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An Outback Steakhouse restaurant at Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, California.

Outback Steakhouse (or simply Outback) is an Australian-themed American casual dining restaurant chain owned and operated by OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC (OSI). The brand was formed in February 1988 in Tampa, Florida by Robert D. "Bob" Basham, Chris T. Sullivan, Trudy Cooper and Tim Gannon.

As of December 31, 2011, OSI owned/operated 669 restaurants domestically and 111 internationally. In addition, they have 153 franchised locations across the world and a joint venture comprising 34 international locations.^[1]

History[link]

In 1997, Outback entered the South Korean market through a franchise agreement with Aussie Chung Inc.. Currently,^[when?] there are 101 Outback Steakhouse locations throughout South Korea.

On April 25, 2006, Outback Steakhouse, Inc. changed its name to OSI Restaurant Partners, Inc.^[1]

Canadian Outback restaurants opened in 1996. In March 2009, Outback Steakhouse Canada abruptly closed all nine locations in the province of Ontario, citing poor economic conditions. However, two months later, an Outback restaurant reopened in Niagara Falls. Three Outback locations continue to operate in Edmonton, Alberta.^{[citation needed]}

On June 14, 2007, OSI Restaurant Partners completed a stock repurchase plan, resulting in the company being privately held.^{[citation needed]}

Menu[link]

All of their meat is heavily seasoned; there is a 17 spice blend for the steaks themselves.^{[citation needed]} It fries its food in beef tallow, and uses real butter and heavy cream in many dishes. Burgers are ground from beef tenderloin. Although a number of menu items are grilled, steaks are prepared on a griddle using butter as a heat transfer medium. Many Outback Restaurants^[vague] now offer the option to have your steak grilled over an open oak wood flame. These steaks are seasoned with a lighter blend, and butter is not used. This provides a healthier option, while maintaining flavor because of the smoke.^{[citation needed]}

Outback's bar selections are highly regionalized. Outback serves Foster's Lager; an Australian brand of beer exported around the world. Other Australian beers often served include: Toohey's New, Boag's, and Coopers Premium Lager, Sparkling Ale, and Pale Ale. Wine selections vary, but often include Australian wineries Yellow Tail, Lindeman's, and Rosemount.^[1]

Dietary considerations[link]

Outback offers a gluten-free menu which includes most of its normal menu items with slight variations.^[2]

Outback has now^[when?] added a "light style" option to the menu. This option is designed to prepare meals under 500 calories by carefully portioning out sides and preparing the meals without butter and added fats.^{[citation needed]}

Controversies[link]

Outback did not display full nutritional data on their food until early 2010.^[3]

The use of fats in such liberal quantities has brought the chain under scrutiny by Men's Health magazine, which condemned Outback's Aussie Cheese Fries as "The Worst Food in America", with 182 grams of fat and nearly 3,000 calories per order.^[4]

Advertising[link]

A Hummer used in promotions for Outback Steakhouse.

One of two Outback blimps.

The company owns two blimps named after their appetizer, the Bloomin' Onion I and the Bloomin' Onion II.^[5]

In their commercials, the song featured is a version of "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games" composed by Kevin Barnes and his band Of Montreal. Barnes has noted he was "tricked" into letting Outback use the song. The jingle in the commercial is slightly different from the original song, with minor altered lyrics and a didgeridoo in the background.^{[citation needed]}

Throughout the first half of 2006, Jemaine Clement appeared in several Outback commercials. The theme in the advertisements was of Australian sentiment to promote the Australian-theme the brand is built upon. He used a feigned Australian accent in the series, as he is originally from New Zealand.^{[citation needed]}

Sponsorship[link]

Since 1996, Outback Steakhouse has been the title sponsor of the NCAA Outback Bowl. They are also the title sponsor of the Outback Champions Series tennis event.

In late 2011, Outback Steakhouse became the primary sponsor of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 39 Chevrolet Impala driven by Ryan Newman in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.^[6] In their first race as sponsor, Newman finished first in the Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Charitable contributions[link]

An international Outback at Nikke Colton Plaza in Ichikawa, Chiba Japan.

Outback Steakhouse has a program to support the communities in which their restaurants are located.^[7] Every location is allocated a certain amount of funds, numbering in the thousands, to donate to their communities via event sponsoring.^{[citation needed]} On a national level Outback partners with Heineken USA and their Heineken with a Heart program to raise funds for various organizations in these communities.^{[citation needed]}

During September 2011, OSI volunteered food and employees in its Operation Feeding Freedom IX campaign. The mission was to bring the tastes of home to U.S. and coalition troops based overseas.^[8] Outback is also a supporter of Operation Homefront and Operation Feed the Troops.^[9]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Outback Steakhouse

• Official website
• OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC website