The Lakes Bar & Grille

This place is very deceiving from the outside. It’s in a little strip mall so doesn’t look very fancy but when you step in, it’s gorgeous! The décor is comfortable but looks upscale. The lights are a little dimmed which makes for a relaxed ambience.
My husband and I just stumbled upon this place one day and it’s become one of our favorite spots. The burger is one of the best if not, the best, burger I’ve ever had. Every dish we’ve had here has been delicious and they don’t skimp on the liquor either. Nice selection. From the décor, ambience, food and service, this place has it all. If you haven’t been there, I highly recommend it.

A nicer place in town, great steaks and bottomless baguette. I fairly large seafood menu, it was hard not so go with fish, but steak won my heart. The service felt very professional as well. I really enjoyed having a nice family dinner here.

Hot waitress. Fit body. Good Chili stuffed burger. The place was alive on a Sat night, which is a good sign. Lil pricy but guess that’s all relative.

My buddy recommended this spot so I took my girl here for dinner. Did NOT disappoint!
From the outside it looks like a typical Waterford/​Commerce bar but inside is well decorated in an upper crust kinda way. Fireplace, a nice big bar, air conditioned wine closet and intimate. I made a reservation just in case and showed up about an hour early. They didn’t receive my reservation but I showed them my confirmation email and they quickly wrote me in.
We settled in at the bar for a beer and before I could even get mine, they had a table for us. Excellent!
We sat at a little two top and sipped our beers as our waitress had already addressed us. I recommend everything we ordered!
Started with the Honzo shrimp, which was two shrimp skewers stuck into a slice of whole pineapple, with an Asian infused coleslaw on the side and a buttery Sriracha dipping sauce. Absolutely amazing! Talk about flavor and deliciousness. We also split a cup of vegetarian black bean soup, which was also amazing. They also give you a loaf of bread, which again was great.
Main course was a 10 oz flank steak with grilled Yukon yellow potato fingerlings and some steamed veggie medley. Soooo good! My date got two grilled breasts of chicken with veggies and redskins surrounded by some deep fried Apple pieces sautéed in rum. Fantastic! Even the beer list was great. I could not say enough great things about this place. I will come back and bring more and more people to enjoy their delicious offerings.

Don’t let the strip mall exterior set up fool you. It’s extremely comforting inside despite being small, so I’m all for the atmosphere of this small bar and grille. The draft beer was delicious, with a solid options menu. The best of the experience was their stuffed burgers and hospitality. Not only was the food arrived to us hot and delicious but the waitress was extremely kind and never intrusive in asking how we were.
I fully plan on visiting again and trying more on their menu and beer options!

Worst dirty martini in my life. It was not dirty just bad. Sent it back came back just as disgusting.
Asked the waiter 3x before he brought silverware. Caesar salad was covered in dressing made it inedible. I wanted desert but I figured it would be screwed up as well.

I have never had a bad experience here. Rather it’s ordering out or dining in it has always been amazing! The owners are awesome! Always friendly and the quality of the food is superb! Get the turkey burger!!! You’ll thank me later.

Really good turkey burger. I can’t review a whole lot because that’s just about the only thing I ever have when I go to this place. It’s really the best turkey burger I’ve ever had. The atmosphere is nice.

I think this place does well because there aren’t many options in commerce. I have been there a handful of times. At least half the times I have been there I have been given a dirty wine glass. You know, where you see lips on the edge of the glass. The last time I was there I wiped the glass myself with a napkin and asked for a clean glass to pour the wine into. I did this because the bartender had an attitude so I didn’t want anything unexpected added to my drink if she was so inclined. There was no concern given to needing a new glass. Last time there, my husband’s meal was luke warm after waiting awhile for it to be served. I don’t think they can handle the rush when things get busy as they get busier when school is back in session. I always hope they will have changed their standing menu when we go but it’s been the same since I have lived in the area.

