Best place to buy shoes 2013: DSW

DSW 29th Place 326-0066 dsw.com Runner-up: Scarpa Barracks Road Shopping Center 296-0040 thinkscarpa.com One thing’s for sure: You folks like choices. DSW, which opened this past spring in 29th Place (formerly Shoppers World Court), provides shoe shoppers with plenty of options and steps into the winners’ circle for the first time this year. Scarpa, in Barracks […]

Best hotel, inn, or B&B 2013: Boar’s Head Inn

Boar’s Head Inn 200 Ednam Dr. 296-2181 boarsheadinn.com Runner-up: Keswick Hall 701 Club Dr., Keswick 979-3440 keswick.com Go big or, quite literally, go home—that’s what readers say, which is why they chose two of the area’s swankiest spots for overnight stays this year. The winner is a luxury facility that doubles as the official hotel […]

Best caterer 2013: Harvest Moon

Harvest Moon 946 Grady Ave., Suite 11 296-9091 hmcatering.com Runner-up: C&O 515 E. Water St. 971-7044 candorestaurant.com In a town where so much emphasis is put on food (we have more than 400 places to eat!), readers demand a lot from a catering service. Good thing there’s Harvest Moon, with its 16 years of experience […]

Best jewelry store 2013: Angelo

Angelo 220 E. Main St. 971-9256 angelojewelry.com Runner-up: Keller & George  1149 Millmont St.  293-5011  kellerandgeorge.com In 1862, Czar Alexander II, the Emperor of Russia, purchased a 260.37-carat oval-cut blue sapphire brooch at the Great London Exhibition for his empress, Maria Alexandrovna. That must have cost a pretty penny. And while you’re likely to encounter […]

Best hairstylist 2013: Claibourne Reppert

Claibourne Reppert at The Honeycomb 310 E. Market St. 977-0616 facebook.com/pages/The-Honeycomb Runner-up: Jonathan Nuckles 104 14th St. NW 227-2277 nucklessalon.com In a C-VILLE interview with Claibourne earlier this year, her brother-in-law, who was sitting in on the conversation, said this of her hair salon: “You can read People or you can look at some cool […]

Best vintage clothing store 2013: Vintage Vixen

Vintage Vixen 300 E. Market St. 244-0778 vvclothing.com Runner-up: Glad Rags 1923 Commonwealth Dr. 979-1816 mygladrags.com Coco Chanel famously said, “A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.” Readers know that in order to achieve both of those things, they need to go vintage. After all, you can’t do “classic” without “class,” right? Vintage […]

Best place to buy beer 2013: Beer Run

Beer Run 156 Carlton Rd. #203 984-2337 beerrun.com Runner-up: Market Street Wineshops 311 E. Market St. 305 Rivanna Plaza Dr., Suite 102 964-9463 marketstreetwine.com Tucked into what’s essentially a mini mall on industrial Carlton Avenue, Beer Run doesn’t look like the kind of place you’d find 400-plus different kinds of beer. But it is—and with […]

Best place for pet supplies 2013: Petsmart

Petsmart Hollymead Town Center 964-9213 petsmart.com Runner-up: Pet Food Discounters 607 Woodbrook Ct. 974-6060 Talk about happy accidents: Sir Isaac Newton, who discovered the principles of gravity, also invented the cat door. That’s just one of the things you’ll find at Petsmart. Readers agree it’s the best spot in town to find what you need—from […]

Best place to work 2013: UVA

UVA 1721 University Ave. 924-0311 virginia.edu Runner-up: SNL Financial 700 E. Jefferson St. 295-4381 snl.com Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life. That’s what they say, anyway, and if that saying is to be believed, then a lot of folks at UVA and SNL aren’t really working—because they liked […]