Thursday, February 14, 2019 // 3
READERS’ CHOICE AWARDS
SCRATCHPAD
Readers’ Choice winners, voters uphold region’s standards of excellence
Now presenting the
best of the coast
By ERICK BENGEL
COasT WeeKeNd
T
his special issue
of Coast Week-
end reveals the win-
ners of the 2018 Read-
ers’ Choice contest — the
annual celebration of
the best businesses, din-
ing options and activities in the
Columbia-Pacific.
In these pages, we highlight a
handful of winners. The ones who
coast
took multiple first-place awards
got the center-spread treatment
(see pages 14 and 15).
Though most readers — more
than 2,000 — voted online, the
dozens of write-in ballots
we received made a tre-
mendous difference, often
deciding first, second and
third place. In a few cat-
egories, first place was
decided by a single paper
ballot.
Last year, I offered some
cheery, egalitarian sentiments
about how everyone who contrib-
utes to our community — who
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
weekend
arts & entertainment
besT CLaM ChOWder ......... 14
BUSINESS
besT aNTIQue sTOre ........... 12
besT auTO shOP .................... 13
besT barbershOP ................ 13
besT bud ................................... 10
besT CusTOMer serVICe ... 15
besT GrOCery sTOre .......... 11
besT radIO sTaTION ............ 16
besT ThrIFT shOP ................. 12
besT COFFee ............................ 15
besT FINe dINING .................. 14
besT MeXICaN FOOd ..............9
besT PIZZa ................................ 10
besT barIsTa ..............................6
besT barTeNder ......................5
besT breaKFasT sPOT ............9
besT burGer ........................... 14
besT CheF ................................. 14
besT WINe bar/shOP .............5
ACTIVITIES
besT daNCe sTudIO ............ 11
besT FesTIVaL ......................... 17
besT LIVe TheaTer ..........14-15
besT LOCaL sPOrTs TeaM 16
besT MusICaL VeNue ....14-15
ON THE COVER
PHOTOS BY ROBERT HILSON,
COLIN MURPHY, THE LIBERTY THEATRE
FURTHER ENJOYMENT
FuLL LIsT OF WINNers ........... 4
MusIC CaLeNdar .................... 7
CrOssWOrd ............................... 8
CW MarKeTPLaCe ..........21, 22
bOOKMONGer .........................24
see + dO ..............................26, 27
COAST WEEKEND EDITOR
erICK beNGeL
CALENDAR COORDINATOR
sue COdy
CONTRIBUTORS
dWIGhT CasWeLL
KaTIe FraNKOWICZ
Gary heNLey
ryaN huMe
KaTherINe LaCaZe
barbara LLOyd McMIChaeL
edWard sTraTTON
breNNa VIsser
besT serVer ................................6
besT CheaP daTe .................. 17
DINING
strives every day to perfect the
part of the coast that belongs to
them — is by definition a winner.
I stand by those words.
Find it all online!
CoastWeekend.com
features full calendar listings,
keyword search and easy
sharing on social media.
To advertise in Coast Weekend,
call 503-325-3211 or contact
your local sales representative.
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That said, it doesn’t take a
keen sense of pattern recognition
to notice certain winners popping
up year after year. I wonder if the
time has come to shake things up
a bit. Maybe in the 2019 contest,
you’ll see some new categories.
For example: Best Barista Other
Than Kristy Cross. Now that
Cross has destroyed the competi-
tion seven years running, perhaps
we need to force voters to spread
the honors around a bit.
I kid, of course. It’s not fair to
punish the great for their great-
ness. Readers’ Choice is nothing if
not a meritocracy.
The people who vote and the
people they vote for are engaged
in the same project: upholding
standards of excellence. The own-
ers of a beloved local store and
voters who acknowledge the own-
ers’ outstanding efforts both help
make the region the best it can be.
The list of winners, runners-up
and honorable mentions (see Page
4) is a record of the people, places
and pursuits that our lives revolve
around. These are the makers of
memories and the keepers of qual-
ity in our corner of the world. We
all win because they have chosen
to be here. CW