We had my baby shower here and it was a great experience. The service was great, and the food was excellent. The fries, regular and sweet potato, were a hit among the guests. Definitely recommend for events and casual dining out. The chicken caesar wrap was really good!
The ambience is beautiful, modern lighting, brick, fireplace, and table cloths. It’s very welcoming and definitely a surprise from the strip mall look outside.

Turkey burger is amazing. Packaging for carryout was upgraded and service is perfect

My fiancé and I decided to stop here because we wanted to try a new restaurant. Unilocal score is basically an average for food, service, décor/​atmosphere and overall experience.
Food:
3.5 out of 5
We had the crab cake appetizer — it was just, ok. Not necessarily the best but also not bad either. The sauce was good but the actual crab cake itself seemed a little mushy. to me. I ordered the turkey burger for my entrée and he had the half slab of ribs with the Carolina sauce. We noticed a few interesting things… my burger, which tasted good overall had the most overwhelming salty taste after chewing it for about 6 seconds. I could not for the life of me figure out why it was so salty! I think the veggies (cucumber and coleslaw) helped to tone down a bit of the saltiness, but had it not been for them, I don’t think I could’ve finished the meal. My fiancé said his ribs were good and that he enjoyed the sauce, there just wasn’t enough of it. He asked the waitress for more on the side and the sauce she brought out was ice cold, almost as if it came right out of the fridge. Not sure if that’s just how it’s supposed to be, but we definitely found that a little odd. For dessert we enjoyed the Nutella hazelnut torte which basically tasted like a «cake» version of a Ferrerro Rocher candy — would definitely recommend.
Service:
5 out of 5
Out waitress was named Sarah and she was very friendly. In addition, she was attentive and made sure we knew what all of the specials were for the night. She checked on our table regularly and made sure drinks were full. No complaints!
Décor:
4 out of 5
From the outside this place almost looks like a coney. We’ve actually driven past this restaurant multiple times but never looked twice at it bc it just sort of fades into the background. The decorations inside are really nice and it’s very comfortable overall. I did notice up front and back towards the kitchen they have these almost shower curtain like curtain/​drapes hanging down, almost as though they’re replacing walls, which I didn’t really understand. Overall atmosphere was laid back and casual — making the perfect setting for a diverse customer base.
Overall experience:
4 out of 5
I’d recommend this place to a friend and would definitely be willing to give it another try in the future.

Went again last night — happy to report they are back on track. Quick, attentive service & both of our steaks cooked to perfection — filet for my wife & NY Strip for me. Good cocktails & wine as well. Yay!

This is like your neighborhood cheers. Not only is the food great but so is the atmosphere. Great staff great ambience great food. All right in the neighborhood! What more can you ask for?

My mom and I stopped here for a quick lunch on a whim. It’s nearby my apartment and I’ve seen it a few times.
From first sight I thought it was going to be a diner-​type bar and grill. It’s in a a little strip mall with a small sign that doesn’t really catch your eye. When we walked in I was pleasantly surprised by a small but chic little restaurant. The prices seemed a bit high, but we decided to give it a try.
I got the soup of the day (clam chowder), my mom got chili, and we decided to split an order of calamari. They first brought out some fresh and warm bread, which was great. We got our soups and calamari at the same time. Everything was very good and flavorful. The chili came with little bowls of cheese, sour cream and jalapeños and the calamari had a great sauce on top and was full of flavor. The clam chowder was thinner than I usually like, but made up for it in flavor.
I will definitely be back!

Surprised how LONG it took to receive our food. At least 40 minutes. No attention from the waitress during our waiting. Empty water glasses for 20 minutes. Food arrived and no checking from the waitress how our food was. Potato croquettes good but needed tons of salt! Stuffed burger good but not great.

