Here you are, at mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk isn't writing today, you know why. Cathy is trying to write an interesting post. Here it goes.
Long story short: I was given a lot of restaurant gift cards this past year. I don't regift. The people who give me cards ask specifics about the meals and what we enjoyed, so I take photos. The Mister and I have been pleasantly surprised so far.
Outback is an Australian inspired steakhouse, founded in 1988 in Tampa Florida by four friends. It is now a Company of restaurants which include Bonefish Grill, Carrabbas Italian Grill and Flemings Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. 
Outback's decor is rugged yet minimal. There is an electronic device on each table. You can order and pay for adult beverages, appetizers and even (for $2) play trivia games. You can also pay your final bill without waiting or flagging down your server.
When first seated, as the menus are dropped off, a warm loaf of honey wheat bread and unsalted whipped butter is brought out. The bread is 'stabbed' with a serrated steak knife, which is needed to slice the whole (small) loaf.
All of these items are from the Lunch menu, thumbnail at the bottom of this post.
With almost each lunch entree, you have a choice of soup or salad. There is a chicken tortilla Soup (not pictured), or this baked potato soup (wonderfully decadent)
or for $1 more, french onion soup (even more decadent).
You can either have a Caesar or this, a House salad, with dressing on the side. I was pleasantly surprised with the fresh vegetables, including cucumber on this salad. The House Ranch dressing is very good. 
The Classic Cheeseburger Combo ($9.49) was cooked to a perfect medium rare, had a nice char to the exterior, served on a wonderful fresh egg bun, had a choice of cheese and of course, lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle. This was an *excellent* burger. 
Six Gold Coast Coconut Shrimp Combo ($9.49) I used to order an appetizer plate of these as my meal…but six, along with either soup or salad is a 'healthier' meal. You can see the plump shrimp, light breading and tender coconut. 
The two two chicken taco combo ($8.99) (substitute steak instead of chicken, add $1). I splurged. This was really good. Different than a taco shop; not carne aside marinade; kind of fancy.
An Aussie Cobb Salad ($9.99) Fresh mixed greens, chopped hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, bacon, Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese and freshly made croutons. The Bleu Cheese dressing on the side was quite wonderful.
An Outback Burger, ($8.99) with fries…again, wonderful, cooked to a medium rare…and look at that bun.
I ordered the 6 ounce center cut sirloin ($14.99) with a baked potato and asparagus (fresh vegetable of the day). It was cooked to a perfect medium rare, had some sort of (tasty) marinade (didn't need any condiments added). The baked potato was so very good; I haven't had a baked potato in forever and all of those flavors triggered good memories. The asparagus was oven roasted and crispy tender with a bit of salt on top-again, needing no additions.
But, this is Outback- what about the famous Blooming Onion? Well, it is $8.49, very large (really, it is a meal) and I just couldn't bring myself to order one, even to share.
Until it was free.
I was listening to NASCAR one Sunday and heard that Outback sponsors a Racer -Kevin Harvick- and if he finishes in the Top Ten in a weekly Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, you just have to go into Outback the following Monday and say "Bloomin' Monday" and your table gets a free Blooming Onion appetizer for free. Here's a link.
So we did have one Blooming Onion. The crust was crispy, spicy and large. The onion was tender and sweet. We took home leftovers after eating it before and during one of the above meals. I used to be able to eat this much food along with adult beverages and not go into a food coma. Things change.
Overall, the meals at Outback were great.
Outback Steakhouse. Nationwide locations. Website
