Best Place to Watch the Big Game (Other Than Home)
Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar
Visit buffalowildwings.com for locations.
Sports fans like numbers, so here are some stats: Buffalo’s Broad Street location has 37 TVs and seven big screens — not to mention an assortment of sports-cable packages. “With all the TVs, there’s no way that you miss any of the games that you’re looking for,” says general manager Christine Kittelson. In addition to a varied menu of chicken wings and beverages, Buffalo Wild Wings can help you pass halftime with its pool tables and games like Big Buck Hunter and Bowling.
2. Mulligan’s Sports Grille (in the Fan), 1323 W. Main St., 353-8686
3. Home Team Grill, 1630 W. Main St., 254-7360

Best Place to Learn a Craft
Visual Arts Center
1812 W. Main St., 353-0094
With the renovation last year of this Richmond mainstay, the Visual Arts Center now has the capacity for teaching 500 classes annually to children, teens and adults — creating anything from pottery to metal jewelry. The center, formerly known as the Hand Workshop, has increased the number of studio workshops from nine to 15, including two dedicated to wood-turning and textile arts, says Jo Kennedy, the center’s president. As for the number of classes, which hit 400 last year, “we ratchet it up each semester.”
2. (Tie) Michaels; Ben Franklin
See Michaels.com and bf-crafts.com for locations.
3.Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 200 N. Boulevard, 340-1400

Best Neighborhood for Boomers
The Fan
Fandistrict.org
Why is the Fan so desirable? Convenience, says Fan District Association President Lee Downey. Small yards and less driving are draws too. But aside from convenience, Downey offers another reason: a real sense of community. “When you’re that close together, you get to know your neighbors quickly.”
2. CrossRidge, crossridge.com
3. (Tie) Brandermill, brandermill.com or 744-1035; Wyndham, wyndhamfoundation.com or 360-7945

Best Neighborhood for Kids
Twin Hickory
Visit twinhickoryhomes.com for information or call 360-9800.
When a lot of young families began to move into the 1,300-home Twin Hickory, its recreation options became geared toward children, says Jill Hunt, the neighborhood’s director of programs and activities. In addition to several playgrounds, the development offers programs to keep kids busy every month — such as an Easter egg hunt, a Fourth of July parade, pool parties for all ages, a Halloween parade and barbecues.
2. Brandermill, brandermill.com or 744-1035
3. Wyndham, wyndhamfoundation.com or 360-7945

Best Local Venue
Toad’s Place
140 Virginia St., 648-8623
Open just more than a year, Toad’s Place Richmond has already captured local music-lovers’ hearts, bringing song to the previously silent Canal Walk. Even though the business model came from its Connecticut sister club, the 1,450-capacity venue feels all Richmond: historic warehouse, exposed brick and all. Toad’s Place director Jerry Costa says the club sold out (or nearly did) recent shows by rappers Wu-Tang Clan, rockers Chevelle, R&B group Girl Talk and eclectic folkies (most lately with a disco twist) Rilo Kiley.
2. The National, 708 E. Broad St., 612-1900
3. Innsbrook’s Snagajob.com Pavilion, 4901 Lakebrook Drive, 423-6589

Worst Local Venue to See Live Music
Richmond Coliseum
601 E. Leigh St., 780-4956
Built in 1971, the Coliseum today seems like a dingy reminder of Richmond’s architectural missteps. Eight million dollars in repairs don’t change the fact that a 13,000-seat venue usually can’t attract the caliber of acts at, say, the 16,000-seat John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. (Bruce Springsteen’s Coliseum show this month is an exception.) Robert Fleskes, marketing director for the Coliseum, says you have to remember the venue’s purpose: “We’re music and we’re sports and we’re conventions and meetings, monster trucks and the circus. It’s hard to pigeonhole us into just music.”
2. Alley Katz, 10 Walnut Alley, 643-2816
3. Landmark Theater, 6 N. Laurel St., 646-4213

Best Place to Get Away Without Driving Too Far
Williamsburg
If in search of history or family fun, you’ll find an easy target about an hour’s drive down I-64. Busch Gardens’ newest ride, Griffon, is the tallest dive coaster in the world at 205 feet, while Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes and Drums marks its 50th anniversary this year with special performances. But there is more to the city, especially for those with more epicurean tastes. Kate Hoving, director of communications for the Greater Williamsburg Chamber & Tourism Alliance, notes that the city is home to Williamsburg Winery, Virginia’s largest.
2. Charlottesville/Wine Country
3. Virginia Beach

