Lakeview Lanes & Grill

Lakeview Lanes is my favorite place to bowl. Where else can you enjoy microbrewed beer and amazing food while bowling?! Service is great: I’ve been here a half-​dozen times and been treated well all of them. This place is great for families with children as well as young couples and groups. Lakeview Lanes is a great place to have fun while enjoying good food at fair prices. I recommend the spinach artichoke dip.

After glancing over the previous reviews I guess it’s safe to say this is either a place you love or hate and there’s not much of a middle ground. Obviously since I rate it 4 stars I fall into the love it category.
My review is going to mainly be about the food and staff, but I have bowled here a couple times in the past so I’ll mention that experience before I got sidetracked. It’s a small town and a small bowling alley so there’s only about 10 lanes (that’s an estimate so the real number may be different). I had my own ball and shoes so all I was interested in was the the lanes. Basically it was a nice bowling alley and I enjoyed myself and wouldn’t mind going there again. The only weird thing which my nephew also noticed was both times the pins seemed to have a lot more action that any other bowling alley. When our balls hit them they bounced around so much we both wondered if maybe they were trick pins made of rubber or something. It made for some amusing bowling so we didn’t find that to be a real negative. Due to an injury I have I can’t bowl anymore so those experiences were several years ago and if it was the pins that were weird maybe they’ve been replaced by now or maybe both times me and my nephew were in some way imagining this strange pin behavior? It was fun regardless so if you’re looking for some fun bowling stop in here!
OK, on to the really important part now the food! I’ve been here twice now in the last week and both times have been very impressed. I almost went to another more expensive restaurant down the street that I’d eaten at before and loved the pizza, but due to the cold weather I didn’t feel like walking further and the bowling alley was closer so I ducked in here and grabbed a stool at the bar. I had low expectations from a bowling alley/​bar/​restaurant and ordered a pizza with barbeque sauce, chicken, bacon and onion.
WOW! When I got my pizza it was a super thin crust as in like a tortilla instead of of a thicker crust. I love super thin crust so no problems there. The barbeque sauce was put on very thinnly which I appreciated since it’s flavor was there, but not overpowering like at so many other places that serve BBQ pizzas. Overall one of the best BBQ pizzas I’ve ever had. The reason I’m rating it 4 stars instead of 5 is the 2^nd time I went in and ordered the same thing the there was more sauce than I would have preferred so next time I’ll over it with light sauce and it should have me drooling over it again.
I overheard the bartender/​waitress bragging to a customer that their new chef made the best clam chowder so I pigged out and got a bowl of that too. To be truthful I’ve only had clam chowder a couple times before so I can’t say if it is authentic flavorwise or not, but I can say with certainty that it is by far the best I’ve eaten so far in my limited experiences.
The lady serving me was friendly provided just the perfect amount of service as in checking a couple times to make sure I was happy and didn’t need anything else. I like a server that looks out for me, but I don’t want to constantly be pestered too frequently and she was perfection in my opinion.
So the bottom line is regardless of whether you’re looking to go bowling, dine out or grab a couple drinks (or better yet do a little of all 3) check this place out and I think you’ll leave a happy camper!

A group of us, twelve to be exact, made a reservation for 8:00pm this past week. When we arrived, we were told, «yes, we received your call but we don’t take reservations.» Mind you, this was not stated on the phone.
Once we were seated, we had to wait a good fifteen minutes before ordering our drinks and then another fifteen for receiving them. We were all tired and hungry (and a bit grumpy). After our orders were taken, we were all just waiting around watching our drinks disappear and trying to tune out our grumbling stomachs. Our waitress was nowhere to be found. Eventually, she returned at 9pm to tell us that she was sorry our food was taking so long. Before she left, we had to ask her for refills on our drinks and offered us free chips and salsa.
Our group of twelve received ONE basket of chips and ONE bowl of salsa. ONE. We were all grumpy and some of us actually told our waitress that we had seen parties come and go who had arrived after us.
Then, around 9:30pm, we received our meals. We had to send two of them back since they were the «incorrect» orders. The food was sub-​par at best. They felt guilty about our poor experience and brought us a free shot, but it was disgusting. It was red bull, sugar, and watermelon vodka. Not my type of shot. Also, it was unfair to the women who were under 21 and those who were pregnant.
All that said, we left tipping very little and vowed never to return.

