Story time: I'm going to Bern's for the first time in November. I've been a wine professional my entire life and Bern's has been on my bucket list for 15 years. I just haven't had a reason to visit Tampa, FL and now I'm going for work. My wine friends are coming too. I'm really excited. I told my dad and he mentioned how his friend was excited about some restaurant in FL with a huge wine list. His friend, apparently, got the wine director to give him a copy of the wine list and sign it in 1987. My dad took photos and sent them to me.
Babes. WTF. This is INSANE.
In 1987 $100 = $300 in 2025. So just triple the prices and that's what they would be today. Not cheap but also this is unicorn wine.
Let's build a time machine.
by independent_hustler
21 Comments
Get a cellar tour while you’re there.
Also for date comparison:
1987 was only 17 years after 1970 so it’s not that old. Here are the comparisons.
1970 = 2008
1960 = 1998
1950 = 1988
1940 = 1978
1930 = 1968
1920 = 1958
1910 = 1948
Bern’s in 2025 remains insane. They’ve long been great at what they do.
Love Bern’s, the food is good and reasonably priced as well. Putting the drinking window on a wine list along with ullage is pretty crazy.
Book the cellar tour, book a dessert table and plan to be there four at least 4 hours to really experience all Bern’s has to offer!! So jealous, I have not been there in ages!!!
Very cool! Interesting how the prices on lower end stuff are pretty humdrum, like equiv of a couple hundred bucks for mid 00s Gloria is not anything I’d fall over for. Prices on higher end stuff of course are unthinkable today. Wine market has gotten weird. (And part of that is that Gloria and its ilk are substantially cheaper in inflation adjusted terms than they were in the 80s!)
The 1841 Lafite is just nuts to see on a list
Love Bern’s so so much. I believe they have the largest private wine collection in North America (at least at the time when I still lived in the area.)
Unsolicited advice: tour the cellar and the kitchen and get the Caesar salad (no need to have it prepared tableside!) if it meets your dietary preferences. Show up STARVING — the steaks come with iirc 5 sides and you gotta go up to the dessert room.
Hope you enjoy!!
Enjoy the experience!
My only advice: Be sure to pause and savor the experience. It, too, was on my list for years. When I finally had the chance to go, it was *almost* overwhelming.
The food. The history. The rooms. The tour.
Such a great place w/ such a great story.
Bern’s has been on my list for a long time too! My colleague in FL has just sold in our wine for the first time so I will be heading down at the end of the month to check it out! Very excited!
50’s DRC mags for 3k sign me the fuck up
This is insane.
Went there last year for a milestone birthday. Exceeded my already high expectations. The sommelier we had was amazing. Better steaks can be had elsewhere, but not the whole package. There was a nearly 50 year old cab being sold by the glass, which I had while waiting for our bottle to decant. Go to the dessert room and take the kitchen/cellar tour.
holy eff…. 1st growth Bdx estates before WW1!!! This reads more like a Christie’s auction catalog than a Tampa restaurant wine list. Does anyone know how they could collect this kind of cellar? Is the restaurant a private club for Vanderbilts or DuPont’s or other hundred millionaires?
The wine list and Wine Cellar go nuts!
Friendly bit of advice- Book the tour and the dessert room table for after dinner because it’s a really cool experience. Sides, a French onion soup and salad are included with the steak. You don’t need appetizers but they are really good! Best bang for your buck steakhouse! (I lived in the area and have been to Bern’s a fair few times in my life)
I love Bern’s, one of the things I miss very much about living in FL. Last time I went was for my 10th anniversary in 2011.
Late seating, we watched the tilapia cleaning the tanks in the kitchen on the way to the on-site cellar and dessert room.
Do they still make the house wine with portions of unused bottle contents?
At one time they claimed a 1 million bottle wine cellar. Not sure if that’s still the case but always one of my top favorite restaurants anywhere!
You better know what you’re getting for those insane prices.
Upstairs for dessert!
OMG ….. what a selection of Burgundy !!! The prices 🤯
For the money I’m going for La Tache.