12/15/2005
By Phyllis Bator

Tara Trevathan, owner of Tara Steak & Lobster House on Marco Island, recently opened another restaurant in the heart of Ft. Lauderdale.

The restaurant, also known as Tara Steak & Lobster House, contains 6,100 square feet of space and can accommodate up to 200 people. A dining room for private functions for 35 people is available as well as a semi-private room for 20. It also features a lounge area for relaxing and enjoying live entertainment and a cigar bar on the patio.

"The décor is very timeless... classic steak house with amber lighting and a huge granite bar," said Trevathan.

Happy Hour is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. nightly. Entertainment includes piano player Bobby Gee and his wife, Frannie, on Friday and Saturday evenings at 7 p.m.

"The menu is the same as Marco, but we've added lobster bisque, a filet mignon, and three four and five-pound lobsters. Prices are the same as the Marco restaurant," Trevathan noted.
Currently wearing "all the hats" at the new Ft. Lauderdale location, she's running the front of the house, spending some time behind the hostess stand and training new employees. Her fiancé, Tom Burnett, Jr., has been bartending and running the lounge. But according to Trevathan, he is "wearing the chef's hat lately."

"Because we have two units does not mean that all of a sudden we went corporate. We're still family owned and operated," she explained. "The Marco Island Restaurant has my mother, Jeannie, my uncle, Charlie, and Tom Blodgett, our manager running it."

In Ft. Lauderdale, she employs her fiancé and several key employees she relocated from the Marco Island flagship eatery. Tables are decorated with black tablecloths and gold napkins.

"We still focus on that personalized customized service and we want you to feel that you're a guest in our home. I'm not the absentee owner, but I'll be splitting my time," she added.

Trevathan intends to open the next Tara Steak & Lobster House in Wellington, 20 miles west of West Palm Beach. But she stated she was taking "baby steps" and is going to take her time.

As far as both restaurants are concerned, Trevathan's feelings are, "We believe that we are only as good as our last meal served. Although we've been in business on Marco for eight years, that's no guarantee. We have to keep up to make sure we're doing our job correctly."

For more information and pictures of Tara's Steak & Lobster House in Ft. Lauderdale, visit their Web site at www.tarasteak
andlobsterhouse.com.

For reservations at their Marco Island restaurant, located at 969 N. Collier Blvd, call 394-0212. For reservations at the new Ft. Lauderdale restaurant, located at 1430 SE 17th Street, call 954-765-6202.

12/15/2005
By Phyllis Bator

©Marco Island Sun Times 2006