Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Denham Springs

Cozy atmosphere, great service, good food!

I was initially seated right next to the bar area that smelled musty, but my server was very kind and sensitive to my concern. I was brought to another room which (perhaps unintentionally) was perfect for me. It was quiet, well-lit, and away from the bar area.

Nothing about the food was impressive, but it is certainly quality cooking that's worth the money.

The food came out hot, fresh, and fast. The Big Mike burger with sweet potato fries. It's a whopping half-pound of beef cooked to order (I chose medium-well because the chefs err on the side of medium, which I'd also accept) with two kinds of cheese, bacon, and mushrooms, on top of everything you'd normally expect in a burger: lettuce, red onion, pickle, tomato, mustard, mayo. Ketchup on the side if you want that too. The sweet potato fries were prepared well - not greasy at all, the right amount of crunch, rich in flavor, and lightly salted.

The burger, which had drawn me in with it's long list of toppings I enjoy, did end up being too much for me. It came out medium (I know medium-well is hard to pull off, so it's okay), and the toppings stayed between the buns surprisingly well considering how stacked it was.

So here's my personal experience with the burger that ultimately doesn't affect my review score, but can be helpful advice for others:

I should have had a simpler burger, but I don't regret the choice. The beef, cheese, and mushrooms were easily the best part of it, and I would have taken those with just pickles and condiments if I had a second chance. The lettuce and onion added extra crunch I didn't fully jive with, and the tomato added extra bulk and water that unnecessarily competed with the beef's thick juiciness. In other words, it seems I truly wanted a mushroom and swiss burger instead. That's nothing to fault the restaurant for.

My only complaint would be that I wasn't told beforehand that swapping my fries for sweet potato fries would be $2 extra. I was surprised by the bill, and that's never a good time for me or my server. I didn't make a big fuss about it. I'm normally hitting up buffet-style restaurants, so maybe it's normal for that to happen and I'm just the greenhorn of the situation.

I was just passing through with a hankering for a burger and sweet potato fries, so I might not be back, but it's a comfortable local place for great food at a good price. I'd recommend this little hole in the wall over something like Chili's or Applebees any day. Get yourselves some good local food y'all; it's a worthwhile upgrade from the crowds and the lackluster service at your typical national sports bar &...

I dined in tonight and ordered the Big Mike's Platter with a baked potato, fried ribs, fried pickles, onion rings, and a pepperoni pizza. Unfortunately, the only tasty items were the fried shrimp, fried pickles, and the pizza. The boudin balls had a sour taste and the ribs and onion rings were over done and just not good. The baked potato wasn't edible, it tasted like it was cooked way earlier, got cold, then reheated. The pizza was really good and had lots of cheese. My daughter liked the fried fish, but I didn't care for it. We let our server, Hailey, know how everything was and she wasted no time trying to make it right. She did an excellent job and provided top tier service. The manager (didn't catch her name) came to apologize and ask if there's anything else we wanted and what she could do to make it right. She explained there's a new fry cook and she could tell by looking at the food that it wasn't cooked to their usual standard. She adjusted my check for the items that were sent back with no issues. I've eaten here before and had good experiences, for the most part. I would give them another chance even though this visit fell short of our expectations. I appreciate the excellent customer service and some days are just off in the kitchen, especially when...

The Good: Appetizers are ok, we had chicken wings, boudin balls, sausage plate, and cheesy bread. Everything was good but the boudin balls were kinda wet in the inside. Good for Baton Rouge boudin balls, but not good compared to Lafayette/Scott boudin balls. I would say the wings were better than Dominos, not as good as Pizza Hut. Everything else was meh. The pizza seems to be the best thing on the menu, it looked good and tasted good. Other things ordered at the table included a fried shrimp wrap, caesar salad, and an angus burger which were all called either “ok” or “good”

The Bad: the Double burger was awful. The other burgers may be different, but the double burger meat tastes like it came in frozen with a chemical taste to it. Their system of taking orders isn’t good because several items were brought to our table that were not ordered and a lot of what was ordered was incorrect. They are also careless about refills, by Sprite refill came back to the table clearly mixed up with the sweet tea that was also ordered at our table. We ate in the Saints themed dining area which has a great look, but really stinks of dust and mold. I think this cause my mouth to be dry before we had even got any of...