While they have “brewery” in their name, they don’t have a license to operate a brewery yet….so they don’t have any of their own beers. The first thing I did was grab the beer list only to be pretty disappointed. This was great for us because we could let the kids run around a little bit with other kids whose parents had dragged them out to dinner while we were waiting for food. There is a large fenced in yard surrounding the patio that has space for cornhole games and even a private area with more picnic tables. It’s easy to sit and relax watching the water that sort of fades off into the horizon before giving way to beautiful sunsets during the summer months. The restaurant is not right on the water, but it does have a great view if you ignore the traffic going by on the road. The hostess took us through the bar area and out through the garage type doors that open up from the bar to the patio to a table on the large patio that looks out over Round Lake. It was such a gorgeous night that sitting outside was a no-brainer. We actually bypassed this area and went straight for the patio. On this Saturday afternoon, all of them were filled with college football and there was the occasional cheer as Notre Dame ran up the score. The bar is near the back of the space with TV’s hanging throughout. Off to the left is the bar area which has a much louder, more traditional sports pub type feel to it. There are dining rooms in either direction with one off to the right being a little quieter and more of a traditional dining room. The entrance along the side of the building brings you right in to the host stand. You don’t want to ruin that view of the lake (more in a minute). The parking lot for the restaurant is behind the building which make total sense. The restaurant is new construction built on County Road 690 just across the street from Round Lake. The Strand Brewery & Grill has only been open for a couple months in the unincorporated area of Keeler Township in Cass County known as Sister Lakes near Dowagiac. Dowagiac isn’t too far of a drive from Kalamazoo, so we decided to see if this place was as our good as our friends made it look. They put pictures up from a restaurant in that area that looked fantastic that neither J or I had ever heard of. The kids were being good and we haven’t really done that in a while, so she said yes.Ībout a month ago, some friends from Chicago vacationed at the Sister Lakes in Cass County. When we got home, I asked J if she wanted to road trip for an early dinner. We did the zoo pretty early and B fell asleep as soon as we got in the car so we didn’t go to lunch while we were in Battle Creek. We were disappointed at first because they lions appeared to not be out but we eventually found them sleeping at the back of the exhibit. On Saturday, we went to the Binder Park Zoo for the first time since the Lion exhibit opened. One of usually ends up having to work the holiday, but this Labor Day, we actually did get to spend the whole weekend together. J and I don’t typically get long holiday weekends off together.