Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.
Being a restaurant critic has not been easy lately. We plan on going to review a restaurant, and when we get there, the entire county is closed for inside dining. We then drive to another county just as it is being shut down. We are stuck scratching our heads and jokingly we said, “We should go to the outback in Australia, the restaurants there are probably open.”
Outback Steakhouse
4751 Northwest Highway
Crystal Lake 60014
(815) 479-5761
outback.com
Directions: Take Route 47 North to Algonquin Road, North to Pyott, Turn Left, continue to Northwest Highway and East to restaurant.
Estimated Travel Time: 26 minutes
Nancy and I have traveled to Australia and actually visited Alice Springs in the outback several years ago. Not wanting to get on an airplane and travel 24 hours one way to review a restaurant, we decided to go to the next best thing, the Outback Steakhouse in Crystal Lake.
It was kind of depressing when we walked in knowing that this would be our last time dining indoors for who knows how long. The interior of the restaurant was rustic with Aussie paraphernalia on the walls. Looking around, we noticed there was only one table with other late afternoon diners.
When you go to an Outback Steakhouse you have to order the Bloomin’ Onion ($7.99) for an appetizer. If you have never had one, this 1,950 calorie masterpiece is a huge, lightly breaded, hand carved onion, deep fried, and served with their spicy Bloomin’ Onion sauce. While we have ordered this at an Outback restaurant before, this one was one of the best. It was cooked to perfection. The trick is to enjoy this and still have room for your entree.
Jim saw something new on the menu that I never would have expected him to order. He usually orders the biggest hunk of meat he can find on the menu. Today was different, he chose the Braised Beef Bonzer-wich ($14.99). This was braised beef in a spicy barbeque sauce with melted cheddar cheese on grilled panini bread and served with a side of steakhouse cheese sauce for dipping. This comes with Aussie fries and he added the baked potato soup for a $2.99 upcharge. The potato soup had a lot of stretchy, stringy, melted cheese in it which made it delicious, but watching Jim eat it was not a pretty sight. His sandwich was huge and after the Bloomin’ Onion, he could only finish half of it.
Nancy went with one of their lunch specials today. In the past, Nancy always ordered the Shrimp on the Barbie appetizer for her entree. She was forever telling the waitstaff to put that on their dinner menu. Well, they finally put it on their lunch menu and she went for it. The price for her (6) Shrimp on the Barbie was $8.99. This was shrimp seasoned with their special blend of herbs and spices, then flame grilled. She chose a baked potato for her side which came with sour cream, butter, scallions, and cheddar cheese. She added a house salad for a $2.99 upcharge to complete her meal. She was in heaven with her decisions, since, as she put it, “This would be her last meal in a restaurant for who knows how long.”
When you think about it, it’s unusual for a restaurant called the Outback Steakhouse to offer shrimp. There are no bodies of water or shrimp in the outback of Australia. It is so dry out there that when we visited it, we were given netting to cover our heads down to our shoulders because the flies will go in your nose, ears, eyes, or mouth, in search of moisture.
Even though this was the last day with indoor dining, the service was great and the food was delicious. We wished our waiter good luck and he said, “no worries, I’ll be here handling take out orders.”
The price for our trip to the outback was $47.33, g’day mate!!!
Jim’s take: My sandwich was tender and delicious, and the cheese sauce is what made the sandwich.
Nancy’s take: I was so happy to see my Shrimp on the Barbie on the lunch menu. I loved it and Jim’s sandwich was awesome.
Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at thediningduo@gmail.com
