LEO Reader’s Choice Awards

It’s that time of the year again, when local business owners learn their rank after curiously awaiting their fates. The Louisville Eccentric Observer’s Reader’s Choice Awards in one of the city’s most popular and well regarded surveys, including over 30,000 Louisvillian votes. I just went through all of the winners and I have to say I am pretty disappointed with several of my fellow voters’ choices. Like every year, some of the winners were suspected, but there were several major players that were left out of their categories, some winners that have no business in their categories, and a few winners that just left me baffled.

  The Brown Hotel invented the delicious Hot Brown, so if it didn’t win the “Best Hot Brown“ category, the Reader‘s Choice Awards would be severely flawed. BC Plumbing sweeps the “Best Plumber” category every year so that was expected, and  Heine Brothers is both a local business and on every corner now-a-days, so it was the clear winner in the “Best Coffee” category.  

Other categories however, left me stunned at the lack of inclusion of what I considered to be the obvious top choices.  How do you not include Cherokee Park in the top three best parks in Louisville? El Mundo wasn’t recognized for “Best Mexican Restaurant” and Azalea was recognized over Avalon as “A Restaurant you Wished Didn’t Go Out of Business.” Maybe it is just me, but I do not find Pat’s Steakhouse romantic whatsoever, delicious, but not romantic. When I saw it in the “Most  Romantic Restaurant” category I was in disbelief. I immediately felt bad for the poor schmuck who saw the category in the LEO and decided to take a date there expecting one thing and getting another.  

I understand that there are a lot of choices in restaurants, goods, and services in Louisville and that the LEO reaches a wide range of Louisvillians, but it seems to me that the majority of voters that turned out this year may have been out of tough with my personal tastes.  To have one of the winners in the “Best Take Out Food” category be Yankee Noodle from Oxmoor Mall, says a lot. This is one of the wonderful things about the LEO Reader’s Choice Awards, that you never know who is going to vote, and who is going to win. 

Unfortunately, when people vote on favorite businesses, and those businesses can gain customers from what seems like something that is just for fun, fowl play often ensues.  I heard through sources during last years choice awards that one business in particular had rigged their computer to vote for themselves several hundred times every day.  That business ended up placing in their category without any suspicion.  This year however, I came across news that that several thousands of the votes had to be thrown out due to similar fowl play.  LEO is certain however that this years winners are free and clear of any wrong doing. 

If you are a lucky winner, know one of the winners, or want to shmooze with the winners, tomorrow is the LEO Reader’s Choice Awards Party.  The Old Hollywood themed party will also celebrate the Magazine’s 22nd Birthday.  The LEO party will take place Thursday September 22 at the Louisville Water Tower from 6pm to 9pm.  Tickets are $20.00 and all proceeds go to the Dare to Care food Bank.  To purchase tickets go to http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e69se5381cf31717&llr=xgfa8lkab

I don’t mean to be so negative about the LEO Reader’s Choice Awards, I really do find it interesting and helpful when looking for new places to go.   Grab a LEO and check it out for yourself, you may completely disagree with my findings, that’s the beauty of “choice”.

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