Punta Gorda restaurant listed for $3.5 million before closure

A longtime Punta Gorda restaurant is closing this week, and the property is on the market for $3.5 million.

Dean’s South of the Border is hosting a “last day bash” on Sunday, July 6. The Tex-Mex restaurant on U.S. 41 has been around for more than 30 years, and the owners are closing their doors “with full hearts and bittersweet emotions,” they write on Facebook.

“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,” write the Staintons, who own Dean’s South of the Border. “Please come by in these final days to share a meal, a memory, or just a goodbye. We’d love to see your faces one more time.”

Located at 130 Tamiami Trail, the restaurant has been in business since 1992. It spans more than 5,800 square feet on 0.23-acre with frontage on U.S. 41 in downtown Punta Gorda near the waterfront and shops. The property features two bars, patio seating and indoor dining. There are approximately 300 seats inside and out.

In addition to the freestanding restaurant, the property comes with a separately platted 0.51-acre parking lot containing 60 paved spaces — “a rare find for a downtown restaurant,” the listing says. 

Courtesy image

“We have generated a ton of interest,” says Margeaux McCarthy of SVN Commercial Partners, in a phone interview. She is handling the listing with her husband, Hunter McCarthy. 

“A lot of local people who have major restaurants in the area” have come forward, says McCarthy, noting she cannot disclose any names.

The upcoming closure of Dean’s South of the Border “has wrung the hearts of many of the locals,” McCarthy adds. “One more [restaurant] is hard to see leave.”

At the end of May, Harpoon Harry’s and Captain's Table closed in Fishermen’s Village after they could not come to a lease agreement with the landlord.

Despite the closures, McCarthy says she is seeing positive indicators.

“There are people locally that want to come in and continue the tradition and community aspect” of Dean’s South of the Border, McCarthy says.

To help with new ownership, the business comes with more than just the building and parking lot. The restaurant listing says it includes the liquor license permitting the sale of beer, wine and spirits on the premises; fixtures, furniture and equipment; and the business name, website, social media pages, goodwill and vendor contacts.

"We want somebody that’s going to take over," McCarthy says, "and build a legacy of their own.”