Outback Steakhouse repeatedly makes the list for top allergy-friendly restaurant chains in the U.S., despite the fact that they don’t have an allergen menu (yet! They said one is coming). Why is that? According to dairy-free and food allergic readers, it’s the staff.
Not everyone has a perfect or even good experience (locations and staff can differ!). But Outback Steakhouse receives more positive reviews on their handling of allergen requests than most other restaurant chains. People repeatedly report the good training, knowledge, and attentiveness of the servers and cooks. And we have some tips from Outback Steakhouse to make dining dairy free even easier.
How to Order Dairy-Free at Outback Steakhouse
Despite the lack of an allergen menu, Outback Steakhouse delivered a helpful response when we inquired on dairy-free options. The following details on how to order dairy-free are from Leah in their Guest Relations.
We do not recommend that guests with allergies eat fried foods or foods cooked directly on the grill as those are shared surfaces and higher risk for cross contact.
Any beef, chicken, fish, shellfish should be ordered cooked on the wood fire grill or in a separate sauté pan without butter or seasonings and with salt and pepper to season. House Salad should be ordered without croutons or cheese and with olive oil and vinegar for dressing.
Side dishes such as green beans, broccoli, asparagus, and mixed vegetables should be ordered without butter and seasoned with salt and pepper. Baked potatoes should be ordered with chives only and baked sweet potatoes should be ordered with only cinnamon (not cinnamon butter).
Please inform your server of your allergies prior to ordering. Also, a risk for allergen cross contact exists; during normal cooking operations food may come into contact with allergen containing ingredients. If there are specific menu items that you are interested in, please let us know.
Additional Notes & Tips
Leah at Outback Steakhouse told us that they are working on a more detailed allergen menu. In the meantime, a reader named Annie let us know that their Gluten-Free menu provides details that can help you select milk-free items.
This Post is for Informational Purposes Only
Menus, ingredients, kitchen procedures, management, and restaurants are subject to change at any time. Always read the menu and discuss your dietary needs with the staff before ordering. Make sure that they can accommodate your situation. This post is for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as advice.
Where to Find Outback Steakhouse
They have approximately 1000 locations in 23 countries throughout North America (primarily the U.S.), South America, Asia, and Australia. See their website below for addresses, hours, and contact information.
Website: www.outback.com
Average Reader Review
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What Others Are Saying ...
Knowledgeable, conscientious
The servers at our local Outbacks always know what’s in the menu items regarding allergens, and they are very accommodating when I request modifications to dishes. They’ve always gotten the modifications correct too. I do wish they’d come out with a full allergen menu soon.
Server couldn't be bothered.
Our server disregarded my sister’s dairy allergy even after being told how serious it was. She had an allergy attack almost as soon as we left the restaurant.
They didn't listen
Twice my steak came cooked in butter. The third try was wrapped plain in foil (good try) but came to the table raw. Never again. 4 visits and similar happened each time.
Unknowledgeable and not accommodating
We went to our local outback, and the staff did not have any alternatives to dairy products, nor did they know what items had dairy in them. We are very unhappy with the experience, and would not recommend Outback for a dairy free experience.
Very knowledgeable and helpful
My wife and I are both dairy-free and when ordering from Outback Steakhouse, we are always able to speak with someone who is knowledgeable about the allergens in their food. They are also very willing to modify some dishes to accommodate (steaming veggies rather than cooking in butter, etc.). Helpful hint: my wife and I love their bread, but it is also a bit on the dry side. However, we have found that if you ask your waiter if they have margarine, they always have a “block of margarine” they can shave some margarine from for the bread.
6 Comments
http://guestrelations.bloominbrands.com/attachments/token/s7BZYsGEpKKXsWOONXqpPPUUS/?name=Allergen.pdf
Above is the link to the allergen menu sent to me by Outback by email. I emailed to request the menu and it was sent within 20 minutes. Of course, the return email also included the standard cautions and advisories that no restaurant can guarantee no cross contamination. Good Advice anyway.
Great, thank you for sharing Jane!
I want information on soy products used at Outback restaurants. Where can I find that?
Hi Alice, you will need to contact Outback Steakhouse directly for that information. We have no affiliation with them. This is a dairy-free informational website.
I went to Outback today for my brother’s graduation. We sat at the bar and the servers were fantastic. She brought me a gf menu and even checked ingredients lists on drinks for me even though they were extremely swamped. Six o’clock on a Saturday is not a slow time for restaurants. I had the shrimp appetizer and a strawberry daiquiri. Both were delicious.
Hi! My family driving cross-country this week so we are having to eat out much more than usual. Because of my dairy allergy I have used your website repeatedly throughout the day to figure out which restaurants will be safer options and what on the menu won’t cause a reaction.
It was based on this that we decided on Outback last night– the reviews ( all but one) were glowing. Well unfortunately I have another negative one for you to add– but this one is beyond the server bringing butter to the table ( which she did– but there are two others in the family that can eat dairy just fine, so that was a non issue).
After explaining my allergy in excruciating detail, with the waitress’s help, I settled on just ordering the grilled shrimp appetizer ( without butter) and steamed broccoli. This seemed like the easiest, safest, least likely for a hidden allergen to still be served option.
The shrimp came out fine. The broccoli, however, was contaminated. Someone had begun to apply a butter sauce, apearently stopped when they remembered the dish wasn’t supposed to have butter, put more clean/naked steamed broccoli on top and served it to me instead of starting over with a new plate of clean food. That means the butter wasn’t visible– it was under the food and I couldnt/didn’t see it and neither did my server so she had no idea, either. Needless to say, I had a reaction and am now sick. And frustrated.
I wanted to warn your other readers about the carelessness of the cooks at the Sioux City Iowa Outback.