Dean's South of the Border in Punta Gorda - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Most days of the week they have sushi. Their lunch specials include taco salad, tacos and enchiladas, sloppy Joe, and chicken sandwich. They are one of our go tos for lunch. We especially like their haddock fish sandwich on Fridays! They have this on their early bird 4-6pm menu, too.

Always our go to place when we check out other places and do not like them. We always know we will have a good time and good food at Dean’s.

Bad food, fun place. Servers standing around and I had to buss my own dishes after quite a while.

We had an excited party of 10 and our server Micah pretty much kicked major butt as a solo act! Every order correct and asked if we needed anything before we thought of it! I voted him for employee of the month. His patience alone with our group was amazing! THANK YOU MICAH for making our experience awesome!!! We will be back!! Ron Hoffman

I ordered food to go. I liked the atmosphere while I waited and was thinking of going back on some night to have a drink and enjoy the music. However, the food didn't do it for me. I ate 1 taco and incorporated the other 2 into a dish that I made, which was far superior than what I received.

Food was great. We had a party of 10 people and our server Micah was quick, and got every order correct. When we are in the area again we will be back :)

Cute little restaurant. We went just for the live music and shared an appetizer.

Nice place nice atmosphere but the red sauce to sweet for my liking.

This is a classic SW FL cantina. The service is good and the food is better than it needs to be. Thank god we still have places that allow smoking in the outdoor seating areas! For all the haters that complain about the smoking, go back to your homes and hide under your bed while you wait on your 12th COVID booster. Don’t bring children to an adult bar.

Heidi is the best. Never ran out of cold beer or ice water. Friendly and hilarious. Kept us laughing all night!

Heidi is the best waitress we’ve ever had. Very personable and attentive. Never ran out of drinks and always made sure we didn’t need for anything. She deserves a RAISE!!!!!

Fun outdoor venue, came when there was loud music! Friendly staff.

Dirty table, sticky menu that had some sort of smell to it… we ordered the chips to start and they were clearly out of a bag. Food arrived fast and was clearly pre made. My son almost burnt his hand on the plate which had been sitting under the warmer for some time. Re-fried beans were dried out and rice could have been from a few days ago. Overall not a good meal.

Breakfast is absolutely delicious 😋

the customer service is always excellent! Especially Nicole!

Micah was our bartender & waiter… he was awesome! The food was great!

Huge fan of Dean’s! Heidi is an amazing server and takes such good care of us every time we stop in! Check this place out!

Heidi is an amazing server. She is attentive and so friendly. When I come to deans I always look for her, she is professional and remembers me from my last visit and knows what I’m going to order. She is the best.

Heidi is the best! Excellent service!

Amazing food Great bands Service rocks. Best food in the area

Live music, great food, great prices. 80 bucks for 3 people with entres, an appetizer, and a beer bucket. Large portions. Waitress was cool.

I am new to the area and this is the first restaurant I’ve tried. The food was hot, fresh, and delicious. Great taste and made to order. Service was excellent too

Micah is a wonderful server! He was kind, attentive, and made sure we had the best possible service :)

Micah was the best server I’ve ever had in the area. Does a super good job at keep people up to date and cracking a joke or two with the table!

Micah is a great server! He is very nice and made sure we had a great experience! 10/10 reccomend

We come from Ohio for vacation every year and this year we made sure to make it to Dean’s 3 times. We had Micah every time and he was amazing! Quick courteous and made our experience memorable.

Micah provided great service. Ask him to make you a golden margarita! 😋😋

The food was awesome the wait staff was awesome we went for the early bird special six of us and no one was disappointed I had the barbecue ribs they were to die for

Cj is excellent. Love the atmosphere.

Micah was fabulous! Made our night all the better!

Had a great dinner. Food was fast, fresh and affordable. Micha was a great server and did a good job making sure we had everything we needed. Drinks never ran out and always made sure to stop and ask if we needed anything.

Great food great place had Heidi as a server couldn't be happier!!!

