Berns Visit

I finally got to go to Berns while I was on a trip to Florida. Was very excited and had built up this vision of a Great Steak and Selection of wines. I went there with four friends who also were anticipating something great. We did the tour of the Kitchen and Wine Cellar which was amazing. We sat down to Dinner and ordered some Bordeaux and Various California wine. The selection was great! We then proceeded to order the special Chateaubriand which we were told was the signature steak. My friends ordered the Delmonico. To my friends and I dissapointment, the steaks were mediocre at best. My Chateubriand which I ordered medium rare was stringy and Chewy. My friends steak was not much better. We then proceeded to the Dessert room. This really lived up to expectations! Was this just a bad night for Steaks? Does anybody else feel the same way? Like I said, the wine selection was awesome and also very reasonable. Just very surprised the Steak was as bad as it was. Feedback would be appreciated.

i thought the food in general was mediocre

If I want a good steak I cook my own.

you don’t go to Bern’s for the food. Steaks are meh.
Although the duck confit is pretty good and the wines are great.

How is the half bottle selection, especially for Italian and CA reds?

I may be in Tampa for work in the fall and am thinking of going there solo for dinner. Never been before.

Steaks have always been mediocre. The veal chop is decent. And the Japanese wagyu is very good.

Going to Bern’s for the steaks is like going to a Topless Beach for the surfing! Get your priorities straight !

Similar to RM, I have always enjoyed the food there…been many times since 1980. But, I don’t particularly like steak, and almost never eat it at restaurants.

I remember seeing a pretty good selection of half bottles. If you’re going alone, you might consider ordering a few things by the glass. The glass list is ridiculous. There’s stuff from the '80s every night, and often stuff from the '70s. Prices are from a past era too, even by the glass. I don’t know about Italy, but they do well with older wines from California. Plus, you could dive into some French reds, which are really the strength of their list.

Well, that answers that! Still, being called a Steakhouse usually implies that the meat would be Decent. Lesson learned.

Did not notice the 375 selection. Sorry!

Down to visit my folks in St Pete, we went 2x during the last week in Jan.
Tues with just my wife I had the duck, she the veal chop. Both were very good, not fantastic. Beaujolais and burg focus for that night. No dessert.

Went back with my folks Friday and we split a chateaubriand for 4 with my dad - mom had a very nice swordfish. I thought the chateaubriand was better than any other steak I had there previously - well cooked med rare, soft, decent flavor. I’ve been 3 times previous to that week and never been impressed by the steak. Sirloin for 2 last year had some gristle. Bordeaux and cote rotie that night, though I order a Beaujolais every meal I have there. We did hit the dessert room, my wife had not been - nice beerenauslese.

Highlight was relatively ancient Chablis both nights - 83 night one, 90 night two. Both very much alive and showing that terrific saline character.

You don’t go for the food though obviously most of the crowd does.

Hmm, sorry to hear this. I go to Bern’s with some regularity, sometimes by myself when I’m in Tampa for business. I like eating at the bar, ordering mature 1/2 bottles and enjoying a solid steak. The Chateaubriand is the way to go, seared rare or between rare/medium-rare. In recent memory, only once was I disappointed with the steak.

Now to flip this even more, I actually do not like the dessert room at all. I do not like the odd, tight ambience, the old fashioned desserts and the quantum of food served. Yes, the port and Madeira list is killer. I’m just as happy to pass this part of the evening and instead invest in a mature Classified Growth. Bern’s has so many options from tremendous vintages going back 50 or more years.

I agree on the dessert room. When I started going there in the early '80s, they didn’t have it. They had a limited menu of steak, fish and maybe another meat or two. Their dessert menu was very limited and I remember having ice cream sundays most of the times…with ground coffee spread over made on the premises ice creams. Frankly, I liked that way of dining a lot more.

I feel like the dessert room was an attempt to allow Bern’s more turnover of the tables…and, of course, spend more on stuff you wouldn’t with that pause and separate menu. As I am not that interested in desserts…and am usually full, I skipped it last time I was down there. It is a pretty weird experience…a little contrived. But, probably a big winner for Berns’ bottom line.

I go with some frequency and on rare occasions the meat will not be up to my very particular standards (I eat almost always Flannery at home. An almost impossible standard. ) They are VERY good about changing things or cooking another steak.

The special Chateaubriand is pretty darn good 99 times/100. OK that other one time. Never poor to me. The strip is my go to steak for being always at least very good. Sometimes fantastic. FWIW.

The dessert room is an experience. If you like spirits, it can be pretty darn cool.

Lot of selection for mature Bordeaux, not sure about Italy or Cali. I’ve recently had a '64 Leoville Poyferre and a '61 Pavie in 375. Both excellent, provenance ridiculous.

I’m going to Bern’s on Monday, twice! This will be my first time there. We have an appointment to taste them on some of my wines in the afternoon, then we’re going at 7 for dinner. Can’t wait to check out that wine list. I already saw the by the glass list online, amazing selection, and very low prices.

The reason I don’t do steak houses. I don’t get the onion ring thing and then there are the overcooked vegetables. The only thing appealing to me in that shot is the properly cooked steak. But a filet without an accompanying sauce is a tough sell. So they bring you a tray with 4-6 sauce choices because none are really good enough to stand on their own.

My wife and I went there a week ago Friday with some friends. I was very, very happy with my (non-special) Chateaubriand but two of the people in the group were unimpressed with their steaks. My wife thought her lamb chops were good, but nothing to write home about. The wine list was as impressive as advertised. We had a couple of bottles of reasonably priced Burgundy that the sommelier recommended–one, a Vosne, was OK, the other, from NSG, was extremely nice. I liked the dessert room a lot–had a sundae and a flight of very agreeable Madeira.

Like Don I get to Bern’s often. I have ordered steak maybe twice. Pork or fish are my go to. I love caviar and blini with old bubbles. Stone crab in season. The food mostly though not my focus. I think they over age the steaks. Have to say I really like the new hotel. Crawling distance. If you get to go more than once in a blue moon make a point of getting to know Eric and Brad, the somms. Call ahead for what you are interested in drinking. Your experience will the better for it.