Dante’s Restaurant & Pool Bar

Worst experience of my life. The man at the door was extremely rude and we just got off a fishing charter and were going to bring our fish in to have them grill it. He stopped us at the door and started yelling at us to take everything out of our bags and get rid of our water and would not stop harassing us over our bags. We had no intentions of bringing anything into the restaurant to consume except the fish.

Avoid this place. We were hassled and badgered by the doorman before we even had a chance to sit down. There were four of us (all adults) and we came here as a recommendation from our fishing charter. We had been fishing for the past 5 hours and hauled all of our stuff, including our fresh catch to Dantes for them to grill up. We didn’t even make it to sit down before the rude, overweight doorman was searching our bags and harassing us to pull everything out. He was even telling us we had to pour out our water from our hydroflasks. Ridiculous. I’ve never been so hassled before as a paying customer in my life.
We went to conch republic instead and had a wonderful experience.

My favorite spot in Key West! Just awesome. Good food, good drinks, great scenery, and a pool to lounge around or go swimming. If you go to Key West you must check it out! The bar tender will even call you a cab if needed.

I can’t really say much about this place, only here for a few drinks one of which was the gummy bear shot. There is a pool in the middle with 2 – 3 bars circling the pool. Reminded me of Exit 66 on Ft Lauderdale Beach. On the property is a really big blue chair (photo op) that makes everyone look 3 yrs old in it. I did notice a waterfall towards the back.
I agree with the other Unilocal reviews, its a typical spring break hot spot even if it isn’t spring break.

We came on a Sunday. Unilocal said the hours opened at 12 and when we got there at 12, there were a bunch of people already there. We ordered lunch and at first our service was great but the busier it got the less we saw our waiter. We didn’t order drinks and waited time after time for our check.
The pool got crowded as the day went on.

First, I hated just about everything Dante’s had to offer. However, it was recommended as a nearby restaurant that would cook your fresh catch after fishing all day. They did a fabulous job with our Mahi catch. Pretty cheap at $ 10 a person with sides. The Mac and cheese was nothing special, the fries were okay. The nachos were not great.
When we arrived we almost left. We were not aware this was a drunk person heaven and we were really not in the mood. After we started eating we did enjoy the people watching but we will never return. It just wasn’t our type of place. They did a great job cooking our fish though.

Unilocal exists primarily to steer potential customers towards hidden, local gems and away from tourist trap junk. This venue is certainly the latter.
Ambiance/​Interior [B]: Dante’s looks like the filming location for Jersey Shore: everyone in their bathing suit, floating beer pong IN the swimming pool, macro beer in aluminum bottles, tons of macro beer advertising paraphernalia. Seating is all outdoors by the pool with a ton of TVs. Menu looked unappetizing with Applebee’s level of originality.
Service [F]: Our server came by so infrequently, that I almost just walked away across the street to get Cuban Coffee Queen. On multiple occasions, we had to track down staff to put in food and drink orders. Food took forever to come out once ordered.
Food [C]: The entire menu looked like Applebee’s level of quality, i.e. below reputable fast food chains. Nothing looked good, so we all ordered a very simple thing that should be impossible to mess up — blackened fish sandwich. It arrived super plain Jane as expected. Flavorless tomato slice, pickle spear, raw red onion, and fries. To be fair, the fries were pretty good in the A– range. The sandwich was mostly flavorless but wasn’t bad by any means. It’s just that you could have easily gotten better food just about anywhere for less money.
Overall, if you are single and wanting to day-​drink during Spring Break, this is your place. If you are a Unilocal user, avoid.

I remember this place as ‘Monty’s’…oh well, things change… actually the only thing missing was the fresh seafood ‘cart’ that was offered where one could purchase cracked crab claws, shrimp and other ‘half-​shelled’ goodies to go along with your liquid refreshments… Dante’s is typical Tiki bar fare and ambience… friendly staff, decent drinks and reasonably priced… NOT 5 star white gloved service/​food, but rather a respite from a long day where one can relax and enjoy a drink and an appetizer… Keep up the consistant good work!

I can’t give this place a good rating at all. The food was terrible. Maybe they’re used to only having to satisfy the appetites of drunk spring breakers and the such but the food is bad. Throughout our whole party we had almost everything on the menu and shared it all amongst the group. On top of bad food, the server was rude and snappy. The pool is 4 foot 5 inches at its deepest and full of people spilling drinks, actually having sex and cups and such floating around. It’s definitely not for kids or actual adults really. But like any business, I’d say try it for yourself.
Bear, the front door security was the best part of the bar/​pool. Real good and sincere brother.

We love it here!!! Best pool parties in key west. In town for a bachelorette party and Dante’s made it more than special! Had so much fun, live DJ, waterfall, floating beer pong, plenty of seating options etc.
Dante’s gives you the Miami-​Vegas feel. The parties do not disappoint! The bartenders and the bouncers are cool and they have a great gift shop. Def plan to spend one of your days here!

