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Rare and well done: Berns Steak House is a Tampa legend Tampa Bay Business & Wealth

berns steak house tampa

Acknowledging their success, the Laxers purchased the Beer Haven bar in, what was then, a small strip shopping center and moved their operation to 1208 S. After a “historical” meeting with investors, Bern and Gert began their new endeavor in what is now the Bordeaux Room of Bern’s Steak House. Bern and Gert always planned to be equal partners and, therefore, share equal billing in the name of their new bar. However, in order to save money, they salvaged letters from the existing Beer Haven sign and bought an “S” to create “Bern’s.” They eventually added “Steak House” because the phone company wouldn’t allow single name listings. In addition to the Prime standards, they offer Japanese wagyu and grass fed beef from specialty ranches as well as the now trendy ultra-aged option, 100-days.

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Waugh was a famed British wine merchant and on one trip, Bern visited him for dinner in his London home. After the entrée, Waugh suggested they adjourn to another room for dessert, port and cigars, and Bern loved the idea. He loved it so much that when he returned to Tampa he turned the upstairs into the Harry Waugh Dessert Room, with 48 private booths, each made from a repurposed redwood wine cask. Today when you first take your seat at dinner, the waiter asks if you would like to book a booth upstairs for dessert and you simply must say yes.

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If your generationally wealthy friend from England opened a steakhouse in their parents’ old manor, it’d probably feel a lot like Bern’s. The lobby is all gilded furniture and ruby lights, and there are eight different dining rooms lined with wall-to-wall photos from the founder's travels to Bordeaux, Burgundy, and beyond. Every meat on the menu is given its own paragraph explanation, which sounds like it was written by someone who's an e-commerce copywriter by day and a steak scholar by night. The Delmonico that they dry-age for 100 days is always our go-to.

berns steak house tampa

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berns steak house tampa

And it is like two different superb dining out experiences wrapped into one great meal, and again, something you just cannot do at other top steakhouses. A signature part of what makes Bern’s Bern’s is the dessert course, and some locals come just for it. Bern Laxer was a World War II vet and passionate gardener who visited his aunt in Tampa with his new bride, Gert, and never left. While gardening and producing a gardening newsletter he and his wife opened a small luncheonette which served juice, coffee and cold sandwiches. It was a hit and soon they eventually added hot breakfast and lunch.

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The Republican president came down so frequently — an average of about twice a year — that it’s hard to keep track of all his travels. In 2001, he helped build an east Tampa home for Habitat for Humanity. In 2006, he took questions from residents in Sun City Center. In 2006, while in town for a fundraiser for then-state Rep. Gus Bilirakis’ first congressional campaign, he stopped by the Buccaneers’ practice facility, signing footballs and talking with players and head coach Jon Gruden.

Besides steak there is lamb, quail, chicken and plenty of seafood. Considering much of his presidency overlapped with his brother Jeb’s stint as Florida’s governor, perhaps it’s no surprise no recent president has spent more time in Tampa Bay than Bush. He came to the area at least 15 times as president — including, famously, on Sept. 11, 2001, when he was reading to a class of schoolchildren in Sarasota when he learned terrorists had attacked the World Trade Center. The “special request” section is NOT accessed until the night of your reservation so please do not use this section to request a change in time, number of guests or any other information you need the restaurant to be aware of in advance of your reservation. I’m a woman that appreciates a good steak and wine, so the fact that I had never visited Bern’s Steak House before is problematic, on a few levels, including the fact that I’m born and raised here and have no good excuse. In 1951, Bern and Gert planned to move to California, but they first wanted to visit Bern’s aunt in Tampa.

Bern’s Restaurant In Tampa Is One Of The World’s Best Steakhouses

Each visit to Bern’s Steak House takes you on a gastronomic adventure that defines Bern’s not as a meal but as an experience. Our dining room dress code is business casual to semi-formal. If you are dressed in more relaxed attire, you may be seated in our lounge area instead of the main dining rooms. For more details on our dress code, please click here. But the heart of the meal starts with USDA Prime steaks, dry-aged at least 45-days (which is extra generous in the industry) and cut in house, something only a handful of the best steakhouses do. But what almost no other top steakhouses do is offer you anything with your steak.

Dessert Room

Dry-aged Prime steaks are hand cut to order and available in any size you can imagine. Tampa’s most famous restaurant, Bern’s Steak House, also makes this list. I just returned to Tampa for the first time in years to catch a couple of Yankees spring training games, and even before I bought airline tickets I made a reservation for Bern’s way in advance, because they are always really hard to get.

After watching his aunt labor tirelessly in the Chinese restaurant she owned for nearly 40 years, Bern vowed never to enter the restaurant business. During their time in Tampa, Bern and Gert ran out of money so they simply decided to call Tampa home. Bern found work in advertising with several companies, while also freelance writing a garden newsletter called Garden Notes, in his spare time. The upstairs is 48 private dessert booths, each crafted from wooden wine vats.

These elements have combined since 1956 to provide our guests with a unique culinary experience. Our prime steaks are cut to order, and dry-aged in house for 5-8 weeks. We offer oysters, escargot, 16 different caviars and many other mouth-watering selections.

But if any travel takes you to Tampa, it is absolutely worth the effort. There are a handful of eateries so notable I feel like when I travel to the cities they are in I absolutely have to eat there or it’s a wasted culinary trip. Bern’s Steak House was created from what was once an ordinary business block on Howard Avenue, containing a grocery, barber shop and dime store. Bern and Gert, with the help of their own carpenters, metalworkers, painters and electricians, built what you now see today. He did not, however, come in 2008 to campaign locally for Republican presidential contender John McCain, in part because Bush’s low approval ratings were seen as a negative.

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