When you think of a classic, high-end steakhouse, you might think of spots in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. All three have their fair share of fine dining establishments, including plenty of fancy steakhouses with prime cuts of beef, wagyu options, whole lobsters, and long wine lists. On the other hand, a city with incredibly high-end steakhouses that might not come to mind is Tampa, Florida, likely more known for its stellar Cuban sandwiches. But that’s exactly where you’ll find Bern’s Steak House — a James Beard award winning restaurant that offers much more than delicious beef. It’s a full-on experience.
Southern Living named it as one of the south’s most legendary restaurants. Food & Wine said Bern’s is one of Florida’s best classic restaurants, and the steakhouse has one of the largest wine cellars in the world — with more than half a million bottles that represent 6,800 selections of wine. Then there’s the menu, which features 20 selections of caviar, classic steakhouse appetizers, a $178 seafood tower, numerous cuts of dry-aged prime beef, a $228 A5 wagyu tasting, and a 60-ounce porterhouse that will set you back $198. Bern’s is pure luxury.
When you enter Bern’s, you know the food will be epic. But it doesn’t stop there. The overall experience is just getting started.
Dinner and a show at Bern’s Steak House
A restaurant’s atmosphere is an important part of your overall dining experience, and Bern’s takes that to heart. As part of your hard-to-get reservation at Bern’s Steak House, you’ll have the opportunity to tour the kitchen and watch the restaurant’s chefs as they precisely prepare one of Bern’s many delicious entrees and appetizers. Staff will also guide you through the steakhouse’s famous wine cellar — home to some of the best wines in the world.
After dinner, your server will take you to a separate part of the restaurant — the Harry Waugh Dessert Room. Here, you’ll sit in a partially enclosed, circular-shaped booth in which you can select your own music and choose from a long list of decadent desserts: flambéed bananas foster, cookie butter cheesecake, macadamia nut sundae, and a “Velvet Elvis” sundae with bourbon — just to name a few of the options. If that’s not enough, you can walk through the restaurant’s lounge on your way out and peruse Bern’s collection of oil paintings.
Since it opened in 1956, Bern’s Steak House has expanded from one to eight dining rooms and from 40 to 350 guest seats. Along the way, it’s become one of the more iconic restaurants in the country and a fantastic spot to catch dinner and a “show” when visiting Tampa. Just be sure to leave room for dessert.
