What was that old slogan for Outback--"No rules, just right" or something to that effect? To back up a moment, Downtown Charleston has largely been supplanted by the Charleston Center Mall. As four of us were on business at the nearby courthouse, the mall seemed to be the closest to head over here for lunch. Outback does have some lunch specials and I tried the 6 Coconut Shrimp with some soup. Food was alright, service was good. Outback reminds me a lot of Buffalo Wild Wings--good but nothing I'd go out of my way for. Personally, I'd have preferred going to the nearby Chili's but I was outvoted 3-1. Really, how does a supervisor get outvoted? I thought I carried the majority of one!
(3)
Jacob G.
Stopped here passing through town on a Sunday evening. Not really busy, but the service was incredibly slow! We love outback but will probably not be returning to this one.
(1)
Steve S.
Worst dining experience of my life. Stopped at this Outback on my way home from a vacation with the family. It was conveniently connected to our hotel, and was a no brainer choice for the family based on the quality and consistency you usually expect from this restaurant. We waiting for a table for an hour even though 1/2 the restaurant was empty. Most of the tables had dirty dishes on them. After an hour plus of waiting for food we just had it boxed up. As we were waiting a waitress slipped and fell on the dirty floor. As we tried to help her she broke into tears complaining about the poor management of the restaurant. We witnessed other staff members complaining about the poor restaurant conditions as well. Food was poor - cold, not prepared correctly, missing items. At this point the warning signs were there so shame on us for not just tossing the complete dinner in the trash on the way out. Our waiter was solid, but that was all. This restaurant is completely dysfunctional. We talked to the manager and he gave us some lame excuse about dropping dishes. There are other restaurants very close that I would suggest over this. The experience was so bad that I will probably never go to an Outback again. Is there a way to give less than 1 star?
(1)
Serious C.
Upon entering we were told there would be a 45 minute wait, which we were fine with. After 30 minutes of waiting, we noticed people coming in after us and seating themselves. When I asked, I was told that those seats were first come, first served seats. Basically, we could have eaten almost immediately upon entering, but because we've never eaten here before, we had no idea, nor were we informed of that option. We had ribs which were mostly fat, but what meat we could find was tasty. The fries were old and grease-laden. We also had a New York strip steak which was a nice size, but had absolutely no seasoning. They only reason I give our experience 4 stars was because we had a terrific server, Shawn, who was polite and attentive.
(4)
Briela E.
Let me start off by saying that I AM a fan of Outback Steakhouse. Recently, my family went on a roadtrip and had to spend the night in Charleston. After a long ride from NJ, we decided to have dinner at a place we all enjoy. I love the wings and my mother and brother always try something new. The food was mostly good, the french onion soup was taken off our bill because I couldn't get through more than a few spoonfuls; it was super salty and tasted like beef broth with some onions rather than caramelized onions with a hint of seasoning. It took 25 minutes for us to be seated, 10 minutes before we got water, 25 minutes before we got our appetizers and another 25 minutes to get dinner. Seriously the worst service, then as a waitress walked by our and said " I don't care what they want, I'm not doing it, they can send me home" not talking to anyone, just in passing as she moved through a crowded dinning room. This place clearly needs new management and employee training on proper workplace behavior.
(2)
Chris W.
Went for birthday. We had to wait 1.5 hours for our food. And every plate (out of 6) were wrong and cold. Nobody ate, and the manager just offered us 10% off! The waitress didn't even offer to see a manager. She just said "I wish you would have told me earlier." I have no idea what that meant. Just awful.
(1)
matt s.
Very hit or miss on the food. Good service though. Had to send a blooming onion back on trip. Had to send a steak back another - and I am not picky other than it should at least be hot. Just keep trying and you'll get a good meal here.
(3)
Tom V.
The service is really slow. We had to wait a 10 minutes for just our drinks which was 2 chocolate milks, cranberry juice, & 2 sodas. we had two 5 y/o's & a 2 y/o. We also had to wait 15 minutes in an half empty restaurant. Food came out a little later than usually but the food is really good. I think the waitress is the only one serving the whole lunch restaurant.
(3)
Paul J.
The service was good I'm like the outback spokesman I've been to outback coast to coast the waitress was fast very helpful and she didn't get lost like other people when they bring your food then you can't find them but she was on her job and this is the outback I been to that is not pack for a Thursday afternoon
(5)
Sean M.
