There is something wonderfully New Jersey about walking into a 1907 inn and finding a giant steakhouse personality waiting inside. At 27 Minebrook Road in Bernardsville, The Bernards Inn still has the bones of an old Somerset Hills grand dame.
The stone, the staircase, the polished sense of occasion, the feeling that someone’s grandparents celebrated an anniversary here and someone’s boss definitely once picked up a very large dinner check here. Then David Burke came in and gave the place a jolt.
Now the landmark is home to Red Horse by David Burke, a modern American steakhouse with bold artwork, Himalayan salt-aged beef, cocktails, a serious wine list, and just enough theatrical swagger to keep dinner from feeling too buttoned-up. It is not a tear-it-down reinvention.
It is more like watching a familiar local icon change jackets, slick back its hair, and walk into the room with a little more confidence.
The Bernards Inn Has Been Part Of Bernardsville For More Than A Century
Long before Red Horse galloped in, The Bernards Inn already knew how to hold a room. The inn opened in 1907, when brothers Fred E. and Frank A.
Ballentine brought a new kind of lodging and dining destination to the center of Bernardsville. Construction had begun a couple of years earlier, and the building was not exactly thrown together with whatever was lying around.
Stone from an old Main Street stable was worked into the project, giving the place a local foundation in the most literal sense. That matters in Bernardsville, where history is not just something printed on a plaque.
This is a borough where the train station, the old storefronts, and the Somerset Hills setting all work together to make a night out feel slightly removed from the usual Route 202 rush. The Bernards Inn has always fit that mood.
It is polished without being cold, traditional without feeling like a museum, and formal enough that people still think about what they are wearing before they walk in.
For generations, the inn was the sort of place people saved for birthdays, rehearsal dinners, client meals, holiday lunches, and those “we should go somewhere nice” evenings that usually require a little advance planning.
Its restaurant was not simply attached to the hotel. It was part of the inn’s identity.
That is why the David Burke makeover landed with more weight than a normal restaurant opening. This was not a chef taking over an empty storefront and hanging up new signage.
This was a recognizable New Jersey name stepping into a recognizable New Jersey property. Locals had memories here. Regulars had opinions. Bernardsville does not hand out sentimental approval for free.
The trick was never going to be making the place new. The trick was making it feel alive again without sanding off the history that made people care in the first place.
David Burke Turned The Landmark Into Red Horse By David Burke
David Burke did not arrive quietly, which is generally not how David Burke arrives anywhere. The New Jersey-born celebrity chef has built a career on big flavors, clever presentations, and restaurants that know fine dining can loosen its tie a little.
At The Bernards Inn, that energy now comes through as Red Horse by David Burke, a modern American steakhouse that feels more animated than the old-school dining room many locals remember. The Red Horse name already had Garden State roots before Bernardsville.
Burke’s Rumson restaurant helped establish the concept, and the Bernardsville version brought that equestrian-inspired identity into horse country. Around here, that is not random branding.
Far Hills, Bedminster, Peapack-Gladstone, and the surrounding Somerset Hills all have deep horse-country connections, from estates and barns to the annual Far Hills Race Meeting. A restaurant called Red Horse makes sense here in a way it might not in a strip mall off a highway.
Inside, the concept leans into steakhouse confidence without going full mahogany-and-whisper mode. The restaurant has multiple dining areas, including the main dining room, bar, gallery-style spaces, and terrace seating.
That helps the place serve different versions of the same night. A business dinner can still feel polished.
A cocktail at the bar can feel lively. A weekend reservation can feel like an occasion without requiring everyone at the table to speak in hushed voices.
Burke’s signature touches are also part of the story. His well-known Clothesline Bacon shows up like edible theater, and the steak program includes beef dry-aged with his patented pink Himalayan salt process.
That is the kind of detail that gives diners something to talk about before the entrées even arrive. The result is a restaurant that understands the assignment.
It did not try to turn The Bernards Inn into something unrecognizable. It brought in color, rhythm, and personality, then let the old building keep its posture.
The Makeover Keeps The Inn’s Old Soul Intact
A lesser renovation would have tried too hard. You know the look: rip out every trace of age, add a neon sign, put something vaguely botanical on the wall, and call it “elevated.” Thankfully, that is not what happened here.
Red Horse gives The Bernards Inn a refreshed face, but the building still feels like itself. The stone fireplace remains the kind of feature people notice before they notice the menu.
The large framed windows give the dining rooms a sense of old inn grandeur. The bones are still there, which is important because The Bernards Inn’s charm has never come from being trendy.
It comes from being settled into Bernardsville like it has no intention of leaving. The new design plays with contrast.
Bright colors and equine-themed artwork bring energy into rooms that could have easily stayed too formal for their own good. There is a little wink in the décor, a little movement, a little “yes, you can order a serious steak and still have a good time.” That is very Burke.
He tends to treat dining rooms like stages, but here the stage already had history, so the best move was to brighten it rather than rebuild the whole production. What keeps the makeover grounded is that it still respects the kind of dinner people expect at this address.
The tables feel suited to anniversaries, client meals, family celebrations, and the quiet luxury of not being rushed through a meal. The bar and lounge add a more casual pulse, especially during happy hour, but the inn has not turned into a scene-first restaurant where the food feels secondary.
