Well, what do you know... Many of you are rather opinionated about food and libations in Spokane, and we think that's awesome. Hundreds of you voted, and we'll be revealing the top six in each category over the next few weeks, in addition to a bunch of other odds and ends that jumped out on us.
This year we put in place a voter threshold of 25% for each category, meaning a spot will only be counted if 1/4 of the voters in the category scored it. This wasn't much of a problem, but we will also feature a special list with spots that didn't hit the threshold, yet still received high averages.
For now, let's start with the two first categories: Best Bakery and Best Coffee Shop!
| 1 | · | Boots Bakery & Lounge |
| 2 | (6) | Madeleine's Cafe |
| 3 | · | Chaps/Cake |
| 4 | - (4) | Petit Chat |
| 5 | (2) | Rockwood Bakery |
| 6 | · | Sweet Frostings. Blissful Bakeshop |
(Granted, we split up bakeries and coffee shops this time, so last year's placings don't entirely make sense, but anyway...)
Boots hits number one with a bullet, and I doubt many would be surprised about it. Alison Collins's baked goods are fairly legendary, and it's great they now have a true brick and mortar bakery (and lounge!) dedicated to them.
Madeleine's made a good jump up, closely followed by Cake and the semi-newly expanded Petit Chat. Rockwood and Sweet Frostings rounded out a list without many surprises, but still serves as a good reminder of some good local bakeries we have in town.
As for the coffee shops...
| 1 | · | Coeur Coffe |
| 2 | (1) | Atticus Coffee and Gifts |
| 3 | · | Boots Bakery & Lounge |
| 4 | (5) | INDABA Coffee |
| 5 | · | The Shop |
| 6 | · | Cannon Coffee & Cone |
Coeur and Atticus fought it out pretty hard for a while, but Coeur ended up dominating pretty well in the end. Surprising? Not really; while us here at Team SpoCOOL hit both Atticus and INDABA fairly frequently -- as we all should -- Coeur really is our go-to spot.
Boots apparently has gathered its share of fans all around, just barely inching out INDABA. South Perry mainstay The Shop (making its SpoCOOL Best of... debut, after sitting at #7 for the past two years) and newly opened Cannon rounded out the list.
Have things changed a lot as far as coffee goes over the last year? We think so; the coffee scene really has improved in just the last six months, and we assume the contest will heat up even more over the next year, what with spots like Revel 77 hitting the scene.
Next up: Best brewery and best bar.