Outback Steakhouse CEO Mike Spanos, who joined nearly a year ago from Delta, said the brand is making progress, but it’s still losing share in the industry, according to Black Box. In its category, Texas Roadhouse has generated two-year same-store growth of 15.1 percent and LongHorn 10.7 percent, including 6.7 percent in its latest period (Q4 2025).
Outback, meanwhile, saw its comps decline 0.6 percent in Q2 and 0.7 percent across two years.
Spanos, as he’s shared since taking the role, knows it’s going to take time for Outback to reverse its market share trends given the state of the business. In-restaurant dining represents the casual brand’s biggest gap, and the plan has been to improve execution.
Across all its brands—Carrabba’s, Bonefish, Fleming’s—Bloomin’ worked to remove menu items in favor of consistency. For Outback, offerings are down about 15 percent. It was in the mid-80s and is now low 70s, with expectation to settle in the mid-60s.
Spanos said Bloomin’ streamlined on- and off-premises options, removed items with low sales mix, low satisfaction scores, or simply products that did not travel well. Outback also sliced seasonal LTOs and introduced an Aussie 3 Course everyday value deal that played a role in helping Outback slope traffic in Q2 (down 2 percent, a 190-basis-point improvement from Q1). Average check increased 1.9 percent for Bloomin’ and off-premises sales mixed 25, consistent with last year. Outback saw 26 percent of its business take place outside the four walls. Carrabba’s was 35 percent.
Leadership teams, Spanos said, are now spending more time in restaurants during peak hours and conducting multi-day visits to gather feedback. The goal being to identify and slice obstacles to deliver better service. “We are leading with an operational mindset,” he said.
Additionally, Ziosk tablets on the table, or what Outback employees call “tablemates,” have been completely rolled out for a little more than three months. Spanos said north of 85 percent of customers choose to use them and complete payments, which has improved table turns by roughly five to seven minutes. They’ve also enabled Outback to gather real-time survey responses and leverage AI to help managing partners address service gaps from the floor.
“The good news,” Spanos said, “is we are seeing traction in our simplification and consistent execution at Outback. We are seeing improvements in customer metrics in key areas like food and intent to return. While we are encouraged by the improvements, we know we need to do more in our everyday operations to deliver a consistent experience.”
There are larger aims at work, too. Spanos said Outback has three key areas to address in the “what you get for what you pay” equation—steak quality, service, and value. Fixing those buckets, he noted, will power sustainable traffic versus fixing near-term holes.
Outback had 14 stores in test earlier this year focused on menu simplification, innovation, and guest experience. That’s now bumping to 42 by the end of September. The units will have integrated test cells with enhanced service models, steak quality, menu innovation, and value components.
“We believe the expansion test will create a meaningfully improved guest experience and will be the foundation for the Outback turnaround,” Spanos said.
On the service model front, two years ago, Outback implemented handheld technology for servers to improve pace and accuracy. Bloomin’ wanted to increase the server-to-table station ratios above industry marks. Outback transitioned to a 1:6 figure with servers supported by “server assistance.”
Spanos said the move did not deliver consistent guest experience. He’s seen the challenge for employees and customers, especially during busy windows. Spanos now feels a lower server-to-table station number of 1:4, offset by a reduction in server assistance support, will lead to improved speed and happier diners. So, essentially, fewer tables per server but without the secondary help.
Outback is currently testing the revised service in select markets, with encouraging results thus far, Spanos said. It’s also leaning further into AI to ensure it can flex up or down to match labor with guest levels.
On steak quality, the company completed a menu satisfaction survey earlier in 2025. Those results combined with Ziosk’s “tablemates” item-level data, informed Outback’s work with partners to improve center-of-the-plate proteins, primarily steak and spec tolerances. There are pilots in select markets for this as well, featuring enhanced options and updated execution processes. “As a steakhouse,” Spanos said, “we have to lead with great steak quality.”
Outback’s innovation and value cogs of the turnaround are urgent ones. Combo-course offerings have become ubiquitous among casual chains of late. Chili’s 3 for Me at $10.99, Applebee’s 2 for $25, and Red Robin’s recently launched Big Yummm Burger Deal ($9.99) are just a few examples. Spanos said Outback continues to test opening price points across categories alongside different offerings as it leverages work it’s done on revenue growth management.
