industry restaurants genre casual dining founded march 1988 ; 28 years ago 1988 03 founders bob basham trudy cooper chris t. sullivan tim gannon headquarters tampa florida u.s. number of locations 978 2015 1 area served north america australia caribbean southeast asia brazil china costa rica guam hong kong japan korea taiwan philippines united kingdom venezuela products american cuisine parent bloomin brands website www.outback.com outback steakhouse is an australian themed american casual dining restaurant chain serving american cuisine based in tampa florida with almost 1000 locations in 23 countries throughout north south america europe asia and australia . it was founded in february 1988 in tampa by bob basham chris t. sullivan trudy cooper and tim gannon and it was owned and operated in the united states by osi restaurant partners until it was acquired by bloomin brands and by other franchise and venture agreements internationally . canadian outback restaurants began in 1996 . in march 2009 outback steakhouse canada abruptly closed all nine locations in the province of ontario citing poor economic conditions . however the restaurant later opened a location in niagara falls ; its edmonton alberta franchise remains in operation . in 1997 outback entered the south korean market through the franchise agreement with aussie chung inc. currently there are 101 outback steakhouse locations throughout south korea . on june 14 2007 osi restaurant partners completed a stock repurchase plan and the company is now privately held . in april 2012 bloomin brands the current owner of outback steakhouse filed with the sec to raise up to 300 million in an initial public offering . 2 bloomin brands inc. became a publicly traded company on nasdaq under the ticker symbol blmn . 3 contents 1 menu 1.1 dietary considerations 1.2 bloomin onion 2 involvements 2.1 community 2.2 political 3 advertising 3.1 sports 3.1.1 motorsports 4 references 5 external links menu edit restaurant at del amo fashion center in torrance california . all meat is heavily seasoned ; there is a 17 spice blend for the steaks themselves . outback bills its food as full flavor . it fries its food in beef tallow and uses real butter and heavy cream in many dishes . burgers are ground from beef tenderloin . menus are highly regionalized . crawfish appear in some dishes in southern american locations as do sweet potatoes . eastern locations often feature maine lobster tails while western locations frequently serve alaskan king crab legs and cakes . 4 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 . 4 although a number of menu items are grilled steaks are prepared on a griddle using butter as a heat transfer medium . because they are cooked solely by conduction their surfaces are cooked much more rapidly than their centers and outback follows a standard meat temperature rarity scale . 4 the use of fats in such liberal quantities has brought the chain under major fire from many health advocates men s health magazine condemned outback s aussie cheese fries as the worst food in america with 182 grams 1 638 calories of fat and nearly 3 000 calories per order . 4 in malaysia outback steakhouse offers a pork free menu to cater to muslim customers . dietary considerations edit the lamb served at outback comes from new zealand and is certified halal by the islamic council of new zealand . 5 outback also offers a gluten free menu which includes most of its normal menu items with slight variations . outback has recently added gluten free beverage choices including angry orchard cider . since early 2010 outback has displayed full nutritional data on its food . 6 outback has now added a light style option to the menu . this option is designed to prepare meals under 500 calories by carefully proportioning out sides and preparing the meals without butter and added fats and salt . 7 bloomin onion edit main article blooming onion the bloomin onion is a signature outback item . it is a one pound onion cut to bloom open breaded deep fried and served with mayonnaise horseradish sauce . other restaurants offer items similar to the bloomin onion as in chili s awesome blossom discontinued and lone star steakhouse & saloon s texas rose . many of the blooming onions have come under fire for high calorie counts sometimes going over 1 500 calories . 8 involvements edit community edit outback steakhouse has a program to support the communities in which its restaurants are located . 9 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 . political edit the company and its founders are major contributors via the outback steakhouse pac to the republican party contributing 303 015 and 334 197 for the 2000 and 2004 election cycles respectively . 