Carnivores like a good Web site just as much as the next herbivore. So, this month we decided to cut into a few of the numerous steakhouse pages on the Internet menu.
We stuck to restaurant chains that offer a decent cut of meat with a side of family friendly bells and whistles.
Our first stop was down under, to The Outback (http://www.outback.com). Interestingly, the first image one sees here isn’t a prime rib worth of Crocodile Dundee. Rather, it’s a cream puffy looking dessert. I reload the site, thinking a meatier entrée will appear in rotation. Nope, the pastry puffs up again.
I scroll about and take a peek at the menu. Surely, the food will be lavishly displayed here. After all, I know folks who would wrestle a croc for the chain’s coconut shrimp – and the steaks aren’t a bad deal either. Nope, no pics – just a pdf of the menu one gets in the actual restaurant.
Fans can outfit themselves in Outback t-shirts, jackets and hats if they choose. All are available for sale on the site. Personally, I’d rather save my money for the food. Steak knives and cutlery (presumably the same sort used in the restaurants) are also up for the buying.
The sports and contests section offers schedules for the “Bloomin’ Onion Airship,” NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett (“Outback’s Bloomin’ Favorite!”) and the “Outback Steakhouse John Madden Cruiser,” a bus which makes appearances at NFL games. Madden definitely makes sense as a steakhouse pitchman: I bet he’s eaten a lot of prime rib and baked potatoes soaked in butter and sour cream in his time. (Mind you, I’m not making any judgments. To me, that’s a great accomplishment. I like potatoes.)
The “Joey Kids’ Corner” is one of the most robust restaurant areas for children I’ve ever seen. Going way beyond a simple listing of kids’ dining fare and printable posters to color, Outback offers oodles of fun facts about Australia’s animals, history, culture and geography geared towards children, families and teachers. G’job, mate.
Next I venture over to Bugaboo Creek (http://www.bugaboocreeksteakhouse.com), where I’m told the chain offers the “Flavor of the Canadian Rockies.” Good to know — I never realized that on either of the two visits I’ve made to their restaurants.
My husband and I haven’t visited a Bugaboo location since the kids were born. Quite frankly, we’re not sure if the talking animals that adorn the walls of the restaurants will (a) entertain our toddler, (b) distract him from eating or (c) scare the heck out of him.
The site does get marketing points right off the bat for prominently featuring a quick link to sign up for the “Creek Club” to get news and promotions. However, the join-up banner features a little raccoon face, which I thought was cute until I remembered that raccoons are known for rifling through garbage cans. Is this the sort of connoisseur you want associated with your eatery’s image?
While the Outback presented a bland pdf of a text only menu, Bugaboo took a different route, featuring vibrant photos of many selected entrees. Bugaboo went much simpler than Outback in their “Kid’s Grub” section though, offering only a menu and barebones info on the Bugaboo Birthday Club, which kids can only sign up for in-restaurant.
My final dining destination was LongHorn Steakhouse (http://www.longhornsteakhouse.com), which went right for the sizzle with an image of a fire grilling steak.
The food was prominently featured under the “What’s New” section, with pics of watermelon margaritas, boneless buffalo wings and baby back ribs, among other entrees. But the menu took the Outback route with simple text.
The “Fun Time for Kids” page was fairly uninteresting, with only a menu and three coloring pages of odd looking anthromorphic cows, chickens and onions. “Hey kids, look—new friends! Let’s color and then eat them!”
The other bit of “entertainment” was a contest to win tickets to a Kenny Chesney concert. A code from a restaurant dining receipt is needed to enter. A bit more interactivity could definitely have benefited Chesney and LongHorn here—the only “interactivity” was a link to a list of concert dates.