Best Kids’ Birthday-Party Venue
Chuck E. Cheese
9030 W. Broad St., 762-4520; 10430 Midlothian Turnpike, 330-9865
How would you like to be a human-sized mouse? Tina Young, manager of the South Side store, is looking to hire an “outgoing, hyper person,” maybe a high-schooler for the primary job of dressing up as Chuck E. Cheese, the familiar face of this pizza palace. He’s only one reason kids adore the restaurant, which has 120 games (including 39 new ones) that take tokens. “It gets hot,” Young says of playing Chuck E., a position currently filled by multiple employees, “but some people are cut out for it.”
2.  (Tie) Pump It Up, 9555-I Kings Charter Drive, 550-7867, and 11630 Hullow Village Loop, 739-7773; Romp n’ Roll, 9677 W. Broad St., 249-5001; 10108 Brook Road, 249-1001; 11541 Busy St., 893-3142
3. Children’s Museum of Richmond, 2626 W. Broad St., 474-7000

Worst Street for Potholes
I-295
So, we’re guessing we can find you pothole victims in a crowd. Yep, you’re the ones with the coffee stains on your work shirts and the somewhat-crooked makeup from your bumpy morning commute. Of all the pockmarked roads in the region, I-295, it seems, draws the most scorn. Well, here’s some small relief: The Virginia Department of Transportation reports that stretches of the highway are getting repaved this year. Our shock absorbers thank them.
2. Cary Street
3. Broad Street

Most Diverse Neighborhood
The Fan
Fandistrict.org
Bound by Cary Street to the south, West Broad Street to the north, Boulevard to the west and Belvidere Street to the east, the Fan is an 85-block mix of peoples. In the 1970s and 1980s, the district was populated by artists and risk-takers undeterred by high crime. Today gentrification and generally higher property values mean more Volvos and fewer psychedelic, VW bugs driving the grid. But take the alleys and you can peer into a variety of lives, including carriage houses filled with the Fan’s hippie holdovers.
2. Church Hill, churchhillrichmond.com
3. Woodland Heights, hillsandheights.net

Best Apartment Complex for Meeting People
River Lofts at Tobacco Row
2310 E. Cary St., 648-8888
Our readers acknowledged the Lofts’ superlative views last year, but these apartments also have a great social atmosphere. “We’re so close to the nightlife of Shockoe Bottom that everything is in walking distance,” says property manager Mia Long. With 731 units and amenities including two pools, a game room and a theater room, it’s a great place to mingle.
2. Rocketts Landing, 5000 Old Osborne Turnpike, 222-5011
 
Best New Condos
Rocketts Landing
5000 Old Osborne Turnpike, 222-5011
The first development of its kind in Richmond, Rocketts Landing is a walkable, riverfront village with townhomes, condos and apartments. And some pretty killer amenities like a riverside swimming pool and pool house and a private marina. The first phase is four city blocks and will be done in early 2009. Estimated completion date for the entire complex is 2015, and it will consist of 20 city blocks with 1,500 residences, as well as a full complement of retail space and restaurants.
2. Vistas on the James, 301 Virginia St., 780-3030
3. Monument Square, 1219 Byrd Ave., 288-2680

Best Renovated Condos
(Tie) Rocketts Landing 5000 Old Osborne Turnpike, 222-5011; Nolde Condos 26th and East Broad streets, 432-8899; Lock Lane 4701 Grove Ave., 270-9440
Across the city, historic buildings are being repurposed or renovated for a new kind of condo living. Rocketts Landing’s Cedar Works is a former ice-cream-freezer factory with 83 condos. The two-year-old Nolde Condos in Church Hill were built in a renovated 1920s bakery. The building is half rental and half condos with a private garage, screening room with surround sound and a wet bar. Farther to the west, an old standby, Lock Lane, which quietly sat under shade trees on Grove Avenue since 1937, has just gotten a facelift.
2. Lee School Lofts, 3101 Kensington Ave., 643-3098

