Best Pizza
Gold: Memphis Pizza Café
Silver: Exline's
Bronze: tie: Garibaldi's Pizza, Johnny Brusco's Pizza
It's official. We hereby declare Memphis Pizza Cafe the Huey's of the pizza world. Good job to our silver and bronze winners — all are new to the list. Welcome to the big time, guys.
Best Mexican
Gold: El Porton
Silver: Molly's La Casita
Bronze: tie: Café Ole, El Mezcal
What an upset! El Mezcal ties for bronze after being voted gold last year. Molly's makes a comeback after a year off the list. Loyal you are.
Best Italian
Gold: Ronnie Grisanti & Sons
Silver: Pete & Sam's
Bronze: Spindini
The Grisantis bring in the gold and bronze, with papa Ronnie in the gold spot and son Judd in the bronze. After being knocked off completely last year, Pete & Sam's makes a victorious comeback.
Best Chinese
Gold: Wang's
Silver: P.F. Chang's
Bronze: tie: Mosa Asian Bistro, A-Tan
Wang's comes on strong in 2008 after being shut out last year. The ever-popular Chang gang holds steady at silver, with newcomer Mosa sharing bronze with last year's bronze winner, A-Tan.
Best Japanese
Gold: Sekisui
Silver: Benihana
Bronze: Sekisui Pacific Rim
It's an Ishii sandwich, same as last year.
Best Indian
Gold: India Palace
Silver: tie: Bombay House, Mayuri
Bronze: Golden India
Golden India joins us again after a year off the winners' list. Welcome back.
Best Vietnamese
Gold: Saigon Le
Silver: Pho Saigon
Bronze: Pho Vietnam
Pho Saigon bumps Lotus off for the silver spot, while Pho Vietnam makes its way into our top three. Is anyone ever going to knock Saigon Le out of the coveted gold spot? Looking doubtful after all these years, but hey, there's always a major surprise or two when the votes are counted, so we'll be watching.
Best Thai
Gold: Bhan Thai
Silver: Bangkok Alley
Bronze: Sawaddii
After tying for gold last year, Bhan Thai managed to edge out Bangkok Alley for the top honor. Sawaddii knocks off Cooper-Young's Jasmine, reclaiming its bronze seat from two years ago. Judging from the jam-packed Jasmine parking lot, they're still tops with quite a few of you.
Best Home Cooking
Gold: Cupboard
Silver: Patrick's
Bronze: Blue Plate Café
Must be those perfectly thin, crispy, simple cornmeal/salt/pepper-covered fried green tomatoes that keeps the Cupboard in the golden glow of our readers. No complaints about our other two winners, either.
Best French Continental
Gold: Paulette's
Silver: Encore
Bronze: Chez Philippe
You guys really, really like Paulette's. Jose's Encore makes the list in this category after winning silver in the best new restaurant category last year. Our prediction is that Cafe Society and Chez Philippe will battle it out to see who stays on the list next year (and that's an educated guess, folks. It was close).
Best Burgers
Gold: Huey's
Silver: Big Foot Lodge
Bronze: Belmont Grill
Yep. Add another year to your menu, Boggs family. And welcome to the list Big Foot — a first-timer. Must be those gargantuan portions that knocked Belmont's mouth-watering burger out of the silver slot. You really can't go wrong with any of these places. They all know what they're doing when it comes to America's sandwich.
Best Steak
Gold: Folk's Folly
Silver: Ruth's Chris
Bronze: Fleming's
Boggs + red meat = gold.
It's just that simple.
Best Seafood
Gold: The Blue Fish
Silver: Tsunami
Bronze: Bonefish
Is it really necessary for us to add the non-fast food caveat? Yes. Some of you have an unnatural fondness for drive-thrus with names involving "captain" and "silver's." And if that's okay with your cardiologist, it's fine by us, but that's not what we mean when we say seafood. These three winners? Oh yeah. That's what we mean.
Best Oysters
Gold: Pearl's Oyster House
Silver: Half Shell
Bronze: tie: The Blue Fish, Flying Fish
Even in our landlocked, pig-lovin' city, we manage to house some great spots to slurp down these delicious creatures. And Pearl's, with it's way-cool two-level South Main location, was an instant hit with downtowners, heck, with pretty much everyone, from the minute it opened its doors. New category this year, and quite a popular one.
Best Barbecue Sandwich
Gold: Corky's BBQ
Silver: Bar-B-Q Shop
Bronze: Central BBQ
These three are the hands-down favorites year after year, with Corky's hogging the gold spot year after year. It's the next category that we have to keep an eye on . . .
Best Barbecue Ribs
Gold: Rendezvous
Silver: Corky's BBQ
Bronze: Central BBQ
This one is always close, and we always count twice, just to be sure, but the legendary Rendezvous has unseated Corky's in the rib category!
Best Service
— Awards of Excellence to:
In a city plagued with less-than-inspiring stories about customer service, it's nice to know that our readers have such high opinions of so many different eateries around town.
Best People-Watching
Gold: Flying Saucer
Bronze: Spindini
Silver: Peabody Lobby - bar
Ever since the Flying Saucer opened downtown, the art of people watching has been brought to a whole new level. Thanks to the open-air bar spots overlooking Peabody Place and Second Street, imbibers have had plenty to keep their darting eyes occupied. From checking out the "talent" passing by on a weekend to giggling at the unfortunate souls who find parallel parking a challenge, there's never a dull moment.
Best Salads
Gold: Houston's
Silver: Boscos
Bronze: Ruby Tuesday
House-made dressings, cheese toast? What's not to love about Houston's salads?
Best Late-Night
— Awards of Excellence to:
Belmont Grill, Half Shell, Huey's, Brookhaven Pub, Dish, Sekisui, Pacific Rim
Great choices, all. But honestly, anything that keeps you out of the Krystal drive-thru at 2 a.m. is a good thing, no?
Best Fries
Gold: Huey's
Silver: Young Avenue Deli
Bronze: Houston's
Boy, this was close. Houston's crispy shoestrings and Young Avenue's thick, über-seasoned offerings couldn't keep Huey's from taking gold again this year. We think perhaps the proximity of the fries to the best burger in town made for a winning combination.
Best Fried Chicken
Gold: Gus's
Silver: tie: KFC, Popeye's
Bronze: tie: Church's Chicken, The Cupboard, Patrick's
Overwhelmingly, this category was Gus's for the taking, and is anyone really surprised? While we can't say we agree with our readers' fast-food choices on this one, nevertheless, we report the results. How many times did Britney Spears vote in our poll, y'all?
Best Outdoor Dining
Gold: Boscos
Silver: Bhan Thai
Bronze: Café Ole
We agree 100 percent with you guys on this one. All three have their own unique outdoor charm.
Best Brunch
Gold: Owen Brennan's
Silver: Peabody
Bronze: tie: Boscos, Yia Yia's Eurocafe
No arguments here either. You really can't go wrong with a mimosa and cheese grits in front of you on a Sunday, and all three of these places make that transition from weekend-to-work mode a bit easier on all of us.
Best Breakfast
Gold: Brother Juniper's
Silver: Blue Plate
Bronze: Bryant's
The little cafe that could, Brother Juniper's is a Memphis favorite, and with good reason. Friendly service, hearty fare, good coffee. Blue Plate's French toast has lured many of us from our beds in the early morning hours, and there's an unpretentious charm to standing in line at Bryant's with an amazing cross-section of the city, waiting for your aluminum-foil-wrapped bundle of breakfast goodness.
Best Deli
Gold: Bogie's
Silver: Jason's
Bronze: Fino's
Bogie's takes gold again this year, with a close finish for silver and bronze.
Best Place to Satisfy A Sweet Tooth
Gold: Cheesecake Corner
Silver: La Baguette
Bronze: Paulette's
Diets be damned. Life's too short to skip dessert, and our readers agree.
Best Coffee
Gold: Starbucks
Silver: High Point Coffee
Bronze: Otherland's
The Starbucks machine edged out our locally owned places with a pretty Venti lead, but our silver and bronze places often leave us foaming at the mouth for their tasty concoctions.
Best Business Dinner Locale
Gold: Fleming's
Silver: Folk's Folly
Bronze: Grove Grill
Red meat apparently helps close deals, and our winners here prove it.
Worth the Drive(no more than two hours' drive from Memphis)
Gold: City Grocery (Oxford)
Silver: tie: Bonne Terre Café (Nesbit), Timbeaux (Hernando)
No matter how high the price of gas, we'd gladly burn a tank to visit any of your choices.
Restaurant We Miss the Most
Gold: LuLu Grille
Silver: tie: Anderton's, Justine's
Bronze: La Tourelle
We hope that no new winners ever appear in this category. Visit your favorite restaurants often, readers!
Best Chain
Gold: Houston's
Silver: Chili's
Bronze: tie: Back Yard Burger, P.F. Chang's
Chain chain chain . . . our voters are no fools when it comes to finding the best the national guys have to offer.
Best Memphis Chef
Gold: Erling Jensen, Erling Jensen the Restaurant
Silver: Jose Gutierrez, Encore
Bronze: Rick Farmer, Jarrett's
Aren't we lucky to have all of these chefs, plus many more, calling Memphis home?
Best New Restaurant
Gold: Spindini
Silver: Interim
Bronze: Sauces
The dining scene in the Bluff City gets better every year. We can't wait to see what 2008 brings.
Drum roll,
please . . .
Best Restaurant
Gold: Jarrett's
Silver: Erling Jensen, The Restaurant
Bronze: tie: Grove Grill, Jim's Place East
Once again, Jarrett's takes top honors. Congrats to Chef Rick Farmer, and to all of our winners.
Hippest Bar Setting
Gold: Spindini
Silver: Swig
Bronze: tie: Bluefin, Mollie Fontaine Lounge
Best Dive Bar
Gold: Earnestine & Hazel's
Silver: Alex's
Bronze: P & H Cafe
Best Martinis
Gold: Swig
Silver: Side Street Grill
Bronze: Bonefish
Best Bloody Marys
Gold: Owen Brennan's
Silver: Boscos
Bronze: Bayou Bar & Grill
Best Margaritas
Gold: Molly's La Casita
Silver: Café Ole
Bronze: El Porton
Best Wine Selection
Gold: Le Chardonnay
Silver: Fleming's
Bronze: tie: Circa, McEwen's on Monroe
Best Beer Selection
Gold: Flying Saucer
Silver: Boscos
Bronze: Young Avenue Deli
Most Happening Happy Hour
Gold: Flying Saucer
Silver: Chili's
Bronze: tie: Celtic Crossing, The Grove Grill, Swig
Best Place to Watch the Game
Gold: Fox & Hound
Silver: Buffalo Wild Wings
Bronze: Brookhaven Pub
