You go to the market to buy products. That's how we justify lumping these two categories together, and we're sticking to that explanation. So! Best market:
Well, what do you know? Main Market climbs five spots to take it home, dethroning Rocket Market, and truly proving the downtown store's gradual improvement has been a hit for most of us. As for Rocket, did the South Hill market's world famous customer service finally catch up with them? Who knows, but it's hard to argue that they have a lot of cool stuff up there, and it was a close fight for the number one spot here.
JB's fell down two spots, also after a lot of chatter about so-so customer service. Other than that there weren't too many surprises here, and good on Main Market for having evolved into the great market it now is.
1
·
Brain Freeze's ice cream
2
·
Dry Fly spirits
3
·
Sweet and Stout
4
·
Savor Sweets
5
·
Fletcher's Sauce Co hot sauces
6
·
Bumble Bars
What did we learn from our first attempt at doing a Best Local Product category? Apparently a lot of you eat Brain Freeze's ice cream and drink Dry Fly's spirits (possibly at the same time even?!), and a lot of you enjoy both of them. Really, they received more votes than the rest of the entries in the category combined, so they're obviously doing something right.
The rest of the top six did receive high scores though, and those who have tried the products like them. It's particularly good to see tiny outfits like Sweet and Stout and Savor Sweets placing so high.
Pizza and mac & cheese -- they just seemed to go together! Let's kick it off with best pizza:
1
-
Veraci
2
-
South Perry Pizza
3
-
Flying Goat
4
-
Bennidito's Pizza
5
-
Ferrante's
6
-
Cafe Italiano
Really, the only surprise here is that the results are identical to last year. Veraci sits at number one, head and shoulder above the rest, with South Perry just edging out Flying Goat for the number two spot.
Bennidito's hangs still at number four, with Ferrante's and Cafe Italiano rounding out the list.
Quite odd that we saw no movement from last year, yet at the same time it's hard to argue with the results. Veraci has dominated the list for three years, and we would be very surprised if that will change anytime soon. It will be interesting to see if the soon to open Spokane location of Fire will have any impact on the overall standings though.
1
·
Saranac
2
·
Casper Fry
3
·
Manito Tap House: Green Chili Mac & Cheese
4
·
Manito Tap House: Blackened Mac & Cheese
5
·
Latah Bistro
6
·
Churchill's Steakhouse
Patrick kicked off the $100 Mac & Cheese Challenge with a simple claim, one we probably ended up taking a bit too literal: "I challenge anyone to find a better Mac & Cheese than what is offered at Saranac Public House. $100 cash money for the winner."
Now this race was extremely close from top to bottom, but in the end it looks like Patrick can keep his money. Saranac just barely edged out Casper Fry and two Manito Tap House takes on the dish. Latah Bistro wasn't far behind either, and even Churchill's could have won this had the tide turned just a bit.
Let's just kick it off with the Best Farmers's Market...
1
-
South Perry Farmers' Market
2
(3)
Spokane Farmers' Market
3
(2)
Liberty Lake Farmers' Market
4
·
North Spokane Farmers Market
5
·
Indoor Farmers' Market
6
·
Millwood Farmers' Market
South Perry takes it home yet again, third year in a row. With a good neighborhood vibe and quality vendors it really isn't too surprising.
Both Spokane and Liberty Lake came close, and the result for number two and three could easily have flipped. As for the remaining three spots, it was pretty much open season. The vast majority of the votes were cast for the top three, so I suppose those are the ones most people know. Take that as a challenge to check some of the other ones out next year.
As for the really important chart, here are your favorite restrooms!
1
-
The Davenport
2
(3)
Italia Trattoria
3
(2)
Nordstrom Cafe
4
·
Manito Tap House
5
(4)
Twigs
6
·
PF Chang's
I mean, really, there is no competition for the top spot. It's always The Davenport, and fair enough... The restrooms are about as nice as the hotel rooms.
Italia Trattoria and Nordstrom swapped places this year, but it was a close race, and you all apparently enjoy their facilities. Manito hits #4 with a bullet, closely followed by Twigs.
And apparently PF Chang's has something going for it. A nice horse outside and a nice restroom inside. Good for them!
Wine and coffee: They make for a good combination. Sort of. Anyway! Let's kick it off with Best Winery!
1
(2)
Barrister Winery
2
(1)
Robert Karl Cellars
3
-
Townshend Cellar
4
(5)
Mountain Dome Winery
5
(6)
Arbor Crest
6
·
Nodland Cellars
Barrister and Robert Karl switches spots yet again; both have been in the top two every year we've run this poll, so I guess it'd be fair to say they're the favorite wineries for at least a subset of Spokane's wine drinkers. And fair enough!
There has been very little movement on the list, generally. Nodland Cellars is the only new entry, replacing Trezzi Farm, while Mountain Dome and Arbor Crest both climb one spot. Spokane apparently knows what wine it likes.
As for coffee roasters, the story plays out in a similar fashion.
1
-
DOMA Coffee
2
-
Roast House Coffee
3
(4)
Anvil Coffee Roasting
4
(5)
Thomas Hammer
5
(3)
Bumper Crop
6
·
4 Seasons Coffee
DOMA has sat on number one for three years running, always with a wide berth. For the next five it is a tight race, with the same roasters as the previous years dominating.
And you know, that is all a good thing. People are getting very opinionated about their favorite roasters -- anyone paying attention on Twitter will know that -- which is an important part of building a good local coffee culture.
As with any other category, we say try them all, and make up your own mind. Coffee is important, and having an informed opinion only make you a better person.
