By BABITA PERSAUD and LESLIE PAREDES
Published October 2, 2004
TAMPA - Among the casualties of Hurricane Jeanne: the lobsters of Bern's Steak House.
Two days of power outages crippled the restaurant's filtration system, sending a tankful of crustaceans to their death.
Just like homeowners, restaurants struggled with electricity loss during the recent hurricanes.
Charley's Steakhouse, powerless for two days, lost $8,000 to $9,000 in steak and seafood, kitchen manager Chris Gaskin said.
Bern's, in addition to the lobsters, lost fresh produce but only minimal meat, said Bern's spokeswoman Heather Sherer-Berkoff. On Tuesday, the restaurant rented a generator to keep the freezers going.
For Hurricane Frances Bern's lost several thousand dollars in aged meat. During Hurricane Jeanne, Bern's used freezers at Side Bern's to store meat.
Lacking power, Bern's closed Monday. When the restaurant reopened Tuesday, some items were temporarily off the menu, including the lobster bisque.
Outback Steakhouse on Henderson Boulevard lost power for two days. Managers used their refrigerated catering trucks to store meat, said manager Rob Regan. Ruth's Chris rented a refrigerated trailer but didn't have to use it, general manager Jim Martin said.
Shula's, which lost power for about two hours, had a generator available.
If the power at Charley's had gone out for more than 24 hours, the restaurant would have been provided with backup refrigeration by the food services company where it gets its steak and seafood.
At Charley's, much of the loss was in meat already removed from vacuum-sealed bags.
