Bernard’s Mediterranean Restaurant

The best food and service I have had in East Texas. The clam chowder was a very good appetizer, but the special sea bass was out of this world. Great meal!!!

We went for lunch. Had never been except for dinner & was always very expensive. Lunch was much more reasonable & absolutely wonderful.
My husband had a mixed seafood over pasta & I had almond topped trout with mashed potatoes & green beans. The potatoes were blaaaaa, but everything else, including the bread, was wonderful in taste & price. Love this place. The food & the atmosphere were excellent.

This is the best spot in Tyler for an intimate dinner. Great atmosphere and Bernard is always there to take care of special requests. Always good chef specials and the regular dinner menu is very affordable. Great desserts and nothing out of a box. Off the beaten path but this has been a worthy spot for a great meal in Tyler for many years.

After 7+ years of living in Tyler, we finally gave Bernard’s a try. It had been 9 months since our last date night as just the two of us, and we wanted to make it special. Bernard’s was just what the doctor ordered. The food was exquisite, and our server went up and beyond in her duties. Bernard’s is a gem hidden away here in East Texas, one which we will not be waiting another 7 years for.

Well. The food was outstanding. The service was so bad we’ll never go back. We were sat over 30 minutes after our reservation time. Ok it gets busy. Not a deal-​breaker. Once our appetizer finally came out (an hour after we were sat) the fun began. It wasn’t what we ordered. The waiter said he knew we didn’t order it. So we thought hey maybe there was a mix up and they had an extra so he wanted us to try it. Ok. But we never got the one we ordered.? And we weren’t told why. And by the way, had we just eaten it without paying attention, and had one of us been allergic to shellfish, this would’ve been an entirely different night. Shellfish allergies are fairly common. You don’t slip fried oysters in without telling your guests what it is and making sure it’s ok with them. 20 minutes later we are still trying to figure out what happened. Over 30 minutes after that and we still haven’t gotten our entrée… or the right appetizer… or the bread we asked for (which was also excellent. We just couldn’t get him to bring any more). At this point, remember we were sat after 7:30, it’s almost 9:30. No entrees. Finally we are told that the table next to us ordered the exact same thing we had. The kitchen thought it was a duplicate order so they didn’t make ours. Perfectly understandable. Giving us the wrong appetizer because ours didn’t get made and trying to pass it off as ‘oh I wanted you to try this’? No more bread (when even that would’ve helped since we had no food)? Sitting there for 2 hours before we get an entrée? NO explanation until we finally go to the manager and complain? A glass of champagne and a piece of cake for free doesn’t make up for that. Yeah the appetizer wound up being free also but it wasn’t what we ordered so we weren’t going to pay for that anyway. Had we been told what happened when it happened then maybe a piece of cake would’ve fixed it.
Great food. But not good enough to make up for such poor service. When you spend over $ 100 for two people to eat, not counting the tip, you expect excellent service. Yes we tipped anyway (although the more we thought about it later we wished we had tipped less). Chick fil a pays more attention to what they’re doing than what we experienced that night. We won’t go back.

We arrived at 6:50 for a 7:00 reservation. We were told that we
seated in 15 – 20 mins. When asked if we wanted anything from the bar we indicated that we had planned on purchasing a bottle of wine. We were asked if it would be red or white and when we answered red they gave us two glasses of red on the house. We were seated around 7:30. We ordered the stufffed mushrooms as an appetizer and a bottle of Duckhorn merlot. The appetizer was delicious! There was very little breading and lots of crab with the mushrooms surrounded by a wonderful cream sauce. The house salad was just ok. The dressing was too sweet for my taste. However, the scallops and sea bass were amazing and I don’t particularly like seafood! I have never tasted fish as good as the sea bass before. Don’t ever pass it up if it is the special that night. All in all the evening was a great success! It was a very nice way to celebrate our 40^th wedding anniversary!

Not what we expected… much better than we expected! Food and service… Excellent
The calamari-​some of the best I have had.
First time for Veal Picatta-​tender and flavorful. My wife had cheese ravioli with shrimp and crab-​very good

Beautifully romantic ambience. Delectable food. I had the stuffed mushrooms and chillean Seabass. Phenominal!!! The bread is amazing too. Highly recommend for taking that special someone for thar special occasion. If I lived in Tyler this would be a favorite spot for sure. The wait staff eas also very knowledgeable, friendly and had impecable timing. I will be back.

Great food!!! Nice atmosphere and wonderful service!!! Our favorite restaurant in Tyler!!!

Cute little place with nice staff but the menu is so deceiving. The «crab stuffed mushrooms» are not made with crab. They use imitation (fake) crab! Their advertised prices are misleading. The real prices are at least $ 5 more than what you see online.

This place is an absolute hidden gem. Tucked behind Traditions this is one of the handful of places I would recommend to anyone. Had the Crab Stuffed Flounder and the wife had the Sea Bass. Absolutely some of the best I’ve ever ever had. We were seated in accordance with our reservation and Ryley took excellent care of us. He recommended a great bottle of Caymus Cab and we were not disappointed. We thought long and hard over dessert but decided that finishing off the bottle was our dessert!
Ryley was amazing and made our night extremely memorable. I recommend Ryley and Bernard’s to all!

