The natural progression of dinner at a restaurant happens pretty efficiently. It’s in a server’s best interest to bring drinks, appetizers, dinner, and dessert out as quickly as possible so that they can turn around tables and therefore maximize their tips. But when one North Carolina family went to Outback Steakhouse, their meal didn’t quite go to plan.
TikToker Courtney (@courtneylove181) went to the restaurant with her family. One member of the party ordered a cheesecake, and they recalled waiting 30 minutes just to get the dessert.
To make matters worse, the family expressed disappointment with the large number of dirty dishes that were left unattended. One of the diners says, “I don’t care about the cheesecake. I just want to get the dirty dishes off the table.”
Courtney captioned the post, “Outback do better!!!!!”
Courtney’s video has more than 40,000 views.
Why The Long Wait Time For Cheesecake?
The cheesecake is one of Outback’s menu items that some claim is shipped and frozen. Based on former employees’ online discussions, they have to be defrosted for service and eventually need a smothering of raspberry sauce before making it to the table.
Many viewers pointed out that the cheesecake isn’t all that time-consuming to prepare. Some even claimed that Outback Steakhouse has its own cold section in the kitchen.
Viewers, then, said that the issue with the cheesecake was most likely related to logistics. The restaurant may not have available staff to work on the cheesecake order, or they might be going through tickets in the order they came in.
“Sometimes the dessert order gets stuck behind a couple of big tables food orders and takes forever to come out … the food is prepped in the order they come into the kitchen,” one commenter said.
Outback Steakhouse has also had similar customer complaints lodged against it in the past. One customer said he walked out after waiting for a server to attend to him. Another customer had to leave mid-meal due to the wait time for certain items she ordered. Outside of those two experiences, some content creators have referred to Outback Steakhouse as the “Kmart” of steakhouses, especially when compared to LongHorn Steakhouse and Texas Roadhouse.
@courtneylove181 Outback do better!!!!!#outbacksteakhouse
Unrealistic Expectations?
Debate over the cheesecake and the service Courtney’s family received eventually led to a bigger conversation. Viewers seemed split down the middle as to whether the family’s expectations were realistic. While some viewers said that the lack of pre-bussing at their table wasn’t standard, others told the family that they were expecting too much.
“Eat at home. That way your service will always be as good as you deserve,” one person said.
Another commenter added, “This is just having a bad server lol.”
Then a third commenter said, “Maybe they’re busy. I think you’ll be okay.”
But many of Courtney’s audience members defended the family and said that pre-bussing is a minimum expectation and not an unreasonable request. Food Woolf says that “no matter what level of service a restaurant offers, no one should be above clearing a table or assisting a guest with an issue that requires some cleaning up. Everyone should work as a team to assist guests in their bussing needs.”
BroBible reached out to Courtney via TikTok direct message and Outback Steakhouse via email for comment.