The Aussie 3-Course Meal starts at $14.99 and features a soup or salad, choice from “Down Under” entrees, and a slice of New York style cheesecake. With the traffic tilt, Spanos said, value satisfaction has increased as well, as has frequency from loyalists. “And I feel really good about it,” he said.
About two-thirds of guests have traded up to the higher levels of $17.99 and $20.99. Some 20 percent leveled up dessert, too. “The guests like the value,” he said. “They know the incentive curve and a big bunch of them are paying for more.”
Today, the average Outback guest frequency is twice a year. So Spanos believes it’s going to take a holistic effort of service, quality, value, innovation, and more to drive frequency from core users as well as visits for lapsed and new guests.
“We’re in the early innings and the turnaround takes time,” he said. “And I think we’ll continue to learn as we go forward. And I think the fundamental of this is it’s all about we want to have a really good equation in terms of what you pay for what you get for. And what that means is we’re going to be very focused on service model. We’re going to be very focused on stay quality. We’re going to be very focused on our value components, and we’re going to continue to test and learn.”
Outback recently began brand positioning work, he added, to complement foundational changes. “Outback is a casual and craveable steakhouse at its core with great equities, and we need to be sharper in our positioning and consumer communication to differentiate ourselves within casual dining,” Spanos added.
Expanding tests to 42 locations is going to cost about $3 million in 2025. And that number could adjust down the line. There’s an assessment underway looking at Bloomin’s network of restaurants, analyzing repair and maintenance costs, and developing a refresh and remodel approach. The company is completing a restaurant-level analysis based on profitability, site quality, and trade-area demand, Spanos said.
Michael Healy, who is assuming a newly created role of EVP, strategy and transformation as Eric Christel, formerly with Campbell’s Company’s Snacks Division and PepsiCo, steps into the CFO post, added the majority of that $3 million will dent Q4. But to clarify, it’s not indicative of a full system launch. Outback will refine cost offsets and design a staged rollout with pace sequencing and results paying for future investments once it gathers learnings. “We are excited by these 42 restaurants, as we believe they represent the holistic solution to our value service, and quality opportunities,” he said.
Spanos said Outback’s 14-store test showed “the potential of the brand is tremendous.”
“And … guests love our craveable food in a fun casual environment where there’s a ‘no rules, just right’ approach or an attitude,” he said. “What we’ve also learned is there’s a cumulative impact, which is part of getting the service model right, getting the steak quality right, getting the value right, and the ambiance right.”
Lastly, it illustrated a need to train and drive consistency in execution. “You’ve got to build momentum,” Spanos said.
A repair and maintenance survey finished at the end of Q2 and will help prioritize the scope of remodels. Outback plans to reface about 10 locations this year with three different levels of spending.
Afterward, it’ll have a better idea of how the “next few years” will unfold as the balance of the system follows suit. Spanos said Outback is more focused on asset condition over site quality.
Outback elected to take this approach over new store openings. Capital is going to be repurposed toward the existing fleet rather than in bringing locations to market.
The brand closed Q2 with 673 U.S. restaurants (552 company owned and 121 franchised), a five-store decline from 678 in June. Bloomin’ also operates stateside 208 Carrabba’s, 166 Bonefish Grills, 65 Fleming’s, and one remaining fast casual Aussie Grill.
Overall, Bloomin’ is in the process of assessing its network of restaurants and said it will be transparent as it concludes later in the calendar. The company engaged an external partner to work on cost-saving opportunities that, Healy said, won’t be guest-facing or negatively hit operations. They will center on other areas such as indirect expenses, contract negotiations, and supplies.
In addition to Healy’s change, the company recently announced a host of executive moves. Susan Cline was promoted to group vice president, strategy and transformation; Jessica Mitory joined the company as SVP, chief human resources officer; Ali Charri was appointed SVP, guest insights and analytics; Rafel Sanchez come onboard as SVP and chief information officer; Randy Scruggs was elevated to SVP of supply chain; Tara Kurian SVP, IR, FP&A, and international; John Bettin will join in early September as SVP, president of Bonefish as Mark Graff, currently EVP and president of Bonefish and fining dining, will depart in November.
