Song Song: Health first

For starters, Song Song’s Zhou and Bing’s pork and leek bing—a pancake, ever-so-delicately crisped and stuffed with an exquisitely-seasoned pork patty—is heavenly and, quite possibly, the best cheap lunch in Charlottesville. But that’s not really the point here. The point is that a woman with a business degree started a restaurant because she wants people […]

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 bakery 2013: Albemarle Baking Company

Albemarle Baking Company 418 W. Main St. 293-6456 albemarlebakingco.com Runner-up: Chandler’s Bakery Albemarle Square Shopping Center 975-2253 chandlersbakery.com In Ed Sheeran’s “The A Team,” he describes his lover’s face as “crumbling like pastries.” And while that lyric is arguably one of the worst ever written, he must have had the treats at ABC, which break […]

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 cidery 2013: Bold Rock Cidery

Bold Rock Cidery 1020 Rockfish Valley Hwy. (Nellysford) 361-1030 boldrock.com Runner-up: Albemarle Ciderworks 2545 Rural Ridge Ln. (North Garden) 297-2326 albemarleciderworks.com Bold Rock makes cider so tasty you could almost bathe in it. In fact, in the 14th century, that’s what people did: As it was often more sanitary than water, kids were baptized in […]

Best server 2013: Emma Whittington

Emma Whittington at Beer Run Runner-up: Deidre Carpenter at Whiskey Jar Donald Trump once left a waiter at a Los Angeles restaurant a $10,000 tip. We’re guessing Emma and Deidre have never been quite that lucky, but that’s not because they don’t deserve it. When it comes to service, readers say there are no two […]