Hello, dear readers! All terrors aside, I’m here with good news this week. Another Best of Memphis season has arrived! Behind the scenes, we spend a good part of the year thinking about BOM, as we call it. Planning nomination periods and voting time-frames; building online ballots; reviewing hundreds (and hundreds) of nominees to verify they’re legit, open, and spelled correctly (thanks, write-ins); checking the winners list for typos and formatting (it’s Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous, with the apostrophe); writing “blurbs” for the many first-place winners, as you’ll read in the following pages.
This is an all-hands-on-deck operation. What you see in this issue is the result of an unending labor of love. We all tackle our parts to make sure the people, places, and businesses in our city are celebrated as they should be. There are the longtimers who’ve appeared in the top three in their respective categories for years and years. And there are always newcomers — new shops, restaurants, and service providers — who make their way to the finalists lists (welcome!). Sure, at its core, it’s a popularity contest, with readers selecting their favorites, from the nomination process to final voting. But for me, having been on the other side of it for nearly 20 years, I see its impacts across the city, large and small — every time I see a Flyer award in a restaurant entryway, every time I see a small business owner rallying for votes. Being recognized matters, and everyone has a fair chance.
People take pride in having their name listed in the Memphis Flyer’s Best of Memphis. Winners frame and hang their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place certificates (of which there are hundreds, individually created by our patient art director). At the party, we gather these Memphians — artists, entrepreneurs, foodies, familiar faces — and celebrate them with music, food, dance, and fun. From Memphis media celebrities to 20-something tattoo artists and everywhere in between, the winners among these pages represent all facets of life in the Bluff City. They represent the community as whole, from Downtown to the ’burbs. They are truly what make Memphis the best.
This year, we are opening the BOM party to the public, and we hope you’ve got your tickets to the celebration at Loflin Yard! Black Cream and Star & Micey will provide the tunes as we toast the winners, our advertisers, our team, our readers, and every one of you out there who make this city so great.
With the overall state of things [gestures broadly], there is no better time to celebrate all the good we have right outside our doors. Don’t believe it? Read on to learn more about the arts, parks, patios, boutiques, and people across industries that keep Memphis on a positive, progressive path.
Finally, please join me in offering a special thanks to every single name you see on the masthead to the left. Without them, none of this would be possible.
Keep being the best, all of you!
