Visiting the Top Ten Steakhouses in Tampa (2025)
During our first date I learned my girlfriend Alyson appreciated a medium-rare/rare steak and that was wonderful to hear. As our relationship progressed we decided to visit the top ten steak places in Tampa and grade our experience. That journey took all of 2024 with a few visits in the early part of 2025 - so now its time to reveal our feedback and order them ourselves.
This journey took us from the first ever Outback location to a steakhouse in a casino with visits to places that required putting a reservation 60 days out. They are labeled below from 10 (worst) to 1 (best) of our personal opinion leveraging: atmosphere, steak, price, parking, & service.
I tried my best to order the same style of steak at every place - which would have been a ribeye (or Delmonico) cooked medium rare.
Landing at #10 is Outback Steakhouse - we visited the first ever original location in the heart of Tampa. Thankfully the location had a parking lot that could hold an enormous amount of people picking up orders while supporting the diners at the location. Our waiter arrived with a iPad slung across his chest ready to explain the deals of the day and take our order digitally with ease. While the initial order was quick and painless - we didn't really see our waiter again except to pay our bill.
The steak when it arrived seemed like the instruction of "medium rare" was ignored given a steak that probably rivaled medium-well in terms of cooking. However, with a solid amount of honey butter and horseradish on the table I could rescue the steak experience.
Landing at 9th is Steelbach - one of the various restaurants at the heart of the rebuilt Armature Works area. While there are huge parking lots here and plenty of street parking - if there is an event going on in the area you are looking at anywhere from a free to $10 charge for parking. The steak was cooked to our preference, but I believe with a large amount of chimichurri sauce soaking into the steak helped elevate an otherwise pretty basic cut of meat.
Unfortunately this place showed up on Reddit with a titled post of "Steelbach is the grossest restaurant in Tampa" so I was pretty grossed out after reading that. However, not working in food I'm not aware if this is an outlier or generally what we can expect a kitchen to look like. The service was great and our drinks were always refilled, but for spending basically $170 dollars and seeing a kitchen as dirty as described in a Reddit post pushes this place pretty low.
Landing at 8th is Iavarone's - a steakhouse not more than 4 minutes from my office, hiding in the regular residential area of Carrollwood. They offered valet, but the parking lot was next door and had at least 40 open spots when we arrived. Walking in the building was extremely dark and did feel like an older establishment. The place has been pretty much the same since the 80's so it makes sense that it felt a bit older in terms of the atmosphere.
The service was excellent with a server that checked in us frequently, but I could tell was getting stretched thin as all the tables in her section became filled. We split an expensive steak and it was nothing special - it was definitely not medium rare and had no outstanding features. We cleared a bottle of wine for a fair price so it made the night better and maybe we will return due to the proximity, but it felt like an expensive night out for nothing memorable.
Landing at 7th is Meat Market - in the heart of Hyde Park, which like any other place in Hyde Park is a pain to park at. While there are three garages present they range from employee parking to spots so tiny that even my little Hyundai Sonata struggles to fit into spots because of the massive trucks that take up 4 spots. Once you arrive you are thrust into a busy and loud area on a table that is a bit small once you have waters, drinks and a plate.
I felt immediately under dressed with men in suits with fancy little pocket squares and women in skin tight dresses that exposed quite a bit of skin. The service was a bit hectic here as I struggled to hear the waitress, but the drinks elevated the experience with their elegance. The steak had a good char and tasted alright, but I felt just a bit crammed into a loud place with people everywhere.
It seemed the place had a little party lounge so we constantly had a crowd of party dressed goers walking around. For folks who live in the area and can walk to this, probably a great place to attend, but to struggle to find a place to park to eat in a loud hectic area has led to this place being in the bottom half of the top ten.
Landing at 6th is Charley's - which was the first ever steak place in Tampa I visited a long long time ago. I remember being in Venice, FL long before I moved to Florida and we drove up into Tampa for a reservation to eat here. Driving into this place I was excited to see it was surrounded by a massive parking lot with optional valet services. As we walked in the entrance was some real old laminate looking style so I understood why a new remodeled building was under construction. The atmosphere was quite weird though with 2 different "instances" of some weird behavior.
