Outback Steakhouse - A Review and Giveaway!

**Update**I will be keeping this post at the TOP of my blog until the contest is closed, so scroll down to see newer posts! :)

When was the last time you had a Bloomin' Onion? For me...I cannot even remember! It has been a long time since I even visited the Outback Steakhouse. So, I was really excited when I was asked to visit it during its 20th birthday celebration and write about my experience!

Last night, Grammie, Poppy, Dawson, our two boys and I ventured out to eat at the Outback Steakhouse. It was the first time that we brought our lil' guy out to a restaurant (he is 11 weeks now) and it has been a LONG time since Brady has been out to eat (he is 26 months). So, I was not sure what to expect...but, we were excited to eat out.

We decided to go out to eat during the week and to get there around 5pm, so that we would not have to wait to be seated and that plan worked out well. We were seated right away and we had a great waitress - very friendly, attentive and knowledgeable (she did not know that I would be writing about my experience on my blog).

For an appetizer, a Bloomin' Onion was ordered...how could you go to the Outback without ordering one! Here are some interesting facts about this menu item: Outback has sold more than 133.5 million Bloomin' Onions in the past 20 years and 15 million Bloomin' Onions are sold each year. Before it is "bloomed," each onion is specially grown to be 16 ounces big and 4 inches wide. The Bloomin' Onion remains true to its original recipe: 17 different spices to flavor the onion and an additional 37 spices in the dipping sauce.

Everyone, but me, enjoyed the onion...why did I not eat it??? I had to decline because our lil' guy does not do too well with the gas that onions produce in his body. So, although I would have LOVED to eat some, I decided that I could ask the others what they thought about it...their response...mmm, mmm good! Brady even ate some of it, until the spices got to be too much for him!

I am not a red meat eater, so I ordered the Chicken on the Barbie, and let me tell you - that was SO delicious and moist. YUM! All of their meats are seasoned with 17 spices (not sure what they all are, but they were tasty!), but they are able to tone it down...which is what I asked for.

Dawson ordered a steak and asked for it to be medium-well done...that was described as being pink throughout. Usually when it is ordered that way, it comes out too well done. So, I was interested to see what it would look like. Dawson was pleased with it...pink throughout and was very tender and delicious. He enjoyed my barbeque sauce with it too!

Grammie ordered Alice Springs Chicken and Poppy ordered one of the specials (steak, shrimp and scallops) - they enjoyed their food too. One thing that we all appreciated was that you could substitute in a different side from what was "supposed" to come with your meal, at no extra charge.

I was a little surprised that the kids meal was $4.99 - but when we received it, I thought that the portion was large, so I was "ok" with the price. Brady had chicken fingers and fries - there were three large chicken fingers that came with it and two of them came home with us! His drink also cmae with it, so the price was reasonable.

We really enjoyed our dinner at the Outback and I would go back there again. The service was great, the food was delicious and both of my children were so well behaved - PTL! Brady enjoyed the food and they gave him four crayons and a coloring book to keep him busy too! Our Lil' Guy fell asleep and slept during the whole dinner. It was great!

Although we enjoyed celebrating the Outback's 20th birthday, they did nothing to help celebrate mine. That is the only "disappointment" that I had. My birthday is next week, so we figured that last night was the beginning of the celebration. My Dad told them that we were celebrating my birthday, but they did not do anything special. I went to their website to see if you are able to sign up for a birthday club, but all I found was something to enter your email and "keep in touch." Maybe there is something that they do, but I do not know what it is.

So, if I was to rate my overall experience, I would give it a 9 out of 10. The food was delicious and the service was very good too. I was just disappointed that they do not do anything to make you feel special on your birthday - many other restaurants do that these days.

Now.....to the giveaway. I have a $25 gift card to Outback Steakhouse to give away to one of you readers! Isn't that exciting?! In order to be eligible for this giveaway, please leave a comment here and link back to this post on your blog. (If you are a nonblogger, you are still welcome to leave a comment and be sure to tell your friends about this giveaway!)

This comments will be closed on Monday evening (March 31st) at 9pm. A random number will be chosen and I will announce the winner on Tuesday, April 1st. Please be sure that I am able to contact you in some way if you are chosen to win! Good Luck to all of you!