Lakeside is a paradise for people who enjoy dining out.

The sheer number of restaurants currently in operation is such that you could eat at a different one every day of the year without repeating the same place twice. It’s hard to keep track as new spots open with astonishing frequency, while others fold or change hands in the wink of an eye.

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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