New Outback Steakhouse restaurant is popping up quickly near The Villages

A parcel of land in Trailwinds Village that was vacant less than eight weeks ago now has the makings of a new Outback Steakhouse, which will be the company’s second restaurant serving The Villages.

The 5,000-square-foot building that will house the new Outback has already been erected on the site, less than two months after crews began work on the restaurant.

The site plan was approved by Wildwood commissioners less than a year ago.

The 187-seat full-service restaurant shares a 2.36 acre parcel with a 5,670 sq ft commercial building.

Construction on that building, which will house the first Crumbl Cookies in The Villages, was nearly complete before construction on Outback began.

In addition to Outback, Crumbl and Mattress Warehouse, 100 parking spaces and access roads will also be built on the site.

Outback was founded in Tampa, Florida, in 1988 by Chris Sullivan, Robert Basham, Tim Gannon and Trudy Cooper, and is owned by Bloomin’ Brands of Tampa. That company also owns Bonefish Grill, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar and Aussie Grill.

There are currently more than 1,000 Outback Steakhouse locations worldwide. Nearly 100 of those restaurants are located in the state of Florida.

In the tri-county area (Sumter, Lake, Marion), Outback currently operates restaurants in Lady Lake (710 US Hwy 441), Leesburg (9600 US Hwy 441) and Ocala (3215 SW College Rd; 4899 E Silver Springs Blvd).