Bern's Steak House

Terrible steaks, a total embarassment for me and my company. I spent $ 695.83 (incl. tip) in a steak dinner for 4 (not including desserts ) and it was terrible, tough and tasteless steaks; do not waste your money, go tu Ruth Chris or even Outback, you will find better steaks at a much lower price. more

I Absolutely love this place! Great Desserts , Great Wine selections and very romantic setting! Great Date night with the hubby! more

Amazing food and Service was outstanding! more

Have tried to write a review of Berns but such was my anger and the sheer annoyance of the arrogance of this establishment or really the lack of ......I couldn't write without expletives even mild ones..the publishers wouldn't allow it..so below is the last paragraph\r We decided to leave.....reader..if u want a nice elegant evening out do not... repeat..do not go here..buy your own Target salad bowls..age your own beef..get a nice bottle of wine and stay at home.you will be glad u did..what a waste that was of hard earned money. more

This was an awesome experience. The food is fantastic, but what pushed it over the edge was the kitchen tour, wine cellar tour, and dessert in a private party room upstairs in the dessert room. Ask your waiter for the tours. The only thing that's a little confusing is that the tip is already added in but it's only 12%. I called before I went to ask about the tip. They say you don't have to tip more but I know that's not an adequate tip. It just seems they would add in 15% or 18% but not 12. This is a great place for a special occasion. The outside of the building does not even hint at the fantasy inside the building. more

horrible experience..went there on my birthday they where out of half the stuff on the menu..service was horrible..the steak was super tough. will never go back!!!! this place is overrated. more

Very fancy restaurant. Enjoyed the dessert room. more

Pretentious, overpriced and not very good. Wait staff were all rude and disinterested in customers. The place seemed dirty and dark. We ordered caviar but got the stuff they sell in the supermarket. Never again. more

While Berns may still have some very good steaks and an impressive wine list, their service comes nowhere near justifying the expensive prices. My husband and I went their for our anniversary last night. He had never been and we had been saving this up for a special occasion. Dropping $500 dollars for a dinner and wine isn't something we do every night of the week. Dinner service started out well - the appetizer, salads and wine were phenomenal, but the sides accompanying our entrees didn't arrive at the same time as our meal, nor the side sauce for the steak, which was at least warm when it did finally arrive to help my steak that was cold at this point. The ""loaded"" baked potato appeared to have bacon bits (dare I say the out of a plastic bag variety) poured generously all over it with a smattering of chives and some butter in between somewhere. The sour cream was MIA. Our waiter was present in the same room, serving other tables, but catching his attention even though he had to walk right by our table every few minutes was a challenge. After paying our biil, we then went to the dessert room where we were shown a table after a short wait. We sat and sat and sat some more. No one ever came to wait on us at all even though several staff walked by our tables and another two staff members folded rolls of silverware at the table next to ours. Needless to say, our anniversary dinner basically was officially done on that note. We walked out of the dessert room and on the way out, the manager offered his apologies and told us dessert was on him next time. That just added insult to injury - why would we EVER come back to this place that we will remember as having the worst service that we've had at any restaurant anywhere? Having been to Bern's years ago, it is definitely not the same caliber as it used to be particularly with service. If you are looking to take someone to a good place that serves a good steak and consitently good service, try Charleys a few minutes away off Westshore/Cypress. Capital Grill is another option at International Plaza. I definitely would never recommend this restaurant to anyone. more

I made reservations two weeks before my trip to Tampa. We planned to stay an extra day to go to Bern's for my birthday. When I called to confirm the time they said they could not find my reservation and were unwilling to acknowledge their mistake or make any accommodation for us. A manager was supposed to call me and never did. I have never been treated this way by anyone, it is totally unacceptable behavior and if it is any indication of the level of service they give then I am glad we are not going there. more

I do visit there on and off, whenever I get chance, and love to stay there. To me the food is good, I like it too much more

