This place reminded me of my youth. The food was made from scratch and really tasty. Walleye dinner, pork tenderloin were great and lightly battered. We started with a basket of onion rings which are enormous! They were really good too. Twice baked was good and the tater tota were crunchy but tender. Really nice dinner, and the service was excellent. One thing to note is that this was the first place I have been in 30 years that allowed smoking in part of the restaurant. In Illinois it isn't allowed anymore so we were surprised when we walked in the door. We did walk through the smoking section on our way to non-smoking and it definitely was aromatic where we ate. Still a really nice place, especially if that doesn't bother you. read more

Local place filled with local people so you know I had to go! The fried chicken was some of the best I've had in a while. If you're near the area, it is well worth it. read more

Chances 'R' - Fried chicken, mash and gravy - American Near Me - Laurie, Missouri

Wow. Great place. Will be back. We both got the chicken fried chicken n gravy. 5 stars Mashed potatoes n gravy 4 stars Onion rings (Huge!) - 5 stars Dinner salad - 3.5 stars Deserts - chocolate-chocolate cake...5 stars - peach cobbler 3.5 stars Service - 5 stars Overall would give 4.5 stars read more

The food is good and the service is pretty good Ambiance is terrible because of the smoking I just don't get with these people don't understand about having a dining room off a bar and smoking is leaking into the dining room they do have a smoke eater but it doesn't seem to be working well so if you have an issue with smoke and around your food this is not the place for you read more

Great local restaurant with great food and great prices for what you get. The chicken fried chicken is huge and is about the best you'll find anywhere. I'd suggest sharing it unless you're just a huge eater. I'm 6'5" 240 lb big eater, and I'm happy sharing with my wife. Fried chicken is also pretty good. They have a breakfast buffet on Saturdays but I'm not a huge fan of it. They have great specials on Friday nights (maybe Saturday too?) for Prime Rib and all you can eat boiled shrimp. It's great to have local places like this with good and good prices. read more

Chances 'R' - Chicken fried Chicken - American Near Me - Laurie, Missouri

I find comfort food to be my favorite type of cuisine. The service was excellent. The onion rings were generously portioned. It's an ideal location if you're seeking home-style cooking. read more

The first thing you'll notice, when you walk in the doors is the heavy smell of cigarette smoke. Nothing special here. Think 70s restaurant. Tons of fried foods. Weight staff seems really tired. We had the chicken fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Onion rings were delicious. We did get the peach cobbler to go. Very Dowie and two slices of peaches. Nothing spectacular. Definitely convenient if you're at the lake. Also has a large bar next to it. read more

Chances 'R' - Dessert - American Near Me - Laurie, Missouri

When we walked in and smelled cigarette smoke, we should've turned around and walked out. There is a no smoking room, but there are two open doors between the two rooms. I had the grouper and sent it back because it wasn't cooked enough. It took forever before it came back and it was still inedible. This is the last place we would ever eat again. read more

When I was a kid in the 70's and 80's (shhhh don't tell) I would go to some of the best locally owned, small business restaurants where you were family from the first visit to the last. More and more, chain restaurants have taken over and it amazes how long patrons will wait for some mass produced, microwaved knock off meals. It's one of the greatest tragedies in food. Imagine my exhilaration when I happened upon Chances 'R' this past March! You can smell the magic from the parking lot! After three trips, I decided it was time to review this spot. Steaks cooked to order - juicy and have that chargrilled smokey flavor! All you can eat boiled shrimp (and they mean it) was FIRE! My FIL loves the liver and onions (that's a no from me) and all of the sides are perfect. Salad, loaded backed potatoes, onion rings to-die-for, burgers are awesome, and rolls. Seriously, this spot is a holdover from the "good old days" of family-owned steakhouses and restaurants. You really don't want to miss this one. read more

Chances 'R' - the menus for the game - American Near Me - Laurie, Missouri

In town for a girl's trip. Went on a Friday night. We feasted! All you can eat shrimp, prime-rib, chicken fried steak, cheeseburger soup...it was all delicious and from scratch. We brought a bottle of wine, they opened it for a nominal charge. The owner was busy, but super engaging with all of the customers. My friend got cheeseburger soup for her "birthday treat". We came back sunday for brunch and we bought every last bit of cheeseburger soup they had :) read more

Service was great, food was spot on. Ambiance is laid back, part smoking bar with table service . Other half non smoking restaurant. Best of both worlds. Considering breakfast tomorrow on my birthday here . read more