Had lunch here a few months ago when in town for a business trip. Service was fine and the filet was cooked appropiately and no complaints about the food. The roach roaming the bathroom at 2:00PM was very disconcerting. Definitely won't go back after that.
(1)
Kd H.
Awful! 30 min wait, 20 mins to see the waiter, 20 to get drinks and order, 45 mins to get the food! Food was burnt and cold. Forego and try Tidewater instead.
(1)
J. Smoke W.
Good service at bar, nice people. steak ok, the shrimp has changed from "on he barbie" to something different... i did not like them
(2)
Ken K.
Sad but true, it's not what it used to be. My ribeye was a mess. Gristley. Super duper fatty. Tough. It's too bad good things don't last. Outback's steaks used to be really good, but not anymore.
(2)
Anna N.
Avoid at all costs. 20 minutes to be seated. 10 to have the order taken. 30 for the drinks to come. 45 for the food. Burgers were good, pork was overlooked, fries were dry. The manager spent the whole time going table to table comping people for the terrible service. The waitress tried to keep up, but with a crappy kitchen all she could do was go hide. The manager did comp us for the drinks, but after all of that it was a small comfort.
(1)
C P.
Much better than expected! Service was painfully slow but the server had a great attitude. I would order the steak medium-rare next time because the medium tasted like well-done. The barbie shrimps were good. The mango martini was light but the best of the 3 in their martini special.
(4)
Sasha S.
I can't go here anymore, I'm sorry. Read the health inspector's reviews and you'll know why.
(1)
Drew J.
After multiple ridiculously awful experiences at this Outback location-I live in L.A. but I'm from Charleston & visit for a month during the holidays every year-I had sworn I'd never eat there again. (I had been there 4 or 5 times over the years, all of them bad, but the 2 most recent were so bad my blood was boiling upon leaving. Rude treatment from the start at the hostess stand, then ridiculously slow, indifferent, rude service--while seeing our waitress on one occasion sit with some friends who were a couple booths away from us to chat-and share their food!-while we waited forever to get menus, order, get drinks, etc. And there was always something wrong with every dish. A lot of the waitresses don't write down your order-it would be a good idea! And as you would expect when every aspect of the restaurant (hostesses, waitstaff, kitchen) is ridiculously sub-par, the managers we spoke with on all occasions might as well have been home watching TV. Sometimes it took so long to get a manager that you wondered if they were called in from home?! So after about 3 yrs, we were trying to figure out where to go on New Years Eve & there were a few items on the menu/website that looked good, and of course their prices are somewhat reasonable. Charleston has a handful of really good restaurants, but unfortunately most of them are ridiculously over-priced. Prices for similar dishes at comparable restaurants in L.A.-& most major cities-are cheaper than Charleston's finest, altho I'm sure Charleston rent is much cheaper. So against my better judgement we decided to give Outback Town Center another shot-On New Year's Eve?! What were we thinking?! As it turns out, it wasn't the disaster it normally is! But the same problems still exist. First, the "Call Ahead Seating" policy-something I'd never used-sounded great based on what the person told me when I called at 5pm & said we'd be there at 7pm. She said there was a list of 6 people at that point, but they had all requested earlier times, so when we arrived at 7pm, the next available table would be ours, regardless of how crowded they were. I wondered why everyone doesn't do this?! So we arrive a few minutes before 7pm, I tell one of the 3 hostesses that I called in for 7pm, she gives me a buzzer & says "probably 30 to 45 minutes". I told her that I was told we'd get the next available table, & she said that person was wrong-I'm sure that's accurate, as this location seems to have very high turn-over & training seems non-existent. But of course she was rude and unapologetic-nothing new. I'm not sure that she understood the call-ahead policy herself, or at least she was unable to explain it-she said that if you phone ahead, when you get there they put you higher on the list than if you just walked in (no idea how they determine just how much higher to put you?!) & it usually means you'll wait about half as long as you would if you just walked in. (Of course, that's better than nothing-but not what I was told when I called ahead.) We just hoped for 30 mins, naturally it was 60 mins / 8pm before our buzzer went off. When I went up after about 45 mins to check & see where we were on the list, she said that the buzzer # I had didn't match our name (again, no surprise), but that it should be 5 mins (again, no surprise when it turned into 15). Our waitress was actually very pleasant & seemed like she knew what she was doing. (On most previous visits, they were either so new that they didn't know anything about the menu, or they were just too rude to be bothered.) Unfortunately, we didn't see much of our pleasant waitress. We were ready with our drink & food orders when she first arrived-we knew we'd be doomed otherwise, and-given how long it took before she first came to the table, we had plenty of time! Salads came before drinks. Then we got our waters, and a few mins later - probably 20+ mins after ordering them, our cocktails! My mom had soup & salad, which she said was fine. I had the special / new Lobster & Shrimp-Topped 8 oz "Victoria's" Filet. At $24.99 w/2 sides, & given my Outback Town Center history, I set my expectations low. Side #1-a dinner salad w/blue cheese dressing, had a strange taste. The steak had a good taste & was cooked the way I asked for it (a first!). The 1/2 lobster tail was a puny poor cousin to the one pictured-about 3 bites of tough lobster. The shrimp were pretty good. Side #2-a loaded baked potato, wasn't very loaded, so I asked for a little more butter & sour cream-Never arrived & never saw the waitress, so used some of the blue cheese dressing left from my strange salad to make the potato a little less un-loaded/dry. Requested more bread-arrived 10 mins after we'd finished our meals! As others have said, this location is the worst! If you're passing thru, keep going 30 mins to the Huntington location.