I have been there on several occasions. I had the BEST french onion soup; however, service was mediocre, staff was snotty and the food portions were extremely small for the price you are paying. Not worth the trip in my opinion. more

Have been going here for a while. One of my favorites in the area. Always good Pros: Nice for a date Cons: Prices more

First, let me say I bring many customers a year to Berns for the dining experience and not the food. I come mainly to the restaurant for the desert room and wine tour. I think these experience are special. I also buy wine for my customers from Side Berns not because they affordable but because they are recognizable. In all I spend a fair amount of money with them each year. This now has come to an end... Recently I purchased two tickets to Berns Winefest for my anniversary. I invited six friends and planned dinner after Berns Sunday wine tasting event for all eight of us. (which I ultimately cancelled) I spent two hundred and fifty dollars for this event and I purchased them from Berns Winefest link that they sent me. My receipt came back to me as ""Spring Tasting"" with no dates on it. As it turns out this was not for the winefest but a dinner event. When we did not attend they dinner event someone from Berns did call to find out why we did not show. I explained to them that the tickets I purchased were not for a dinner but for the winefest. (Even though I bought them from the link that they sent me, which I forwarded back to them) their only resolution was to sell me two more tickets to the wine tasting at full price. To an event that is most probably the wine is donated by wine vendors. I asked to speak with some else that could make this right. They passed me to Heather in public relations that explained to me that my business was not important enough to make the situation right. She also seemed to take offense when when I told her she was not looking at the ""big picture"" and that she was going to lose a good customer (with many friends) over this inconsequential event. I then asked her if her boss felt my business was so inconsequential? So she copied David Laxer the owner on our email, and she was right he did not even have the decency to respond to an angry customer. In conclusion their business must be very good in this down economy or they just don't care. In the end I will take my business up the street to the Capital Grille... I hope it was worth it Bern's! more

I've been bragging to my wife about another steakhouse for years in Tampa, Charley’s. So my wife and I finally went on vacation to Tampa in July of 2009. As soon as the plane lands, I get a call from a friend who has been to both steak houses. He insists that I should go to Bern's instead while stating it was the best he's had. I called Bern's and make the reservation, three days in advance. I ask if they are booked up, they stated no so I made my reservation for 5:30. Three days later I get there with my wife, brother, and his wife. The place was relatively empty and even though we all were dressed appropriately for the place, they sat us in the very rear room and in a corner. My first turn off. The restaurant was very nicely decorated with older antique looking furniture. I like the ambiance and the fact that each room was decorated differently. The place started to fill up fast and eventually it got so loud that our table had to lean towards each other to hear our own conversation. It was as loud as a night club. Second turn off Having been to some very fine restaurants, I am used to the establishment having a sommelier that’s only function is to advise, suggest and serve wine. Yet I was surprised when my “sommelier” came back and took our order. It was obvious that his knowledge of wine was limited to what he had picked up while being employed at Bern’s. Before bringing our dinner, he brought my bottle of wine. We ordered a 1987 Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico and asked to have it poured in a decanter. When our “sommelier” attempted to open up the wine, be broke the cork in the bottle and then strained the wine through a cheese cloth. Multiple turn offs here. Upon receiving our dinner from what looked like a bus boy, we immediately noticed that their interpretation of many simple recipes was downright gross. When I eat a steak, I want real sautéed mushrooms, real mashed potatoes, etch. Our sautéed mushrooms was served as “minced mushrooms” in a sauce of some type. It was just brown goop to put it mildly. I forgot how the mash potatoes where, but it did not leave a positive memory. A highlight was when we took the tour of the kitchen and wine cellar on our way to the dessert room. I highly recommend the dessert room. I can’t deny that it was the best of all the restaurants I’ve been to. I must compliment the parking valet guys. While we were eating our dinner, my wife got a bad head ache. Our “sommelier” got one of the valet guys to go to a local Circle-K to get my wife some advil. They would not take any money, but suggested I just leave it with the tip. I personally would not go to this steak house ever again. For the same money, there is better. We did not feel pampered in this place. I’ve been to Charley’s three times and I feel it is among one of the best steak houses I’ve ever been to. When in Tampa or Orlando, go to Charley's To finish my long story, I called my friend who apologized and admitted that it was years since he was there. He did have knowledge of a change in management. Pros: Wine list and dessert room Cons: extremely loud, some of the food more

