Mean Deans Local Kitchen — Restaurant in Florida

Ok, so it has been a LONG time since I've had the full experience. The food was excellent, the service was on point and the atmosphere was poignant. This place is the full Monty.

Customer Experience: Phenomenal! Very attentive staff anticipating your needs along with what is presumably the thoughtful owner and/or manager spending time building rapport with customers through genuine interactions

Atmosphere: slightly speak easy vibe with comfortable seating including an entirely homey lounge area complete with fireplace

The pre-course: Upon seating you are served fresh bread (yes it actually is fresh, warm homemade bread) and butter. Now this is no ordinary butter. I'll start by prefacing that I am NOT someone enjoys the flowery foods. You lose me once you start mentioning what I usually put in vases. But this butter 🧈 O my GAWD! Lavender sea salt butter. I had them refill our basket 3X.

The Appetizers: Buffalo Gator bites. Spinach Artichoke Dip. Both were raved about although I did not have any. As previously stated I was busy stuffing my face with the AhMAZing bread and Lavender Sea Salt butter.

The Extras: I also ordered a side salad (small), the ingredients were fresh, the size was perfect and the Citrus Basalmic dressing made from scratch was exceptional. I looked over to see the soup my partner had ordered. It looked pretty good so while he wasn't looking (football game) I dipped my bread in for a little taste. This led to me not so slyly confiscating it and let me tell you it was the perfect flavor profile. I was surprised by how exceptionally tender the meat was. My partner ordered the Blackened Gator Chowder. You read that right Gator as in alligator. I've had some before it was incredibly dry and disgusting. I looked at him "This is not Gator ?!" oh but it was and you will find me going back for more.

The Entrees: Island Spiced Pork Tenderloin-I'd love to have some fabulous verbiage for you to read about how great it was but I never got a chance. I was beat off by a crazed man with a fork who said I'd already obsconded with his Blackened Gator Chowder. 😬😇 He did mention that the carrots that came with were the sweetest he's ever had. I was permitted a small taste of the rice which was fantastic.

Bourbon Mango Glazed Baby Back Ribs-Have you ever anticipated a flavor profile only to wonder where exactly the chef was hiding it. Well not here. Bourbon ✅ Mango ✅ Glaze ✅ baby back ribs...uhh sorry already gone I had the full rack too 🤤😅 The side of 5 cheese Mac n Cheese was only second to my own mom's recipe handed down and transformed over 5 generations. If that's not clear, it was flavorful, slight toasted on top and polished off as quickly as it arrived.

The Dessert: Peanut Butter Crunch Chocolate Pie The perfect balance of PB chocolate and airy goodness bottomed off with a glorious graham? crust. Heck who cares what it was made from....

Dean,

We live in the neighborhood and have dined with you numerous times, always commenting on the quality of the food and service. So we were really looking forward to Easter brunch expecting you to impress us with some of the foods featured on the website from other events. I'm sorry to say today was definitely not your best effort! If we hadn't seen you working the dining room we would have suspected you had left someone else in charge for today's festivities.

If you are going to charge $49.95 for brunch we expect a lot for our money. Hot foods should be hot and cold foods should be cold - virtually everything on your tables was 'room temperature' at best. To be honest I didn't see anything on the buffet that would be worthy of being on your regular menu! Salad - minimal at best. A few greens with scattered onions and tomatoes. Mac & Cheese - you forgot the cheese. Pork dish - undercooked so the meat was tough. What was with those 2 bowls of mixed nuts? Cod dish - over cooked, dry. Shrimp - was good. All you had to do was defrost those. But I hate warm shrimp. Chicken dish - dry, over cooked, but the fig sauce was tasty. Beef - well done top round? Should have been Prime Rib, and the gravy was an afterthought in a bowl on the side. Dessert table - the card table on the side wasn't memorable.

Am I wrong?

To add insult to injury you added on an additional 20% gratuity - for what? You were over-staffed on the floor and only about half the tables were occupied, yet we had to ask to have dirty plates cleared from our table more than once. We had to ask for refills of ice tea and there wasn't enough ice to chill the premade batch. Oh and we had lemon in the first glass.

I always tip at least 20% for good service but what did they do to earn it today? They didn't take a food order, they didn't have to deliver any plates. Hell, we even waited 20 minutes before we had to ask for our check! That's not 20% service!

Our adventure today cost me over $193.00 and, in my humble opinion, we could have gone to Golden Corral or the Chinese Buffet and I could have saved about $100 and gotten a better deal.

I was in the restaurant business for over 20 years so I understand what is involved and what it takes to deliver a pleasurable dining experience.

Sorry to be the one to give you the bad...

Okay, where do I start. Stay with me. I cherish my time with friends very much, so I set up a dinner date with my friend of 24 years, and thought it would be a good idea to try it. We were greeted by almost the staff and sat at a table of our choosing. Our server was the amazing and sweet and wonderful Linda. We had made our mind up about our apps but then she told us what was on Special and we changed our minds! We shared the buffalo cauliflower and fried green tomatoes with goat cheese. Amazing. For my entree I went crazy and ordered the salmon served on a cedar plank...y'all...when I say it was good it was. This thing is marinated for 48 hours in some bourbon sauce. It wasn't overpowering at all, perfectly seasoned. The rice on the side was simply delicious, and it wasn't a huge wasteful glob. It was light, fluffy, and a perfect side with the salmon. Then there was the crispy broccoli, cooked just until done. There was some dusting of a flavorful spice that was so good. I NEVER get dessert but I was so pleased with my meal that we had to try the Brooklyn Ice Cream Pie, just get it. Wow. We sat for hours talking and catching up, we never felt rushed from our table as some places do. The atmosphere made you feel as though you were in a big city in a quiet corner where "only the locals know about." Nice lively chatter, with hints of good background music unique to this place. I think it a good bit of Jazz music that night. I love supporting local Chef's and their businesses and the fact that this one is here makes us lucky! Thank you Dean and Linda!!!! (hope you enjoy your cruise!) Yes, I did spend over $50 on myself, but I'm worth it. And so are you! We did not partake of the alcoholic beverages but from looking at the menu, they have some amazing drinks...