They have a sign out front declaring themselves a «best kept secret».
The bowling alley has a restaurant that wants to compete with the other restaurants in Douglas. They’re not really there yet.
I had a Black and Blue burger that came with grilled onions on it. I’m not really a fan of onions so I got rid of most of them and so OK, that’s what they do here.
The real deal breaker on the burger was the giant cold bun. They grill the onions but leave the bun stone cold, right out of the bag.
Fries were good.
Not really going here again. There are plenty of excellent places in the Saugatuck-​Douglas area.

Best pizza in town!

As a venue? It’s nice enough for a bowling alley. However, the staff and ownership are the worst I’ve ever seen. We rented it out for a rehearsal dinner, and it was great, until the local contingent wanted to bowl. From that point on, I spent the evening before my wedding fighting with the bartender (who lied to the owner and said I called him names based on what his regulars ‘heard’) and the owners, Blake in particular, who not only didn’t put his agreement in writing, but flat out lied about the agreement we made. In addition, we got charged 18% gratuity for terrible service, got harassed by a questionable waitstaff and lied to by the management. Luckily for us we don’t live here, so we can leave the ownership, staff and ‘regulars’ to their lives, which are quickly being encroached upon by people who own vacation homes and those who are serving to gentrify the area. This is a place that I wouldn’t go back to if you paid me, largely because it is owned, operated and frequented by small-​minded individuals who do not like outsiders and do not keep their word.

Nice staff but all but 2 lanes were broken and our lane broke in the middle of our game — need to buy new equipment instead of the used stuff they installed.

Good food. Good service. Fun/​casual/​laid back atmosphere whether you sit outside in their screened in porch or inside for bowling. «Biscuits and Gravy» pizza was simple and delicious. Carrot cake was unique but tasty. And most importantly it was an good option versus waiting for 3 hours to NOT get seated at other Douglas eatery. Thanks Dave for making a good evening great. Cheers to the staff at Lakeview!

Love this place! Again like others have said it’s really a restaurant with a bowling alley — and probably the classiest bowling alley I have been to. I was here briefly back in October on Halloween night and it was hopping with live music. I went back over Memorial Day and got to enjoy the fabulous screened in porch. It didn’t disappoint! It’s cool and breezy and the ceiling fans really make it nice. If you prefer to eat completely outside with no roof there is a small place to do that too. The food was tasty and the waitress was fabulous. Will definitely be going back!

Went for dinner on a Monday evening. When we arrived, the place was not busy at all. When we asked how he was doing, the guy who seated us replied, «horrible.» Trying to be funny, maybe? We sat in the screened in porch area (nice) and there were only 2 other tables with guests. However, I think at some point, it got busy with bowlers inside, because the service was VERY slow. It seemed that our waitress was also the bartender and also had to tend to the bowlers. Food was just ok… salad and chicken tenders. We wanted soup, but there was none available. They do not offer free refills on soft drinks. There are much better places to eat in the area, so I don’t imagine we will be going back unless the urge to bowl strikes us.

What could possibly make our experience at Lakeview Lanes any better? Nothing.
Hubby, friends and I spent New Years evening dining, drinking, bowling and watching the Rose Bowl at Lakeview. Everything was terrific from the friendly staff, food (Black and Blue Burger is recommended and the onion rings are GREAT), bowling including disco bowling, followed by karaōke and shots of «courage» because we are not bowlers but were giving it a good try.
Best of all? Non-​smoking environment! Thank you Lakeview Lanes owners for protecting my lungs.
We had a memorable evening with friends and we can not wait to go back.

I love this place! I hesitate to give it 5 stars, because I’ve only been there once. Our waitress seemed a little grouchy, but I can deal with that as long as it’s not the norm. My friend and I dined here for lunch, and the food was excellent. My dish was a walleye with vegetables, and it was very good. My friend had a greek salad, and she raved about it. They have an an excellent beer list, and the entire place has been re-​decorated in a really nice way. AND it’s non-​smoking– which is tops in my book. I haven’t tried the bowling here yet, but almost every lane was full when we were there. I will definitely be back!