(2)
Jim G.
An Outback with an attitude. Beyond the waitstaff, who were excellent on both visits, this Outback has a serious attitude problem... surly, slow bartenders and a hostess who ignored me to speak to two girlfriends when I walked in then, while she was bringing me to my table, went back to finish her conversation. I hate to be a broken record on some of these reviews but I used to own a restaurant and have worked as a waiter for a large part of my early life... the management is missing here. When you have five young women hanging around the reception desk gossiping and bartenders who shove drinks at customers without a look much less a comment, management is failing.
(2)
Jen R.
The entress were ok for outback standards and the service was acceptable but the salads were strangely terrible. Noone at my table could eat their salads. Check the produce before serving people. I'd much rather walk over to Tidewater.
(2)
Mike P.
We ate dinner on a weeknight here and the service was very good. I wish I could say the same for the food but my mahi was raw and I didn't discover it till it was half gone. They did take it off the bill and offered a replacement dish so they at least seemed concerned.
(2)
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Address :1062 Charleston Town Center
Charleston, WV, 25389
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Parking : Garage Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : Yes Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes
Susan D.
What was that old slogan for Outback--"No rules, just right" or something to that effect? To back up a moment, Downtown Charleston has largely been supplanted by the Charleston Center Mall. As four of us were on business at the nearby courthouse, the mall seemed to be the closest to head over here for lunch. Outback does have some lunch specials and I tried the 6 Coconut Shrimp with some soup. Food was alright, service was good. Outback reminds me a lot of Buffalo Wild Wings--good but nothing I'd go out of my way for. Personally, I'd have preferred going to the nearby Chili's but I was outvoted 3-1. Really, how does a supervisor get outvoted? I thought I carried the majority of one!
(3)Jacob G.
Stopped here passing through town on a Sunday evening. Not really busy, but the service was incredibly slow! We love outback but will probably not be returning to this one.
(1)Steve S.
Worst dining experience of my life. Stopped at this Outback on my way home from a vacation with the family. It was conveniently connected to our hotel, and was a no brainer choice for the family based on the quality and consistency you usually expect from this restaurant. We waiting for a table for an hour even though 1/2 the restaurant was empty. Most of the tables had dirty dishes on them. After an hour plus of waiting for food we just had it boxed up. As we were waiting a waitress slipped and fell on the dirty floor. As we tried to help her she broke into tears complaining about the poor management of the restaurant. We witnessed other staff members complaining about the poor restaurant conditions as well. Food was poor - cold, not prepared correctly, missing items. At this point the warning signs were there so shame on us for not just tossing the complete dinner in the trash on the way out. Our waiter was solid, but that was all. This restaurant is completely dysfunctional. We talked to the manager and he gave us some lame excuse about dropping dishes. There are other restaurants very close that I would suggest over this. The experience was so bad that I will probably never go to an Outback again. Is there a way to give less than 1 star?
(1)Serious C.
Upon entering we were told there would be a 45 minute wait, which we were fine with. After 30 minutes of waiting, we noticed people coming in after us and seating themselves. When I asked, I was told that those seats were first come, first served seats. Basically, we could have eaten almost immediately upon entering, but because we've never eaten here before, we had no idea, nor were we informed of that option. We had ribs which were mostly fat, but what meat we could find was tasty. The fries were old and grease-laden. We also had a New York strip steak which was a nice size, but had absolutely no seasoning. They only reason I give our experience 4 stars was because we had a terrific server, Shawn, who was polite and attentive.
