Lakeside is a paradise for people who enjoy dining out.

Any restaurant that allows customers to seat their pooches at the table and nibble from their plates is definitely scratched off my list of places I care to dine.

Back in the early 1970s, before the area became so flooded with immigrants and tourists, the choices were limited. Chapala had just a few established restaurants on the map: La Viuda steak house, the original Beer Garden, the Superior, Hotel Nido lobby dining room and a spattering of waterfront seafood joints, all offering menus of standard fare.

In Ajijic options were essentially down to La Posada Ajijic, El Tejaban and Gordo’s taco stand,  followed by the additions of Italo, the area’s first pizza parlor, Armando’s La Cabaña and El Mesón de Andrés Ibón, the first to introduce international and gourmet dishes. Most are now long gone.

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