Captain Lou's in South Haven - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Our server was very sweet and attentive. The food is a little pricey but the atmosphere is worth the price.

Great view and food!!! Highly recommend!!!

Omg what a fun place! The food was excellent. I had the fish tacos. Those were the best ever! The place is just so much fun. Especially watching all the boats go by. The music was great. What a beautiful day we had. Definitely will be back! That was our first time. Loved it! Wish I would have taken pictures...waszmŕ a

Music on point - Food on point - View on point - Drink ? Ya on point !

Great food with a perfect location. The perch was awesome. Thank you 👍

We stopped in here to listen to some music and listen to the very entertaining singer--great vibe and entertaining singer...left our $ mark!

Nice place for a bite and drinks

Good place but. It's not cheap.

Love this place! They just need to serve their delicious salads with real forks. Small flimsy plastic doesn't cut it.

Fish was good server was excellent. 25 and under crowd after 7 on eeekends.

Always good if you like a waterfront vibe,on nice days it can be hard to get a seat,it's very popular place

Great place to eat. We've always had good food here. We had a new waitress this time, she wasn't as attentive as the ones we usually have. She forgot about our food, we finally got it 45 minutes after ordering and it was cold as a stone. We had to find a different waitress to send it back because she put it on the table and disappeared. The replacement food was great, just like always.

They couldn’t get a seat yall lost customers

The fish basket is still good and amazing great atmosphere, and good service. The only major issue I have with the place is parking. It was not easy, but it’s Southhaven so there’s that.

Service was good but food was terrible. The oil in fryer needed to be changed. The fried shrimp, onion rings & tater tots were soggy. My friend & I think the frozen food was thawed prior to cooking.

I joined friends from near and far. We had a fantastic meal with lots of sun and pictures to remember the occasion

Great place right on the water! Good food. Great service.

Only high top bar tables so if you need a high chair or booster, don’t bother.

Very delicious food, people are friendly,

First time visiting. I really enjoyed the fish tacos! -- I got it with Cajun seasoning and the Cajun flavor was enjoyable but not overwhelmingly hot. --The chips and salsa were a bit generic and not enough. Fruity cocktails were very medicine flavored but the atmosphere and good weather made up for it!

Cool place to grab lunch on the water. The food was good. It was really busy and the only table was in the full sun, so it can get quite hot. I’d just recommend coming a bit early and grabbing a table on the water.

Atmosphere and service was great. The food was good but nothing special. The bathrooms were a bit too gross for the kids.

Great place for a dinner and drink.

Great food, prompt, friendly, efficient service all on a busy Saturday.

Fun place to eat, at 3pm! Probably way more crowded at dinner time! Food for kids and adults.. all 11 of us got in and seated at 3 tables, but they were all in a row. Would eat there again! Shrimp baskets and tacos were very good!

The lake perch was great!! Big serving of perch filets and French fries!! Can't wait to get back there.

Not dog friendly despite a large outdoor terrace. Would be nice had they posted this information on their website

I visited a few weeks ago and was pretty impressed. Good food and good vibes. When we went, the place was just opening for the day at around 11am. I found the parking to be incredibly difficult. If you are not a boater or visiting the maritime museum then you must park across the street by people's houses or go across the drawbridge to the downtown area. When entering the place, there are many different parts to sit. You can sit outside by the river or you can sit inside where there is a bar and there are dollar bills hanging on the ceiling and walls. Keep in mind that there is not a lot of space and you are kind of crammed in. There is another bar where you can sit but it was not yet opened when we arrived. For food, we got the southwest egg roll for an appetizer and they were excellent. They were perfectly bite sized and had great texture. They were very flavorful also. I ordered the cajon perch and they were very big and filling. They were cooked to perfection. I really couldn't taste the cajon on the fish though. Keep in mind, that this place is a bit pricey. And while I did not drink alcohol at this place, it seemed as if making a night of drinking here would not be very feasible if on a tight budget. With that said, there is definitely a party vibe at this place. I ate here when the place first opened for the day. Into the night hours, I'm sure it's a much more upbeat feel. Overall, the place is not perfect. I totally get why someone would rate this place lower than 5 stars. The parking, high prices, and party vibe would definitely be a turn-off for certain types of people. However, in my personal experience, the food was very good, the service was prompt and friendly, and the atmosphere was very vibrant.

Awesome establishment. Cold beer, great atmosphere, live music, on the water way.

By the water what can be wrong? Nothing just the excitement of been in a nice seating enjoying the beauty of those boating passing by.....

