Bern's Steak House — Restaurant in Tampa

I categorize this legendary steakhouse as a bucket list restaurant destination. Pre-Covid you get a tour of the kitchen and famed wine cellar but that was not offered during our visit, understandably so. Hey, it just gives us an excuse to go back for the next special occasion! We did feel the special uniqueness as soon as we pulled up to the valet. The 1950s ambiance exudes from the red carpet the moment you step foot through the grand double doors. You really step into a red carpet in the entry. The reception room, where they take your reservation details, is all aglow from the red wall sconces and the regal chandeliers. The hostess directs you to have a seat on one of the many red velvet chairs or Edwardian style couches or you may slip off to the bar and enjoy a cocktail. We sat and admired all the art and sculptures surrounding us. But it wasn't long before a hostess came to escort us to our table. As she led us down to the dining quarters closest to the stairs of the dessert room, she asked if we were celebrating a special occasion.... Of course I announced it was our anniversary. We were led to the nook where our dining area was, it was very spacious and very socially distanced. There was one couple finishing up & paying their bill and another couple just starting their salad when we sat down, otherwise the room was very quiet and private. We received paper copies of the traditional menu and wine list and all of the servers and hostesses were wearing masks and gloves. A+ for covid-19 safety precautions! Our server greeted us promptly and was just a happy anniversary and then proceeded to take our drink order. We ordered a couple of waters, a Jack and Coke for my husband and a Coke with a lime twist for myself. I don't drink alcohol, I'm definitely a cheap date, except for tonight of course! Our server brought back our drinks and asked if we had any questions about the menu. I told him that I did my research, refraining from letting him know I'm a food blogger/ reviewer and Yelper, he then replied there was no need for him to go over anything with me. I replied that I still wanted to hear what he had to say but I think he was a little annoyed with me and my Bern's "research"! This was only one of 2 hiccups last night. After much due diligence, my husband and I both ordered the 10 oz Filet Mignons his medium rare and mine medium. Our server asked if we'd like garlic butter with our steaks in which we gleefully replied YES!!! All afternoon I anticipated adding the Bearnaise sauce to my filet but forgot about it until my steak arrived. The only reason I remembered is the steak seemed a little dry and in need of some salt and pepper and seasoning and I realized we had not gotten our garlic butter on our filet mignons. In hindsight I wish I had asked our server for some salt or even would have liked having salt and pepper on the table. This was hiccup number two. Mind you these were minor hiccups, still a five-star evening! Our dinners included an amazing French onion soup served with garlic and honey wheat toasts, a fresh garden house salad. The hardest decision of the evening was choosing a salad dressing!! I had heard amazing feedback regarding the macadamia vanilla bean vinaigrette and knowing that my husband's not a salad eater and I would inherit his I decided to choose a different salad dressing and see which one I liked best. Our server kindly suggested the white balsamic Italian and it was an amazing selection, so tangy and satisfying with chunks of olives and garlic in it! But I have to say, my favorite of the 2 was the macadamia vanilla bean vinaigrette!!! Our buttery soft filet mignon were cooked absolutely to perfection. There was a steak knife at our table but it was truly unnecessary for this meal. My only regret was not calling the server's attention to the missing garlic butter or requisite salt but otherwise it had a great beefy flavor and well worth every penny that the 10 oz of quality beef cost us! I can't forget to include the scrumptious loaded baked potato, onion straws and...

Great experience tonight start to end, with one exception. Seated promptly and entire wait staff was attentive, helpful and non intrusive. There are several "rooms" that comprise the dining area, so it was relatively quiet even though the restaurant quickly got packed (Tuesday early eve reservation). At first I felt disconnected from the larger vibe that comes with dining out. Extensive wine list, many by the glass at reasonable prices, cocktail we gad was distinctly peach as described in the menu and tasted really smooth and not overly sweet. They have several liquors on hand and I ordered a G&T with Monkey 47 which wasn't on cocktail menu item that was a perfect balance so the drink didn't taste too tonic/metallic aftertaste. Quite happy. Avocado salad for a starter and 6 oysters as well which were tasty. We were asked for our preference for east or west coast oysters. The salad had ample crab meat with a bit of small pieces of fresh asparagus. All tasty. Main dish was 30oz dry aged porterhouse which came with -- house salad (good), French onion soup (good, but I'm not a conessaur of this), baked potato (cooked perfect, right amount of salt and butter, but a smidgen on the small side) and green beans (tasty, not dripping with globs of butter or oil, but wish they were cooked a little less so they'd have a crunch to them. Had a glass of pretty good Cotes du rhone red with the dinner, which all came out in a really good sequence of timing. The meat itself was cooked perfectly to our liking (medium) on the first shot. Outside of the meat had nice color to it and tasted great. Solid but not overwhelming dry aged smell and flavor. Waiter said they dry age in house using UV light, not salt rooms. Either way, it was flavorful and I had to cut literally 0 excess fat away. I was joking with the waiter that we have been to several very high end steak places around the country (as we look specifically for dry aged steak whenever we travel) and he said (I think in all seriousness) that if we wanted a larger cut not shown on the menu, it would be accommodated! He also said the cuts are aged for 5-7+ weeks in most cases, and at $112 for 30oz, this is a great price point for the quality of the meat and dry aging process here. The small annoyance was that they add a 12% service fee to the bill and while it was explained transparently when our server brought the check, I was taken off guard that it wasn't mentioned earlier, such as when the server took our order initially or perhaps prominently in the menu, or even when they called a few days prior to confirm my reservation. For us, this was another $30 which again was clearly explained as being for the behind the scenes staff and that we could request it be removed, but we chose not to remove it. I appreciate that they want to take care of their employees, and hopefully the business pays them a good wage to compliment this fee passed on to the customer. We are decent tippers to begin with, but with this added in, the final tip was about 35%. That added fee briefly created a moment of disappointment. With that said, we were invited to their upstairs for dessert, which required paying for the meal and being led upstairs to a different server and table. This proved to not be any burden on us, and in fact, we were offered (along with others throughout the restaurant) a brief guided tour of the entire kitchen and inside their actual wine cellar, from there, upstairs. Really nice vibe upstairs and much more private but not secluded feeling. Their desserts were definitely above average but I won't say great. We had cherry crumble and another cocktail (Bern signature cappuccino) which looked and tasted great.

