Birthday Dinner at Outback Steakhouse

For her birthday dinner in December, Laurie tends to favor lobster but sometimes she fakes me out…like the time she chose Steak n’ Shake for burgers.  However this year, she was true to form, reverting back to a desire for her favorite shellfish. 

She was sort of tired of going to our usual restaurant, (Bonefish Grill), for her birthday treat and I remembered a commercial for Outback Steakhouse that included a surf and turf entrée.  After checking to ensure that she could order just lobster tails…forget the turf…off we went!

This is the Outback Steakhouse in Knoxville.  As frequent readers of my blog know, we eat out quite frequently.  Despite that fact, after nine and a half years in the area, we’d never eaten at the Outback Steakhouse.  We’ve certainly driven by it many times and we’d eaten in several restaurants within a half mile of this restaurant.

The interior décor at Outback was exactly as I remembered it… A bit dark, lots of wood and quite manly in an Aussie sort of way. 

We ordered a couple of adult beverages, a Miller Lite and a Vodka and Tonic tall with 2 lime wedges.  We both decided to have soup as a starter rather than one of the appetizers. 

This was my cup of Creamy Potato Soup. (Cup $3.99/Bowl $5.79) It was loaded with melted cheese and bacon.  I had them hold the green onions but our helpful waitress provided me with a bottle of Tabasco so I could kick it up a notch…my way.  It was good soup!

Laurie knew that she was going to get one treat with her lobster tails, but her crock of French Onion Soup was a bonus for sure! ($6.99) The combination of Outback’s special onions, provolone cheese and a toast round was a delicious and satisfying start for her birthday dinner.

Happy wife!  My child bride took this selfie with some ‘stranger’, an old guy that’s hard for me to recognize.

Our entrées came with this nice large dinner salad…a nice second course.

The night we were there, they had an 18 oz. Sirloin Steak on as a special. ($24.29) I had it topped with the Roasted Garlic Butter Topping with black pepper ($1.79) and I chose a premium side, the Grilled Asparagus. ($1.00 upcharge)

The steak was cooked perfectly…medium rare as ordered!  It was a nice piece of meat with good flavor but of course not as tender as a ribeye would have been.  The grilled asparagus was very nice but I don’t think that the roasted garlic butter topping was worth the money…not much of a flavor pop.  It could have used a little more garlic.  A blue or Roquefort cheese sauce as an option would have been of interest. (Note: I did take some steak home...)

Of course the birthday girl ordered her favorite as expected.  Lots of melted butter accompanying Two Steamed Cold Water Lobster Tails and a side of Asparagus. ($27.99 + $1.00)

Laurie was very happy with her lobster dinner!  It was the first lobster she’d had since our New England trip in August.

The waitress offered Laurie a free birthday dessert but we were just too full to enjoy it and it would have melted on the way home.  Based on our positive experience, we will return for another ‘go’ at the menu. 

As it turned out, we hadn’t strayed very far from Laurie’s ‘usual’ Knoxville lobster source at Bonefish Grill!  Outback Steakhouse and Bonefish Grill are both owned by Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. in Tampa Florida.  That corporation also owns Carrabba’s Italian Grill, (we like it too!), and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar.

The Knoxville Outback Steakhouse is located at 330 North Peters Road in Knoxville Tennessee.  Phone: 865-539-2540.  The Outback Steakhouse Website is at https://www.outback.com/.

Later in the week, we bought a birthday cake for Laurie at Fresh Market.  This chocolate raspberry almond custard was almost too pretty to eat…but we did!  Laurie and our friend Linda, (dining buddies Norm and Linda), shared the cake and blew out the candle together.  Linda’s birthday was in late November.

That’s about it for now.  Laurie’s birthday celebration, a 6 to 8 week annual event, begins in mid-November and it ends today, on the second of January.  Not a bad deal is it?!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for Laurie’s birthday dinner!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave