, and the place smelled like stagnant urine and sweat. The waiter was pleasant and helpful however. I hope she is paid well and not treated poorly. Although I rate this place one star, I give her service five stars. read more

Let me start by saying I think our server did the best he could, but seemed like he was put into a position he was not ready for. We arrived to the restaurant, which was only about 20% full and we were seated fairly quickly. The server came over and took our appetizer and drink order, the whole time looking at the order tablet as if he wasn't really sure he was using it correctly. Our drinks come, minus my drink, but with an extra pop. We let the table runner know that wasn't our order and they said they would get it right away. Some time passes and our server returns. We let him know we are missing my drink, and are ready to order our entrees. He says he will take care of the drink and disappears with the menus, never taking our entree order. A while later another pop comes, still not ours. The server then returns with a different drink, still not what I ordered. We ask about ordering entrees again, he assures us he will be right back. Finally my drink does arrive, hurray! By this point we have finished our appetizer and still not had our entree order taken, so we give up and ask for the bill. Bill comes, with the drinks we did not order on it, server says he will fix it. Then he brings back the exact same receipt. My wife, sensing my frustration, asks him again to fix the bill and he finally does. In the end we leave without ever even ordering an entree. read more

Just had one of the best experiences tonight. Faiza was such a wonderful server! Everything came out timely and prepared to perfection. Walter the AMP even came out and said hello. Definitely will be back to see them both. Thank you for making our date night amazing! read more

Purely because of the slow service and the burnt bloomin onion. It took almost 15 minutes before we were greeted by a waiter. We ordered appetizer and food together then another waitress came to take our order 5 minutes after we had already placed our order. Our appetizer came with our food. Asked the waitress for barbecue sauce and garlic butter for the chicken and steak and she totally forgot. We then asked waiter who initially took order but by that time meal was almost finished. He took more than 10 minutes and forgot garlic butter. So refills were definitely out of the question since he didn't come until we were done with the meal although we asked the waitress for refills and she walked away with attitude. Won't be going to this location read more

5 stars to the waitstaff and kitchen. My son asked if the cheeseburger on the kids meal looked like a boomerang and how about that it came out looking like a boomerang ! Made his night! Note: My filet was delish as well ! read more

I would give less than one star if I could. We ordered over $100 worth of food for my daughter's birthday dinner via DoorDash. They gave the dasher the wrong order and then when we called to ask about it, the girl who answered the phone was VERY rude. She said, "my manager said there is nothing we can do," very snotty. At the very least, apologize for your mistake. Things happen, but their lack of customer service is appalling. read more

Stupid rules U lost a repeat customer because at 540pm, I asked for a real booth for dinner. The host did not want to do that so I told him I'd go somewhere else and eat. read more

Arrived Sunday evening on a holiday weekend about an hour before close. Sat at a booth in the bar area and right from the "hello" by our server, I could tell she wanted to be anywhere but at work. Drinks and appetizer ordered, our server (Jill) came back to take our order. I went with a steak with blue cheese, mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. My friend ordered a entree portion of the house salad with chicken on it. Our server didn't write anything down but repeated everything back to us perfectly, so I knew she had it when she left our table. When my food came out, it was all correct except for the missing blue cheese, which she correctly quickly (after I pointed it out). My friend's salad had egg on it and was missing most of the ingredients (cucumber, onion, tomato) and he had to ask for it. He commented that he didn't want the egg but he would eat it anyway and we got a half-hearted apology. About 2/3 of the way through his meal, my friend found a hair in his lettuce. When Jill came back to pick up my plate, he politely motioned to her to look at his plate and she saw it. She took it away and offered to have another one remade, but since he had eaten so much of it, he was full. She came back a few minutes later with the check and we asked for it to be split, and she said "It doesn't matter, I had them remove yours anyway" to my friend. We had to ask again to split it so he could take his drink and appetizer. Although she offered to have another salad remade, at no time did she ever apologize. My steak and sides were really good, and once he got everything on his plate (minus the hair) he was okay too, but the service was less than stellar. It seemed to me like we were bothering her instead of being a customer inside the restaurant. Maybe it had been a long day... maybe that's what we get for coming in so late on the Sunday of Memorial Day, but we both left somewhat unimpressed. read more

This place is very reliable for good food at a very reasonable price. That is also why it is one of the most popular restaurants in Merrillville. If you don't want to wait for dinner, do arrive before 5:30pm on a Saturday. That means if you arrive at 5:33pm, you will have to wait about 30 minutes because we saw 10 - 15 people walk in right after us in that window. Whew, because we were ready to eat. We've had prime rib, ribeye, and pasta - all very good for the price. You also get a reliably good cold salad and warm pumpernickel bread. The carrot cake was a little too sweet, and we've had better at other franchises, but this is just a heads-up for the next opportunity. read more

