Good Times Lakeview Inn restaurant on Ballston Lake is truly a fine dining establishment, but we dropped by for a quick lunch the other day and can report that you don't have to spend a lot of cabbage for a good meal there.

In fact, we spent only $28.85, tax and tip included, and left satisfied and with a smile on our lips, though the birds were partly responsible for that.  It was a day when only fools and restaurant critics- I know what you're thinking- would venture forth, but we ignored the icy highways and soon found ourselves sitting not far from the crackling logs in Good Times' fireplace, perched in a cushioned wood booth with a commanding view of the snow-covered lake. 

FRIENDLY SERVICE
Our server was friendly and helpful, reciting the day's specials, drink specials and soups du jour- a ham and corn chowder and an intriguing-sounding tomato and cabbage medley.  Our temptress returned later to tell us that the desserts of the day included a white chocolate creme brulee, which we did not order despite my best intentions.

What we did order was an Indian spiced grilled chicken breast sandwich on toasted sourdough bread and a "topless" seafood melt.  I'm not sure what the topless referred to, but did notice that the menu also features a "Brothel Style Chicken Quesadilla."  I didn't ask why.  (Actually topless refers to the lack of a top slice of bread on what is considered a sandwich.)  We also shared a cup of the ham and corn chowder.

The chicken breast, with grill marks and a light charcoal taste, was tender and succulent, served with a light sauce on toasted sourdough with lettuce and tomato.  The subtle Indian flavors presumably come from the marinade.

On the side was a fresh medley of crunchy vegetables that I livened up a bit with some balsamic vinegar that was on the table.  There were also several slices of fresh English cucumbers on the side, whose flavor always evokes thoughts of summer in my mind.

My lunch mate's topless seafood- served over bread and drenched in melted cheese- was a flavorful medley of white fish, crabmeat, onions and sweet bell peppers with bread crumbs in a light "secret" sauce, all served on semolina bread.

The ham and corn chowder was rich and satisfying, but I wished afterward I had tried the tomato and cabbage soup, which piqued my interest.  Next time for sure.

Our server brought us a basket of warm sourdough bread that they make on the premises and some "crumbly-but-good" banana bread.  She was right on t both counts, and the sourdough was also excellent.  The restaurant occasionally has evening entertainment, including musicians, and on Jan. 21, Feb. 10 , March 16 and April 18, dinner  theater that they call "Mystery ont he Lake."

BIRDS TO WATCH
But the real entertainment, for bird lovers anyway, are the feathered performers who swoop in and out of view outside Good Times' big picture windows.  The owners have many bird feeders around the place, including a long trough that is dotted with bits of bread, and the birds just love the place.

We spotted a mourning dove, titmouse, sparrows, blue jays and even a downy woodpecker in the hour or so we spent there, all despite the freezing rain that kept coming down.

If all this didn't make it obvious that the owners are bird lovers, the point is driven home by some of the menu items.  There is a section for "early bird watchers," those who like to dine between 4 and 5 p.m.  The selections include the Humming Bird, which is triple cheese-stuffed shells, the Great Blue Heron, which is fettucini Alfredo, and the Gold Finch, which is eggplant Parmesan. 

Appetizers, which - like the entrees are a reflections of chef-owner Desiree Kelleigh's belief in "good scratch cooking"- include Saratoga Chips, which are homemade crispy chips with nacho cheese for $5.95 and "Murder Mystery Stuffed Mushrooms," described as tender mushroom cups gently stuffed with seafood, baked and topped with a light Chardonnay sauce for $6.95.

The owners recommend their homemade fried wontons, which are hand-wrapped vegetables with Asian seasoning and orange sweet and sour duck sauce for $4.95.

Dinner and lunch menus include many standard Italian-American entrees, but also some creative vegetarian and seafood dishes.

The restaurant was founded in 1973 by Don and Gloria Fabini.  Their daughter, Desiree Kelleigh, and her husband/business partner Hugh B. Kelleigh, took over in 1997.  Desiree notes with pride she grew up in the business, and it becomes clear as she talks about her goal of offering good and healthful food that it is a labor of love.

Good Times offers outdoor dining on a big veranda, in season.  The restaurant features early American-style decor and has a children's menu.

It is, in fact, kid-friendly to a remarkable extent;  tots who visit Good Times leave with a toy from the Kelleigh family, preferably "an educational toy," Desiree says.  I would expect they would enjoy the teddy bears in the bathrooms too.  I certainly did.

For most proprietors, having a murder or some other serious crime take place on the premises is a serious detriment to business. But one area restaurant has found that murders have become its biggest asset.

Good Times Lakeview Restaurant, which overlooks Ballston Lake in Saratoga County, has a colorful past. Built on the site of American Indian farmland, the building once served as a house of ill repute and then as a bar featuring country music. Today, the restaurant is the site of regularly occurring murders -- of the G-rated variety.

At least two times a month for the past five years, Good Times has served up a dinner theater, where diners become participants in a three-hour whodunit.

Second-generation owners Desiree and Hugh Kelleigh say having the only year-round murder-mystery dinner theater in the Capital Region has helped give Good Times an identity of its own.

"There are lots of things we would like to be known for -- the lake view, the homemade dishes -- but lots of restaurants have that,'' said Desiree Kelleigh. "But we are the only restaurant in the Capital Region that does this year-round.''

She inherited Good Times from her parents but came up with the idea for the dinner theater with her husband after marketer Kathy O'Neill suggested that the restaurant could use entertainment.

"Hugh and I would go out with the kids for family day -- and I love to go out for dinner and a movie -- but we found that it just took too much time,'' Desiree said. The Kelleighs thought that dinner and theater, a combination of the two, would work well.

So she hired O'Neill, a former English teacher with significant theater experience, to script, direct and produce the murder mysteries. O'Neill recruited a 12-member troupe, called the Mystery Players, and began writing.

"I went to see other murder mystery theaters in New York City and Boston to see what they did. They were mostly concerned with being Sherlock Holmes with detailed clues,'' O'Neill said. "I thought this was the way to go, but it didn't suit my style. I sought more audience participation.''

The end product of O'Neill's work, which she re scripts every few months, is comic, improvisational and participatory, with a base in a murder plot.

"By the end you will have been given the clues to a murder, but you also will have laughed, sung and danced,'' Desiree Kelleigh said.

Last month, Good Times renewed its exclusive contract with the Mystery Players, which states that the troupe cannot perform its murder mysteries at any other restaurant within a one-hour radius.

"(Good Times and the Mystery Players) have an arrangement that benefits both of us,'' Desiree Kelleigh said. "If we had to compete, I don't think the magic would work.''

The dinner theater, which the Kelleighs insist is suitable for the entire family, is held in an upstairs room at the restaurant and usually sells out its 70 seats.

"The room can hold 120, but I won't allow any more than 70,'' she said. "I want to make sure that no one has a bad seat.''

Regular dinner theater, which includes an all-you-can-eat meal, is $30 a ticket. Champagne dinner theater, which features more upscale meals, is $45 a ticket.

In the fall and winter months, Good Times holds two dinner theaters a month. During tourist season, the restaurant runs as many as 12 a month. The dinner theater also is available for private parties, which Desiree Kelleigh says occur almost as often as the public showings.

Based on the success of the dinner theater, the Kelleighs have brought other forms of entertainment to Good Times, including the Just Good Friends Comedy Troupe and Big Band Dinner and Dancing.

"The next thing I would like to do is a magic dinner show for Sunday matinees,'' Desiree Kelleigh said. "I just want to have any kind of show that have people leaving here with a smile on their face.''