6 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
READERS’ CHOICE AWARDS
BEST BARISTA
BEST SERVER
Kristy Cross,
The Rusty Cup
Kendall Padgett-
McEuen, Astoria
Coff eehouse & Bistro
ASTORIA
ASTORIA
By BRENNA VISSER
By EDWARD STRATTON
Runner-up: Chloe Cox-
Brown, The Rusty Cup, Astoria
Runner-up: Don Porter, The
Depot, Long Beach, Wash.
Honorable mention: Melissa
Cutting, ROOTS Juice, Java,
and Salad Bar, Ilwaco, Wash.
Honorable mention:
Michelle Pierce, Doogers
Seafood & Grill, Warrenton
E
ven seven years
of winning Best
Barista, Kristy
Cross, owner of The Rusty
Cup in Astoria, can’t put
her fi nger on the secret to
her success.
“I really don’t do any-
thing out of the ordinary,”
Cross laughed.
Perhaps it’s her rela-
tionship with customers,
whom she was serving and
The
Illahee
Apartments
K
Brenna Visser
Kristy Cross of The Rusty Cup has won Best Barista in Readers’
Choice seven years in a row.
greeting by name while
she considered the ques-
tion. One customer sitting
in the shop offered that it
was because she is good at
“keeping them in line.”
Whatever the reason,
it’s an honor she takes
seriously. “I’m excited,
because there’s a lot of tal-
ent out there,” she said.
Cross opened the shop
on Commercial Street in
May 2004, and ever since
has worked to cultivate a
“family feel.” In addition
to its reputation for a good
cup of coffee, the shop
also offers soups, wraps,
sandwiches and baked
goods.
“I really do love this
job. It’s like you get to
hang out with your friends
all day long,” Cross said.
“I really am grateful.” CW
endall Padgett-
McEuen, who
works at Asto-
ria Coffeehouse & Bistro,
is repeating as Reader’s
Choice’s Best Server.
Padgett-McEuen won
last year as a server at
the Bistro’s younger sis-
ter restaurant, Carruthers,
where she worked since
its opening in August
2016 and her husband
Wade was sous chef. For
the past nine months,
she has exclusively been
with the Bistro, where
her husband is now head
chef.
“It’s very surpris-
ing, and I’m incredibly
honored and grateful,”
Padgett-McEuen said of
the honor. “I don’t sup-
pose any of my tactics
Pacific Family Medicine
Katherine Merrill, MD & Angela Nairn, MD
Thank you
for voting us the
Best Apartments
1046 Grand Avenue
Astoria, OR 97103
503-325-2280
We are honored to be chosen as
two of the top five local physicians
in the Coast Weekend Reader’s
Choice Awards.
It has been our privilege to care for
local families over the last 18 years,
and we look forward to continuing
for many years to come.
Warmest regards,
Dr. Katherine Merrill &
Dr. Angela Nairn
2055 EXCHANGE ST., STE. 190, ASTORIA • (503)325-5300
Edward Stratton
Kendall Padgett-McEuen, a server at Astoria Coff eehouse &
Bistro, won the Readers’ Choice award for Best Server.
have changed.”
She shares the winner’s
circle with Cory Teubner,
who took home Reader’s
Choice’s Best Bartender
honors. Padgett-McEuen
credits she and her cowork-
ers’ popularity with the
owners allowing employees
to be themselves.
“I believe that the
encouragement to be our-
selves and interact and react
is unlike a lot of other estab-
lishments,” she said. “There
isn’t a script. It’s very can-
did. I think people can see
that and appreciate that
there are real people inter-
acting with them.”
Padgett-McEuen moved
to Astoria as a teenager
from Santa Cruz, California.
She moved to Seattle for
several years before return-
ing about 11 years ago to
Astoria, where she met her
husband. Before Carruthers,
she worked at T Paul’s
Urban Cafe. CW
Thank you for voting us
Best Barista
7 years in a row!!
1213 Commercial St., Astoria
503-325-8265