Lakeside is a great place to live and visit for people who enjoy dining out. There are literally hundreds of restaurants to choose from and a huge variety of menu options. But it seems it has been a tough year in a usually strong commercial sector.

Some regular diners lament seeing many places often filled with empty tables, with fewer customers than normal at the peak snowbird season. A small but growing number of well-established restaurants have or will bite the dust as 2025 comes to a close.

One example is El Charro, a nicely appointed dining spot in the heart of Ajijic that offered a standard menu and some enticing specialty dishes from central and southern Mexico. The proprietor made several style adjustments before throwing in the towel earlier this year.

El Sombrero, conveniently located off the main highway, couldn’t make a go of it either, closing down several months ago. D’Shanti, a lovely place in west Ajijic, offering an excellent menu and attentive service, is the most recent casualty, folding this week after losing a great chef due to health problems.

Management at Route 104, a gourmet restaurant located on the outskirts of Chapala, has announced they will shut down at the end of January because they simply don’t have enough customers to stay afloat.

So, what is going on? With a growing population and plenty of local tourism, it certainly isn’t because of a lack of potential clients. The two most probable factors are inflation and too much competition.

Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.