During our summer travels we stayed just across the Black River from Captain Lou’s in South Haven, Michigan. Despite Yelp reporting that the bar and grill was not good for kids, my wife and I decided to stop in for an early dinner one evening with our early school aged children.

Across River

Captain Lou’s sits right on the river so you can watch the boats come and go. It is directly next to the drawbridge which opens up every half hour to let the large boats through. So there is certainly plenty to see and occupy the kids with.

Outside

Nearly all of the seating at Captain Lou’s is outside on docks. We grabbed a table as close to the water as we could, but ended up toward the back of the main dock. I imagine in the heat of the summer this would be a very popular place and be filled to capacity often. I did notice a back section of outdoor seating that was already closed for the season.

“Inside”

For dinner I had the drawbridge turkey wrap with fries and a pickle spear ($9.50). Nothing remarkable sticks out in my mind about this wrap. I did appreciate that they put it on the grill for a minute to try and crisp up the outside. It actually could have used another minute or two of this.

Drawbridge Wrap

My wife went with the perch tacos  with chips and salsa ($10). The chips and salsa were average at best, but she said that the tacos were good. They were packed with plenty of fresh perch. I did not try the tacos but from what I’ve read these are one of the more popular items on the menu.

Perch Tacos

My son had the cheese burger with fries ($7.50). This was a high priced kid’s meal, so maybe that is why this place gets flagged as not kid friendly. They do offer a limited kids menu, and there are plenty of fried appetizers that should provide something for even the pickiest eaters.

Kid’s Burger

This was a fairly pleasant experience with a good outdoor dining experience. The food was average to good. I would like to see more draft beer options, the bottle selections didn’t seem to be the freshest. Overall it was not my favorite place in South Haven but a good time was had by my family.