Best restaurant in restaurant row

I am looking for recommendations for best restaurant along restaurant row east of San Juan Cosala
Thanks in advance, Heem

We are new Lakeside, but living in SJC we're also very near Restaurant Row. Just recently my wife went on a date to La Cima (the one up on the hill above the carretera). Dude! The food and service was very good and the 180 degree views of the lake and mountains were awesome!! Nice garden setting under the huge palapa. You know it's good and affordable when you're surrounded by GDL couples and families. Highly recommend.

Jubilacion wrote:We are new Lakeside, but living in SJC we're also very near Restaurant Row. Just recently my wife went on a date to La Cima (the one up on the hill above the carretera). Dude! The food and service was very good and the 180 degree views of the lake and mountains were awesome!! Nice garden setting under the huge palapa. You know it's good and affordable when you're surrounded by GDL couples and families. Highly recommend.

That would be my recommendation also, just turn up the hill from the carretera where the row is.

Nice garden You know it's good and affordable when you're surrounded by GDL couples and families. Highly recommend.[/quote]

It's been my experience surrounded by GDL couples and families has little to do with good food lakeside.

I really have not found a restaurant on that stretch that I like, for years now. However, that has caused me to stop going, also for years, so any of them could have improved. Still, I have not heard anyone come back recommending even a single one.

Hey, Kiddo, there are no 'dudes' here; just old hands. Really old, Kid.

ComputerGuy wrote:I really have not found a restaurant on that stretch that I like, for years now. However, that has caused me to stop going, also for years, so any of them could have improved. Still, I have not heard anyone come back recommending even a single one.

I think their target market is towards Mexican family's who like the loud blaring music that is part of "the ambience and atmosphere" for eating out ..just not my thing

Lakeside 7, you asked for a nice place and I shared my review. There was no loud party music or wild GDL kids up the hill at La Cima. The garden area and restaurant are very nice and the view is awesome. You can accept my advice and Slainte's too, or someone who said they haven't been to restaurant row "for years now".

Your reaction is far too sensitive. He said nothing about your post. I said nothing about your post. I made it very clear what someone could take from my comment by including "for years now". Relax. Life is good. Sort of.

I was not about to cloud your report with my own experieince. However, since I am here again for this, I will now tell you that we went to Cima three years ago. The view was fantastic, the food mediocre, and the service unsatisfactory. We never went back.

lakeside7 wrote:

ComputerGuy wrote:I really have not found a restaurant on that stretch that I like, for years now. However, that has caused me to stop going, also for years, so any of them could have improved. Still, I have not heard anyone come back recommending even a single one.

I think their target market is towards Mexican family's who like the loud blaring music that is part of "the ambience and atmosphere" for eating out ..just not my thing

Well, let me qualify my opinion.  With 6 grand daughter from 10 yrs to 22 from Guadalajara that love "loud blaring music???" , I guess I qualify for "just not my thing" when we went, BUT 4 of us, all octogenarians, also went at another time , and both groups on both ends of the spectrum enjoyed it immensely. El huachinango entero, dorado, crujiente is the best I have found in the Lake Chapala area, almost as good as it is in Ocho Tostados or La Barracuda in Puerto Vallarta.
Last visit was 2 weeks ago, so it is dated…...
 Just relax, enjoy the view, pretend the food is good, and come home happy. Life is short.

We have not eaten at La Cima but we have had lunch at three of the restaurants on the row. Views were great, service so-so and food mediocre at best. I have never until now ever heard anyone brag on the food found on the row. The GDL people go there for the views and probably don't know where the better restaurants are to be found lakeside. This is fine with me I don't like noisy restaurants and I would just as soon not have a lot of kids running around and making noise.

La Cima got the prime location because it got the most Michelin stars in Piedra Barrenada ranking of restaurants.
Hell, I don´t know, but they got the best view.
You can always go in through the Raquet Club and get an even higher view at a couple of more restaurants but you need binoculars to see the lake level.  

Thanks everyone. I have been to La Cima, great view, food Okay. I have been to Las Olas, one nice thing there is I could park in the shade so my dogs would be comfortable. Dogs are not coming this time so Las Olas is out. I am going to give La Iguana a try. The setting seems very nice. It's my wife's birthday so hoping the food is 3/4 as good as the view.
For our anniversary we went to Yves and had a very nice dinner. The steaks were very good.
Unless you can eat a lot consider sharing an entree there.

