The Lodge
10336 Blue Star Highway When it gets nice out, we would prefer not to sit around the house.
That was the case a couple of weeks ago. I took the kids to Grand Rapids Comic Con at the Kalamazoo County Expo Center on Saturday morning. By mid afternoon, J was wanting to go somewhere we could take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather.
We decided on South Haven. It was a little to cold (for us) to get in the water yet but there’s a place both J and I have been wanting to eat at. We figured after that, we could go play at the playground on South Beach and dip our toes in the water.
We picked The Lodge for dinner. This restaurant is just outside of South Haven city limits on Blue Star Highway to the west of M-140. The restaurant used to be called the Curve Inn because it sits on the curve between M-140 and Kalamazoo Street.
The parking lot was busy when we pulled in but not overflowing. We were right around prime dinner time on Saturday night so we were a little worried about getting a table.
We walked in to find the host stand. J had asked about outside seating but there was a wait. We opted for a table in the dining room instead so we could be seated right away.
The restaurant is really just one big room which includes the bar. It’s a pretty open space with high ceilings on wood floors. There are pretty typical restaurant tables throughout the space with pub tables in the space nearest to the bar. There were plenty of TV’s all around the dining room but there wasn’t really a big sports ball game on that time so no one was really paying attention to them.
J and I both started with drinks. They didn’t have Two Hearted on tap but they did have one from Upper Hand Brewing. I ordered the Upper Hand IPA instead of my usual. I’ve had this Bell’s adjacent beer in the past so I knew I was getting something I liked. A beer really hit the spot on this particular day.
J went the cocktail route ordering the Cucumber Elderflower Smash. This drink is gin, St. Germain Elderflower liqueur, soda water, and lemonade topped with fresh cucumbers and lemon. It’s a light, springy type drink and since it was a light springy type day, it was a perfect combination.
We’ve both seen Facebook posts from The Lodge since they opened in 2020 and the food always looks so good. There is so much on the menu to choose from and it wasn’t an easy choice for any of us.
I picked the The Cure Smashburger. This sandwich is two smash patties with a fried egg, Bob’s bacon, shredded lettuce, onion, tomato, and comeback sauce. The sandwich was a huge mess as most good smash burgers are. Not entirely sure what the “comeback sauce” is but I probably would have been alright without it. It added a little tanginess but the burger and bacon were both phenomenal and didn’t need any tanginess. I upgraded my side to the beer battered fries. They were alright…I just don’t love battered fries. There was a bottle of mustard on the table and I made good use of that for the fries.
J ordered the Chicken & Waffles. This plate is a Belgian waffle with hand battered chicken tenders. It comes with DeGrandchamp Farm blueberry jam and maple syrup. These chicken tenders were amazing. They were tender, they were juicy, and the hand battering makes these feel and taste like the kind I like to make at home. They were really thick pieces of chicken yet they were juicy all the way through. The fries were included on J’s meal. She ate some of them but we took some home too. There was a lot of food and the chicken was too good to stop eating.
L ordered the Lodge House Salad but asked only for the greens, cheese, and croutons. It’s also supposed to come with cucumbers and onions. She got ranch dressing which was served on the side. It’s a salad that seems so simple to J and I but L ate every last bit in the bowl. She likes salads but she’s not at that point she likes to be adventurous. Cheese and croutons is all she ever wants.
B was being a pain in the butt and didn’t want to go out to dinner. We ordered him the grilled cheese off the kid’s menu hoping he would eat some of it. We eventually got him to eat half by promising him ice cream after we went to the beach for a while. The kid’s grilled cheese is pretty simple. Bread and cheese. It comes with kettle chips which he wouldn’t eat either so..more for me.
Our bill for dinner was a little over $65.
The Lodge is a great place in South Haven away from the busy downtown district. The food is all made from scratch and they feature products made from other local business…in this case, DeGrandchamp Farms and Bob’s Processing.
A lot of times we end up doing grab and go from somewhere when we go to South Haven. After a day at the beach, it’s not always easy to get every one to sit for a meal. We went the other way this time. Eat first, then beach. That worked out to our advantage as J and I got to check one off our list of places. The Lodge is a great place to eat not only because it’s away from downtown, but the food is some of the best in South Haven.
SW Michigan Dining 