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 […]

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 brewery 2013: Blue Mountain Brewery

Blue Mountain Brewery 9519 Critzer Shop Rd. (Afton) (540) 456-8020 bluemountainbrewery.com Runner-up: Devils Backbone Brewing Company 200 Mosbys Run (Roseland) 361-1001 ddbrewingcompany.com The ancient Babylonians took beer so seriously that if you brewed a bad batch, you were drowned in it. Luckily, that punishment is seriously outdated. Though, even if it wasn’t, that wouldn’t matter—there’s never a […]

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 […]