7 Secrets Outback Steakhouse Doesn't Want You to Know

There is no denying the allure that anything Australian has for Americans. From the accent to the beaches, there is plenty to be admired about the down under lifestyle.

In 1988, Outback Steakhouse capitalized on that attraction. The fast-casual chain was born in Tampa, Fla., and quickly rose to national (and now international) prominence. Today, they are known for much more than just their Aussie aesthetic.

The legendary Bloomin' Onion, for one, is one of the best-known appetizers on the restaurant chain scene. Their slogan, which has been a mantra since the very beginning, is iconic: "No rules, just right." And, perhaps more than anything else, the sizzling steak TV commercials that helped put Outback on the map are now seared into our collective memory. You can probably still hear the "Let's go Outback tonight" jingle playing in your head.

During the decades of success, Outback Steakhouse has also filed away a few secrets. Read on to uncover the details they aren't broadcasting. For more, check out 8 Worst Fast-Food Burgers to Stay Away From Right Now.

Three years ago, a former employee of Outback Steakhouse confessed on a Reddit thread that a fellow user's suspicions were correct: If you order your steak well done, the kitchen is going to dole you out a worse cut of meat.

"Honestly… yes," said former employee. "We sort steaks to cook all at the same temp, at the same time. So yeah you will get a crappier cut to cook at the same time as your super nice, rare cut."

If you are familiar with authentic Australian culture, this "secret" might not be shocking. But it's true, the chain from down under actually just hails from Florida, where four people who worked in the hospitality industry decided that an Australian theme would help make their restaurant unique. At the time, none of the founders had even made the trek to the continent.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

In 2017, Twitter users uncovered that, in several cities, the layout of Outback's locations looks like a pentagram. Amidst the ensuing viral conspiracy theories that Satanism was involved (you know, a practice that uses pentagrams as symbols), Outback leaned in. "If the Bloomin' Onion is evil then we don't want to be nice," they Tweeted, in a genius marketing move that kept the internet talking.

You know the bread we're talking about—that absolutely decadent dark brown loaf, known colloquially as "chocolate bread" (a moniker which, according to Reddit, servers resent.) According to that same former employee, you don't need to sit for an entire meal at Outback to enjoy the bread. You can likely just visit your local location and buy it from them.

Is any restaurant really off the hook with this one? Like many other chains, Outback has been outed for its microwave usage. According to a user on Quora who used to work there, the chain simply "nukes" the pre-made pasta and sauce for a minute and thirty seconds. Not exactly fine dining.

To be fair, depending on who Outback wants to appeal to, they may or may not want you to know this "secret." The chain's parent company Bloomin' Brands made 93% of its political donations to Republicans in 2016, according to Eater. The same can be said of many other major restaurant chains, including Applebee's, IHOP, Chick-fil-A, and even Wendy's.

However, Elizabeth Smith, the CEO of Bloomin' Brands, personally donated to Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016.

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