Can’t speak for the food as I’ve not eaten there before. Captain Lous has a really fun night scene in the summer with a live band or DJ

Bouncer tried to take our real IDs and our buddy is a first responder and although you have to be 21 to be a first responder in Illinois he tried to take the ID would never come back, very slow service

Great atmosphere and a good pick if you want food on the waterfront (along with some fun ducks and geese to look at) food was a bit pricey and nothing to write home about (I personally got the shrimp basket, the breading was subpar). If you want high quality seafood I would look elsewhere, but if you are looking for atmosphere it's a great pick

Great spot right on the water - awesome summer vibes!

We came at a busy time and as our party was a little big we couldn't sit together. Not the biggest deal but a little disappointing. Food was good, just a little pricey. The shrimp tacos were amazing! And service was okay. Again, busy time.

Fun place! Good drinks and food.

Whole restaurant was sticky and a bit gross. Atmosphere was as a very weird mix between a restaurant and a bar. Food was alright. Service was decent but I would not return

Looks like it's more about the bar than the food, but was pleasantly surprised by a wonderful fried perch basket.

The view was the best part of our experience. Burgers only come well done and were just ok; however not worth $16! Bathrooms were dirty and smelly. Prices are not reasonable. Two tacos with only chips and salsa for $17…total rip-off! House salad without any protein for $11…outrageous! Basket of fries or tater tots $8…are they crazy?! Beer only comes in 12 oz. bottles (or cans), no draft beer. So, you are basically paying the same as most other restaurants and breweries that serve 16 oz. drafts. One of the young girls serving the bar area was wearing a super tight pair of spandex short shorts. Her buttocks were clearly and distinctly defined and showing. As were here private parts. Should never be allowed in a family restaurant. Owner should be ashamed of himself for allowing this pornographic dress. We highly recommend you skip Captain Lou’s and visit one of the other local eateries. We had positive experiences at all of the other places we ate at in South Haven.

Oh man..where do I start? We got here on Monday evening, (6/24/24) and we had a large party of 5 adults, and 3 kids. We seated ourselves on the top deck, and ordered drinks. Took a while to get our drinks, ordered food took an hour and 15 minutes to get our food. About 30 minutes into our wait for food they began playing loud music on the speaker directly above our table (it was not on when we originally sat down) and when we asked to change our tables really rude server told us they don’t allow that once the order is placed. Said she’ll lower the volume, never happened. We literally couldn’t have conversation because of awfully loud music. We had to yell. Upon repeated requests to change our seats, another server told us we can change, and we sat across and that was a little better but still pretty loud. Once our food finally arrived, it was cold, burgers were disgusting, dry, and tasteless. We paid over $200 for our food, they tried to add two extra drinks onto our bill which was pretty shady. After we got back home to Chicago that same night, all 4 adults who had burgers got food poisoning. Vomiting, stomach aches, cramps and..well you know what else comes with it. Still feel under the weather two days later. I guess this is the reason why their burgers only come well done, but that didn’t save us from the food poisoning. Bathrooms were dirty and smelly. I can’t believe this place has such great reviews. What do these people normally eat? Never again will we step into this nightmare of a place.

Fish is the in town. Service is ok very busy.

Great food and great service! A little hot with the sun blaring on you and the table umbrellas are for show only.

Eric and his crew nail it every time with their perch basket, pier wrap, tots and friendly bar service. Watch the bridge go up and down and relax at SH best waterfront property!

Love love love! Great food and awesome atmosphere. Family friendly environment and staff is excellent. Would definitely be a go to while in South Haven.

Big view of a Big Bridge . . AND GOOD FOOD! Two Thumbs Up To Lou!

Great food great view of the draw bridge

Good management could do wonders here! Went at 3:00 pm still took 45 minutes to get our meal.Fish basket was good but not worth the wait. Had to ask waitress for everything we needed! She never came back to check on us. Finally, a fish restaurant without a fish sandwich - go figure. Too many choices to go back there.

Nice large portions of foods. Fish basket was obviously one of the signature dishes.

Great food. Ok service but to be fair they were busy. Food came out fast!

Came here to eat while visiting MI, this place did not disappoint. Beautiful views while eating, great atmosphere and the food was delicious. Definitely somewhere I would eat again.

Might be a nice place. Had to walk quite a ways. No parking at the location....even for handicaped. Very small. Get there early or stand in line....and wait.... And wait. Ended up leaving before a table opened up.

Not a great place to get caught in a rain storm. Not their fault, but not set up for it at all. Food was ok, but servers were doing a great job trying to keep people happy.