We moved to PG just over a year ago, and Dean's was on the list of places we really wanted to check out. We'll, it took over 11 months to get here, but we sure are happy we did! I'm so happy that we are back for the second time in 8 days! We stopped for a late lunch as we were out running errands, so adult refreshments were not part of this visit. We did, however, get the Diablo Salsa and chips again as well as the Japepeno Bottle Caps. We like the Diablo so much we bought an extra ro take home. I had the Chilles Rellanos with Chorizo, and it was an encode since the first time we were there, I got it as well. I truly liked it so much that I wanted to be sure it was not a fluke. Truth is, it's legit and awesome!! My wife did the Barbacoa Burrito and was very happy. Last time, I had the refried pinto beans and yellow rice, which was great. This time, I tried the Black Beans and Cilantro lime rice, and it became my new favorite. The food is great, but the service is exceptional. We had Molly again on this visit, and she was an all-star again. This time, Rachel, a manager it seems, came to say hello to us and make sure all was well. Great leadership makes great teams. We'll done. So, we shall see you all again very soon. Thank you, Molly. You made our day...again!

Micah was a wonderful server for us loud ladies today!!! Food great also

Micah did an awesome job helping me sun out with my food allergies and the salsa and fish tacos ere great

Great food as always. Bartender Nicole is very friendly and attentive. This place is a local favorite for a reason

Overall great experience and service

The food is what Yankees probably think real Mexican food tastes like. Que terrible.

Breakfast, dinner, or late night drinks listening to a band, Dean's never disappoints. Excellent people watching too.

Molly T greeted, seated, and treated us great! We sat inside because this is a place with a really good band and a lively bar atmosphere outside. The menu has so much to choose from, but we went the Tex-Mex route: starting with jalapeño bottlecaps, and Diablo Rojas & chips. Molly also brought some of their tasty house salsa. (Good move!) House margaritas were tangy and went down quick! Entrees were the Tijuana combo and Chili Rellenos 😋. The Spanish rice and refried beans accompanied with fresh quac, enchilada sauce, sour cream, all on a crisp bed of shredded lettuce. It was one of the BEST meals EVER! The staff work hard with smiles on their faces.... A great team serving excellent food in a welcoming, well-organized venue! Kudos, and thanks to ALL! Punta Gorda should be proud...what a great facet to this beautiful community that Dean's is!

We have lunch often here. We find it good and consistant each time. We are able to eat lunch here for about the same or less than fast food ( personal nachoes and lunch taco salad). Service is good!

Wife love Chili rellono there best ever

Alexa was great! Awesome service and very quick.

I cannot believe how Terrible the food is here. Guacamole was bad, sour. Ordered wings they weren't cooked all the way. Waited 25 min for a new order. Food was disgusting. 6 people not one thought it was good. Go for the drinks and music. Don't eat.

They were really kind and accommodating to my special needs child. They were down to earth and friendly. I thought they were going to yell at us but instead they came over to thank us for bringing her lol.

Old Florida feel. Everyone else seemed to be regulars but the bartenders were very nice and accommodating. Very reasonable prices. We ate at the early bird special so it wasn’t very crowded but someone was setting up for live music. We will go back when we have a chance.

Thank so much ALEXA, you are a hard worker You deserve the tips Love the Tacos

Sunday Funday at Dean’s 👍🏻 Food was great, good live music, and cold beers. Katie was our server, she was GREAT! Super attentive and fun. Always have a good time at Deans

Food was terrible it’s really like Chef Ramsey says to much on the menu equals bad food, Fries were cold & soft fried pickles was like they took them off someone’s plate very soggy and old like, Chicken Sandwich was terrible Tortillas was rubbery and cold keep it a bar instead of a food establishment 🤢

Dinner last night was great. 🥥 shrimp was awesome and so were the 🥩 fajitas. Great music and cocktails. Service was exceptional!

Great place for live music, great food, great service. They are a little pricy on the drinks, but they do have to pay for the band, and no cover charge. We'll worth it.

