Louie’s Lake Bar & Grill
8946 Sprinkle RoadUPDATE 7.13.25 – I wasn’t the only one who found the sound to be a little too much. Louie’s posted on Facebook earlier this week that they will be adding some features to absorb sound and hopefully bring the decibel level down some.
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My mom called me last week and said they had some paperwork that I needed to sign. She had the week off so instead of mailing it to me, they decided to drive to Kalamazoo and drop it off.
They had never been to Shipshewana so they wanted to see what that was all about. They dropped the packet off in the morning, went to Shipshewana then came back to Kalamazoo to stay the night.
J and I found a notary on my lunch break and we got their papers signed so we were able to get it back to them. Since they were in town, they wanted to take us to dinner. They didn’t have a preference but I, of course, wanted to go somewhere new.
I started driving down Portage Road which was the totally wrong way to get to Louie’s Lake Bar & Grill. By the time I realized I was a dumbass, I was almost to Vicksburg. We turned around, avoided some construction, took the scenic route then finally got to where we wanted to be.
Louie’s Lake Bar & Grill is on Sprinkle Road at Long Lake Road just a stone’s throw from Long Lake in South Portage. The restaurant is the third Louie’s restaurant in the area joining the original downtown Louie’s Trophy House location and the Texas Corners’ Louie’s Corner Bar. This location is a remodel of Long Lake Tavern which closed last year.
The front door brings you right in to the bar area. There’s a large U-shaped bar right in the middle of the space with TV’s hanging on the wall opposite the door. There are pool tables to one side of the room and some pub tables to the other side. A sign at the door told us to seat ourselves so we went looking for a table big enough for six.
J poked her head in to the dining room area and saw a table but it was in the process of being cleaned off. I said screw it, we could help the waitress push things to one end and start wiping it down with the bar rag that was already on the table. I didn’t want someone else to come in and take it from under us as the rest of the room was pretty full. This room is pretty plain. Wood floors, neutral walls, and a dark ceiling. There are TV’s all over the walls accented by Christmas lights and some beer signs.
The Trophy House theme continues to this location with the addition of taxidermy on the walls. You always know you’re in a Louie’s when you see the deer heads.
Let’s get the most noticeable thing out of the way before we dive in to the food. This place is loud. I mean….LOUD. Like obnoxiously, ear splitting, head ache inducing loud. We couldn’t have a conversation across the table…even if we tried yelling. The restaurant is still in the opening stage so hopefully they find some way to soften up the noise. I know this is a bar but even for a bar, the noise level was just ridiculous.
The menu, right now, is a little smaller than the other Louie’s locations as they work out the kinks in the new location. They still have the pizzas and burgers we love from Louie’s though.
I chose to go with the Original Louie’s Burger with add-ons of bacon and bleu cheese. I’ve always said Louie’s has one of the best, if not the best, burger in Kalamazoo. The sandwich is a blend of locally sourced meat that includes chuck, brisket, and short rib. It’s served on a bun from Rykse & Company. The sandwich comes with only the basics. Lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle. I was about to just go simple and order American cheese, but bleu cheese and bacon on this burger is the perfect combination. There’s already a little sweetness to the meat and the addition of the tangy bleu cheese and salty, crunch bacon is just divine. Again, easily one of the best burgers in the Kalamazoo area.
It’s a weird move for me, but you have to get the home made chips at Louie’s and you have to get the home made French Onion Dip. The chips are super crispy, house cut crinkle cuts and the French Onion Dip is better than anything you’ll get in the cooler section of the grocery store. My mom ended up not eating all of her chips so I happily took them. J and I kind of fought over the her left over dip because we both wanted more.
J did the Chicken Ranch Wrap. This sandwich is a jalapeno cheddar tortilla filled with fried chicken tenders, lettuce, tomato, onion, shredded cheese, and ranch. You can also get this one “Buffalo style” but J’s not a Buffalo person. The size of the wrap was pretty large and there was a good size portion of chicken. She also got the chips and French Onion dip as her side .
The kids both ordered off the kids’ menu. L kind of goes back and forth between kids and adult menus. She’s at the age she really shouldn’t be ordering off the kids menu anymore but there were no options on the adult menu she liked.
L ordered the Mac & Cheese. It’s Kraft Mac & Cheese so she was really happy. She still doesn’t see in the irony in going out to a restaurant and getting Kraft Mac & Cheese when she can make it herself at home. Oh well. It at least stops her from throwing a fit and it’s always something she will eat. She chose the applesauce as her side.
B was sitting next to me, and again, because of the volume in the restaurant, J couldn’t hear what he ordered. I let him get what he wanted. A cheese pizza. But J was a little mad at me because he doesn’t always eat restaurant pizza. Turns out, he really likes Louie’s pizza. The kids’ pizza is a personal size pizza and comes with just cheese. You can add toppings for $.50 but B just likes cheese pizza. We’ve always really liked Louie’s pizza and ordered it several times for pick up during the pandemic from the Trophy House. We were actually all a little bummed that he ate it all because we all kind of wanted a piece but B proved us wrong and polished off the whole thing. He also chose the applesauce as his side.
My dad ordered the Chicken Tender basket and really liked them. These house made tenders are soaked in a buttermilk sriracha then breaded and fried. It’s always a good thing when he actually goes out of his way to say he really liked something.
My mom did the Classic Reuben. Pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Russian dressing on Rye. When she handed me her plate to finish off the chips, I picked up the leftover pieces of pastrami. I don’t like sauerkraut so I’d never order this but the pastrami was really tasty.
Our bill for dinner was a little over $80 before the tip. We all stuck to pop to dink and there were no appetizers so that kept it down some.
The consensus was pretty clear when left. The food was amazing. It always is at Louie’s. But the restaurant desperately needs something to deaden the sound.
SW Michigan Dining 