The Results Are In and the Word Is Out
Presenting The Best of Columbia 2020 Reader-voted Winners
It’s time for our annual Best of Columbia awards — and this year we shook things up a little. Our editors took out much of the groundwork for our readers by picking nominees for the reader-voted awards, and then you, our readers, turned in more than 12,000 votes on who you think the best in food, drink, services and people are. These are published as “Readers’ Picks” in this issue. We also added even more Columbia content in the form of Editors’ Picks. Read on to see who won this year’s awards, including the highly coveted Best Burger spot.
Have questions about our Best of Columbia process? We have answers!
Q: How does Inside Columbia pick the Best of Columbia winners?
A: Our staff spend all year keeping up on what’s hot and popular in Columbia, and then we compile that knowledge into a nominee list for our Reader-voted categories. Readers voted on which business, person or service they think should win, or wrote-in any nominees we may have missed. Voting was open April 15 through May 15 and the winners are printed right here, in this issue.
Q: Do advertisers automatically win Best of?
A: Definitely not! We keep our editorial integrity intact by keeping our sales and editorial team separate — in fact, we’re required to do so in order to stay in the City and Regional Magazine Association (CRMA). You can’t buy a spot in the Best of Columbia winners, or win with money.
Q: Didn’t you do this differently last year?
A: Why, yes, we did! In the past, we had multiple survey processes where readers entered nominee information, then we tallied nominees before compiling the voting survey. This year, our staff compiled the list for readers to vote on, which meant nominees could focus on getting votes, instead of nominations AND votes, and readers had a more comprehensive list to vote from.
Best Barbecue
Best Ice Cream / Frozen Yogurt
Best Mexican Restaurant
Best Appetizer
Best Chef
Best Chiropractor
Curt Kippenberger, Focus on Health
AND
Amanda Alcamo, Restoration Chiropractic