USED to be my favorite place for a special night out, but due to my third bad experience I am regretfully abandoning this former gem. :(We went on Christmas Eve. ALL comparable restaurants in the area were full, but Lakes was «empty» when we called (bad sign?) We arrived & it was in fact empty. Our waitress, while not rude, was not friendly at all. She took our order & did not offer soup or salad, which my starving companions would have ordered if offered. The bread, which was delicious, took forever to come out. Our waitress DID show up and apologize for the delay. My $ 30 piece of Sea Bass eventually arrived, but was small & flat, about half the size of my palm. My fork immediately hit 3 bones, then I realized it was FULL of bones. I picked out over 14 in half of the tiny filet before giving up. I didn’t even taste it for fear of choking on one. Our waitress, standing literally less than 3 feet from our table chatting with a coworker, completely ignored us after serving the entrees. No check to see how things were. Our waving was ignored & had to wave down the hostess seating another table to finally get her attention. She did offer another piece, which took so long my companions were finished with their meals and then some by the time my second tiny filet arrived. Unfortunately, this time 2/​3rds of it tasted like an ENTIRE bottle of table salt had spilled on it. My companion, who’s motto is to never complain, tried a piece for confirmation. He felt his mouth had been coated in salt. He did say that his pork chop (well done — ordered mid-​rare) had good flavor even if not cooked as requested. I had to again flag the waitress down (no table check once again) and have her take away the fish. No apology or inquiry, just an eyeroll. She brought our bill, which had the $ 30 piece of uneaten fish on it. When I said that wasn’t right, I got the worst sneer I’ve ever encountered. I had to request the manager, (who should have been involved when filet #1 went back) who DID take it off the bill.
I have had 2 other bad experiences here (1 meal, 1 terrible waitress) but was willing to keep coming because the food is usually good & I love the atmosphere. I’ve ignored other family & friends who have abandoned them due to bad wait staff (some are GREAT-​but 1 or 2 need a career change), slow service, & hit or miss on food quality, but this trip was unfortunately my last. I will pay a higher price for a good experience, but after 3 strikes, my former favorite is unfortunately out. Hopefully the owners will make some much needed revisions for future patrons.

This is a hidden gem in a strip mall, they are usually VERY busy on the weekends so the word must be getting out! This was the third time we came here, the previous two times we just didn’t feel like waiting an hour for a table.
The ambience is nice at this restaurant, the table was nice and roomy. We started out with their crab cakes. The presentation was very nice and the flavor’s were great. I ordered their NY Strip steak, it had good flavors but the quality of the cut seemed a little uneven, a ¹⁄₃^rd of the steak was cooked as I had ordered it, the rest of the steak was slightly overcooked. It tasted good though. The veggies and the potatoes I ordered with it was very nicely flavored.
My wife ordered one of their specials, chicken florentine. I tried it as well, it was very good, juicy and lot’s of great flavor. The presentation was really awesome.
The service was good throughout, a little slow on the refills of our drinks but it was a Friday night and they were quite busy so that’s understandable.
We’ll definitely be back here. SOON!

Don’t let the strip mall façade fool you — Lakes Grill has a sophisticated, intimate atmosphere with a food and wine selection that will keep you coming back!
There’s a list of reasons why this place is a top pick for date night — or any other night for that matter. But if I had to narrow it down to my top three they would be…
#3 The ambience. It’s classy, romantic and welcoming.
#2 The drinks. They have a fantastic wine list, beer selection and very creative cocktails.
#1 The turkey burger. Yes, the #1 reason I LOVE Lakes is their turkey burger. This baby is covered with smoked gouda cheese, applewood smoked bacon, sliced cucumber, cole slaw & chili mayo. To die for.
There are menu items to fit any budget. Appetizers are priced from $ 6.95-$ 10.95, soup/​salad from $ 3.95-$ 9.95 and entrees from $ 9.95-$ 29.95. Regardless of the price point — all options are delish.
Lakes Grill is on the smaller side but they have done a fantastic job with the layout — so instead of being cramped, it feels cozy and quaint. With oversized booths and a beautiful décor, Lakes has a romantic vibe that makes for the perfect date night setting.

Had the firecracker chicken & pasta and so did my bride.
Coffee was excellent which says a bunch. Everyone at the party was very happy with tier meals.
Fish and chips was excellent and recommended by others at out table
Ate here 10 over the years and has always been great!