Sitting next to us was an older couple where the gentlemen on multiple occasions made comments to our table of like - "My wife doesn't eat bread - only salads" while pushing the bread away and "Wow, you got a big steak there my man" which was pretty odd to be telling myself & Alyson as we tried to eat alone.
As I glanced around the restaurant directly behind Alyson was a mom breast feeding her baby who was also crying every once in awhile. For paying almost $300 for a prime steak experience to have a crying baby, seeing a boob and having some older guy annoy you was a pretty weird atmosphere to eat in. The breast feeding wasn't really an incident, but a crying baby in fancy dining was unfortunate.
Once the steak arrived with a bit of butter and garnish I dug in with a side of horseradish that I wish came as a sauce instead of plain. The steak was cooked perfectly according to my temperature request, but nothing stood out as amazing and the atmosphere kinda brought down my excitement for this place. The service was also a bit odd with the server a bit younger and challenging all of our selections and cooking temperatures - like yes I'm positive I want medium rare.
Landing at 5th is Council Oak's - the expensive steak place within the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa. This was the first time I would enter a parking garage on the premise of the casino and struggled to find a parking spot. This parking garage was immediately the dirtiest garage I had ever been in. I guess the casino crowd is a bit messy when it comes to parking in a free garage.
Walking in and getting the hint of cigarette smoke in my nose turned me off immediately to this place. It was 2024 and having smoking areas inside is absolutely insane to me, but we pushed on hoping the dining experience would be smoke free.
Once seated we had immediate service breaking down the menu, knowledgeable of wine and offering pairings with our picked steak cuts. The atmosphere was extremely elegant with huge glass walls separating us from the kitchen. We could see all the steaks being cut and prepared and watching professionals work in a kitchen is pretty fun to see while eating.
The power went out a few times (or at least all the lights) which was pretty funny and didn't really negatively affect our experience, but still was odd. Once the steak arrived I was surprised to see it was pretty much the driest steak I had in this journey. Thankfully our table had horseradish sauce and a wine reduction so I had plenty of options to indulge in this steak.
Ultimately the price ended up being insane for 2 people and topped the chart as the most expensive place on the list. For having to park in a dirty garage to smelling smoke as we wandered the casino to a dry steak placed it at the half way point of our ordered experiences.
Landing at 4th is Ocean Prime - that specialized in both land & sea. We attended for our anniversary and got seated at an elegantly prepared table to mark the occasion. As we ordered drinks from our waiter each ordered drink came with some sort of twist (like dry ice) or rose pedal.
The menu was torn between a heavy amount of seafood and steak, so I kept with the common ribeye while Alyson tried out some seafood. It seems we were eating at places finally that a steak could be eaten on its own. Cuts of meat with the perfect amount of rendered fat that almost melted in your mouth. Unfortunately that experience did not last for the entire cut of meat, so perhaps I just got lucky with sections of my steak.
We were in a realm of $300 dinners for 2 people and it seemed we had to start getting picky. However with excellent parking, great services and a steak that was just a bit inconsistent left it from the top 3.
Landing at 3rd is Fleming's - which was the rebuilt brand new building that had the largest parking lot I've ever seen. I could tell we hit the really fancy places as people opened the door for us as we arrived. We sat in the waiting lobby for a few minutes awaiting our table and was offered champagne or a drink while we waited. This was such a level of hospitality I was not used to - getting offered drinks before even sitting at your table.
As we were walked to our table (that was conveniently our double-dipped anniversary date night) it was another restaurant with a huge glass kitchen visible from the dining room. I don't know if its just me, but being able to see steaks cooked and dishes prepared in front of you is magical.
Our server was extremely friendly and took a photo of us during dining - that photo was then printed and given as our bill arrived. I guess this is the experience you get with a new flagship restaurant under the Bloomin' Brands.
Once the steak arrived I felt a bit sad that nothing accompanied it on the plate. It was literally a bare steak on a plate - no garnish or sides. This was a reason Fleming's did not proceed past 3rd. The steak melted in my mouth though and I could eat every single bite of the steak with great flavor. This was the experience I was looking for, but the price was steep rivaling Council Oak's for the most expensive date night.