Best Spot for a Second Home Within Reasonable Driving Distance
Outer Banks
Nags Head has been a longtime favorite for Richmonders seeking a little wave therapy, but as the Outer Banks have gained popularity, folks in the know have headed north. Eva Gray and Grayson Harding built their home on Swan Beach 19 years ago — three and a half miles north of where the main beach road ends in Corolla, requiring visitors to drive on the sand. There still are no restaurants or stores nearby, but plenty of company nonetheless, both of the human and animal variety. Eva Gray Harding recalls a neighbor who used to let out his herd of buffalo, which would graze on grass planted to protect the dunes; the bison are gone now, but Swan Beachers still see wild horses, foxes and rabbits. 
2. Virginia Beach
3. (Tie) Wintergreen; Lake Anna

Best New-Home Community
(Tie) Charter Colony; Henley; Tarrington; Twin Hickory
The four-way tie in this category may seem amazing until you realize it’s shared by two developers: HHHunt (Charter Colony in Midlothian and Twin Hickory in western Henrico) and Orleans (Henley in Glen Allen and Tarrington on the James in Midlothian), who toss in ample amenities, from pools to tennis facilities. The two companies continue to duke it out for the love of the suburb-living set; place your bets now on the winner.
2. Grayson Hill

Best Mall for Walking and Exercise
Short Pump Town Center
11800 W. Broad St., 360-1700
You’ve got to be pretty disciplined to walk this mall — imagine the impulse to stop exercising and start shopping at any turn. And the opportunities are many, given its size. According to Misty Parsons, the center’s marketing director, one lap through the mall is 1.34 miles. Aside from welcoming casual walkers, the mall also works with groups to sponsor family fun walks and 5Ks, including three so far this year.
2. Stony Point Fashion Park, 9200 Stony Point Parkway, 560-7467
3. Regency Square, 1420 Parham Road, 740-7467

Best Yoga Classes
Yoga Source
3122 W. Cary St., 359-9642
Yoga Source provides classes for every skill level, even those who have yet to take their first steps. Along with their staff, co-owners Tia Platte and Myra Dionisio offer more than 50 yoga classes a week. “We have a prenatal yoga programs. We have the teacher-training programs. We have the regular yoga classes. We have kids’ yoga, we have infants’ yoga,” Platte says. Not to mention, you’ll find weekend workshops often led by nationally recognized yoga instructors.
2. Glenmore Yoga and Wellness Center, 10442 Ridgefield Parkway, 741-5267
3. (Tie) American Family Fitness, see amfamfit.com for locations; Bikram Yoga Richmond, 3024 Stony Point Road, 330-3353; 3621 Cox Road, 249-3355

Best Social Sports Club
American Family Fitness
Visit amfamfit.com for club locations.
When we created this ballot question, it was actually geared toward groups like this category’s No. 3, but with eight locations in the area, this fitness chain certainly offers plenty of chances to meet other people through activities. In addition to group exercise classes, some of their locations have summer volleyball, basketball and racquetball leagues. And the chain sponsors a 10K/5K race to benefit Children’s Hospital.
2. YMCA of Greater Richmond, 2 W. Franklin St. 649-9622, see ymcarichmond.org for more locations
3. River City Sports and Social Club, locations vary, see rivercityssc.com for details

Best 10K Training Program
YMCA-Richmond Sports Backers 10K training team
285-9495, or sportsbackers.com
In the past decade, the YMCA-Sports Backers team, associated with the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K race held in late March/early April, has gotten more Richmonders on their feet and moving than any other local exercise program. “Each year, we’ve broken the previous record,” says head coach Dan Shea, who’s led the program for nine years. More than 3,000 people took part in 2008 — everyone from walkers to runners. “Many, many, many people couldn’t run around the block” when they started the program, Shea notes. “They thought they hated running.” For some, he adds, 10K training led to greater athletic feats, including 10 or 15 people who eventually finished marathons. Shea’s mantra for team participants is simple: “Oh, yes you can.”
2. TRIgirl Training, trigirltraining.com

Best Local Band
Carbon Leaf
Carbonleaf.com
This five-piece acoustic-based ensemble has sustained local popularity for more than a decade, a hard thing to do. Carbon Leaf signed with Vanguard Records a few years ago, after winning an American Music Award in 2002 and performing live at the ceremony. Carbon Leaf’s latest album is Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat, released last September, and the members are holing up at Richmond’s Sound of Music Studios this summer to record a follow-up.
2. DJ Williams Projekt, myspace.com/djwmusic
3. David Shultz and the Skyline, davidshultzmusic.com

BEST & WORST 2008
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