Americans (i.e., U.S. citizens, to distinguish between other residents of North and South America) have long bemoaned the disappearance of “Mom and Pop” shops – those locally-owned stores from a now long bygone era. Even author John Steinbeck, in “Travels With Charley,” chronicling his last tour around the United States in 1968, railed against the proliferation of corporate franchises and the loss of regionalism.

Today we accept, and many feel secure in, the sameness from town to town of familiar places: fast-food joints, chains of restaurants and bars, big-box stores, franchise services of all kinds. But here in Mexico, despite the fairly-recent infiltration of supermarkets, department stores and the likes of Office Depot and Mailboxes Etc., towns and big-city neighborhoods are still largely served by hard-working local entrepreneurs; shop owners in hole-in-the-wall stores or even on the street.

Here are a few I’ve enjoyed patronizing in San Miguel de Allende: