When is $81 for a Steak a Good Deal?
I finally got an opportunity to have the full Bern’s Steakhouse experience this week!
I planned ahead and so when my dad dropped me off in Tampa for my flight, we had  reservations for 8:30. It was busy, but not as overwhelming as my first time visit when I checked out the Harry Waugh Dessert Room. I also learned that this was where my parents had come for their engagement dinner. 🙂
We were seated immediately and I was presented with my main purpose in coming. The massive wine list!
It was overwhelming and I made a poor dinner companion as I could scarcely focus on the food menu for perusing the pages looking for the perfect bottle!
But we managed to order an appetizer of  charcoal-grilled shrimp with creamed corn, beurre blanc, and herb oil. Our awesome waiter Adam, brought us a perfect pairing of Laurant Tribut Chablis by the glass.
I still hadn’t managed to figure out a bottle to go with our steak course, but furious texts to friends had helped me narrow down our options to a few regions. Bern’s amazing selection and value is mostly French wines, something I know very little about yet.
I zeroed in on a few — vintage Cornas priced for less than the current years were selling at retail, a shockingly cheap Chateauneuf du Pape from 1985. Our waiter had been so helpful (later I found out you have to train for 12 months), I asked for his advice.
They were out of the Chateauneuf du Pape, but he thought Cornas would be a good choice and said he’d bring us a bottle. It turned out to be a 1981 vintage for ~$30. Who knew I’d be able to afford a wine worth drinking from that year!
And during this time the many courses that came with our steak were arriving. When I first saw the steak menu I was a little overwhelmed. I have been to some nice steakhouses, but I still blanch a little bit at the thought of spending $81 on a steak, even if I was sharing it with my dad. Because I had seen there were sides you could order for an additional fee, I assumed that everything was a la carte.
Boy was a wrong! And boy is Bern’s a great value! All of this for $40.50 a person?
Some of the most amazing French Onion soup I’ve had with garlic bread and spelt bread with honey.
An enormous salad with fresh greens from their farm and our choice of 8 freshly prepared dressing.
And then the steak! We ordered the 19oz strip steak. It’s served without the bone and without fat, which means all 19 oz is edible! And they give you a little chunk of filet to make up for the tail of the strip that’s taken off. The steak was cut lengthwise so we both had the full steak experience.
There was a sweet carrot side, fresh green beans with garlic and soy, and the greatest onion rings I’ve ever had. I don’t really care for onion rings but these were crispy and salty and I had a hard time deciding what my next bite would be.
Oh! And I almost forgot. In addition there was a fully loaded baked potato which blew my mind and I’m not a big baked potato fan.
When the check came I couldn’t believe that the steak with trimmings, appetizer, 2 glasses of wine, and a bottle from 1981 was only $200. This has to be one of the best fine dining values out there!
After dinner we got to take a tour of the enormous kitchen! At this point it was 10:30 and everything was being cleaned up, I’d like to go again when it’s in full action.
It was really cool and I enjoyed seeing the “cheese cave” and even where they grow their own sprouts. And then it was time for wine cellar portion!
We walked through the area where the wines by the glass bottles are kept, down some stairs, and into the cellar which stays 48 to 50 degrees all year round. WOW.
We got to see the section of the more expensive bottles — one of which sells for $30,000.
And after passing over a dozen aisles of wine, we learned that they have a warehouse across the street where the majority of the bottles are kept. I had not expected to enjoy the tour so much and it wound up being one of the highlights!
We waffled over whether to go to the dessert room, but decided we might be able to squeeze in a shared dessert. This time I was not seated in the piano room, instead we were put in one of the traditional booths that featured the phone to call the pianist or switch the music to one of 5 channels.
As cool as it was, I found myself preferring my first table. Because everyone can choose their own music, we could hear snatches of modern music, classical, etc all from the surrounding tables and it was rather distracting. But we had good service and ordered the banana cheese mousse pie to split.
We also took advantage of the amazing wines by the glass list — Dad ordering a 1980 Cotes du Rhone (only $4.40 a glass!!) and I went with an ’09 Vieux Lazaret Chateauneuf du Pape.
A good time was had by all!
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Bern’s is quite the experience; we went with a group during FTU Tampa last September.
On the basis of your blog post, my wife and I had dinner at Bern’s last weekend as we were visiting her aunt and uncle in the Tampa area. I concur with everything in your post — great food, amazing wine selection, fabulous experience, and a very good value (especially compared with steakhouses in the Northeastern U.S., which is what we’re used to). Thanks for a wonderful recommendation!
Oh that’s great! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, I need to visit them again soon 🙂