Passed it a bunch of times, and it does look nice. Let us know how the food and atmosphere are. Enjoy!

Just had dinner at La Iguana. The food was very good as was the service.
I would definitely recommend this restaurant.

Jubilacion wrote:Lakeside 7, you asked for a nice place and I shared my review. There was no loud party music or wild GDL kids up the hill at La Cima. The garden area and restaurant are very nice and the view is awesome. You can accept my advice and Slainte's too, or someone who said they haven't been to restaurant row "for years now".

With respect it was not me who asked the question...also I would not include the place on the mountainside La Clima "in restaurant row"

My mistake Lakeside 7, I apologize for that. I'll disagree though that La Cima is on Restaurant Row, their driveway is directly across from La Iguana

lakeside7 wrote:

Jubilacion wrote:Lakeside 7, you asked for a nice place and I shared my review. There was no loud party music or wild GDL kids up the hill at La Cima. The garden area and restaurant are very nice and the view is awesome. You can accept my advice and Slainte's too, or someone who said they haven't been to restaurant row "for years now".

With respect it was not me who asked the question...also I would not include the place on the mountainside La Clima "in restaurant row"

It´s La Cima, not La Clima

They are most definitely in the "restaurant row", as their entrance is directly off the carretera in the middle of the row, on the mountain side, as are a couple of other restaurants on the mountain side, there in Piedra Barrenada.

But....the "row" is on the lake side of the road, not the mountain side, so La Cima (the summit) is not part of the row of mediocre restaurants.

Since there is officially sanctioned definition of that "row", I would include any restaurant on both sides. There are, in fact, at least two other restaurants now on the mountain side right across the highway. And there will be more.

ComputerGuy wrote:Since there is officially sanctioned definition of that "row", I would include any restaurant on both sides. There are, in fact, at least two other restaurants now on the mountain side right across the highway. And there will be more.

Absolutely, either side of the same carretera, the common denominator, is part of the row, all with the same access road.  The couple of restaurants up higher that has to be accessed through the Raquet Club, are not part of the "row"
I guess RV thinks they all have to be on the lakeside and not over a certain elevation above lake level???
Telephone poles going straight up the hill could never be in a "row" either.    

ComputerGuy wrote:Since there is officially sanctioned definition of that "row", I would include any restaurant on both sides. There are, in fact, at least two other restaurants now on the mountain side right across the highway. And there will be more.

I counted 3 yesterday with another soon to open on the mountain side and that did not include La Cima.  This is all in the area of Piedra Barrenada, which is all accessed by the carretera.

slainte39 wrote:

ComputerGuy wrote:Since there is officially sanctioned definition of that "row", I would include any restaurant on both sides. There are, in fact, at least two other restaurants now on the mountain side right across the highway. And there will be more.

I counted 3 yesterday with another soon to open on the mountain side and that did not include La Cima.  This is all in the area of Piedra Barrenada, which is all accessed by the carretera.

Sadly, I left out the KEY WORD in my comment, which was "Since there is NO officially sanctioned definition of that row...", but it looks like yourself and everyone got my meaning.

There might not be any officially sanctioned definition but all the restaurants are in the area of Piedra Barrenada which cannot expand any further east or west, only to the mountain side, as the lake side if practically full. I included all the restaurants in that stretch as they can only be accessed from the carretera.

We have tried most of the restaurants on "restaurant row". La Cima has the best view and probably the best food unless you know someone at one of the others. When I say best food.....it still is not that wonderful although you can find something reasonably good there if you make good choices and of course it takes a bit of experience eating there before you know what you will like:/ It is a great spot though to take visitors because the view is spectacular. We don't eat out often as I am a picky bitch about food. We do have a friend that owns one of those restaurants however on the lake and if he is there we occasionally stop and he will make sure we get something that is quite good. Otherwise these restaurants are great for a drink with a wonderful view and maybe a snack but that is about it:/ Some of them are great if you have kids with you however and if it is one with stuff for them to play they will love it:-)