We didn’t plan on coming to Dantes but ended up here for some afternoon drinks and snacks. When we arrived that’s when we realized oh snap it’s Spring Break! They had the pool full of people and bars and tables were all full! We were able to grab a seat and had to pull a waiter to assist us after waiting some time. This was pretty much the entire time we were here we were looking for our waiter for ordering, water, drinks etc… It was pretty busy and don’t blame the waiter just the restaurant for not hiring enough workers.
Now the music was live and loud and everyone in the crowd had some type of liquor in them. We ordered some fried calamari, mozzarella sticks, nachos and conch fritters. We were just having some snacks to help with the liquor lol. The food did not disappoint. I wasn’t expecting much since it really didn’t look like a spot for good food but we got GREAT food.
If you plan to have a good time you can’t go wrong with their cruzan confusion 32oz.
The reason for the three stars the place was filthy (I know spring break everyone is drunk) but still hire ppl to clean up after your crowd. The bathroom not to even mention just plain filthy. The pool full of cups and beers. Also the service wasn’t that great.

Normally I don’t write reviews but it is deserved. Was here for a day on vacation and was extremely disappointed. The owner was very self-​entitled and kicked me out for going into the wrong bathroom. He called my African American friend the n word and proceeded to laugh about it with one of his employees. Bartenders were nice but upper level management seemed dysfunctional and narcissistic

If I could give zero stars I would. This place used to be one of the best places to go, but definitely not anymore. We went in for dinner on a Friday, there was literally one sever on and she was new. 75% of our meal was messed up & everything was over priced.
I ordered hog fish which came out dry and filled with bones, not to mention it was flounder not hog fish. I’ve had hog fish about 100 times and dantes tried to pull a fast one.
They took off two of the messed up meals from the bill, left on the two sides they forgot to bring and couldn’t explain why our calamari app had no calamari in it rather just breading.
The manager did not stop by he sat by the front door texting on his phone. This place needs some help and a new manager or it won’t be around much longer.

Good for bikinis and that’s about it. The food is gross and the waitstaff is by far the worst I’ve experienced anywhere. I travel a lot and have been all over the world, but I have never left a bar more disappointed. Great potential but lousy execution. And watch your money, the waitstaff will rip you off.

Super fun environment with live music and drinking. All the food we got was amazing and the service was great. A great day was spent near the marina.
It is a great way to spend an afternoon listening to live music and hearing the water while drinking a nice fruity drink.

Great location on a beautiful day at the marina. Large pool, great island cocktails but average food. Staff very nice. Overall fun place to swim, sun and cocktails.

Best Pool party in Key West!!! Great for Groups Bachelor/​rette Parties!!!
Great place to go with a group of friends to enjoy a Hot Summer Day!!!
Ambience: This place has a very hip ambience… They have a live DJ playing popular hits…
Great place to enjoy your afternoon if you are looking for fun ambience… We went for my Bachelorette party and we had a blast with 11 girls. If you are looking for something quiet I recommend you go somewhere else. Otherwise this is the «Spot» you don’t want to miss checking out!!!
Food: The menu has a very decent variety and decently priced.
Drinks: Full Bar decently priced

This is somewhere you have to be at and form your own opinion. It’s highly regarded in my circle of friends and warrants a trip to Key West alone. I strongly urge you to cast aside any preconceived notion you have and check it out for yourself.
And order a mudslide!

The main pic for this Unilocal page is all you need to know about Dante’s — 2 cougars in pasties enjoying some libations.
Dante’s is not a place to come to relax. DJ «Guns» was blasting music by the pool at about 5,000 decibels so it would be pretty impossible to doze off in your lawn chair. I guess I would describe this as Key West’s version of a vegas pool party except instead of strippers and meat heads you have a the usual Keys wide variety of constituents coming to party. The pups didn’t come out while we were there, but I imagine that Fantasy fest is a different story.
We were here in early February so it was warm enough to lay out but no one was in the pool unless they were from Minnesota. The wait staff here was awesome though as we were never in need of another drink. The pool itself is pretty nice with a large waterfall in the back. I did see some dudes in the pool that were playing floating beer pong and never left in 4 hours to go pee… just saying.
Overall this is a fun place to get some rays and people watch — but be warned it is a tad bit cheesy. DJ Guns also repeated songs on his playlist while we were there which is a no-​no. I guess if I would have been more blasted I wouldn’t have noticed. If you are looking for a quiet pool to relax then I would go elsewhere.

I was pretty bummed when I saw that the pool at my hotel in Key West had a shaded pool. I had dreamed of spending the day laying by the pool and sipping on fruity cocktails. Luckily, because of the internet I was able to find Dante’s!
This is a public restaurant/​pool bar right on the water in Key West. It was a slower day when I was there. There was good music playing and our waitress checked on us often.
As for the drinks, I was there for quite a while so I got to sample quite a few: Poolside Daydream, Keys Disease, Banana Daiquiri, and Mango Daiquiri. Out of all of them, the Mango Daiquiri was by far my favorite. The mango flavor was just perfect on a warm day.
For lunch we ordered Conch Fritters to start. The Key Lime Mustard was superb and these were some really fresh and tasty Fritters. For my meal I got Chili Nachos (I know, what lady orders Chili Nachos at the pool? THIS LADY). They were good, but a bit too much to eat in the sun. My husband got the Club Sandwich, wasn’t crazy about it but still enjoyed it.
Dante’s is a perfect spot to chill in the tropical paradise that is Key West. I will be making another stop here on my next visit!