Atmosphere, service, drinks, and sweet potato fries- all excellent! The burger on the other hand 👎🏼 I don’t recommend- that is unless you like a well done burger. I asked for it to be cooked medium & they said they can only cook well done burgers..I decided to risk it and go for it anyway- my mistake! In my opinion, if you can’t cook a burger to people’s preference, then at least offer a smash burger for a juicier option for people with that preference. My husband tried to order an old fashion and apparently they don’t use/have bitters which seems odd and like a very normal thing to have on hand at this type of place, but he was able to make do using orange slices. Overall we had a good experience & would go back, I just wouldn’t get the burger again. Photographed; the blue cheese burger with no bun (per my request) & sweet potato fries

They did not allow us to put on sunscreen! Nothing new from this kind of service ….

Great food, location, and service. Can't believe how fast everything came out and they were busy.

Went here during Covid and a person projectile vomited on our party and then tried to fight us when we got the bouncers involved. The bouncers then told us we needed to leave saying the person was not drunk and we were at fault. A few years before that my wife went and the bouncers folded her ID in half ruining our vacation. They offered us nothing in return until we threatened to have the police show up for destruction of govt property. (Good thing we did not fly to MI and have to go thru TSA)

Captain Lou’s is definitely a fun spot on the water in South Haven and a must if you’re looking for a lively spot on the Black River. I opted for their famous Fish Fry dinner, and it absolutely did not disappoint. Paired with Cole Slaw, which was fantastic, the service was also great even when it was rather busy on opening weekend. Can’t wait to come back!

Website showed open every day at 11am. Got there at 1:30pm on a Monday and all entrances were blocked by bar stools. Looks like a good place for boat watching if you can figure out when they're actually open.

Vines are vibin. 💯‼️🙌 great place to be right now. Very different from my home (AZ).

Dirty run down poor service very poor service and food was not good! 2 bud lights, a tray of Chip, fresh from a bag 3 ketchup size containers of dips, jalapeño bites so hard you could not bite into them. 38.72. Sat for 1 hour, no one checked on us or offered to get us another drink. Horrible

Had this for lunch after a trip in the Lindy Lou. Was able to get a table overlooking the river, and had the really good Famous Fish Basket. Had it “Cajun Style”. Fun Reggae versions of popular songs could be heard throughout.

I was here many years ago. I now find that all is the same fun place that I recall. Sunny day with all the outside tables full. I enjoyed a basket of fried perch with fries as I sipped a Corona. Service is fantastic. I returned the following day when it was cooler. One server went out of her way to assure that I comfortable. I also enjoyed watching some football.

Always great food! My wife loves the basket of perch!! A must visit!

The captain Lou’s fish dinner is a 5 star meal. The staff split our meal, half Cajun half regular. Atmosphere is very lake style and wait staff is friendly.

Owner was absolutely amazing, great food and decent service. Went for our wedding dinner and he took care of us even when we came back later that night, he brought all of our drinks. Thank you so much.

Original review from 2021: 5 stars! Updated review from 2023: 5 stars! Great drinks (we've tried most of their menu now, beware that some are deceptively strong), good food (great fried fish, the upcharge for tots with any meal is worth it), sweet location (easily walkable from the beach or downtown, some tables offer a nice view of the river), fast and attentive service (without feeling rushed). Some seating areas are a little crowded when busy, so if that bothers you make sure to choose carefully when picking a table during/near peak hours (it's "seat yourself"). Background music leans a little more modern/pop than the decor and name suggests.

Captain Lou's is always a highlight of my South Haven trips. We always go for the drinks which are cheap and decently strong. The bartenders are pretty on it during busy times too. Also be sure to bring cash for cover if you're visiting at night

The drinks were fantastic, the food was incredible and you cannot beat the location. I had the fish wrap and Captian Colada. Both highly recommended

A fantastic little hideaway under the drawbridge on the Black River

Been to Captain Lou's 4 times now and each time I've gotten the perch dinner and it has been so good. Easily the best perch dinner in town. Drinks are also very good and it's right along the river, what more could you ask for

Great little pub feel, but it's located on the water. Beautiful view of Black river & South Haven.

Didn't eat here,had $12.00 Screwdriver that was supposed to be a double shot!! Tasted like plain Orange juice.. wasn't thrilled about it..

Loved the fish basket, the drinks and the live music!

It was $88 for 4 people for lunch

Great place to sit outside, right on the water, and watch the boats go by. Decent beer and cocktail selections.

Not a lot of seafood for a seafood place right on the water but the fish tacos were pretty good and the Cajun style was actually spicy.

I've been to this place twice now and I love it. The food is always top notch and the drinks are too! Staff is very friendly and helpful, food and drinks take a little while to come every time I've been here but that's to be expected when this place and how busy it always is, well worth the wait!

Parking was not easy, the view is amazing! The staff is great! The food is delicious!

Excellent place to eat, drink and be merry!! A little bit pricey on specialty drinks but great atmosphere.

