Lunch Fail at the Outback Steakhouse

Laughlin, Nevada
Review:  Lunch at the Outback Steakhouse

We frequent the Aquarius Resort Casino often for various reasons.  

One of them is not for the Outback Steakhouse. 

But...a couple recently (April of 2014) invited us to lunch at the Outback.  With trepidation, (for this reason) and because of a few less than great experiences there, we reluctantly agreed.  We thought we could find something simple and reasonably good on the menu. After all it was only for lunch and we knew what to avoid from past visits. Plus they had redeemed themselves in their reinspection. 

We passed on the blooming onion despite the pushing of it by the server.  Last time it was too soggy in part and overcooked in other sections. Instead we went tried the Crab Stuffed Mushrooms.  

The menu said these were sautéed mushrooms stuffed with lump crab meat served with a creamy lemon butter sauce ($6.79). They looked good, though just 4 mushrooms?  Turned out they were very overcooked.  They were served soaking in the same lemon butter sauce given as a side to dip in. The inside was pure mush, with very little crab taste.  They were overwhelmed by the sauce and definitely would not need to be dipped.   

Stuffed part of the Mushroom which oozed out because it was too mushy. 

After that, one of us chose a Lunch Combo, consisting of a Caesar salad and a chicken artichoke flatbread ($7.99) 

The chicken was mixed with spinach, artichokes and Parmesan on a very crisp flatbread. Overall it was ordinary, not terrible, it just did not have much flavor.   The Caesar was good.  We are finding is the most reliable thing you can get at this particular Outback Steakhouse is a salad. 

The other one of us got the Prime Rib Dip Sandwich. The menu says: Prime Rib Dip Thin-sliced seared prime rib with grilled onions and Swiss cheese ($10.99). It comes with the Aussie fries. 

This sandwich was a disaster. After lifting the bun, just looking at it was unappetizing. The meat (prime rib?) was overly well done and dry except for the fat, which was stringy. Apparently that is why they give such a big bowl of au jus to dip it in.  One person suggested perhaps it was left over prime rib from the Casino Buffet.  *We know that's not true as this Outback is owned by an independent proprietor and not by the Aquarius itself. But it seemed like a plausible observation. 

The cheese was congealed and too thick. We didn't know it was swiss, thought it was mozzarella or perhaps provolone.  Most of this was picked off. The grilled onions were only lightly grilled and did nothing for it.  It was served on the same bun as their burgers and the bottom of the bun was soggy to the point of being smashed thin,  

After picking off the cheese, stringy fat, and most of the bigger onions-- a few bites were taken and the rest was pushed aside. The fries were fine, but it's sad the best part of the meal was the ketchup. 

Service was slow considering there were not too many people dining even though it was prime lunch hour. 

The Fosters beer and the company made the lunch fun anyway. 

We really have to stop coming back to this Outback Steakhouse.  We had sworn off it but other people keep wanting to go to it.  From now on if we are invited we are going to suggest a short walk or drive down the River and go to the Loading Dock or perhaps Bumbleberry Flats. We recommend you do too.  People tell us other Outback's like the one in Las Vegas are much better than this one in Laughlin.   

Even Duet for a sandwich, or the diner Cafe Aquarius right there in the Aquarius Casino would be a better choice for lunch than Outback Steakhouse. Come to think of it maybe MacDonald's or Panda Express (also in the Aquarius) might even beat them.  

Visit our Laughlin Buzz Dining Page for more restaurant information and reviews from the Laughlin area. 

All reviews are our own personal experience, based on our tastes and preferences, and are presented for informational and entertainment purposes only.  We receive no compensation from the properties or restaurants and are not in any way affiliated with them. 

Outback Steakhouse Laughlin gets 27 demerits

Laughlin, Nevada

Once again another Laughlin restaurant popped up with a bad rating and too many demerits (for our comfort) on a recent Southern Nevada Health District inspection.  This time it was the Outback Steakhouse in the Aquarius Casino.  

On February 20, 2014 during a routine health inspection they received a Grade of C (the lowest available) with 27 demerits.  

Click on Images for a larger view

Most of these were for maintaining, cooking, storage of food at proper temperatures, as well as one violation for protecting food from possible contamination.   

List of Violations and Demerits from the Southern Nevada Health District Website

Well, maybe there are a few rules?! 

This hasn't stopped people from dining there, most likely unaware of the bad report. Just two days after the inspection (we were not aware of) we were at the Aquarius and someone in our group wanted to go to the Outback.  The place was packed and wait was 50 minutes to get in (luckily we didn't wait). 

The previous inspection at the Outback was in April of 2013 and they received an A grade. Looking at the history of inspections, there has been other issues here in the past including being closed down in 2010.  