On July 14, my party of eight had a Terrible Experience at this Outback Steakhouse! Celebrating a happy occasion for my sister, we chose Outback Steakhouse for dinner, as a she happens to be a fan of their food. We had a 5pm reservation. I don't live in the area, and have not been in the area for many years. I was 15 mins late checking in for the reservation because I passed the restaurants exit twice, so I was very appreciative when our party was seated within 10 mins of arrival even though it dinner crowd was picking up. That and the pleasant demeanor of our server are the only PROS I can list in this review. It all goes downhill from here. Our party placed drink orders and appetizers immediately. A few minutes later our beverages were delivered to the table, the server took our entree orders. That was at approximately 530-545pm. Our appetizers took just about twenty minutes to arrive to the table which is sort of lengthy for a quick finger foods of: Blooming Petals, a close cousin to the Blooming Onion, Crab Cakes, and Hot Wings. So we dig into the appetizers begin catching up with each other lives, laughing, joking and now it's 7pm. We realize, we are STILL waiting for our meals to be served. A table of four patrons that were seated after my party were served appetizers and entrees and had finished and were paying their bill which is what snapped us out of patience! We politely asked our server whats the hold up, pointing out we'd been seated for an hour and half... she said I'm going to speak to Manager about this and she promptly returned, I mean immediately returned, with trays of foods -- setting plates of lukewarm entrees about the table. No steam, no heat, no melted sauces on on the pasta entree (which is a surefire giveaway that it's cold, having sat for a good while). Then not the even full order is delivered. Still a wait a potato here, crab legs here, just disgusting! Cold loaded potato's, dried-up pasta, cold steak entrees, lukewarm salmon. It was an utter disaster of a meal that no restaurant 'worth their salt' would serve patrons that have chosen their establishment out of the MANY in the area we could have and should chosen! We immediately asked for the manager as it was clear this food had been sitting for a while. Though the server, when asked how is it our meals were promptly ready when we inquired about our long wait, said "they were plating them just as I went back." There is no way that food was freshly plated at the temperature it was. No one had an appetite for cold entree's or the desire to wait even longer to heat everything up or get everything reordered and to the table!Mgr.Spencer came to table with a very lackadaisical attitude, very callous. We explained that we'd been sitting since 530pm had immediately placed drink orders, followed by appetizers and entrees. We pointed out here it was a wee pass 7pm and our food had only just reached our table and that was because we had to physically track down our waitress and ask "Hey what is REALLY going on here, where is our food?" We explained and showed him, that the entrees were cold and expressed we were not happy with what was happening at the moment. (Let me inject up until that point, the server seemed attentive, refilling water glasses and refills, she checked in after the appetizers were placed asking how things tasted, so, I thought she was doing her best) Spencer's professional response to a table of unhappy patrons in his dining location was "So, what? Would you like some to go boxes?" I mean he seriously could not have gathered that from our info to him! He was then told we absolutely did not want to-go boxes. He then asked what did we want and he was told to take all the entrees off the bill as we would be leaving and we'd pay for appetizers. Jus a wasted evening. He said to wait a moment he'd see, Spencer left and never returned to our table! We waited another ten minutes, now we are getting irritated by the situation and the service! One of my sisters decided since Mgr. Spencer asked what we wanted -- now for our inconvenience and continued waste of time, Spencer's poor display of professional customer care nonetheless, deemed comping the appetizers and calling it even! Ultimately, one of sisters tracked down our server who told us we were free to leave, the bill was comped by Mgr. Spencer (whom said he would return to our table,after giving us three minutes of his time) Wouldn't you know, we see Mgr. Spencer now all ears appearing to wholeheartedly listen to the complaints of an All American Family! Too bad our party didn't get the same sympathetic ear. read more

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The food is great. I had the burger. It was excellent. My wife had herb-crusted chicken. It was very good. They were out of crayons. Maybe just go to Walmart and buy some? They recently moved locations and had a facelift. Love the new location! read more

Outback Steakhouse - The new Outback had a facelift. It looks awesome and the food is great!! - Steakhouses Near Me - Merrillville, Indiana

So me and my family were taking my dad to a fathers day dinner and when we get there there is a 50 min wait witch isn't terrible once we sat done we ordered a blooming onion witch was good but the they took a hour to order are main meal so we order and my dad orders a prime rib it takes at least a hour and a half for them to get are food and then his prime rib wasn't even cooked and you may think I'm over exaggerating but the whole thing was pink the outside and inside it looked like they put on the grill for 20 seconds and took it off if I could give 0 stars i would disgusting read more

I was really disappointed with our visit. We walked in at noon and didn't get our food until 12:45. Our server was really flaky and inefficient. We saw her walk by our table and another multiple times to go to one specific table. She was doing anything she possibly could to take care of them but the heck with the rest of us. the food was good but just such a long wait which I know was due our server because others who had another server and got the same prime rib sandwich we did got theirs much sooner. it's unfortunate and a reason we would not return. read more

We enjoy Outback and, as rewards members, go there a few times a year. But I was very disappointed over our experience yesterday. The host told us it would be a 20 minute wait. After 30 minutes, he told us it would be just five more minutes. Meanwhile, he was seating other people who had come in after we arrived. After an additional TEN more minutes, I went up to see what the hold up was. There were clearly tables available in the dining room. The host made an excuse that we had come in at a bad time, as some servers were getting off-shift and others were coming in. A manager was nearby and asked what the problem was. When he saw open tables, he ordered the host to get us seated and "get some food in these people's bellies." I didn't catch the manager's name, but I appreciated his humor and the fact that he wasn't accepting excuses from the host, who, frankly, didn't seem to know what he was doing. The food, as always, was very good, and our server, Will, was polite, attentive, and had a great sense of humor. We'll go back again, but I'm not going to put up with the silliness of the host like I did this time. read more

It was Great. Good service and food. We came here because our state closed indoor eating in restaurants and we drove to Indiana to enjoy our meal and relax read more

Came in for some good food, got over and undercooked steak, unseasoned broccoli, and by time I got my lemons for my shrimp it was cold. My moms steak was over cooked and we sent it back and it came back undercooked. I understand you're understaffed, the whole world is. But I asked 3 times for lemons, same and different people, it shouldn't take 20 minutes. Super nice staff, but something's gotta give. read more

Was a little fury and very busy. We waited for a table to open in the bar like 4 or five other couples and waited for it to be cleaned. Food came out pretty fast and was good. They just seems totally understaffed. read more