Carrabbas Italian Grill, and Outback steakhouse have been favorite destinations of mine for a very long time. Sure they’re not five star restaurants, but their food was good, portions were fair, service excellent and above all their consistency was very impressive. On my recent visit to Outback, as I was buttering a piece of their signature dark bread (you know, the one with the knife stabbing it) only to notice that they switched from Real creamy butter to a more oily “butter blend”, at Carrabas about a week later (also owned by Outback) I noticed that they switched from Fresh Pasta, or one that certainly had the taste and texture of fresh, to boxed pasta that tasted like a mediocre egg noodle. OK, am I over-reacting? It depends on if you’re looking at it from a compassionate angle… that they need to save money to survive this economy, or the What the Hell are you Thinking angle… do you know how many loyals you’re going to lose that actually know the difference. This is a classic mistake that so many businesses make. In an effort to shore up their bottom line, they cut back in service by being understaffed, or much worse, they cut quality with the thought in mind that “most won’t even know the difference”. These tactics are so short sighted and almost always lead to destruction. The cutting of labor is somewhat understandable as labor costs are significant… but butter and pasta? C’mon!! I expect this from others, but I never expected it from the Outback group… please boy’s, give some more thought to where you shave.