Mazatlan: My Favorite Things...

Please meet Lety. She is the matriarch and namesake of our favorite spot in Mazatlan. Actually, Lety's isn't in Mazatlan proper, but rather a quick, cheap boatride across a narrow shipping and cruise-ship canal to Stone Island. Which, again, isn't actually an island, but a long, gorgeous, unspoiled-by-development, coconut grove peninsula upon which several families have built restaurant concessions for visitors like us. We originally discovered Lety's by recommendation from the realty people from whom we bought our little casita in Mazatlan. Stone Island seemed to be mostly a secret among the locals. Lety once told us a story where an English speaking friend of hers feared she wouldn't get a lot of business except for the locals. Hilariously, while Lety's English is quite fluent, she understood her friend to say that her only clientele would be the "locos". You can imagine her indignation until the misunderstanding was ironed out. The whole story played out like the famous "Who's on first" joke.

Lety welcomes her guests as if they are family to her. Indeed, her family surrounds her; cooking, serving, making their guests feel comfortable and welcome. And that's just the service part. The food is incredible. It is fresh, made the way you want it, and served with a sense of pride. This was our fish platter--no tomato sauce and just a sprinkle of salt.

I just love the orange slices with the lime halves making up the fish's eyes. The Fish-for-Two was grilled to perfection and served with several different salsas, including our new favorite--a dark vinegar and garlic and jalapeño sauce I wanted to drink right out of the bowl. Add to that a fabulous margarita (secret ingredient: a splash of Sprite added as a finish) and fresh, warm tortillas wrapped in a cloth napkin. I wanted them to adopt me.

Lety's does very little marketing of her fabulous restaurant on Stone Island. I know some cruise-lines recommend Stone Island and charge their captive audience a lot more than is necessary to get there. On your own, it's only $2 roundtrip for the boat to the "Island" and Lety's (about mid-beach--keep going till you see her sign) is nothing if not a great value where you will have a fantastic afternoon and become part of her family.

Oh, and the beach is out of this world. Indeed, Lety lives in paradise and I envy her and love her, too.