Previous Inspections

We have had some good and a few not so good experiences at this location.  We have not been there in quite a long time.  Most of the bad experiences we did have were related to service.  

*Note:  This Outback Steakhouse is not owned by Aquarius or their parent company, the proprietor listed is Archie Overton. 

Other bad recent health inspections in Laughlin included the Riverside Resort Buffet (C grade, 14 demerits) and the Minato Sushi Restaurant (C grade, 40 demerits).    

Visit the SNHD  website here to look up restaurants in Nevada. There is a search feature.  For Laughlin put in Zipcode 89029.  


Update:  They did pass a re-inspection.  Details are here.

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*All content in this blog post are presented for informational purposes only and use data taken from the Southern Nevada Health District website.   We received no compensation from the properties or restaurants in this blog post and are not in any way affiliated with them.  

Lost in the Outback

Outback Steakhouse - Aquarius Resort Casino 

*We have had good and back luck with dining at this Outback in Laughlin.   Here is another restaurant review we recently received from guest.   (October 2013)

It has been awhile since we visited an Outback Steakhouse.  On a recent visit to Laughlin we decided to try the only option for steak at the Aquarius Resort.  We had a wait of about 15 minutes even though there seemed to be empty, open tables.  We almost left to go to the Cafe Aquarius that is close by.  In retrospect, it may have been a wise decision to do so.  Our teenage son wanted us to share the Blooming Onion so we ordered that and drinks.  As I said, it had been awhile since we dined at an Outback.  The Blooming Onion seemed substantially smaller.  It also wasn't as good as we recall.  Or maybe it was just this particular Outback.  The onion definitely wasn't crisp enough.  The dipping sauce was good but without that didn't make up for the onion itself.  The small loaf of dark bread they gave us was not very good either.  The bread seemed hard in a stale kind of way, but warm in a just was in the microwave kind of way. My wife and I both had a salad.  This came promptly and was fine. After all, it is hard to mess up a salad. Then it all began.  

The waitress dropped by and said our entrees should be out soon. We waited. And waited. And waited some more.  She kept refilling our son's soda and asked us if we wanted more drinks. Finally after a long 20 minutes a manager appeared and said he was sorry that it was taking so long.  He explained that "there was a problem in the kitchen" and our orders were just put in. He asked if we would like something else like a bowl of soup on the house.  We declined this odd offer. He explained he was going to give us 50 percent off to make up for the problem.  Apparently they had lost or misplaced our slip?   The waitress was wonderful, apologetic, and attentive. It wasn't her fault. 

Finally the meals arrived.  Our son had the ribs.  These were tender, almost fall off the bone good.  He didn't care for the sauce. He said there was too much of it and it was too spicy.  My wife had the small filet steak and baked potato.  She said the steak was done perfectly and very good.  It did taste much, much better than the way it looked on the plate.  

I had one bite of it and didn't think it was quite that good.  Certainly ok, but nothing special. You expect a cut of filet to be of the best quality.  Then I tasted my ribeye and realized hers was so much better. When I ordered the ribeye they recommened char grilled preparation. The ribeye was well seasoned, however, the cut of meat was not of good quality.  It actually was one of the worst ribeye steaks I have ever had. 

Usually, a ribeye is marbled with fat.  Good fat, juicy, and delicious that you can eat.  Not gristly and hard to cut with a steak knife.  About a third of the ribeye was inedible.  The rest was chewy and lacked flavor other than the seasoning on top. This was a lesson learned, if you must have steak, and must eat at the Outback, get the filet.  At least at this Laughlin location.   The baked potato was perhaps the best part of my meal.  I do recommend getting butter and/or sour cream on the side though.  Way too much was heaped on the potato.  

When we finished we declined dessert since we had been there for an extended time already. We decided instead to pop into the McDonalds (also in the casino) for ice cream instead.  Of course, as so often is the case at this location, the ice cream machine was not working.  The manager kept his word and gave us 50 percent off our meals, but not the onion, or drinks.  Walking out I realized I didn't mind paying $60 for our meals but had it been the actual $100 it should of been, I would not have been too pleased. Ultimately, it was the ribeye that left a bad taste in my mouth.

We applaud our waitress and the manager for making the best effort in an unusual situation. Still, we probably will not go back to Outback for a long time again, and definitely not to the one in Laughlin.  

Review by guest, Carl F.and family. 

For more reviews and current happenings in the area, visit LaughlinBuzz.Com 

*All reviews are based on our or our contributors personal experience.  Your own experiences may vary based on tastes, preferences, and other variables.  Information contained herein, such as pricing, hours, menu items, etc., is subject to change by the restaurants. Reviews are presented for informational and entertainment purposes only.  We receive no compensation from the properties or restaurants and are not in any way affiliated with them.  