OVERALL, highly recommend and on my short list of places is made multiple trips too. Steak is the star but plenty of other great stuff on the menu.

Parking: valet up front. I also somewhat easily found free street parking around the corner (Tuesday night). There are several other street spots that require less than a 5...

UPDATE: 08.18.2023

Following my original review below, I was contacted by a member of Bern's management to discuss our experience. Bianca, was very kind, respectful and seemed genuinely concerned that our experience was anything other than sublime. She invited us back to the restaurant as what we experience was NOT the "Bern's experience". She also sent us a gift card for our next visit. This time, we made reservations and simply prayed the experience would be better. We were seated quickly, though they were extremely busy this Saturday evening. The appetizers were delish. We had shrimp cocktail and scallops. The scallops were cooked perfectly and the shrimp cocktail was lovely. The ginger cocktail sauce they have for the shrimp cocktail is good and elevated. For dinner, we ordered the 14oz Strip and the filet finished with spicy crab. The strip was humongous! I've never seen a strip like this and it was beautifully seared and finished. The cut was thick and hearty. I ordered my steak medium rare; as you can see by the photo, it was undercooked but still delicious. This was such a thick cut I'm not shocked they didn't get the temp right. But again I didn't send it back and I enjoyed the flavor of the steak. The green beans and onion "rings" that come with it were really good. The baked potatoes could have used proper salting but otherwise average and edible. The filet for my husband came out and it was also a surprise since it was cut into 3 pieces topped with the crab rather than whole. That was just different, but his steak was cooked perfectly. Tender and good. He also had the king crab on the side and it was sweet, fresh and the butter sauce they add so silky and good. No fishy seafood at all this time. The service was really good. I will add that when you eat here, you need to have time to sit, enjoy, relax and engage with your partner/friends. Nothing is rushed and you are not getting everything ordered and served in an hour flat. We were there from 7pm to almost 11pm. We will be back, especially for dessert!❤️. THANK YOU, BIANCA!!

PREVIOUS REVIEW: We traveled almost 4 hours for dinner at Bern's for our anniversary and birthday, which fall on the same day. I stressed myself hoping to secure the reservation, so when we did, I was expecting an unforgettable dinner considering the difficulty getting reservations, the written dress code requirements, and Bern's reputation. The ambiance is romantic though gaudy. The food was disappointingly extremely average at best. Nothing in our meal stood out as excellent, sublime, or even unique. We started with carpaccio and crab cake. The carpaccio would have been fine if they would have just added a bit of finishing or flake salt. It was melt in your mouth tender but almost tasteless. The crab cake was average. The shaved salad they served with it was the best bite of the appetizers. My husband had the filet medium rare. It was not cooked properly, rather it was rare, almost black and blue really. Luckily, we don't mind a bit of rare meat. He also got his steak Oscar style. The crab was fishy, so not fresh. I got the Strip but did not eat it as was already a bit put off by the rubbery and overcooked lobster that came with my main dish. We headed to the dessert room and this is what saved the night for us. It is simply gorgeous upstairs. The more intimate and enclosed space had lovely decor and better told the story of Bern's. The banana cream pie and cheesecake were amazing and the only foods we felt really good about in the end. The servers brought us cups of macadamia ice cream and wished me a happy Birthday and a happy anniversary as well. We did not receive that kindness during dinner though a couple close to us did. In the end, a nearly $500 dinner was disappointing. The only joy was the dessert and we would go back for just that. I will say also that Ocean's Prime would have been a much better value for the money we spent at Bern's. This was a little...