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First time trying this place out tonight.... Hands down one of the best burgers I have had. Burger had a nice char and the flavor was fantastic. The bartender pours a night double Jameson on the rocks and the beer is ice cold. The service was fantastic as well and they know most people by name. The fries and chicken strips are fantastic as well. I would say my only advice for the Karen's is that they do allow smoking in the building so don't go if you cannot handle a little smoke. For me it was not bad at all and I am not a smoker... well cigs anyway lol. My buddy had the ranch chicken wrap and it was also fantastic. I will return tomorrow to try out a steak. I had two carried by me and they looked amazing. I will update tomorrow. read more

Chances 'R' - Bacon Double Cheeseburger no veggies - American Near Me - Laurie, Missouri

Hot wings were just ok. Hamburger was good. Service was decent. They had a smoking side with no door to the non-smoking side, so the smoke was being forced from ceiling fans on high to the non smoking side. If people want to smoke let them sit in the smoke sealed off from the non smokers. 3.5 % credit card processing fee. I paid cash. read more

Awesome mom& pop dinner spot. Smoking and non-smoking separated. You can smell a little bit but it's doable for smoke sensitive. Staff is so sweet! Our meals were homestyle goodness. One hang with the locals here!! read more

Chances 'R' - Onion rings - American Near Me - Laurie, Missouri

My first time here, Popped in for lunch. Sat on the no smoking side and really could not smell any smoke. Ordered the Chicken sandwich and wow it was very tasty. It was a large portion and I took 1/2 of it home. Service was fast and waitress was very nice and friendly. Very enjoyable!! read more

Larger-than-expected hole-in-the-wall with a great menu and dedicated clientele. Courteous servers and a well-stocked bar. (They have Licor 43 and serve a full spread of drinks using it, to include mini-beers!) Expect it to be packed during peak hours but you might be able to get in an hour or so before close, or call ahead for a table. I've been through about half the menu now and I'm starting to think everything is good here. read more

For the very few options in the area, this is a popular spot. However, it just wasn't for us. It is a smoking venue, and we knew that, but still opted to stay since we're hungry from the drive into town. Just know that if you're sensitive to smoked this is not the place for you. The smoke was so very thick even in the non-smoking side. The service was nice,, and draws many locals, so it was a friendly atmosphere. The food was very average, definitely someplace to stop when you need a meal but not the preferred pick. read more

Absolutely the best fried chicken on the Westside. I came from Kansas City where Stroud's was the King of chicken and this meal blew Stroud's out of the water hands down. Basically, I got a half a chicken, mashed potatoes, basic salad and roll and then topped it off with a slice of Lemon merengue pie all for $20. On a Saturday night! Yeah, I pigged out, but it was totally worth it. The review says San Francisco, but I'm from Sunrise Beach. Couldn't edit read more

Grouper is one of my favorite fish to eat and they have it! Onion rings are delish too. (Princess) Diane was our server and she was truly amazing. We made sure to let the manager kn read more

One of the very best local restaurants on the west side of the lake. If you are ever in Laurie. You must check out Chances R bc chances are you'll want to come back! read more

They have Friendly employees. Owners and managers always on site to make sure you had a good visit.. Great food. Fun atmosphere.

Saturday at 10:30. We were greeted and seated quickly. A buffet is available, however we ordered off the menu. The food was served hot, quickly and 2 or 3 people checked on us to make sure that everything was good. We would definitely come back on any Lake of the Ozark visit. read more

Chances 'R' - American Near Me - Laurie, Missouri

The food is good, service is fine, but we always leave with cigarette odor on our clothes. If they would go non-smoking, I would give them 5 stars. read more

Food is always good, maybe not the best of everything, but it's consistently good. The service is fine. The restaurant is loud and smokey, but the price is great and again the food is decent. read more

Great food. Niceish people. Clean place. Can take up to an hour to get food if it's busy.

2 stars because the service was good - chicken strips are the pre-frozen kind, sides weren't special for what you pay. Smoking is allowed in the restaurant (there is a non smoking side but it still deals of smoke over there). read more

We heard that Chances R was giving out Easter lunch of Ham, mashed potatoes, green beans and a roll. They was helped by Hyvee in Osage beach, Sysco of KC, and Lake of the Ozarks TV Station. Thank you so much for the Awesome meal. Blessings to you all read more

- recommend: prime rib medium rare (comes in several sizes, large $19) - they made me sauteed mushrooms as a side dish even though its not on the menu - our waitress was attentive and personable (anne-marie) - doesn't take reservations - had to remove one star for the smokiness of the restaurant (even in the non-smoking section) read more

Just had a great lunch with a real estate client and enjoyed their fried chicken with mashed potatoes and brown gravy, soft roll and side salad! It was wonderful highly recommend this Lake of the Ozarks Missouri restaurant especially when you are buzzin around looking for your new lakeside home here! read more

Chances 'R' - Donna Joerling Lake Realtor Lake of the Ozarks enjoying the best fried chicken and mashed taters at the Lake!!! Reminds you of Sunday's - American Near Me - Laurie, Missouri