10 11 the outback steakhouse pac itself is one of the largest donors in the food and beverage sector second only to the national restaurant association which itself represents 300 000 restaurants . 12 advertising edit one of the two outback blimps the company owns two blimps the bloomin onions i and ii both named after their appetizer . 13 for several years the company ran a media campaign with an australian themed variation of the of montreal composition wraith pinned to the mist and other games . general ret tommy franks sits on the board of directors for osi restaurant partners inc. which owns outback steakhouse . 14 sports edit outback steakhouse was the title sponsor of the outback champions series tennis events and ncaa football s outback bowl . the sponsorship will last through 2020 . 15 outback is also a partner of the tampa bay lightning and has a concession stand in amalie arena . motorsports edit the outback steakhouse hummer vehicle in 2012 outback steakhouse became a sponsor of the ryan newman and the no. 39 chevrolet for stewart haas racing in the nascar sprint cup series . in their first race as sponsor newman won the 2012 goody s fast relief 500 at martinsville speedway . 16 one of the promotions the company had with newman is a free bloomin onion on the monday after a race in which newman would finish in the top 10 . 17 kevin harvick took over outback s sponsorship and promotion in 2014 for two races in their no. 4 after newman left the team to drive richard childress racing s no. 31 car . 18 the company also sponsored retired sprint cup series driver and current fox nascar announcer jeff gordon s no. 67 for the ac delco 200 in the busch series during the 1990 season . 19 20 references edit notes bloomin brands inc. 2015 annual report outback steakhouse owner bloomin brands files for 300 million us ipo . renaissance capital . 9 april 2012 . about the company pdf . 14 december 2015 . a b c d the 20 worst foods in america . men s health . retrieved 2008 05 04 . outback halal summary on zabihah.com . zabihah.com . retrieved 2014 05 29 . zinczenko david ; matt goulding 2010 . eat this not that 2010 ed . . rodale . pp. 138 283 . isbn 9781605295381 . outback steakhouse menu . outback steakhouse of florida llc . retrieved 2011 04 21 . nutritional information . outback steakhouse inc. retrieved 2010 01 17 . http www.outback.com companyinfo outbackgivesback.aspx soft money donations outback steakhouse 2000 . the center for responsive politics . archived from the original on september 30 2007 . retrieved 2006 08 26 . soft money donations outback steakhouse 2004 . the center for responsive politics . archived from the original on september 30 2007 . retrieved 2006 08 26 . food & beverage pac contributions to federal candidates 2003 2004 . the center for responsive politics . retrieved 2006 12 29 . outback steakhouse bloomin onion i airship . outback steakhouse inc. archived from the original on 2006 05 03 . retrieved 2006 08 26 . inside the company . osi restaurant partners inc. retrieved 2006 08 30 . outback steakhouse renews title sponsorship of outback bowl through 2020 . wtsp . 2013 06 26 . retrieved 2013 08 05 . kurz jr. hank 2012 04 01 . newman wins wild finish at martinsville speedway . yahoo news . retrieved 2013 08 05 . outback steakhouse offers fans tasty reason to cheer for newman . ryan newman . 2012 12 24 . retrieved 2013 08 05 . 2014 nascar sprint cup series paint schemes team 4 . jayski s silly season site . retrieved 2013 10 31 . 1990 nascar busch grand national series results . racing reference . retrieved 2013 08 05 . hallways to the past . gordon online . 2011 10 20 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to outback steakhouse . official website salon article on outback steakhouse v t e bloomin brands holdings bonefish grill carrabba s italian grill fleming s prime steakhouse & wine bar outback steakhouse roy s divested cheeseburger in paradise lee roy selmon s defunct blue coral seafood & spirits paul lee s chinese kitchen zazarac retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title outback steakhouse & oldid 743110435 categories steakhousesrestaurant chains in the united statesrestaurant franchisestheme restaurantsaustralian themed retailersamerican companies established in 1988restaurants established in 1988companies based in tampa floridarestaurants in floridahidden categories commons category with local link same as on wikidataofficial website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent 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