Landing at 2nd is Capital Grille - which surprised me massively on how great everything was. This was located in the mall, so I had this weird feeling that anything in the mall wouldn't be that great. I was greatly mistaken. The parking lot for the mall is insanely large so you can find a spot no matter the time. Once we walked in we were quickly seated to a table with confetti celebrating Alyson's birthday.
We started off with a pair of brambles (gin) and dove in with sharing a french onion soup and salad. A salad with dressing perfectly mixed and a soup full of bread and onions was perfection. We swapped appetizers towards to the end so we both got to experience a bit of salad and soup - trying to mimic the experience we had at another steak house.
Once my steak arrived (Porcini-Rubbed Bone-In Ribeye* with 15-Year Aged Balsamic) I knew I had a masterpiece in front of me. Cooked absolutely to perfection at medium rare with this balsamic throughout the steak is difficult to explain how good this flavor was. Each bite without any horseradish or sauce just melted in my mouth and I was blown away by this.
Having Alyson's ordered filet also just melt away in each bite - we had finally found a place worthy of being 2nd. The price surprisingly being under $300 rivaled far more expensive places with worse steaks.
Landing at 1st is Bern's - an experience that is difficult to put into words. There is no self parking at this location - you are walking to it or getting valet. You walk into to this place as the valet crew opens the door for you and assuming your entire party is present you are quickly taken back to a private dining room that only seats probably 10 tables.
Our waiter arrived asking what type of water we wanted and I still hadn't gotten used to that question with options like sparking, still and tap. Tap water is still my jam even if we are rolling at the best steak place in Tampa. The waiter had immense knowledge of everything beef and I learned its because they train for entire year before being allowed to wait on their own on guests.
This is a place that a lot of sides are automatically built into a steak order, so when I ordered the 14oz Dry-Aged Delmonico I was in for an experience.
Our steaks are cut by our butchers to order. If there is a specific cut or size you would prefer, please speak with your server. All of our dry-aged Strips, Delmonicos, Porterhouses, and T-bones are U.S.D.A. Prime. Those cuts are dry-aged in house for 5-8 weeks, then charbroiled over natural hardwood lump charcoal. All steak entrées include: french onion soup, house salad, baked potato, onion rings and the vegetable of the evening.
https://menus.today/menu/223671.html
First a french onion soup showed up for both of us and we got reminded on a technique to break in as to not splash hot soup over us. This size of soup was a perfect size to not ruin a meal, but yet provided an excellent taste of bread & onions.
I got the balsamic roasted garlic dressing and when the salad arrived with the skin peeled off the tomatoes I knew this was as fancy as it gets. Once again a smaller portion of salad supported by a variety of vegetables that all excelled in their own way. It was like someone went to the effort to toss out any not perfect supporting vegetable.
On each course being cleared our table got cleaned and silverware placed for the next round. Finally our steaks arrived accompanied by a baked potato cooked to exactly our request alongside caramelized onions and the vegetable of the day (green beans).
This steak was phenomenal with each bite just melting in my mouth. It's difficult to put into words on this experience, because it was all perfect. I learned from explanations & the later tour of the kitchen & wine cellar just how much effort goes into every single ordered item. The steaks aren't cut ahead of time and only cut to the specification when ordered. I got to watch steaks go from the butcher area right to the wood stove for preparation and cooking.
If anything is messed up slightly along the journey - it is redone. The onions and vegetables had such a great flavor complimenting the steak that I felt I had to eat everything due to the effort put in to produce it. I couldn't finish the baked potato because I was so full from the rest of the food.
Our night wasn't over though because we were escorted to some stairs that took our dining experience into the "dessert" phase. This was after we closed out our bill, but they had a dessert table on the 2nd floor waiting for us.
This was like restarting the experience with a new server and new menu, but this time for drinks and dessert. Another bramble drink and we shared a bananas foster that was made table side. With a cost of barely over $300 and not even the most expensive of the options we visited we had found our best place by a solid margin.
Number 1 is clear, but anything else is up for debate. We now look for a new food category to tackle.