Anyone been? Worth the trip? I'm looking into taking my SO for a surprise trip to Bern's for dinner one Saturday night this month, and I'm hoping some here have experience with them. After doing some research, it looks like a great steak place, at (if not above) the level of a Capital Grille or Ruth's Chris (we are familiar with both of those). Besides Mark's Prime or Paramount grill, there aren't any particularly well regarded steakhouses in Gainesville. I'm hoping there is a nice hotel in the near vicinity that I could get a room for us for the night as we will be driving from Gainesville. Also, anyone have any suggestions for a nice after-dinner destination? A boardwalk or something similar just to go and relax together for a little bit?
I've heard fantastic things about Bern's as well, especially their desserts. BUT! I've always heard you need a reservation way way way in advance. Call NOW! Edit: BTW, how are you liking Gainesville? 32 days until we kickoff! Go Gators!!!
Quite possibly the best steakhouse in America. Ignore the bad neighborhood around it, and be sure to ask to have your dessert/coffee served to you upstairs.
I wanted to take my best friend and his sister for her bday last weekend b/c I've never been and have heard great things, but we decided to do something more casual. We went to Taverna Opa, which was really fun and probably cost me about the same with all the drinks we ordered. Haha.
THE BEST, PERIOD!!! We go for special occasions and it is the best steak on the planet. I've eaten at most of the "best" steak houses in the US including Peter Luger's in NY but this place is the best! Make sure you do the kitchen and wine cellar tour and don't miss the dessert room. Great finish to a perfect meal.
This is what I wanted to hear guys, thanks. I called and talked to them and they had several times available on August 11th and August 18th, so I signed us up for Saturday the 18th, as the available times were a little bit closer to a normal dinner time. This is going to be for an extremely special occasion, so if anyone has any recommendations for very nice hotels for the night please let me know.
The last time I went was back in 1979 and it was the best in town. http://www.bernssteakhouse.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bern's_Steak_House
No! Not yet I will report back if/when congrats/condolences are appropriate :-D Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Get that reservation confirmed quickly! Have them email it to you. As said, ask for the kitchen and cellar tour. Eat dessert upstairs. Hotel: Don Cesar
If the hotel is within ~20 minutes drive, I'm cool with that. I would consider outside that if it is a very nice hotel. Will look into the Don Cesar. Thanks!
The Don Cesar Hotel is great, but a solid 30-40 minutes away. I would recommend at least looking into the Floridan Palace. http://floridanpalace.com/welcome.html It just opened today after 6+ years of renovations. It is located in downtown Tpa and is 5 minutes from Bern's. Here is a link to some video about the opening, history, etc http://www.wtsp.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=1759660402001
Thanks for the suggestion. I've been searching for any info on it, but so far have come up empty except for the news pieces about it in recent months. Even their website is nothing more than a mailto: link. I will keep checking it out to see if they do anything with their website. Ha! Gotta butter her up first!
It depends on what you're looking for. As a "destination" restaurant it's OK...a lot of unique features, history, etc. But strictly as a dining experience I think it's highly over rated and over priced.
The Tampa Marriot Waterside Hotel & Marina and the Westin Tampa Harbour Island are nice, especially if you get a room on a high floor with a view of the water. They are both downtown and minutes from Bern's. There's a boardwalk of sorts down the length of Bayshore Blvd. On a side note, I just moved from Gainesville a month ago to retrun to Tampa, and I saw only one other Ferrari (a red 3x8 GTB) there in the year I lived there.
The Don Cesar is great but another alternative is in downtown St Pete. It's called the Vinoy and is right on the waterfront in St Petersburg. Lots of great places to eat around it ( a rat pub called "The Moon under Water" just a block away. Good stuff on Central Ave and surrounding areas as well.
Well after more research, I ended up making the hotel reservation at the Vinoy. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. Just had a friend get her mind blown at Bern's, so I'm now really really excited to be going.
Thanks to everyone for giving their input! It turned out to be a Fantastic Evening! Bern's was spectacular in every way (well, except maybe the location, but I'll forgive them for that!) The Vinoy was very nice as well... the King bed and linens were very comfortable, and was also very easy to get to. (and yes, Congratulations are in order!)
