New Outback Steakhouse on Elden Street to open next year

Construction crews have turned a wooded area into a building site for a new 6,525-square-foot chain restaurant.

The Outback Steakhouse at 365 Elden St. will be less than half a mile from another restaurant with the chain that’s already in Herndon (150 Elden St. #100).

A project manager with Belisle Construction said it’s slated to be done and open around February.

Officials with the parent company, Bloomin’ Brands, refused to answer questions, such as its plans for relocating staff with the opening of the new restaurant.

Since early September, the company has posted 11 part-time positions for the existing restaurant, ranging from line cooks to servers, as well as a full-time manager.

It previously had a listing for a bartender on May 10, 2020, which is still on its jobs website.

The new location takes over a 1.46-acre site, having businesses on both sides of it: a Residence Inn by Marriott and a four-story office building at 381 Elden St.

The new restaurant is slated to have an 82-space parking lot, an outdoor seating patio and signage noting its takeout service that the town’s Architectural Review Board approved in August.

It’s still working its way through permitting and received a permit with the county for an underground fire service line on Oct. 1.