Best Restaurant
1. Sante
2. Latah Bistro
3. Gordy's
4. Mizuna
5. Wild Sage
6. Luna
I mean, really, what did you expect? Clinkerdagger? Anthony's? Of course you didn't; Sante jumped into the number one spot from the first vote and never budged. It just goes to show that great food and great service have a place in this town, and Sante is what the rest will be compared against.
Then there was Gordy's. It's a great place, no doubt, but we didn't expect it to fight for second place quite as venomously as it did. In the end it had to see itself beaten by Latah Bistro, but it was an incredibly close race.
We think the top three paints an accurate picture of the best restaurants in Spokane. Both Sante and Latah Bistro deliver fresh takes on classic cooking, and are always great places to eat. Gordy's take on Sichuan cuisine, meanwhile, puts it head and shoulder above any other Chinese place in town. It's a worthy top tier restaurant.
Rounding out the top six are Mizuna, Wild Sage and Luna. Mizuna has been inconsistent over the past few years, but there's no denying that when they hit a homerun, they hit it better than most. The fourth place wasn't far behind in the votes either, so it looks like people aren't ready to give up on Mizuna yet.
Wild Sage -- the only restaurant in the top six that sometimes manages to squeeze into the mainstream press' lists -- braved crazy road construction to secure a respectable fifth place.
And finally there's the oldie, Luna. A pioneer of fine cuisine in the Inland Northwest, it still holds a place in people's minds and hearts. It will be interesting to see where the restaurant now goes, with chef Brian Hutchins back at the helm.
Tomorrow: Best Restrooms and Guilty Pleasures, plus Best Places We Probably Should Have Included, and We're Sorry We Didn't :(