Nice bar food, fun location on the water at the drawbridge, and live music. Just a great place to have fun with friends.

Nicely poured top shelf Long Islands🧃

Food was ok, bar food, fried etc. While our waitress was nice and very attentive with drinks it took well over an hour for us to get food. It was a week night at 730-8pm.

Mediocre at best. Had high expectations of this place based on reviews but for $100+ for 2 kids and 2 adults we would have been better off at at Culver’s. The experience started good. Sat down right away (seat yourself) and got drinks. Appetizer came out quick. Then we waited. Food took forever and when it came it was cold. Cold fries, cold tots, cold fish. My son had a burger which was still mildly warm but it was nothing special. My other son had a chicken finger kids meal and we’ve had better out of a bag from Costco. It was not that busy and they never refilled our drinks or checked in to see why we had been sitting there so long without food. Check was the same, took 20 minutes to pay. Again, not that busy. I will say the perch basket was good but the cold food and bad service kinda ruined the whole thing.

Me: searches definition of mid… Google: go eat at captain Lou’s

One of my favorite waterfront places. The river and view of the drawbridge are scenic and it this is a fantastic place to relax on the river. The fish is amazing and filling. The only drawback this time was they decided to upcharge for tots, even though the menu said tots were no upcharge. Try to stop each and every time I'm in town!

Incredible spot all throughout! Right on the water, with self-seating encouraged in a nice, open, rustic space. Service was great, with awesome drinks and very good fresh food. You can tell these guys do things right even based off the simple things like their crispy onion rings, and even the side pickle that came with my fish sandwich. Highly recommend!

Didn’t eat, but the staff was great and really nice! Had a good time with friends!

Fantastic food. Awesome atmosphere. Great service. Our food came quickly and tasted amazing. My only issue is that we were a party of nine (5 adults, 4 children), and they wouldn't let us split the check. So be prepared if you're going in with a group of eight or above to pay one check.

Didn’t even step foot in here because of how uninviting and unprofessional the door staff was on Saturday night. If you aren’t up for a bachelorette party, just say that up front. We were told cover was first $5, but then “no it’s actually $10, wait $20,” and we decided maybe this wasn’t a stop for us. After one person asked for her cover back so we could leave, a man in a Captain Lou’s shirt walked out and told us “white b$&?)$%” to go home. I’ve never felt so unwelcome for trying to patronize a local business. No need to try again.

We hadn't been to Captain Lou's in probably 10 years. We remembered a great location on the Black River with a fun atmosphere. That part hasn't changed, unfortunately the food has. We both ordered Lou's Famous Fish basket and it was overpriced and awful! They served us a strange species of fish they call a "Pike-Perch", nothing like the great perch baskets they used to serve. No thank you, MUCH better options elsewhere with actual Perch!

Nice place to hangout with cool views of the canal that leads to Lake Michigan

Location was great, food was so-so, bloody mary was weak, and plenty of camel toed servers to go around.

Captain Lou's is a great option. Perch Tacos were flavorful and fresh. You must order the refreshing sangaria. Love the pop of coconut in the drink. Server was awesome during a very busy time. Love sitting right down on the boat dock!

Food was good and service was as well Perch was very good and large portion will come back when I am back in the area.

The food took over an hour and of the six people in our party 4 of us had cold food and none of us were too impressed with what we had. The club sandwich was quite bland. I don’t normally leave poor reviews but over an hour for cold food when Applebee’s for the same price has better food is disappointing. Parking is also hard to find as the restaurant’s parking has room for 3 cars and the only other parking is across the bridge.

This is pretty standard fare for a tourist town. The wait staff was good but kitchen is super slow. Took about an hour to get tacos and a burger and it actually wasn’t that busy. It’s not super clean but honestly that’s probably too much to expect from an outdoor lake front restaurant so I’m not going to judge based on that. I will say the fish tacos were good. Really crunchy fried white fish with a good sauce. Chips and salsa were a waste. I would say good place for drinks and a little food with friends if you have the time. I would not come here with hungry kids unless they are very patient.

Great service, friendly staff, and for sure delicious food!!!

I ordered the shrimp tacos and they’re amazing. My friend ordered the tots and they were classic tot goodness.

Outdoor dining is a must if the weather allows. Food was exceptional.

Highly recommend the perch dinner. Large, flaky, lightly breaded sweet (not fishy) pieces of perch. So good! Fun atmosphere and drinks. I almost hate to write a review because the restaurant is always busy already. Very casual. Looks like a dive bar, but it’s not. They’re not bothered by kids, but don’t expect high chairs or accommodations for them. We’ve also have had the fish Rueben, fish tacos and bang bang shrimp tacos and all were good.