Outback Steakhouse

Even though turkey and dressing is one of my all-time favorite meals, after I finished off the leftovers Sunday evening, I was ready for some red meat. Outback Steakhouse features Midwestern grain-fed beef, along with fish, chicken and pasta. The variety of items on the menu was quite impressive. Luckily, getting to Outback on a Monday night isnt quite the challenge it is on the weekend. The access road from Scottsville Road past the Drury Inn doesnt have quite the same amount of traffic, but the parking lot was fairly full … must have been a few more turkey-lovers looking for beef. Outback is a handsome restaurant with dark wood booths, individual booth lighting and decorations representing Australia. Bill-a-bong Ribs is a new appetizer on the menu, and I recommend you give it a try. The ribs were meaty and tender with a good-tasting, Asian-style sweet barbeque sauce, which is made with soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. They were served on a bed of french fries and garnished with sesame seeds. Outbacks bread is called Bushman Bread and it is a small loaf of dark, honey-wheat bread, served hot. It is excellent and disappeared quickly along with the house salad that came with the Steak and Veggies main course. Outback also makes its own salad dressing, and the Thousand Island was very tasty. The Steak and Veggies featured chunks of sirloin medallions, generous slices of onion, red peppers and a couple of mushrooms grilled shish-kabob style. Along with the meat and veggies were two big chunks of grilled pineapple, which was served on a bed of white rice. Nice to look at, even better to eat. I loved the grilled pineapple and the meat was very tender. The service was quick, no doubt because it was Monday night, and the server was pleasant but not very helpful, since she didnt have any recommendations to give. Outback Steakhouse also has call-ahead seating giving you preference in the line if they know you are coming as well as curbside take-out. The reviewer pays for his/ her own meals and needs to get back to going to the gym on a regular basis. New restaurants are given eight weeks notice before they are reviewed. To comment, call managing editor Mike Alexieff at 783-3235.