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We were here twice in one long weekend trip for breakfast. Food is decent, nothing amazing just standard breakfast. They do offer Bloody Marys and my husband tried one - not a fan. We didn't try the buffet because we knew we'd never eat close to $12.95 in breakfast food to make it worth it. BOTH mornings we had the same waitress and I'm sure she was as happy to see us as we were to see her LOL The entire place was run by 'older' women and one older man with the exception of the omelette girl at the buffet - the man filled up the buffet quite frequently. The hostess was a sweet lady ( having a hard time walking around due to her foot or knee surgery and she apologized for being slow ) our waitress was like Roz from Monsters Inc - gravely voice and no personality add that to her larger frame and WOW! read more

Really good food good onion rings and Philly steak sandwich and lobster goons were good to I would go back ........................... . read more

Chances 'R' - American Near Me - Laurie, Missouri

This was one of those "WHY WON'T MY iPHONE WORK!" type situations. If I could have had even one little bar of signal, I could have hopped onto Yelp and found somewhere else to eat. But since we couldn't, we stopped at the first place we passed that offered up breakfast. Unfortunately, that was Chances R. The parking lot was packed when we arrived, so we assumed that their breakfast buffet had to be pretty delicious. At $7 a person, it was definitely reasonable. But ultimately, it was a disappointing experience that I don't think I'd ever be bothered to replicate. Not when we passed 3 other breakfast spots on the highway after our meal. So, this place is a bar. A bar you can still smoke in. Attached IS a non-smoking side where they kept the buffet and had a number of tables. It was packed, so we sat on the smoking side. Bummer. Something about people drinking and smoking at the bar at 10 AM makes it hard for me to enjoy my waffles 10 feet away. Now the food: my biscuits and gravy were pretty much amazing! I'd put them at the top of my list of best ones I've ever had, so serious props to them for that. Also, my cinnamon roll wasn't half bad. Basically, anything baked was tasty. People told me as well that the omelette station was good, though I didn't try that myself. Unfortunately, the fruit all looked old and in poor quality, the diced potatoes were just sad, and the eggs were off. They had plastic containers of generic cereals like "rice puffs." The various crock-pots were cracked and with broken lids, giving the whole thing a sad potluck vibe. So, it was probably worth my $7, but I'm not one to really EVER want a $7 breakfast. I would gladly pay more for a cleaner environment with better food. And next time I will. read more

Nailed it...! The only Sunday breakfast buffet on the West side that stays open till 1pm. Crazy happy staff ready to serve. They figured it out. Be open, have good food, happy staff and customers will come. Very satisfied. read more

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We love this comfort food restaurant and always very consistent. Great onion rings and friend chicken! Have never had a bad meal in 15 years. Friendly neighborhood service. Nothing fancy but just darn good food read more

Good food, reasonable prices, I had the Fried Chicken and it was very good, my husband had the Chicken Fried Chicken and it was huge. We will be going back for the chicken as it is hard to find good fried chicken here at the lake. I would have given this place 5 stars, the bar area looks very nice and fun, but the smoke from the smokers is overwhelming!! So if you don't like to be smoked out eat in the dining area! read more

I bet that if you're a local, you know this place. That's the kind of atmosphere it has. Food wouldn't compare to that of a fancy place in a big city, but that's not a fair comparison. It hit the spot. read more

The food is great but the cigarette smoke is unbearable. I know the Ozarks is a bit slow to join the 21st century regarding no smoking regulations but this is ridiculous. The No Smoking section is literally right next to the Smoking section and the ventilation is non existent unless somebody opens the door. Reminds me of the old saying that having a No Smoking section in a restaurant in akin to having a No Peeing section in a swimming pool! Reminds of the casinos and, no, I don't go there anymore either. Too bad. read more

First time trying Chances 'R' and it was delicious. We had the fried mushrooms as an appetizer and they are hand breaded and fried and very good. I had the chicken fried chicken and mashed potatoes and was overwhelmed with how large a portion they give you. My husband got the fish sandwich and was loved it, again a large portion. We left very full and I had enough leftover for lunch the next day. We will definitely be back to try them again! read more

Been going to Chances R for over 6 years now. We were pleased the first time we went there back then and still pleased today with the quality of food and services we get today. Can honestly say that we have "never" had a bad meal in all of this time. The Chicken Fried Chicken, Chicken Fried Steak and Pork Tenderloin dinners are fantastic. Reasonably priced on their menu items. Highly recommend this place, don't think you'll be disappointed. GO, NOW if you're hungry! read more

Best liver and onions except the ones I fix but still best ever out good service and you can smoke also. Like going back to the good days