Tampa has seen plenty of collaborations, but most of them involve someone saying “let’s grab coffee sometime” and then never speaking again. This one is real, edible, and aggressively Tampa: Bern’s Steak House has teamed up with La Segunda Bakery for a limited-time steak sandwich as part of Bern’s 70th anniversary celebrations.
The sandwich is available now through March 7 at three La Segunda locations, including Ybor City (2512 N. 15th St), Kennedy (4015 W. Kennedy Blvd), and St. Pete (2424 4th St N), which means you can get a bite of Bern’s without booking a reservation three months in advance and offering your firstborn as a deposit. Bern’s home base is in South Tampa (1208 S Howard Ave), but for one week only, its ribeye is going on a field trip. These sandwiches have been selling out quickly each day, so you’ll want to arrive early.
Here’s the setup: La Segunda’s signature Cuban bread gets layered with truffle sauce, thinly shaved Bern’s sliced ribeye, Bern’s proprietary cheese blend, caramelized onions, and fresh arugula. In other words, it’s a steak sandwich that somehow manages to feel both nostalgic and slightly dangerous, like your grandparents’ “simple dinner” that secretly contains three kinds of fat and a plot twist.
The whole thing nods to Bern’s earliest menu, which is a smart move because Tampa loves a legacy story almost as much as it loves pretending it will “just have half” of something delicious. La Segunda, established in 1915, has been feeding the city for more than a century, and Bern’s has spent 70 years turning special occasions into full-blown events. Putting them together is basically a civic holiday you can hold in one hand.
Photos by Maryelis Garcia…