Outback Steak House (I-25 and Woodman)

Since we missed Young Mike's birthday in July, we took him and Lauren to the Outback Steak House for his belated birthday dinner (I-25 and Woodman; Young Mike's choice for his birthday dinner). Mike and I got there a few minutes early and staged ourselves at the bar to wait. Mike had a Manhattan and I had the Sydney Cosmo - both were excellent.

Service was very prompt, although the bar was not overly crowded.  We were offered menus and when we said we were waiting to meet some folks, we were asked if we'd like appetizers. The bartender was not being pushy - it was clearly a nice offer to make our wait more comfortable.

Once our guests arrived, we re-seated ourselves in the bar area at a booth. Immediately, our server, Marlene, came over with offers of water and drinks for the new arrivals. She was very efficient and attentive (so much so that I contacted the manager to compliment her), but not hovering.

We ordered appetizers - a half Bloomin' Onion(r), some coconut shrimp, and one of the current specials, Mediterranean Chicken Flatbread. No complaints about any of these dishes. The Bloomin' Onion(r) was crisp and spicy; the coconut shrimp with the Creole marmalade was tasty and the Mediterranean Chicken Flatbread was very good - spread with goat cheese and topped with peppers and chicken.  I don't know how long the Mediterranean Chicken Flatbread will be offered - or if they're considering making it a permanent addition - but if you stop by Outback while they're running this special, you might consider trying it.

While we were visiting and sharing appetizers, we ordered out dinners.

I had another special they were offering - the filet with crab legs with a baked sweet potato and small salad. I asked for the filet medium with "extra char" and I was not disappointed! It was perfect. For a while, Outback got into serving very thin filets - and while this was not the thickest I'd ever seen, it was an improvement over what they were serving a while back.  My salad was fresh with plenty of blue cheese, and my sweet potato was done nicely with some brown sugar on top (which I realized after I'd received it - I'd forgotten to ask for it with only butter - my fault).  I did end up taking some steak and crab home, as the meal was generously sized.

Mike had the prime rib his for dinner - which he said was excellent. Young Mike had the sirloin and crab legs and Lauren had a salad with an order of the crab legs. No complaints about any of our food selections - as usual, Outback served up a good meal!

Since it was Young Mike's belated birthday dinner, he had the carrot cake for his dessert - another special they are running right now.  He said it was good - and since I'm no carrot cake fan, I'll just take his word for it!

Overall - between a good meal (well worth the price) and excellent service - yes, we'd Do Again at Outback Steak House!