This was recommended to us as the best Mexican food in town. We were not impressed. Food was bland and barely warm. Very disappointed.

Different atmosphere since after Ian. Food was take out and good.(burritos). Smaller but good. Supposed to come with green verde sauce. Deans has a long history of messed up to go orders so we checked. There was no verde sauce visible. Bartender asked if on the side was ok, said yes. Come back and said it was In the burrito?? She charged $2 for2 sides of sauce without telling us. I should have checked closer THERE WAS NO VERDE SAUCE inside the burrito. After a year, we decided to try Dean's again ( what used to be 3-4 Times per month before IAN. I think we're done.

First time here, had a blast!!!

Dropped in on our vacation, this place is sure Fun, casual , open air restaurant with live music.Had the Bang Bang shrimp, mediocre, husband’s ribs were great.The band was outstanding and the drinks as stellar! Fun spot to socialize and grab some casual Tex mex food.

Great live music excellent food excellent service. Got to check out the amazing Banjoe Steve.

I join my family at Deans every time I visit. Melissa is our favorite sassy waitress. She lets put jalepenos on everything! 🤣. We keep her on her toes and she keeps us on ours! Always great music! Fun vibe.

Katie is the best! She runs like nobodies business and keeps the business in check. GO KATIE!

Food and drinks are always good. Service is the best

Server acted like I was stupid when I ordered qaso and chips because never has a Texmex not had it

Food was great, quick service for lunch and very good prices.

The smash burger tacos are the way to go!!!!!!

This restaurant staff has the at most amazing and compassionate !!

It was hot outside but the band made up for it.

It's pretty good for a place named Deans🤔

Fantastic place! Great service by a Katie D. Fajitas - excellent. Blackberry and coconut margaritas- out of this world!

Ok so, on this one I'll have to say I'm a bit biased. I really really loved this place because it had everything I could possibly want on one menu. The food was 4.5* but everything Else was so great. Can't wait to be back here to go again. The staff was awesome to my boys. Just great

Stopped here for lunch. Service was good however the food was not the best.

Don't sleep on this place! First time for breakfast and I left wondering why it took so long! Sat right down, served quickly, more excellent food than we could eat, and the price was reasonable! Where can you get an omelette for under $8 anymore? I had the Rojo omelette and my wife went for the breakfast tacos. We were both happy! I had a biscuit and hash brown casserole and they were great.

Dean’s is a really fun place with a great vibe and a really friendly staff. We were there for breakfast and highly recommend the Huervos Rancheros.

Love this place. Come eberytime I'm in town

Love this place. Best place in Punta Gorda! Great food and good value. I was surprised at how big the menu was.

Cold drinks, good food, and live music. It's a little noisy when seated by the road. The food was good but not outstanding. Smash burger was overcooked,tacos were good, as were the black beans and rice.

We were there for dinner, the band started playing the music was loud, the smoke was a lot, and the food was ok. Not my favorite, but others may enjoy.

Food was very authentic. Drinks were fresh made and big. We sat at the bar. The service was good. Weather for lunch midday didn't see any happy hour signs but doesn't mean they don't have one

uhm my mom asked for chicken and rice with queso on the side and i got this portion.. is this feeding a 2 year old???

Huge menu. Maybe it's too big. Food is always good. My wife always orders tacos with a side a sour cream. 0 for 5 on bringing out sour cream with the food. Drinks are weak and hit or miss on flavor depending on the bartender.

The music is great. It was very crowded on the weekends with a nice mix of ages. Very lively atmosphere. 2nd visit came by boat parked by Lashleys and walked over . We sat right away inside. Service was good . Seems to wait a while for service, but the waitress stayed busy perhaps they are understaffed. The food was good. I ordered the country fried steak with the gravey and hashbrowns . Huevos Ranchero he liked it a lot. The prices are very good you get a lot of food for the price. The location is nice, right in the middle of downtown Punta Gorda.

