As my friends know, I am thoroughly baffled by the popularity of the restaurant Outback Steakhouse. My bewilderment has been reinforced by a recent horrible meal I was forced to suffer through at this restaurant which continues to make me believe the food is borderline poison, but somehow the place is as popular as ever. In previous visits, I have tried the steak (an overpriced filet mignon cooked rare has the texture of beef jerky and the flavor of cardboard), the chicken (to describe the chicken breast as rubber would be generous), and now the shrimp "griller". The shrimp were essentially chewing gum, and had the seasoning of a fish salted so much that it would be preserved for two millennia in King Tut's tomb without rotting. Oh let's talk about the service; given the salted mackerel posing as shrimp that I was attempting to eat, I drank my entire bottle of Perrier pretty quickly. My attempts to make eye contact with one of the purple-shirted servers did not succeed; it was 10 minutes or more before anyone was able to get another drink... iGanja had to stand up and flag someone down since the purple shirts were running by us as though we were contagious. Why did I eat there once again? My sissie picked this restaurant to celebrate my niece's 5th birthday; it's a clamorous place, and children can be as rambunctious as they want and it's hardly noticeable. So let's summarize Outback Steakhouse: --Terrible food whether from land or sea --Terrible service --A loud, raucous atmosphere which masks even the ranting of a two year old Anyone see any redeeming value here whatsoever? No? Then why is this place crowded even on a Sunday afternoon?!?!