Outback Steakhouse

Outback Steakhouse is an American restaurant chain. The casual dining eatery was first established in 1988 in Tampa, Florida, by the OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC; a hospitality company responsible for the Bonefish Grill, Carabba’s Italian Grill, Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse restaurants. http://www.osirestaurantpartners.com/

Outback Steakhouse has over 900 locations worldwide, including the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Philippines, and the United Kingdom. The restaurant features an Australian inspired theme, and serves American cuisine, specializing in USDA Choice and Prime steaks. http://www.outback.com/

In 1988, restaurant entrepreneurs Bob Basham, Trudy Cooper, Tim Gannon, and Chris T. Sullivan opened the first Outback location in Tampa, Florida. Their mission was to provide high-quality, fresh dishes offered at reasonable prices combined with an Australian “no-worries” dining experience. http://www.outback.com/pressroom/pr_080306.aspx OSI Restaurant Partners took ownership and assumed operations control, entering global markets through franchise and venture agreements.

Potential investors and franchisees were drawn to the restaurant chain’s unique theme and signature menu items, like the Outback Special Sirloin and Bloomin’ Onion. http://www.outback.com/pressroom/pr_080306.aspx Outback restaurants operate under a unique business model, offering restaurant managers, referred to as “Managing Partners”, the chance to share in his own restaurant’s profits during a five year period. This managing partner profit sharing program innovation has inspired other chains in the restaurant industry to adopt comparable programs.http://www.outback.com/pressroom/pr_080306.aspx

Another industry innovation credited to Outback restaurants is the curbside pick-up service, that allows customers to place phone or walk-in orders at the restaurant, that are packaged for takeaway. http://www.outback.com/pressroom/pr_080306.aspx

One of Outback Steakhouse’s signature menu items, the Bloomin’ Onion has become a well-known favorite since its introduction, over 20 years ago. The Bloomin’ Onion was created by restaurant co-founder, Tim Gannon, drawn from inspiration in Japanese cookbooks. Gannon perfected recipes for vegetables cut and prepared in intricate floral designs, then set out to enhance the recipe by finding the most suitable onion for the dish, consulting professionals at Texas A&M University, who helped him select and create the perfect breed. http://www.outback.com/pressroom/pr_080306.aspx Since the introduction of the Bloomin’ Onion to the Outback menu, over 133 million have been sold. http://www.outback.com/pressroom/pr_080306.aspx/ref