Bill’s Lakeside Grill

• 981 Doster Road
• Plainwell, MI 49080
• (269) 539-4043
• Website
• Menu

My job is at a remote site from the main office in Grand Rapids. Whenever there are all office meetings, I’m usually working on something in Kalamazoo so I don’t get back to Grand Rapids for those kind of things often.

Last Wednesday, my particular department had a meeting after the our shift ended. There was pizza and I had nothing else to do so I made it a point to get to the home office.

Yes, there was pizza but that’s not always a good thing at office events. There’s usually either not enough or the only thing left when I get there is pizza covered with vegetables. And as The Simpsons famously said, “you don’t win friends with salad.”

My schedule was pretty light on Wednesday so I left Kalamazoo pretty early to start the trek north. I had seen a Facebook post for a restaurant near Plainwell that piqued my interest quite a while ago. I figured I’d just eat before getting to Grand Rapids and if there was any decent pizza, that would be a bonus meal.

Bill’s Lakeside Grill is on Doster Road north of Merlau Avenue on Pine Lake. The restaurant isn’t so much as restaurant as a pop-up type store. They have a large tent in right outside of Pine Lake Boat & Motor. It’s a great spot right next to the boat launch so people putting their boats in for the day can grab something to eat to take out with them or grab a burger after a day of fishing on the lake.

The menu is all pretty much things that can be cooked quickly on a griddle. It’s burgers, hot dogs, a couple of BBQ options, several different types of sandwiches and even some Mexican food options.

I was in the mood for a burger so I ordered a Single Bill’s Burger with a regular order of fries. The cost was about $15 and I took a seat on a bench near the entrance to the shop and watched a couple of group load in boats while I was waiting for my sandwich to be made.

It took about ten minutes for everything to be loaded in to a brown paper bag and handed to me. There’s no place to really sit an eat since this really is a grab and go type of thing so I just went back to my car and ate there before finishing my trip to Grand Rapids.

I started with the fries because I wanted to give the burger a little time to steam in the foil it was wrapped in. I love that softened bun feel on these types of burgers.

There were a lot more fries than I was expecting from a “regular” order. They’re simple, frozen crinkle cut fries with a little bit of salt on them. Nothing super special but they actually tasted real good. There’s something about a good greasy burger and simple crinkle cut fries that just go together.

The burger was also super simple but super tasty. Bill’s Burger comes with a beef patty, lettuce, American cheese, pickle, tomato, onion, and Bill’s sauce on a toasted bun. You can get this as a single, double, or triple. I stuck to the single knowing there was pizza waiting for me in Grand Rapids. I forgot to ask for the onions to be left off. They were chopped pretty finely so it was hard to get them off without taking off a lot of the sauce but I did my best. I’m not a big sauce guy anyway. A thin layer is enough and that’s what I was left with. It’s kind of a mayo/ketchup mixture that is pretty common for “special sauces.” There’s probably some other things in there too. The burger itself had that awesome grilled flavor. It was super juicy and the kind of tasty that seems to taste better when eating it by the lake. It’s super simple but also delicious.

Bill’s Lakeside Grill is such an interesting concept. They have a great spot right by that boat launch. It’s kind of like a food truck but it’s more permanent. It’s something you can walk up to after pulling your boat out and grab something to take home but it’s also the kind of place that you can make a special trip to knowing you’re going to walk away with a delicious sandwich.