Outback Steakhouse Lunch - One more Try

Outback Steakhouse in Laughlin

Recent Visit and Review :  May 2013  Lunchtime

Once again we were invited to lunch at the Outback Steakhouse by a friend.  Last time we went (for lunch) it was pretty good.   See our last review here.

This time, however, it was not as good.  Food quality seems to have slipped a bit.  The service was as unfriendly as usual.  We keep hearing that this particular Outback is not nearly as good as other locations, such as in Vegas or Phoenix area.

There were very few people dining.  Even though the Casino was busy.  The restaurant is located in the Aquarius Resort Casino.  No one was even sitting on the patio part that overlooks the Casino floor.  

One order was the Endless Soup and Salad Lunch Special. 
French Onion soup was not as good as on our last visit.  It was called medicore in flavor and the cheese on the top was not melted enough, it looked like a slightly melted plastic blot. 

The House Salad was fresh, with cucumbers, tomato, onion, croutons and ordered with Blue Cheese dressing.  Their Blue cheese (chunky style) was outstanding.  There were a couple way to big chunks of blue cheese in it though.  We also think that if you order a blue cheese dressing on a salad it should not also be covered with a generous helping of cheddar cheese.  The greens/lettuce in the salad did contain far too much of the hard white core parts too.  We don't mind a bit of this in a salad but in this case there was too much. 

Extra Big Chunks of Blue Cheese

Outback Burger 

Tons of Mustard

Well Done

Regular Margarita was much better and only $4.25 

Perhaps the food and service is the reason. 

This combo lunch special is a good value, especially if you have a good appetite and want more than one cup of soup or salad.  Honestly though, how many people do?  

We also had the Outback Burger, skipped the cheese.  We assummed it would be a plain burger, however it came loaded with mustard, lettuce, tomato and pickles.  There was way too much yellow mustard, which overwhelmed the burger.  We ordered the burger medium well in hopes it wouldn't be too dry.  We got a well done (large) hockey puck.  In retrospect we should of went with Medium, then we would of probably gotten Medium Well.  

The usual loaf of dark bread (perhaps a pumpernickel) came with the lunches, it was hot, obviously heated in the Microwave. 

Based on a recommendation by the server and the placard on the table we ordered the New, Strawberry 'Rita (see picture below).   Not quite what is advertised, especially for $9.25.  Ours had no strawberries in it, wilted lime wedges, and only sporadic sugar on the rim.   Couldn't resist the side by side picture. 

We passed on dessert.  Not that they asked if we wanted any or needed anything else, including another drink.

If you want a burger go elsewhere.  On second thought, there are many other good choices for lunch that would exceed the experience, quality and service that this Outback Steakhouse is currently providing.  

Here is another review from another visit at Dinner instead of lunch.  

Had an experience at one of the local Laughlin or Bullhead City restaurants?  We would love to hear from you.   Visit www.laughlinbuzz.com  and drop us a message! 

Note:
The Outback Steakhouse is independently owned, not owned by the Aquarius Resort and Casino.  They do accept the ACE Players card for payment using points but do not offer a discount.  

Lunch at the Outback Steakhouse - Aquarius Casino Laughlin, NV

Despite a not so great experience the last time we had dinner at the Outback Steakhouse in the Aquarius Casino (Laughlin, NV) we were invited to lunch there so decided to give it another try. 

Date of visit:  October 2012

We got there just after they opened for lunch so they were not busy except for a few people eating at the bar.  Service was fast and prompt.   We were given the lunch menu but also told you could order from the dinner menu, which is left on the tables.

We chose the:

Cup of French Onion Soup and the Blue Cheese Pecan Chopped Salad

and

1/2 Filet Focaccia Sandwich with a Side Caesar Salad  (this is a lunch combo for $7.99)

 

 

The soup was very good and as always the Blue Cheese Pecan Chopped Salad was excellent.  It is one of the Premium salads listed on the menu but worth a buck or so more than the regular salads.

The Focaccia Sandwich was tasty as well, though they did give an overabundance of a too big cup of the au jus.  The bread was good and the filet was tender, didn't even need to be dipped. 

Both salads were very, very cold however.  Perhaps because we had come right after they opened or maybe they are stored prepared in a too cold refrigerator.  We didn't notice this on other occasions. We let them sit at room temperature for a bit before eating them. They were both very good after doing this.

Topped the meal off with 2 Fosters on draft (small ones since after all it was just after noon).  

We enjoyed the lunch.  The cost was a bit higher than we could of gotten elsewhere on the strip for an inexpensive lunch but we enjoyed it.  If you want something slightly different than the diner or fast food or a burger, the Outback is an ok choice for lunch. 

Read our other Review on the Outback for Dinner Here.

Entrance off the Riverwalk - Aquarius Casino

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