Best of Springfield

BEST APARTMENT COMMUNITYLake Pointe Apartments1600 S. Toronto Road, 529-2900It’s sometimes difficult for renters to feel like they’re truly part of a community because they don’t own the place they live, and it’s often only a matter of time before they move again. The key to any community, however, is relationships. Voters chose Lake Pointe Apartments […]

BEST CHILDREN’S DANCE SCHOOLDance Creations Dance Studio1401 E. Cottonwood St., 529-TUTUDance Creations Dance Studio is a family-oriented dance studio offering a diverse menu of classes for all ages. Class options range from ballet, point, jazz, tap, hip-hop, lyrical dance, creative movement, move and groove, fitness, music classes, gymnastics and more. The studio also offers birthday […]

BEST LIVE MUSIC VENUE (SMALL)BEST PLACE TO DANCEBoondocksSince not-so-humble beginnings in 2013, this popular venue continues to pack ’em in, concentrating on touring, contemporary country bands, often on the national music charts, to draw a crowd. The North Dirksen Parkway showplace once was a popular late night dance club, perhaps the reason folks claim it […]

BEST CROSSFIT GYMCapital City CrossFit1615 W. Jefferson, 726-3817On its Facebook page, the sole self-description of Capital City CrossFit (C3 to its friends) is “forging elite fitness.” While CrossFit is a proprietary brand (read: franchise) of “physical exercise, philosophy and competitive fitness sport”  (Wikipedia), not all CrossFit gyms are created equal. “C3 has done what no […]

Food & Drink  •  Bars & Nightlife  •  Kids StuffMusic & Entertainment  •  People & Places  •  Shopping Local FOOD & DRINK BEST BBQ Smokey Bones2660 South Dirksen Parkway, 528-6410There’s no shortage of BBQ joints in town, but this year, our readers have hand-picked Smokey Bones fare as the very best the city has to […]

PHOTO BY DAVID HINE   BEST GAY/LESBIAN BAR, BEST DANCE CLUBClub Station House306 East Washington St., 525-0438If you’re looking to cut a rug, Club Station House is the place to be. (In most circles, people just call it “Station House” for short.) Clean, welcoming, and with a well-stocked bar, Club Station House offers hip, four-on-the-floor […]

  Welcome to BOSIllinois Times presents to you, proudly, one more time, the Best of Springfield, as determined by our readers and the friends BOS wannabes recruit to vote for them. We had more than 12,000 votes this year – the largest turnout ever – and 140 categories, a third more than ever before. Thanks […]

BEST NEW BAND 2012BrushfireOur voters had impeccable taste in choosing this intensely hot country band, as this summer the group finished first in a national contest judged by country music industry hot shots. After beating out some 300 other bands vying in the Battle for the Saddle, Brushfire performed at Nashville’s legendary nightclub the Wildhorse […]

Welcome to BOS Often the news business takes us to the worst of Springfield, so we look forward every year to this edition, which brings you the best. In these pages, 72 of them this week, we celebrate our readers’ choices in more than 100 categories for the best in food and drink, music and […]

RIP, CAITIE GIRLBest downtown dining. Most original menu. Best chef. Best-kept secret. And all gone. If there was a landslide winner in this year’s Best Of competition, it was Caitie Girl’s, the restaurant on East Jefferson Avenue that closed forever in September with the death of Aubrey Caitlin Barker in a traffic accident. Caitie Girl’s […]

BEST BAND WITHOUT A CATEGORY Still Kick’nOh my goodness, the bull ran loose when no category for country band appeared in the 2011 Best of Springfield list. Immediately fans of Still Kick’n and band members began a campaign to prove the popularity of one of central Illinois’ favorite bands. Still Kick’n folks should know they […]

BEST BAR FOODBrickhouse Grill & Pub3136 W. Iles Ave., 546-2745219 S. Fifth St., (downtown), 679-1500 OK, you’ve got your cheeseburgers, your horseshoes, your nachos, your chicken wings, your seared ahi tuna steak salad. Huh? Brickhouse combines standard tavern fare with a hint of the exotic that doesn’t go too far. Sure, they have plenty of […]