In the 1990s, my family discovered the Outback Steakhouse. The first visit triggered a love affair with the chain. Looking at this old menu now triggers memories of huge portions and stomach aches.
They used to have a pasta dish that had rigatoni, Kielbasa and chicken and covered in cheese, I believe in a creamy spicy sauce. It was amazing, I don’t know why they got rid of it. I forgot the name. Does anybody know it? It was like the mid 90s
Great memories.Our family drove 45-minutes at least once a month to the closest Outback for years (until one went in 20 minutes away) and always did a Bloomin' Onion to start, like six loaves of the brown bread and butter, then my brothers and I would each get a 16 oz Prime Rib (soup instead of salad, potato). We'd finish with a Spotted Dog Sundae off the kids menu, which was sneakily the best dessert.
Thank you for these memories! When I was on the road with my good buddy Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, our treat to ourselves after a show was to go to Outback. I was a fan of ribeyes, porterhouse, and filets but would always get that Outback Special, the marinated sirloin. It was truly an incredibly delicious and tender steak and at such a great price. One of a kind perfection. And with a side of Aussie Chips and Caesar Salad, it remains as one of the greatest meals ever. Such a great atmosphere there too. I'm making a marinated Wagyu top sirloin with oven fries and Caesar Salad tonight in remembrance of those times.
Thanks for sharing this. Reading it made me hungry. Your memories of the experience match mine perfectly. I haven't been to the Outback lately, but every time I went back in the day, I was never disappointed.
As an Aussie, I find this fascinating! I’m sure it will come as no surprise that we don’t eat half this stuff. I don’t even know what a bloomin onion is. Sounds delicious whatever it is.
I remember we had an American themed steak house here at one stage. I remember the floor had peanut shells everywhere and every half an hour, all the waitresses would stop what they were doing and have a good old fashioned hoedown. You better believe I wanted to go there more than once.
I love the idea that in Australia, a person could sit down in an over-the-top American-themed eatery. What I have always found interesting about the Outback Steakhouse is how easily we were all just accepted it. We have such positive associations with the country that of course they would have restaurants that serves massive portions of American style foods with Aussie names attached to them.
Something quite ironic is that I got a lot of my knowledge of the US as a kid from Crocodile Dundee 1 and 2. Those movies went both ways for both countries! I like to think they played a part in our close alliance.
Hahaha. The American themed restaurant here in Australia was named "Lone Star Steakhouse" with an emphasis on Texas based decor and menu. Our local has morphed into an "Outback Steakhouse" and in these post-covid times, the menu choices have shrunk considerably and of course the prices are eye-watering compared to 1997!
They used to have a pasta dish that had rigatoni, Kielbasa and chicken and covered in cheese, I believe in a creamy spicy sauce. It was amazing, I don’t know why they got rid of it. I forgot the name. Does anybody know it? It was like the mid 90s
I know of 3 pasta dishes they did over the years:
- Toowoomba Pasta
- Walhalla Pasta
- No Rules Pasta (much later)
Any of those sound familiar?
Great memories.Our family drove 45-minutes at least once a month to the closest Outback for years (until one went in 20 minutes away) and always did a Bloomin' Onion to start, like six loaves of the brown bread and butter, then my brothers and I would each get a 16 oz Prime Rib (soup instead of salad, potato). We'd finish with a Spotted Dog Sundae off the kids menu, which was sneakily the best dessert.
Thank you for these memories! When I was on the road with my good buddy Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, our treat to ourselves after a show was to go to Outback. I was a fan of ribeyes, porterhouse, and filets but would always get that Outback Special, the marinated sirloin. It was truly an incredibly delicious and tender steak and at such a great price. One of a kind perfection. And with a side of Aussie Chips and Caesar Salad, it remains as one of the greatest meals ever. Such a great atmosphere there too. I'm making a marinated Wagyu top sirloin with oven fries and Caesar Salad tonight in remembrance of those times.
Thanks for sharing this. Reading it made me hungry. Your memories of the experience match mine perfectly. I haven't been to the Outback lately, but every time I went back in the day, I was never disappointed.
As an Aussie, I find this fascinating! I’m sure it will come as no surprise that we don’t eat half this stuff. I don’t even know what a bloomin onion is. Sounds delicious whatever it is.
I remember we had an American themed steak house here at one stage. I remember the floor had peanut shells everywhere and every half an hour, all the waitresses would stop what they were doing and have a good old fashioned hoedown. You better believe I wanted to go there more than once.
I love the idea that in Australia, a person could sit down in an over-the-top American-themed eatery. What I have always found interesting about the Outback Steakhouse is how easily we were all just accepted it. We have such positive associations with the country that of course they would have restaurants that serves massive portions of American style foods with Aussie names attached to them.
Now I could go for a Bloomin' Onion.
Something quite ironic is that I got a lot of my knowledge of the US as a kid from Crocodile Dundee 1 and 2. Those movies went both ways for both countries! I like to think they played a part in our close alliance.
Haha, that's a great story. Thanks for sharing.
Hahaha. The American themed restaurant here in Australia was named "Lone Star Steakhouse" with an emphasis on Texas based decor and menu. Our local has morphed into an "Outback Steakhouse" and in these post-covid times, the menu choices have shrunk considerably and of course the prices are eye-watering compared to 1997!