(4)Briela E.
Let me start off by saying that I AM a fan of Outback Steakhouse. Recently, my family went on a roadtrip and had to spend the night in Charleston. After a long ride from NJ, we decided to have dinner at a place we all enjoy. I love the wings and my mother and brother always try something new. The food was mostly good, the french onion soup was taken off our bill because I couldn't get through more than a few spoonfuls; it was super salty and tasted like beef broth with some onions rather than caramelized onions with a hint of seasoning. It took 25 minutes for us to be seated, 10 minutes before we got water, 25 minutes before we got our appetizers and another 25 minutes to get dinner. Seriously the worst service, then as a waitress walked by our and said " I don't care what they want, I'm not doing it, they can send me home" not talking to anyone, just in passing as she moved through a crowded dinning room. This place clearly needs new management and employee training on proper workplace behavior.
(2)Chris W.
Went for birthday. We had to wait 1.5 hours for our food. And every plate (out of 6) were wrong and cold. Nobody ate, and the manager just offered us 10% off! The waitress didn't even offer to see a manager. She just said "I wish you would have told me earlier." I have no idea what that meant. Just awful.
(1)matt s.
Very hit or miss on the food. Good service though. Had to send a blooming onion back on trip. Had to send a steak back another - and I am not picky other than it should at least be hot. Just keep trying and you'll get a good meal here.
(3)Tom V.
The service is really slow. We had to wait a 10 minutes for just our drinks which was 2 chocolate milks, cranberry juice, & 2 sodas. we had two 5 y/o's & a 2 y/o. We also had to wait 15 minutes in an half empty restaurant. Food came out a little later than usually but the food is really good. I think the waitress is the only one serving the whole lunch restaurant.
(3)Paul J.
The service was good I'm like the outback spokesman I've been to outback coast to coast the waitress was fast very helpful and she didn't get lost like other people when they bring your food then you can't find them but she was on her job and this is the outback I been to that is not pack for a Thursday afternoon
(5)Sean M.
Had lunch here a few months ago when in town for a business trip. Service was fine and the filet was cooked appropiately and no complaints about the food. The roach roaming the bathroom at 2:00PM was very disconcerting. Definitely won't go back after that.
(1)Kd H.
Awful! 30 min wait, 20 mins to see the waiter, 20 to get drinks and order, 45 mins to get the food! Food was burnt and cold. Forego and try Tidewater instead.
(1)J. Smoke W.
Good service at bar, nice people. steak ok, the shrimp has changed from "on he barbie" to something different... i did not like them
(2)Ken K.
Sad but true, it's not what it used to be. My ribeye was a mess. Gristley. Super duper fatty. Tough. It's too bad good things don't last. Outback's steaks used to be really good, but not anymore.
(2)Anna N.
Avoid at all costs. 20 minutes to be seated. 10 to have the order taken. 30 for the drinks to come. 45 for the food. Burgers were good, pork was overlooked, fries were dry. The manager spent the whole time going table to table comping people for the terrible service. The waitress tried to keep up, but with a crappy kitchen all she could do was go hide. The manager did comp us for the drinks, but after all of that it was a small comfort.
(1)C P.
Much better than expected! Service was painfully slow but the server had a great attitude. I would order the steak medium-rare next time because the medium tasted like well-done. The barbie shrimps were good. The mango martini was light but the best of the 3 in their martini special.
(4)Sasha S.
I can't go here anymore, I'm sorry. Read the health inspector's reviews and you'll know why.
(1)Drew J.
