Best of Springfield

BEST BAR FOR SPORTSBEST CHICKEN WINGSBuffalo Wild Wings2808 N. Dirksen Parkway, 670-00484420 Wabash Avenue, 546-9453Walk into Buffalo Wild Wings and there’s not a seat in the house from which you can’t see a TV or two – or five, for that matter. With athletic competition broadcast from every angle on big screen TVs, it’s hard […]

BEST ASIAN FOODBEST SUSHIBEST MARTINI NAMEBEST PLACE FOR A FIRST DATEOsaka1665 Wabash Ave., 726-8037Osaka sure does a lot of things right. First things first, let’s start with the cocktails. We are traditionalists. As such, we believe that martinis should contain only gin or vodka, with perhaps a hint of vermouth and an olive garnish. Period. […]

BEST BARBERCraig JonesUnique Blendz Barbershop, 2917 S. MacArthur Blvd., 528-4245If you’ve got to put your head in the hands of a guy with some seriously sharp blades, Craig Jones is the kind of guy you’d want that to be. Professional but fun, he’s welcoming – and skilled, with the ability to tame any type of […]

BEST ANIMAL RESCUE ORGANIZATIONAnimal Protective League1001 Taintor Road, 544-7387Springfield has at least five places where you can adopt an unwanted dog or cat, but Animal Protective League is, by far, the favorite with readers, who gave the APL more than twice as many tail-wags as all other contenders combined. Maybe it’s the dog washes, with […]

BEST-KEPT SECRETFree knife sharpening at Schnuck’s1911 Sangamon Ave. E., 744-20122801 Chatham Road, 698-2980Sorry, dear readers, but perhaps you did not understand the question. Much as we loved the place, Caitie Girl’s, the top vote getter, was not Springfield’s best-kept secret, given that the proprietor gave cooking demonstrations on television. And what kind of secret is […]

Food and dining May we serve you? Arts and entertainment People and places Biz Bests Off the grid

BEST OUTDOOR DININGPanera3019 S. Dirksen Pkwy., 529-6200 3101 W. White Oaks Dr., 726-5070With more than a handful of restaurants offering outdoor dining experiences, we were initially a bit surprised to see Panera Bread come out on top. Then we took a drive to the Dirksen store and immediately agreed with our voters. In the middle […]

Brewhaus617 E. Washington St., 525-6399 BEST BARTENDERBrewhaus owner Mike Parkes, a perennial favorite in the best bartender category, seems to have trained his bar staff well. This count boiled down to a contest about which Brewhaus bartender would get the most votes and collectively the crew raced far ahead of the nearest competition, so we […]

More than 2,300 individuals participated in this year’s BEST OF survey, significantly more than in any prior year. We hope some of that interest came from a desire to answer the few curve-ball questions we added in the “off the grid” category. We were hoping to dig a little deeper into the psyche of the […]

BEST BANK OR CREDIT UNIONHeartland Credit Union2213 W. White Oaks Drive, 726-8877720 S. Grand Ave. West, 726-88772717 Sangamon Ave., 726-8877701 N. First St., Room C18, 726-8877Bank like you own the place? OK, will do, our Best of Springfield voters said in picking their favorite financial institution, Heartland Credit Union. Like the rest of the top […]

BEST DOWNTOWN FESTIVALOld Capitol Blues and BBQs5th and Washington streetsAnn Frescura, Downtown Springfield, Inc.’s promotion and event director believes changes introduced to the sixth annual event, held Aug. 28, contributed to its popularity. “It has grown leaps and bounds over the years, thanks in part to its location,” she said. “We were off to a […]

BEST REAL-LIFE SUPERHEROTracey Sims – TurnOut Movement Art Studio6100 S Second St., Suite C, 816-3888It’s no surprise that voters named Abe Lincoln “best real-life superhero” in this year’s poll. We get it; Lincoln was pretty great. After Abe, voters chose “military men and women” as the next-best real-life superheroes, but that’s not exclusive to Springfield. […]