I have been going to Berns for almost 50 years on anniverseries and birthdays.It was one of the best restaurants in the world\r What a major change I found tonight. The service was terrible..I t took 20 minutes before ordering since I did not order a drink..The salad was delivered by the bus boy and sat ther for 15 minutes..I ordered the large chateaubriand hot and medium rare..It finally came out ice cold. When it came back from the kitchen the meat had shrunk and was tepid...it was tender but tasteless. When I ordered a glass of house wine the waiter told me it was a blend and had no name..I t was obviously the dregs of all the leftovers from unfinished bottles\r Berns has deteriated markedly. The place was packed with first time visitors. Shame on you David Laxer. Pros: quality meat Cons: Everything more

Live in Melbourne fl and drive to tampa to go to berns quite often. Love the food, desserts and service. more

It was a very special Event. Kern, I waiter asked me how I wanted my steak, It was the delmonico. I told him medium. He states, can I suggest rare, stated no. If you bring it medium, I will have no problem. Kern brought out my steak and it was bloody ready, and chared on the outside. Will not go EVER again, But I did enjoy the $13.99 veggies. Gee, thanks Kern. Pros: Veggies were Good!!! Cons: Steaks and Waiter No GOOD! Stick to Outback.. trust me more

My wife and I decided that we would celebrate our 10th anniversary at Bern's Steakhouse last week because we've heard so many good things about it and thought we'd give it a try. The place wasn't much to look at from the outside, but it made up for it on the inside. The decor was a little tacky and outdated, but still nice. Our service was great and they took care of us very well, even let us tour the kitchen. It was a neat experience because how many other restaurants let you into their kitchen? \r \r Everything was going great until we headed up to the Harry Waugh Dessert Room where everything fell apart. It was during the week and not busy but it still took our server over 15 minutes to just get us our water! She didn't apologize for the wait or anything. She took our order of the apple pie and creme brulee ans said it would be out in a few. She was right, but it was dropped off by someone else and it sat outside our table for about 10 minutes before she came and served it to us. We decided to over look the slow service and enjoy our desserts, but that didn't happen. Our desserts were horrible! First, my wife orders creme brulee anywhere they have it and knows how it should be. She said it wasn't good at all, it was ice cold when it should be at least a little warm because of the bruleeing of the sugar ontop and that it tasted more like a store bought pudding than a top notch creme brulee. As for me, I had the worst apple pie I have ever tasted! It was mainly a lot of crust with a little bit of filling and a tiny scoop of cinnamon ice cream. Not only was the presentation of the apple pie ugly but it tasted aweful. The crust was not flakey at all and the skin was still on the apples! I don't know if that was a mistake or not, but I have never seen or heard of an apple pie with the skin still on the apples. The filling consistancy reminded me of snot and the apple skins gave it an even worse texture. Even after mentioning our dislike of the desserts our server did nothing to make up for it. We recommend to anyone who eats at Bern's Steakhouse to enjoy the main course, but save your money, skip the dessert, and get a Frosty from Wendee's instead because it'll taste better! Pros: Steaks, Kitchen Tour, Wine Cons: Dessert Room more

Took my Wife for the first time on her Birthday and she enjoyed it! I called ahead and spoke to Harry Waugh Room and they baked a cake to order for my wife. They were very pleasant and I was impressed. It was my first time back in 20+ years. I went there on Prom and I really did not appreciate it back then. The Porterhouse was Excellent and my wife had Lobster. Pros: STEAK Was Everything I Thought more