We went during lunch and they had several lunch specials from 11-4. Most ranged from 8-10$ Bucket drinks were good but not strong.

Flys everywhere, felt like I had to fight them fo my food.

Fun place with a great atmosphere and good music! Service was slow, but that's a given considering how many people were there.

I come here 2x a year for the huevos rancheros and it is EXCEPTIONAL every single time !!!

UPDATED PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS REVIEW. The most rude, unattentive staff I have ever come across. Had to move twice to get service. Bar staff was slow as heck. We had a party of 4,ordered simple drinks. Ordered chips and salsa with guacamole on the side. Chips came out, then salsa, had to reask for the guac. We got an attitude and an" I don't remember you asking for it." Our party for 4 heard it. We were told it was a 30-minute ticket time we ordered right away at 6:40 at 7:35still was no food. We had to be at the airport at 8:15. Had to cancel our order. I believe he never put it in as our drink bill came seconds after we told him to cancel. There were about 7 staff working the inside area and it was a horrible experience. The food might be good, I couldn't tell you because we never got any. UPDATE 1 year later, we returned, and the whole atmosphere changed. The service was much better,MUCH BETTER! We have been there twice in 4 days, and it now seems... happier. The whole vibe. The 2nd time there was to see 2 Ohio Boys entertain the crowd. Tommy Varga and Mike Morris did just that. We only had about an hour to enjoy due to time constraints. Dean's has changed, and this change is GREAT!

Stay at hotel next door after long day looking for a house ! Was a Sunday and beers cold and food good had Fajita and she had grilled chicken not bad !! Got refried instead of black beans and Racheal I think was her name jumped right on it Band played till 10 and was welcome relief from a long day Will be back on our next trip to PG

I love the taco salad and drink buckets 🪣. The live music makes it a favorite local hot spot

Good food. Nice atmosphere. Great service.

They get so busy that it takes a very long time to get a drink at night. Would recommend getting more cocktail servers so you don't have to wait in line at the bar or possible see a server. The bands are great the staff was super nice but can see they were overwhelmed.

Love the band. I love the atmosphere, and the chicken burrito is my absolute favorite

Food was great. Exceptional service and great music to add to the atmosphere. First time will not be the last.

Just had lunch with friends. I had the 6 ounce prime rib. So dry. Almost paper thin. I would have rather had a chunk of meat that was small. Hubby had the burrito lunch. There was no taco seasoning on the beef/hamburger meat which made a very bland burrito. The refried beans were dry and pasty. Generally pasty but not dry. The bill was $47.00, plus tip our lunch was over $50.00. We will never return to Deans. The food is less than mediocre.

If you enjoy tasteless and over priced food, this is the place to go. Additionally, the music played outdoors is extremely loud and the acoustics is horrible. Making live music lovers challenged to hear each note played. As a recommendation, the cooking staff should take basic lessons in preparing and cooking "Tex Mex" style food.

I didn’t expect to enjoy this place so much. We sat inside away from the music in the courtyard the three times we have been there. The food was good, the atmosphere was good and we were served pretty quickly in spite of how busy they always are.

Only went for the band… the Nachos lacked basic dignity just a pile of chips with all the cheese on top no layering whatsoever I threw it all away but the band was cool!

Went there for breakfast. Excellent breakfast burritos and bloody Mary's. Reasonable price, good service

Great food, friendly staff, didn't mind that we were tourists. Great location, too.

Great food. Fun staff. Good music. Always a good time.

Went last night for dinner. The place wasn't packed but they only had one server and she was running her butt off. Food was mediocre at best. Biggest issue was the couple at the table next to us. The woman was smoking a joint and the smoke was literally blowing in our faces as we tried to eat. She seemed like a regular so I'm guessing that's why no one said anything to her. Menus were dirty and sticky. Wasn't a fan, won't be back.

Went for breakfast with 7 others, service was fast, food was good, price was right. Will dine here again.

Poor service. Refried beans looked like chili

“ The Hit Squad “ Performed and it was a great time for Music, Food & Fun.