Dean's Downtown — Restaurant in Houston

Now I have been to what I'll refer as "Old Dean's" and that was also before I joined Yelp. Dean's had a change of ownership and the new owners pretty much re-did everything on the inside and out to make this joint a great bar on par with all the other ones next to it in the Houston downtown Main Street scene. This bar has a good front patio for smokers to have a cigarette and still drinking. One of the small detail for their patio is that they have plants that does make a difference.

Now on the inside, you can tell by the photos uploaded to this page, that it is now a chill lounge-y bar with a bit of dark lighting. The music volume level is decent as it does get a bit loud sometimes. On weekdays, the happy hours goes all the way to 10PM, which is a plus as their old fashioned is pretty good. They have a little bit of everything for everyone, from fairly good price $3 beer to great selection of whiskey, scotch, and bourbon.

One of the thing I like about this bar is the awesome spooky elevator. Okay, it's not really spooky but as you may tell, this place used to be a clothing store with more than one story tall. So they kept the elevator in tact and transformed it into a cubby hole with some seats, a stomp for table, and a faux candle light to illuminate the cubby hole. If things are a bit too loud for you to talk to your friends, you can always hide in there and actually close the elevator door for some privacy.

I would certainly recommend this place for out of towners, local Houstonians who haven't been to downtown bar scene for some time, and anyone that's 21+ to check out this bar. You will certainly enjoy it...

Not really liking how all of a sudden there is charges for using a card as well as extra charges. Was not even notified there was now extra charges. Like why?? 😒 has always been one of my fave places. I’d rather tip the increase amount.

Update: They have hired a lot of new faces, unfortunately some of the new ppl are rude and lack customer service. After several experiences of rude customer service I am starting to come to the conclusion I might need to find a new bar after 8+ yrs of being a regular here.

New update: due to the cook (black guy,unsure what his name is but is at the bar on Monday)that randomly be selling food outside (food not even properly kept) I will no longer be giving this place my business. He is extremely rude, condescending and feels like he only likes to serve his friends/ppl he knows. I guess forgets he ain’t nobody other than an employee that makes money off customers. Guess him bartending has gotten to his head. How sad this place is going down due to unprofessionalism. Would rate it 0stars after the experience tonight.

Update 10/23: thought about stopping by and seeing if anything changed and no. The dude that works the door now is extremely rude. Not only did he try and accuse me of my purse being suspicious, but he profiled me, there was other ppl walking in and he paid no attention to them. Not only was he busy on his phone playing video games( as in the video) he was comfortable sitting in the couch and later walking away as he was on the phone. Definitely more disappointed as we had purchased a bucket of...

Update 7/1/2025: I still have not received a call back and have since taken measures to dispute through my bank. I recommend everyone verify charges on their accounts if you visit here. Be warned that their call service does appear to be a screening measure since they “have no way of contacting management directly” according to the two people I spoke to on the phone out of the three calls made. Makes you wonder how a company could not have means of contact with the business that employs them. I was recommended to appear in person which -in all fairness- I did not do because I felt I would just be turned away and referred back to the dead end phone number. Suffice to say I will never return here.

Original review: I had a random charge hit my credit card in early May. This was a charge in addition to what I was actually charged and authorized. I’ve called the listed number three times (which goes to an answering service) and waited on a return call for more than a week with no assistance.

Dean’s has taken no accountability for this yet and the answering service seems like an intentional dead-end for anyone attempting to contact management. I was told to call during operational hours to speak with someone at the bar but the number just looped back to the...