If you already love eating at Outback Steakhouse, prepare to love it even more in the near future! The Australian-themed steakhouse chain is planning to implement a big change at its restaurants that it believes will improve the quality of the food.
David Deno, the CEO of Outback Steakhouse’s parent company Bloomin’ Brands, said during an earnings call this week that the chain is embracing technology that will improve execution and guest experience for its customers. As part of this initiative, Outback plans to roll out new cooking technology that will make menu items even tastier.
“Our new cooking technology in the back of the house, including advanced grills and ovens, is on track to be completely rolled out in the third quarter. Our guests will experience improved product quality and overall meal pacing,” Deno said.
Outback’s second quarter ended on June 25 and the third quarter is already in progress. So customers can expect to see those cooking technology changes very soon, if not already, according to Deno’s comments.
Outback’s push to boost food quality comes after a mixed quarter for Bloomin’ Brands. Quarterly earnings for the company–which also owns Carabba’s Italian Grill and Bonefish Grill— were higher than expected and revenues were in line with expectations. However, traffic was down 4.2% across all of its restaurant brands in the United States.
Outback topped analyst expectations for same-store sales during the quarter with a 0.6% increase. The chain performed even better in Brazil, where revenues increased 17% during the quarter thanks to factors like new restaurant openings and strong same-store sales. Deno said that they see a major opportunity to open more Outbacks in the future, especially in the Brazilian market.
“In Brazil, we can more than double our footprint. Today, we have 148 Outbacks and we expect to have nearly 300 Outbacks in Brazil by 2028. More to come on new unit development on future calls, but we expect to have a meaningful increase in new restaurant development in 2024.”
This upcoming improvement in the quality of the chain’s food isn’t the only exciting development for Outback fans. The chain recently launched a “Sweet Heat Season” menu that highlights “bold flavors” and will be available through Oct. 31. The menu includes a Hot Honey ‘Rita, Sirloin & Hot Honey Fried Chicken, and the popular Wedge Salad that was previously discontinued but still highly-requested among customers.
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