Bern's SteakHouse
The unassuming exterior of this famous steakhouse, in business for over 70 years, is a stark contrast to its opulent interior, eight ornate dining rooms decorated with late 1950’s elan and lots of mahogany paneling, marble busts, and chandeliers. The way plates are piled high also has its roots in the ‘50’s: all entrees come with French onion soup, salad, baked potato, onion rings, and a selection of organic vegetables. Most diners go for Bern’s strips, porterhouses, Delmonicos and T-bones, all USDA Prime, and aged in house for 5 to 8 weeks before being charbroiled over natural hardwood charcoal. They also serve elk loin. The phone book–size wine list—one of the restaurant’s most famous attributes—has more than 6,800 labels, 150 by the glass. When you book your reservation, ask for a wine cellar tour, too (it’s an awe-inspiring operation). Upstairs, the restaurant’s other most famous attribute—the Harry Waugh Dessert Room—has 48 romantic, semiprivate booths paneled in aged California redwood; each can privately seat from 2 to 12 guests. All of these little chambers are equipped with phones for placing your requests with the piano player. The dessert menu has 35 to 40 tough choices—and with ice-cream flavors, choices become 100 times harder—plus some 1,400 after-dinner drinks, wines, and spirits. You can go here just for desserts, but the dessert room is first come, first served unless you have dinner. For those who love cheese, Bern’s has two indoor caves storing artisanal cheeses from around the world.
The big secret here is that steak sandwiches are available at the bar but are not mentioned on the menu. That bar was recently redesigned and is more modern than the rest of the spaces, but you can’t just snag a barstool or table there—you must put your name on a wait list for either.
Haven, 2208 W. Morrison Ave., at South Howard Avenue (tel. 813/258-2233), is the restaurant’s New American offshoot. It’s also quite, quite good, but if you have only 1 night, choose the original.
The unassuming exterior of this famous steakhouse, in business for over 70 years, is a stark contrast to its opulent interior, eight ornate dining rooms decorated with late 1950’s elan and lots of mahogany paneling, marble busts, and chandeliers. The way plates are piled high also has its roots in the ‘50’s: all entrees come with French onion soup, salad, baked potato, onion rings, and a selection of organic vegetables. Most diners go for Bern’s strips, porterhouses, Delmonicos and T-bones, all USDA Prime, and aged in house for 5 to 8 weeks before being charbroiled over natural hardwood charcoal. They also serve elk loin. The phone book–size wine list—one of the restaurant’s most famous attributes—has more than 6,800 labels, 150 by the glass. When you book your reservation, ask for a wine cellar tour, too (it’s an awe-inspiring operation). Upstairs, the restaurant’s other most famous attribute—the Harry Waugh Dessert Room—has 48 romantic, semiprivate booths paneled in aged California redwood; each can privately seat from 2 to 12 guests. All of these little chambers are equipped with phones for placing your requests with the piano player. The dessert menu has 35 to 40 tough choices—and with ice-cream flavors, choices become 100 times harder—plus some 1,400 after-dinner drinks, wines, and spirits. You can go here just for desserts, but the dessert room is first come, first served unless you have dinner. For those who love cheese, Bern’s has two indoor caves storing artisanal cheeses from around the world.
The big secret here is that steak sandwiches are available at the bar but are not mentioned on the menu. That bar was recently redesigned and is more modern than the rest of the spaces, but you can’t just snag a barstool or table there—you must put your name on a wait list for either.
Haven, 2208 W. Morrison Ave., at South Howard Avenue (tel. 813/258-2233), is the restaurant’s New American offshoot. It’s also quite, quite good, but if you have only 1 night, choose the original.
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