Made reservations for 2 at 6.45pm on Friday. It’s my wife’s birthday and a pilot friend in longview said this is one of their fav places. I ordered a french onion soup, wife got a salad. I sent my soup back as it was a lonely piece of bread with a sprinkling of cheese on it. I know this chef didn’t go to France or study the brigade french laundry. The salad was normal nothing impressive. My soup came back with a second piece of bread and a bit more cheese, well I guess that’s how they do it in Texas. I order the new York and the wife orders Australian lamb rack. Both mains came out with a dollop of mash potatoes, a single organic carrot and asparagus stork. Ho hum. The 12ounce new York was good as expected but leons and olive garden is better. My wife had 3 of her 6 lamb pieces and commented it was OK for a special. The bill came and had my 30 dollar steak and wife’s 50 dollar lamb. Total bill was 150 thank goodness I got smg movie tickets for $ 5 each so all up dinner and a movie was 175 bucks. Will I go back. NO I WONT. We were unimpressed… Sorry bad night in the back maybe. Oh PS my wife is a certified chef.

Bernard’s is our favorite fine dining restaurant in Tyler. The food is superb and the service always exceeds our expectations. Under Bernard’s direction the consistency of the food is perfect– and the service is impeccable. We have never had a bad meal there. The waitstaff is by far the best in Tyler. They are professional and thoroughly trained. They know the menu and wine list down to the smallest details.
Alway a great choice.

I made reservations to avoid waiting. I don’t care how «amazing» the overpriced food is, not to mention inaccurately priced online, I should not have to wait 30 minutes for my reservation because Bernard does not know how to manage a restaurant. After finally hunting down the hostess who was avoiding the growing crowd of unseated customers, she grudgingly admitted that we had to wait another 30 minutes before any table is ready.
Who knew «it’ll be just a few minutes» means at least an hour wait at Bernard. We left and went to Cork to enjoy a much nicer dinner.

Bernard’s is our favorite restaurant in Tyler. You can’t go wrong here; everything is delicious. The filet forestiere is just about the best steak out there. The sea bass, baked brie, and bread with olive tapenade are all fabulous too. Very romantic ambiance with a candlestick lit at each occupied table. Bernard’s is a hidden gem in a town of chain restaurants.

Everything they prepare is outstanding. The best rack of lamb I’ve ever had. Stuffed mushrooms are a fantastic appetizer as is the escargot.

Took my girlfriend and my cousin out to eat here. Definitely going again! Bernards had a rich relaxing atmosphere, a beautifully lit candle on each table and out of this world crème brulet! They have a full bar too. Our waiter was spectacular and, after our meal, definitely deserved that $ 20 tip. I would recommend this to ANYONE.

Two words, young Unilocalers: SEA BASS. If you don’t try the Sea Bass, you really deserve a Ray Rice dirt nap punch to the face. If Bernard’s is offering to accompany your entrée with Scallops; once again, trust me, and try them. As much of a foodie snob that I am, I can confidently say that Bernard’s serves up some of the best Sea Bass, and Scallops you’ll ever consume.
Wine. Yep, they offer an extensive selection of the forbidden fruit too. Or, if you opt for a mixed concoction, you’ll definitely get your $ worth, as the drinks have a bite.
The service here has always been top notch as well. All in all, Bernard’s, without a doubt, is my go to, for fine dining.

We have lived in Tyler for approximately 1 ½ years. We have had numerous excuses to partake of the various fine dining experiences in this town. We have been extremely disappointed in everything we found. Overpriced steak houses with bland sides, etc… So when my husband made reservations here for our anniversary I didn’t have a lot of hope going in, but being nine months pregnant, anything is better than cooking.
We were absolutely blown away by Bernard Mediterranean. We started with the crab cake which was more lump crab seasoned and cooked atop a puff pastry than cake. It was delicious. My husband and I both had specials of the night. I had the salmon topped with lump crab in a white wine (?) sauce laid over creamy rice with asparagus. Everything was cooked to perfection. The lemon slice on the plate was unnecessary as the seafood was superb. My husband had the «surf and turf» which consisted of a filet mignon and scallops with a bearnaisse sauce, also with creamy rice and asparagus. The steak was ordered medium rare and was cooked actual medium rare. It was seasoned perfectly to be enjoyed on its own without the sauce, but with the sauce, I reached an enlightened level of spirituality. The crêpe brulee at dessert was simple, classic, better than any I’ve had in the time we’ve been here.
The hostess was caring and careful to point out steps and offer a hand to a very off balance pregnant patron (i.e. Me). Our server was neither absent nor hovering. He was friendly, knowledgable, and understanding of our particular situation. The atmosphere while a bit too dark was quite romantic and set the mood.
I believe we have found our go to celebration restaurant.

What an outstanding experience! After working at the lake all day I didn’t feel like cooking. We dined here several years ago and I remember that it was good so I decided to give Bernard a try last night and, boy, am I glad I did.
It became apparent rather quickly that Bernard has a loyal following of regulars. I was impressed that they took care of their regulars while making me feel welcome too. As is my custom when dining alone I ate at the bar. At first I was disappointed that there is no bar TV but after falling into conversation with the folks seated around me that disappointment quickly waned.
I ordered strictly off menu last night. The tomato Caprese salad was one of the best I’ve had in a long time. A nicely portioned order of fresh and flavorful tomatoes accompanied by fresh mozzarella and basil leaves drizzled with a balsamic dressing, the salad was absolutely delicious. My main course was an incredible rack of lamb. Chef removes the meat from the bones and crafts the bones into a crown. The dish is plated with the crown atop mashed potatoes and filled with sautéed shitake mushrooms. The madallions of lamb surround the crown. The plate is garnished with two grilled asparagus spears and a sprig of rosemary. Beautifully presented and perfectly prepared, I thoroughly enjoyed this dish. Top it all off with a few glasses of Château St Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon and some great conversation and call it a wonderful experience.