After more than three decades of serving Tex-Mex favorites and live music in downtown Punta Gorda, Dean’s South of the Border will close its doors for good July 6.
Owners Dean and Sandy Stainton, who weathered multiple hurricanes and rebuilt their business more than once, have decided it’s time to retire and enjoy time with family, Dean Stainton said. Their last day of business is expected to be an all-day celebration filled with food, drinks and live music.
Dean’s South of the Border became a landmark in Punta Gorda since its opening in 1992, years before the city was rebuilt after Hurricane Charley in 2004.
“We’ve been honored to serve you, laugh with you and grow with you,” the Stainton family wrote in a farewell message on social media. “You’ve given us 30 years of memories we’ll carry forever.”
The restaurant might not disappear from Punta Gorda’s food scene altogether because the $3.5 million sale will include the business name, furniture, fixtures and equipment, a full liquor license, its social media pages, vendor contacts and the 0.51-acre paved parking lot across the alley from the rear of the restaurant and the Wyvern Hotel, with spaces for about 60 vehicles.
The 5,813-square foot restaurant sits on 0.23 acres in Punta Gorda’s Traditional Downtown Core zoning district, within walking distance of Laishley Park, the Peace River waterfront, nearby hotels and Marion Avenue businesses.
Margeaux and Hunter McCarthy of SVN Commercial Partners are handling the listing. Margeaux McCarthy noted that a recent traffic study showed about 30,000 vehicles pass by the restaurant daily, and the sellers are open to partial financing for the right buyer.
The original Dean’s was located in a 1907 building on the site where the parking lot now sits. That building was destroyed by Hurricane Charley in 2004, leaving only a massive fireplace. The Staintons bought a nearby 1947 structure, renovated it and moved the fireplace — all 13,000 pounds of it — by crane into the new restaurant. It remains a focal point of the current building. Original pine beams from the previous Dean’s were also repurposed during the reconstruction.
The couple opened a second location, Hurricane Charley’s Sushi, Raw Bar and Grill, in 2014 in tribute to the storm that transformed their city. That restaurant wasn’t as lucky. It was battered by Hurricane Ian in 2022, reopened, then sustained more damage during Hurricane Idalia in 2023 and was declared unsafe.
Dean’s South of the Border fared better through recent storms, including flooding from Idalia, which forced a one-day closure. The restaurant quickly bounced back, only to face two more hurricanes — Helene and Milton — just weeks apart in fall 2024. While downtown Punta Gorda saw major flooding, Dean’s reopened each time with no visible damage.
Despite the challenges, the Staintons said the community support has never wavered.
“For three decades, you’ve welcomed us into your lives — celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, first dates, quiet mornings, and countless meals in between,” their social media post read. “What began as a dream turned into a family — not just among our staff, but with every one of you who pulled up a chair and shared a moment with us.”
