Who deserves a spot at the top of the mountain in central Ohio?
We here at CityScene Magazine have seen plenty of polls on plenty of topics here in Columbus, but we wanted to know who’s No. 1 in the eyes – and ears, and hearts, and stomachs – of our readers. We asked you to pick your favorites across a variety of categories that we felt didn’t have clear winners, and you came online in force to express your opinions.
Who were the winners, you ask? Read on.
Best Gallery
Riffe Gallery
Riffe Gallery scored more than twice as many votes as any of its competitors.
Best Restaurant for Original Art
Haiku Poetic Food & Art
Haiku also has an open exhibition kitchen, so the artwork isn’t the only treat for the eyes.
Best Piece of Public Art
Cancer Survivors Plaza (OSU campus)
Short North Gothic, Public Art in Westerville Spaces and Dublin’s Field of Corn (with Osage Orange Trees) got some write-in love.
Best Food Presentation
Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse
What you see in the photo there is Hyde Park’s bone-in filet mignon. Yum.
Best-Looking Drinks
M at Miranova – Black Orchid
That’s an actual orchid flower you see there. It comes in a spherical ice cube.
Best Suburban Arts Festival
Dublin Art Fair
This category was so close that two other festivals – Upper Arlington’s and Worthington’s – were tied for first place just a few days before voting closed.
Best Restaurant for a Night Out Downtown
Elevator Brewery & Draught Haus
There were some great write-in suggestions for this one (not all of them strictly Downtown) – including Barcelona, Hyde Park, Rigsby’s, Due Amici, Schmidt’s and Sidebar 122 – but in the end, Elevator ran away with the vote.
Best Restaurant for a Night Out in the Suburbs
Mitchell’s Ocean Club
This was a tough one for our readers; it had more write-in votes than any other category.
Best Dessert for a Night Out
Schmidt’s Restaurant und Sausage Haus
The vanilla cream puff is the standard-bearer for Schmidt’s, and deservedly so, but if you’ve never tried the peanut butter version, you’ve done yourself a great disservice.
Best Bar or Restaurant for Live Music
Park Street Tavern
Dear respondents who left comments to the effect of, “I don’t like live music at bars or restaurants:” You’re no fun.
Best Wine Selection
The Wine Bistro
We asked the Wine Bistro to send us a photo of its wine rack. We were sent four photos, because one photo can’t capture the entire rack. Nice.
Best Wine Events
Giant Eagle Market District – Food & Wine Fridays
The idea is for each Food & Wine Fridays event – packed with wine-tasting stations and free food – to be an educational experience where the attendee learns about food, wine and culture.
Best Beer Selection
World of Beer
You have to hand it to World of Beer – it hasn’t even been open a year yet and it still picks up the victory.
Best Regional Liquor
Buckeye Vodka
As of this writing, the drink at the top of the recipe page on Buckeye Vodka’s website is the Buckeye Packo-tini, containing dill syrup and Tony Packo’s pickle juice.
Best Concert Venue
The LC
Nationwide Arena was fewer than 10 votes away from winning this category, but the LC pulled out the victory in the end.
Best Performance Venue
Ohio Theatre
Stop by during the month of July to catch part of the CAPA Summer Movie Series. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, playing July 28-29, is one of our favorites.
Best Farmers’ Market
Worthington Farmers Market
The Clintonville Farmers’ Market got more write-in votes than any other write-in in any other category, but Worthington reigns supreme.
Best Park
Schiller Park
Our advice: Time your visit so you can check out an Actors’ Theatre performance after your walk. The troupe is doing The Merchant of Venice this month.
Best Water Feature
Scioto Mile Fountains
Give the Scioto Mile fountains credit for pulling out a squeaker over the Easton Town Center fountains.
Best Afternoon with Kids
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
The zoo got more votes in this category than any other nominee in the entire Best of the ’Bus poll.
Best Event for People-Watching
ComFest
ComFest is good for some fantastic people-watching, but its commitment to local artists, local music and volunteerism is worthy of admiration, too.
Best Public Garden
Franklin Park Conservatory
Not only did the conservatory pull off a commanding victory over the other nominees, it had very few write-ins to contend with, showing a clear preference among our readers.
Best Cityscape
Confluence Park
That’s it on the cover. You figured that out, right?