Who Owns Outback Steakhouse?

Bloomin' Brands publishes sustainability information through its corporate responsibility reports. The company's environmental and social initiatives cover several areas relevant to Outback Steakhouse operations.

Responsible Sourcing: Bloomin' Brands maintains supplier standards for beef, seafood, and produce. The company works with suppliers on animal welfare practices and sustainable agriculture. Specific certification details are available in the company's corporate responsibility disclosures.

Waste Reduction: Outback restaurants participate in Bloomin' Brands' food waste reduction programs, which include inventory management improvements and food donation initiatives where feasible. The company also implements recycling and waste sorting protocols at restaurant locations.

Energy Efficiency: The 2026-2028 restaurant refresh program includes upgrades to kitchen equipment, lighting, and HVAC systems that reduce energy consumption. The company is expanding char-grill capacity across all Outback locations by the end of 2026, which supports both food quality and cooking efficiency.

Community Engagement: Outback Steakhouse supports local communities through charitable partnerships and the Bloomin' Brands Foundation. The company has participated in military appreciation programs and disaster relief efforts.

Outback Steakhouse and Bloomin' Brands have received recognition from restaurant industry organizations. The brand has been featured in Nation's Restaurant News, FSR Magazine, and QSR Magazine coverage of the casual dining sector. In 2026, the turnaround strategy and its early results received industry attention, with FSR Magazine publishing a feature on Outback's traffic growth achievements.

The brand's loyalty program, Outback Rewards, has grown its user base, and the company has reported improvements in guest satisfaction scores following the November 2025 steak quality upgrades. The new service model, tested at 42 locations before broader rollout, showed improvements in likelihood to return, server attentiveness, and likelihood to recommend.

Outback Steakhouse has not been subject to major food safety recalls at the brand level. Individual restaurant locations are subject to routine health department inspections, and the company maintains food safety compliance protocols across its system.

2025-2026 Turnaround Controversy: The turnaround strategy involved closing underperforming locations. In 2025, Bloomin' Brands closed a net 13 Outback Steakhouse restaurants in the U.S., and an additional 5 in Q1 2026. These closures affected employees and local communities, though the company offered relocation opportunities where possible.

Beef Pricing and Commodity Pressures: Outback faces significant commodity inflation, with beef prices rising at high-single-digit rates in 2026. The company has absorbed some of these costs while passing others through to menu prices, which has affected value perception among price-sensitive consumers.

Labor Model Changes: The shift from six tables per server to four tables per server, rolled out in Q2 2026, required adjustments to staffing levels and labor costs. The company invested $7 million in the new service model, which increased labor costs in the short term but improved guest satisfaction metrics in test locations.

Political Activity: Bloomin' Brands operates a political action committee that makes contributions to political candidates. This is standard corporate practice but has drawn periodic scrutiny from transparency advocates.