Most of the e-mail we get into our tip line, especially with regards to restaurants, is about rude waitstaff, awful food and uncaring managers. So it was a very pleasant surprise to hear this story from Consumerist reader Rob, whose visit to Outback Steakhouse started sourly but ended happily.

Rob and his wife had gone out to eat with his sister and her husband. And as happens in lots of restaurants, the waitress slipped while delivering drinks spilled all over the table and a little bit onto Rob’s clothes.

He says the staff immediately began to clean up, and that’s when the “keep the customer happy machine” kicked into gear.

Explains Rob:

The manager, who happened to be nearby, came over and immediately began apologizing. We didn’t make a fuss about it. She left and returned a few minutes later, having found out that we order appetizers. She told us that there would be no charge, implied that they would pay for dessert, and asked us to talk to her if there were any other problems with our bill.

We didn’t think that this spill was a big deal, and thought that just comping our Bloomin’ Onion was enough for them to have gone above and beyond the call of duty. We were very impressed with the manager’s efforts to make it up to us.

We ordered our food, which was satisfactory, and got dessert, which was delicious. After our waitress presented us with our bill, the manager returned with two $25 gift certificates. She even offered to pay for dry cleaning.

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