There is a fine line between updating a landmark and making longtime locals feel like their place has been taken from them. Red Horse walks that line better than expected.
It gives regulars something new to inspect, younger diners a reason to care, and out-of-towners a room that feels distinctly Bernardsville instead of copied from a city steakhouse playbook.
The Menu Brings Steakhouse Comfort Into A More Playful Era
This is still a steakhouse, so yes, the beef gets top billing. But the menu is not just a parade of big cuts and creamed spinach, though you can absolutely steer your night in that direction.
Red Horse works because it takes familiar steakhouse comfort and lets Burke add a few bits of mischief. The patented salt-aged beef is the anchor.
Current dinner offerings have included cuts like filet mignon, prime New York strip, dry-aged ribeye, porterhouse for the table, and a dramatic tomahawk ribeye.
The prices match the setting, with many steaks landing firmly in special-occasion territory, but the menu also leaves room for someone who just wants the Red Horse DB Cheeseburger with fries and DB sauce on a toasted English muffin.
Then come the Burke signatures. Clothesline Bacon is the one that tends to get phones out, because bacon dangling dramatically over the table is not something most of us grew up seeing at New Jersey inns.
Lobster dumplings with miso tomato, chili oil, and preserved lemon bring a sharper, more modern edge. Pretzel crab cake, tuna and salmon tartare, and crispy shrimp spring rolls give the appetizer list more range than the usual wedge salad warm-up.
The mains move beyond beef, too. Dishes such as cod baked in parchment, pan-seared salmon, day boat scallops, smoked duck breast, rack of lamb, and eggplant parmesan make it possible to eat here with a group that cannot agree on steak.
Sides like “Far Hills” fries with prosciutto and camembert, whipped potatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, and crispy Brussels sprouts keep things comfortably steakhouse-adjacent. The smartest part may be the nightly specials.
A $49 Wednesday burger night with salad and a drink makes the place feel more accessible than its grand address might suggest. Happy hour in the bar, lounge, and patio also helps.
Red Horse still knows how to be a splurge, but it is not allergic to being a neighborhood habit.
The Bernie Adds A Speakeasy Twist Beneath The Dining Room
Downstairs, things get a little less “Somerset Hills dinner reservation” and a little more “did we just find the fun part of the building?”
The Bernie is the lower-level speakeasy and supper club connected to Red Horse, and it may be the most playful piece of the whole reinvention. The space nods to the inn’s Prohibition-era lore, when a hidden-away room beneath a respectable building had a certain usefulness.
Today, the secrecy is more theatrical than illicit, but that is part of the appeal. You can access The Bernie from a side entrance or through the inn, which gives the whole thing a nice little “meet me downstairs” feeling.
Unlike the main dining room, The Bernie is built around entertainment as much as dinner. The calendar rotates through live music, comedy nights, themed events, wine dinners, and local-harvest-style gatherings.
Supper club seating gives it a different rhythm than a standard bar with a band crammed into the corner. You are there to eat, drink, listen, laugh, and maybe wonder why more old inns do not have secret-feeling rooms underneath them.
The food follows the mood. The Bernie has its own menu, a bar, a pizza oven, and a range that moves from small plates to bigger bites.
It is the kind of setup where someone can start with cocktails and snacks and accidentally turn the evening into a full dinner. That is not a problem.
That is basically the point. For locals, The Bernie gives The Bernards Inn something it did not always have in the public imagination: spontaneity.
The upstairs dining room may still be where you book the anniversary dinner. Downstairs is where you might end up because there is music, a comedy show, or a reason to stay for one more drink.
It adds a second personality to the inn, and honestly, the old building wears it well.
Why This Somerset County Comeback Is Worth The Reservation
Plenty of restaurants get renovated. Fewer manage to become more interesting without losing the thing people liked about them in the first place.
That is what makes the Bernardsville comeback worth paying attention to. The Bernards Inn could have coasted on nostalgia for another decade, leaning on its history and hoping that candlelight and tradition would be enough.
Instead, Red Horse by David Burke gives the property a clearer reason to be in the current New Jersey dining conversation. It is still elegant, still a little old-world, still the sort of place where you feel the address before you open the menu.
But now it has more spark. The location helps.
Bernardsville is an easy dinner target from Basking Ridge, Bedminster, Morristown, Peapack-Gladstone, Chester, and the rest of the Somerset Hills orbit. The NJ Transit station sits right across the street, which is a rare and underrated detail for a suburban fine-dining restaurant.
There is also parking nearby, with the inn’s lot off Quimby Lane, so the night does not begin with circling the block and muttering at your steering wheel. It also helps that Red Horse can be used in more than one way.
Go big with salt-aged steak, wine, and dessert. Sit at the bar for happy hour.
Book brunch. Try a weeknight special.
Head downstairs to The Bernie when the calendar lines up with something fun. A restaurant lasts longer when it gives people more than one reason to return.
The Bernards Inn has already lived several New Jersey lives. It has been a grand hotel, a special-occasion dining room, a wedding backdrop, a local landmark, and the kind of place people point out when driving through downtown Bernardsville.
The celebrity chef makeover did not erase any of that. It simply gave the old inn a louder heartbeat.