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Novikas did all the work himself, gutting the bus and building out the bar and seating. About a year ago he started testing the concept and found that people were eager to get a group together, dress up in 1920s attire and hit the road. It’s bring-your-own alcohol, but a bartender who will curate a bar menu can be provided for an additional fee.
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Each of the 48 private tables is enclosed in repurposed wine casks made of California redwoods. Inspired by a visit with Harry Waugh, director of the French wine estate Chateau Latour, the Laxers opened the Harry Waugh Dessert Room in 1986. The steak was delicious and perfectly cooked, while the purple sweet potatoes, drenched in butter, lived up to their name. I had more than enough leftovers for lunch the next day.
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However, it's the sense of familiarity and welcoming that keeps diners coming back. Some have been with the restaurant for decades, with others making it a multi-generation affair with their kids or relatives joining the fun and creating their own type of tradition. One employee, David Herrick, has been a Bern's staple since July 1985. “I am the last employee left that worked directly with Bern and Gert, through thick and thin,” says Drew. That’s why I do what I do everyday, and why I will continue to do it.” And under David and Johnson's vision, with equally delicious results for years to come. Oreo brownie, crunchy peanut butter, peanut butter mousse, caramel milk chocolate mousse, and peanut butter fudge swirl ice cream conspire to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Dessert Menu
Nearly ten years later, my dad, brother, and I returned for another great steak dinner. Regardless of the time of year, no natural light enters the space, as there are no windows. On April 18, 2024, all the new MICHELIN Stars were announced in Florida. Which makes this the perfect time to check in on some of our newest additions to our hotel selection in the Sunshine State. All the city’s essential spots for seafood platters, steaks, Cubans, and more.
With dusky lighting and comfortable seating, the petit blue lounge at the back of fast-casual Cuban restaurant Bodega was the perfect setting for our small group to ruminate over potent, creative cocktails. 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.
If you are dressed in more relaxed attire, you may be seated in our lounge area instead of the main dining rooms. It all started in 1953, when Bern and Gert Laxer, founders of Bern’s Steak House, bought a small café called The Gator Juice Bar. After months of serving breakfast, the couple decided to purchase the Beer Haven Bar, where they salvaged letters from the existing sign, found an additional “s”, and created Bern’s. The “Steak House” came later when the couple discovered that the phone company doesn’t allow single name listings.
If you have already secured your dinner reservation, there is no need to call the restaurant to reserve a dessert room table, one has already been secured for you. We will make all the arrangements for you at that time. St. Petersburg-based Star Trolley filled a void when it started in 2021, providing festive transportation for weddings. Owner Richard Novikas started it after he inherited a fleet of trolleys and busses from his family’s business in New Jersey. Once business started booming, Novikas considered a plan for his 44-passenger transit bus. Inspired by a trip to The Ringling Museum in Sarasota where he saw an antique circus train car, he turned it into a 1920s speakeasy.
Wine Cellar
For decades, this stately steakhouse has been a local favorite for special occasions of all stripes, and its popularity shows no signs of shrinking. 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.
For 2 decades at Bern's Steak House, this piano man has delighted Tampa - Tampa Bay Times
For 2 decades at Bern's Steak House, this piano man has delighted Tampa.
Posted: Tue, 31 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Over the many decades, Bern and Gert continued to expand their fine dining restaurant, growing it from one to eight dining rooms with a capacity of 350 guests. Instead, the Laxers entered the restaurant business, beginning in 1953 with a luncheonette they bought called The Gator Juice Bar. 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. Access to the Dessert Room at Bern's Steak House is included if you make a dinner reservation. However, you can also reserve a table there independently.
Phones provide guests access to servers and allow you to control the type of music playing at your table. Broadway, classical, contemporary, and jazz are options. Once we'd paid the bill, we were offered the kitchen tour, which leads diners past some of the other dining rooms and into the working kitchen. Specialty cuts include a rack of lamb ($72), a 14-ounce cognac-aged Delmonico steak ($82), a 32-ounce cowboy ribeye ($141), and a six-ounce A5 Japanese wagyu filet mignon ($180).
We crossed Central Avenue in St. Petersburg’s bustling Edge District, dodging cars and a group of mopeds. On the other side of the street, a hazy light illuminated a non-descript door in an alleyway. We entered, with hesitation and a small feeling that we were trespassing. I'm a travel blogger on a mission to find the world's best food.
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Restaurant Review Tampa's Bern’s Steak House.
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The bus seats 30 people and you can organize a tour, whether it’s a bar crawl of other speakeasies or just a stylish ride to a concert. Novikas said many people prefer to just stay on the bus and party. In the front, Bodega is the go-to for Cuban food and fresh juices in St. Petersburg’s Edge District. But peek around a barn-style door in the back and find Bar Chica. Try one of the signature cocktails, like the Florida Sour, concocted of Whistle Pig Whiskey, “Piggyback” 6-year rye, orange, lemon, rosemary simple syrup and a red wine float. But once inside Bar Chica, the vibe couldn’t have been more warm and inviting.
The tender steak was served with Bern's signature onion rings and string beans. Instead of the standard baked potato, I substituted Okinawa sweet potatoes to try something new. Most of their standard steaks are in the $50 to $80 range, a fantastic value given soup, salad, and vegetables are included. The dinner menu at Bern's, one of the best restaurants in Tampa, is extensive. I had the chance to see it for myself during a kitchen tour after our meal in 2013.
Bern began the tours in the 1970s to show diners the work involved in preparing their meals and how to properly store wine. While Bern and Gert have both passed away, their son, David Laxer, continues to run the family business. Today, the restaurant sources as much of its produce as possible from Bern's farm, and microgreens are grown in the kitchen. After improving the space and expanding the menu and operating hours, they renamed their small restaurant Bern and Gert’s Little Midway. My first experience at Bern's was with them in June 2013.
I have fond memories of the Peanut Butter Truffle that I ordered in 2013. Assuming you want dessert and have told your server as much, you'll be led up a staircase (an elevator is also available) to the dessert room. Conscious of everything I intended to eat before (and after) my entree arrived, I went with a relatively small 8-ounce filet mignon, cooked medium rare, with the cognac au poivre sauce. The caviar menu at Bern's Steak House features 16 varieties, from fresh Alaskan salmon for $22 per ounce to Sasanian Imperial Golden Osetra for $200 per ounce. Two hundred varieties of wine are available by the glass, making Bern's an excellent place to sample something new. The atmosphere was as I'd remembered, albeit decorated for Christmas, and the place was packed.
Bern’s stores its collection, containing over half a million bottles and 6500 labels from all over the world, in both its on site 50° working cellar as well as its own temperature controlled warehouse. Nightly, guests can enjoy a red, white, sparkling or fortified wine either by the bottle or from over 150 selections by the glass, inclusive of our extensive dessert wine and port by the glass selections. Many options are available in current vintage releases as well as older, rarer offerings. The dessert menu features coffees, after-dinner cocktails such as a Steakhouse Irish Coffee and Just One 'Smore with Michter's Bourbon, campfire s'mores tea cordial, hazelnut liqueur, and creme de cacao. As I mentioned earlier, Bern's Steak House is home to one of the world's largest wine collections, totaling more than 600,000 bottles and 6,500 labels.