After multiple ridiculously awful experiences at this Outback location-I live in L.A. but I'm from Charleston & visit for a month during the holidays every year-I had sworn I'd never eat there again. (I had been there 4 or 5 times over the years, all of them bad, but the 2 most recent were so bad my blood was boiling upon leaving. Rude treatment from the start at the hostess stand, then ridiculously slow, indifferent, rude service--while seeing our waitress on one occasion sit with some friends who were a couple booths away from us to chat-and share their food!-while we waited forever to get menus, order, get drinks, etc. And there was always something wrong with every dish. A lot of the waitresses don't write down your order-it would be a good idea! And as you would expect when every aspect of the restaurant (hostesses, waitstaff, kitchen) is ridiculously sub-par, the managers we spoke with on all occasions might as well have been home watching TV. Sometimes it took so long to get a manager that you wondered if they were called in from home?! So after about 3 yrs, we were trying to figure out where to go on New Years Eve & there were a few items on the menu/website that looked good, and of course their prices are somewhat reasonable. Charleston has a handful of really good restaurants, but unfortunately most of them are ridiculously over-priced. Prices for similar dishes at comparable restaurants in L.A.-& most major cities-are cheaper than Charleston's finest, altho I'm sure Charleston rent is much cheaper. So against my better judgement we decided to give Outback Town Center another shot-On New Year's Eve?! What were we thinking?! As it turns out, it wasn't the disaster it normally is! But the same problems still exist. First, the "Call Ahead Seating" policy-something I'd never used-sounded great based on what the person told me when I called at 5pm & said we'd be there at 7pm. She said there was a list of 6 people at that point, but they had all requested earlier times, so when we arrived at 7pm, the next available table would be ours, regardless of how crowded they were. I wondered why everyone doesn't do this?! So we arrive a few minutes before 7pm, I tell one of the 3 hostesses that I called in for 7pm, she gives me a buzzer & says "probably 30 to 45 minutes". I told her that I was told we'd get the next available table, & she said that person was wrong-I'm sure that's accurate, as this location seems to have very high turn-over & training seems non-existent. But of course she was rude and unapologetic-nothing new. I'm not sure that she understood the call-ahead policy herself, or at least she was unable to explain it-she said that if you phone ahead, when you get there they put you higher on the list than if you just walked in (no idea how they determine just how much higher to put you?!) & it usually means you'll wait about half as long as you would if you just walked in. (Of course, that's better than nothing-but not what I was told when I called ahead.) We just hoped for 30 mins, naturally it was 60 mins / 8pm before our buzzer went off. When I went up after about 45 mins to check & see where we were on the list, she said that the buzzer # I had didn't match our name (again, no surprise), but that it should be 5 mins (again, no surprise when it turned into 15). Our waitress was actually very pleasant & seemed like she knew what she was doing. (On most previous visits, they were either so new that they didn't know anything about the menu, or they were just too rude to be bothered.) Unfortunately, we didn't see much of our pleasant waitress. We were ready with our drink & food orders when she first arrived-we knew we'd be doomed otherwise, and-given how long it took before she first came to the table, we had plenty of time! Salads came before drinks. Then we got our waters, and a few mins later - probably 20+ mins after ordering them, our cocktails! My mom had soup & salad, which she said was fine. I had the special / new Lobster & Shrimp-Topped 8 oz "Victoria's" Filet. At $24.99 w/2 sides, & given my Outback Town Center history, I set my expectations low. Side #1-a dinner salad w/blue cheese dressing, had a strange taste. The steak had a good taste & was cooked the way I asked for it (a first!). The 1/2 lobster tail was a puny poor cousin to the one pictured-about 3 bites of tough lobster. The shrimp were pretty good. Side #2-a loaded baked potato, wasn't very loaded, so I asked for a little more butter & sour cream-Never arrived & never saw the waitress, so used some of the blue cheese dressing left from my strange salad to make the potato a little less un-loaded/dry. Requested more bread-arrived 10 mins after we'd finished our meals! As others have said, this location is the worst! If you're passing thru, keep going 30 mins to the Huntington location.
(2)Jim G.
An Outback with an attitude. Beyond the waitstaff, who were excellent on both visits, this Outback has a serious attitude problem... surly, slow bartenders and a hostess who ignored me to speak to two girlfriends when I walked in then, while she was bringing me to my table, went back to finish her conversation. I hate to be a broken record on some of these reviews but I used to own a restaurant and have worked as a waiter for a large part of my early life... the management is missing here. When you have five young women hanging around the reception desk gossiping and bartenders who shove drinks at customers without a look much less a comment, management is failing.
(2)Jen R.
The entress were ok for outback standards and the service was acceptable but the salads were strangely terrible. Noone at my table could eat their salads. Check the produce before serving people. I'd much rather walk over to Tidewater.
(2)Mike P.
We ate dinner on a weeknight here and the service was very good. I wish I could say the same for the food but my mahi was raw and I didn't discover it till it was half gone. They did take it off the bill and offered a replacement dish so they at least seemed concerned.
(2)