Outback Steakhouse to open in Dover Oct. 3
America’s favorite Australian-themed, casual dining chain will open its newest restaurant in Dover next month.
Outback Steakhouse is set to open the doors to its long-awaited location at the Dover Towne Center on Oct. 3. The restaurant will employ 85 workers and seat close to 230 patrons.
Perhaps best known for its signature Bloomin’ Onion appetizer, Outback’s dinner menu offers an array of “full-flavored” steak cuts seasoned with a 17-spice blend, along with burgers, chicken, ribs and seafood.
The new Dover location also will serve lunch, featuring some lighter fare with combos starting at $6.99. A full bar with two community tables will sell cocktails, wine and beer, including the Australian-style lager Foster's.
“We’re excited to be the newest neighbor in the promising and expanding Dover Towne Center,” said proprietor Steve Adams, who coincidentally shares a name with an NBA player from New Zealand.
The 13-year employee of Tampa, Florida-based parent company Bloomin’ Brands, previously worked for Outback’s location in Ogletown's Possum Park Mall shopping center off Del. 2. The chain also owns a location near Rehoboth Beach.
STORY: Checkers speeding ahead with Delaware expansion
STORY: Ted’s Montana Grill moves up opening, calls for applications
Outback is the latest tenant to join Dover Towne Center, which replaced a Walmart store that had been vacant since 2011 when the retailer relocated a few miles north to a new $12.5 million Supercenter near Cheswold.
The property was purchased in 2012 by the Onix Group of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania – with help from Birchwood Capital Partners in Baltimore. The partners began work last spring transforming the former blight into a thriving retail center. The project demolished nearly a third of the former 118,200-square foot building, divided the remainder into separate stores, added a new facade and expanded the parking lot to 630 spaces.
Outback, which will occupy a 5,600-square-foot standalone building, signed on to join the shopping center last summer, along with five other national retailers. Ulta Beauty, Petco and apparel chain Five Below opened last spring, followed by Ross Dress for Less, Shoe Carnival and OshKosh B'gosh.
Another pad site and 25,000-square-feet of retail space are still left to be filled, according to the website for broker KLNB Retail.
Dover Towne Center is just one redevelopment success story for Dover, Mayor Robin Christiansen said.
About a mile south, Burlington Coat Factory and Big Lots will hold grand opening celebrations Sept. 30 for their newest locations in Capital Commons, a large retail space that had been vacant since a long-standing Kmart shut its doors there in 2014.
Both projects took advantage of several economic development incentives offered by the city. The Onix Group, for example, will receive a 10-year tax abatement on building improvements and a 50-percent reduction in permit fees, as well as a 50-percent discount on the cost of re-connecting the property into Dover's water and sewer system.
“Sometimes you have to float some crumbs on the water to catch some fish,” Christiansen said. “And we have to scrap, scrape and claw to get every business we can because we're in competition with both the beaches and New Castle County.”
Kent County has long struggled with jobs. The unemployment rate lags behind its county neighbors to the north and south. The number of Kent County residents – particularly children – living in poverty also outpaces the rest of Delaware.
Along with added retail options, major employers such as Kraft Heinz and Energizer – formerly Playtex – have been growing in recent years.
Christiansen said he's hopeful the DE Turf Complex, an 85-acre youth sports center currently under construction near Frederica, will help drive further economic development in south Dover.
“I see the possibility for new hotels and restaurants along Bay Road that want to take advantage of all the families visiting the complex,” he said.
In the meantime, Christiansen said he is looking forward to attending the grand openings for Burlington, Big Lots and Outback Steakhouse – the latter of which bestowed him with a stack of Bloomin' Onion coupons to hand out.
The new restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, until 11 p.m. on Saturdays and until 9 p.m. on Sundays.
A portion of the proceeds from the restaurant's opening day will be donated to the Food Bank of Delaware.
Contact business reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.