Dinner and a Movie

[vovat]

bethje and I saw Inglourious Basterds tonight, and I have to say I liked it. Brad Pitt did a good job as a crazy Southern lieutenant (who speaks Italian with a really bad accent at one point), and I think the odd mixture of brutal violence and humor that Quentin Tarantino tends to put into his movies works well. I'm not sure why he's such a big supporter of Eli Roth, but nobody's perfect.

The movie theater was offering free Bloomin' Onions at the Outback, so we went there to eat after the film. Unfortunately, I don't like fried onions (or most kinds of onions, really), so the promotion wasn't of much benefit to me. It's been years since I last ate there, and my old standby, the Jackeroo Chops (yeah, that was what they called their pork chops), were no longer on the menu. In fact, it looks like they largely dropped the goofy Australian-themed names, although a few still remain. Come on, Outback, don't deny your roots as a gimmicky themed restaurant! Well, I guess they really haven't, since they still have boomerangs everywhere. The bread is still really good, though, and I also liked the pasta dish that I had. Beth had the Alice Springs Chicken, which I might have next time I go back there, assuming they still offer it by then.

Comments

[brostron.livejournal.com]

I really liked "Inglourious Basterds" although I saw Brad Pitt's presence as just something necessary to get funding for the movie. Kind of like Leonardo DiCaprio in "Revolutionary Road." The SS Officer, Shoshana, and German actress were great, however.

I find it interesting that Outback has supplanted our indigenous chain steakhouses such as Ponderosa and Bonanza. Granted, those places were pretty boring and probably didn't even serve alcohol, but I'm suspicious of such invasive species.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

While Pitt's presence might well have been to get funding, I still thought he did a good job.

Unlike Ponderosa and Bonanza, Outback doesn't have a buffet. Really, I think Outback is attempting to be more upscale than its sister themed restaurants, but not really succeeding. And as far as Outback replacing other steakhouses, the same company that owns them also owned Lone Star, and I'm not sure those are around anymore. I guess people preferred the Australian theme to the Texan one.

[brostron.livejournal.com]

Outback's of course part of the "casual dining" genre, but Ponderosa and Bonanza seem more old school to me. Then again, I haven't been to a Ponderosa since about 1984 when you still went through a line with a tray and then eventually got your well-done ribeye delivered to your table.

I was looking at Lone Star's wiki page. Apparently, they're now privately owned and have locations in Australia but none in Texas.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

A lot of Ponderosas closed down. I think Beth and I looked it up before, and the only remaining Ponderosa in New Jersey is in one of the Oranges, nowhere near where we live. I think Bonanza had the same owners as Ponderosa.

By the way, are there Outback Steakhouses in Australia?

[brostron.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Ponderosa and Bonanaza are owned by Metromedia, which also owned Bennigan's and Steak and Ale until it shut down all of its company-owned restaurants for those two brands last year.

[brostron.livejournal.com]

There are 4 Outback's in Australia, all in New South Wales, which leads me to believe that, unsurprisingly, none are in the Outback.