Lakeside is a country store mainstay, and makes what are arguably the best cider donuts in the greater Capital District! Those donuts get shipped and flown cross -country, and are the first food item requested when someone comes home. This is family owned place, which creates lasting family memories for their customers. I've been going for breakfast every Sunday since 1986, and worked there summers during my high school years.

Shown here are apple and raspberry turnovers, which are airy and melt in your mouth. Just a touch of course sugar or drizzle on top brings out the natural sweetness of the fruit filling. Also shown is their very dense, very moist chocolate slab cake with buttercream frosting. Not for the faint of heart! This piece could be shared by 3 people, and is an annual birthday request by my mother, who swears she doesn't "do" wheat or sugar 😉.

Lakeside bakes their pies fresh daily, and always have a nice selection to accompany their daily lunch specials. My favorite is the strawberry rhubarb pie, or the seasonal peach shortcake, to go with my Lakesider sandwich ( grilled roast beef and bacon and Muenster, with slaw and Russian dressing on top, served on your choice of toast). The dining area and country store invoke homey imagery of a century ago, with a woodstove, farm tables, locally crafted home goods and food items, penny candy, local maple syrup and honey, deli counter and bulk produce baskets.

In the autumn, head outside to the Apple Barn for fresh picked apples and pressed cider, made right on site. Catch the Apple Witch in October, and enjoy fresh, hot cider donuts and mulled cider from the donut trailer while soaking up the last of the Indian summer sun and delighting in the fall colors around you. Relatively new is the Old Farm House, which has been turned into a local artisans' gift "emporium," so to speak. If you're heading in or out of the Adirondacks, you must take exit 11 and spend an hour or two here for breakfast, lunch, dessert or browsing!