Review of Outback Steakhouse

Oh, lord, I really hate having to write this. I’m so sorry to the waitstaff, who were all *wonderful* during the process, but I have to say that my overall experience was truly terrible, both gluten-wise and in general. For reference, I am the celiac of our group, and the other three members of the party are related to me but without the celiac genes. The meal started out on the wrong foot, even from when we ordered beverages. My mother ordered a rum punch, and when it came, she took a sip from the top and came away with glass in her mouth, cutting her tongue. Even worse was that her beverage glass was unbroken, so the glass shard had to have come from elsewhere. This was already a bad start, but she was given another rum punch without glass and we went on with our meal, since this could only be a fluke. Then, the salads came out. Mine had croutons. Fun. So we sent that back, and a new blue cheese salad came out for me, which looked fine. However, towards the bottom of my salad, there was a blue cheese crumble. My salad did not come with blue cheese crumbles. Blue cheese crumbles were not in the dressing. That has to have come from one of the salads that did have blue cheese crumbles, *all of which were gluteny*. Great. But, clearly, it couldn’t get worse, so we felt fine to wait for the main courses. My alice springs chicken then had almost raw bacon on it. It was… bad. We got through the entire meal, but by the end, I had definitely been glutened by something. I’m not sure what, but the symptoms are exactly what I would expect. To be clear, everything not mentioned was perfect. However, this number of issues shouldn’t happen, no matter how many other items are ordered. To the staff’s credit, our waitress was *hugely* apologetic and horrified, and she got the manager to comp us the *entire* meal, such that we paid $8 out of ~$100. However, overall, the experience was awful, and I can’t say I’ll trust this particular branch again. Celiacs, do not attempt. It can’t end well.

How confident are you that this establishment takes safety precautions against cross-contact?

— Not at all

Safety Feature Ratings

• Staff is knowledgeable and can answer questions

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— Separate gluten-free menu

How much of the menu is available gluten-free?

— Some

How would you rate the taste and quality of the gluten-free food you tried?

— Good

Other Characteristics

• Good for dinner
• Good selection of healthy options