When you think of steakhouses, you probably don’t think of them as being a safe place for vegetarians. When dining at places like Outback Steakhouse and Texas Roadhouse, people who don’t eat meat are urged to stick to ordering just the sides, like the house salad and mixed veggies, as their main meal. The options are even further limited for vegans.
A viral TikTok imagines what Outback Steakhouse would be like if it offered a vegetarian entree—and it’s not great.
TikTok user AJ (@its.aj_herron) was filmed trying what she called the “new impossible steak” at Outback Steakhouse. AJ taps the brown, rectangular-shaped food item with her knife, showing the audience how hard it is. The “steak” proves difficult to cut and bite into it, and the clip ends with AJ struggling to enjoy it and bursting out into laughter.
AJ mocked it in the caption of her video, writing, “So good … save the cows” with a woozy face emoji.
Some TikTokers will try to mislead viewers with their videos, either to go viral or to be funny, so it’s understandable why viewers are taking AJ’s impossible steak video with a grain of salt.
“Stopppp that’s the bread they put under the shrimpies,” one user pointed out.
“Isn’t that just the bread the shrimp comes on flipped over?” a second echoed.
Even an alleged Outback Steakhouse worker confirmed this. “It’s our brown bread that we give out with butter. They just cut it in half and lay a house garlic butter on it and toast it.”
@its.aj_herron So good🥴 save the cows #steak #outbacksteakhouse #notsteak #fakemeat ♬ original sound – AJ 🩶
Perusing Outback Steakhouse’s online menu backs this up. There are no impossible steak options, and the “Grilled Shrimp on the Barbie” appetizer picture includes the food item that AJ appears to be eating—the restaurant’s house bread. According to Spruce Eats, the bread is made with “molasses, honey, whole wheat flour, and dark cocoa powder.” Spruce Eats claims the bread is made without dairy and egg, and the Vegetarian Resource Blog reports that it is safe for not just vegetarians but also vegans. The bread is turned into garlic toast and used as a base for the shrimp with the Grilled Shrimp on the Barbie appetizer.
The Daily Dot reached out to AJ via TikTok comment and direct message and to Outback Steakhouse via press email.