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Best of Marin winners

APPLE DUMPLING GANG

Best American Restaurant Buckeye Roadhouse

Best Bakery Emporio Rulli

Best Bar/Restaurant Bar Rancho Nicasio

Best Breakfast Half Day Café

Best Brewpub/Sports Bar Moylan's Brewery & Restaurant

Best Burger Joint Phyllis' Giant Burgers

Best Burrito High Tech Burrito

Best Chinese Restaurant Jennie Low's

Best Deli Comforts

Best French Restaurant El Paseo

Best Ice Cream/Yogurt Shop Fairfax Scoop

Best Independent Coffee Shop Emporio Rulli

Best Indian Restaurant Lotus Cuisine of India

Best Italian Restaurant Il Davide www.ildavide.net

Best Japanese Restaurant Robata Grill & Sushi

Best Meal Under $20 Sol Food www.solfoodrestaurant.com

Best Mexican Restaurant Las Camelias

Best New Restaurant (opened in 2008) Jason's www.jasonsrestaurant.com

Best Novato Restaurant Boca Steak Restaurant

Best Pizzeria Mulberry Street Pizza

Best Ross Valley Restaurant Insalata's

Best San Rafael Restaurant Sol Food www.solfoodrestaurant.com

Best Seafood Restaurant Seafood Peddler

Best Southern Marin Restaurant Buckeye

Best Thai Restaurant Thep Lela Thai Restaurant

Best Twin Cities Restaurant Lark Creek Inn

Best West Marin Restaurant Nick's Cove

Best Wine Bar Rick's Wine Cellar

JOHNNY GUITAR AWARDS

Best Art Gallery Donna Seager Gallery

Best Art Supplies Perry's Art Supplies

Best Dance Lessons RoCo Dance & Fitness

Best Live Music Venue 142 Throckmorton Theatre

Best Movie Theater Smith Rafael Film Center

Best Non-chain Bookstore Book Passage

Best Photography Store Seawood Photo

Best Place for Dancing 19 Broadway

Best Place for a Wedding Marin Art & Garden Center www.magc.org

Best Place to Buy Musical Instruments Bananas at Large www.bananasmusic.com

Best Theater Company Marin Shakespeare Company

Best Used Record Store Mill Valley Music

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE BEAUTIFUL

Best Beauty Supplies Marin Beauty Company www.marinbeautycompany.com

Best Day Spa Stella Spa

Best Facial Evo Spa

Best Glasses and Eyewear 20/20 Optical

Best Hair Salon diPietro Todd www.dipietrotodd.com

Best Jeweler Julianna's Fine Jewelry

Best Lingerie Shop Pleasures of the Heart

Best Massage Mill Valley Massage

Best Men's Clothier Gene Hiller Exclusive Menswear

Best Photography Studio Mugshots School Photography

Best Shoes Shoe Envy

Best Women's Boutique Bella

THE QUICK & THE DEAD AWARDS

Best Golf Course San Geronimo Golf Course

Best Health Club Osher Marin Jewish Community Center www.marinjcc.org

Best Health Food Good Earth Natural Foods

Best Pilates Studio Mill Valley Health Club & Spa

Best Sports Equipment T&B Sports

Best Sports Shoes and Apparel Arch Rival

Best Swimming Pool Osher Marin Jewish Community Center www.marinjcc.org

Best Yoga Studio Bikram Yoga San Rafael

HOME ON THE RANGE

Best Beds And Bedding Duxiana

Best Carpeting Rafael Floors

Best Cleaning ServiceMolly Maid of Marin

Best Dry Cleaner Marin Cleaners & Laundry

Best Hardwood Flooring Rafael Floors

Best Hauling Hurricane Hauling & Demolition Inc. hurricanehauling.com

Best Home Accessories Summer House

Best Home Furnishings Sunrise Home

Best Home Organizer California Closets

Best Import Furnishings Via Diva Home Furnishings

Best Kitchen/Bath Remodeler Lamperti Contracting & Design

Best Landscape Designer Cynthia Egger Landscape Design www.eggerlandscape.com

Best Lumber/Hardware Store Jackson's Hardware

Best Moving And Storage Johnson & Daly Moving & Storage www.jdmovers.com

Best Paint Store Marin Color Service

Best Painting Contractor Kunst Bros.

Best Place to Buy Appliances Martin & Harris

Best Plumber Peter Levi Plumbing

Best Roofer Marin County Roofing marinroofing.com

Best Self-Storage Bellam Self Storage & Boxes www.bellamstorage.com

Best Staffing Agency Nelson Staffing

Best Tile And Stone Store Marin Tile Supply

Best Tree Service TreeMasters www.marintreemasters.com

Best Window and Door Showroom The Window Warehouse

RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY

Best Auto Body Repair/Design Bertolli's Auto Body

Best Car Dealer Marin Toyota www.toyotamarin.com

Best Car Wash Matt and Jeff's Car Wash & Detail Center

Best Domestic Car Repair Neuhaus Service Inc.

Best Foreign Car Repair Neuhaus Service Inc.

Best Tire Shop Cain's Tires

YOUNG GUNS

Best Dog Park Bayfront Park, Mill Valley

Best Kid-friendly, Non-chain Restaurant Easy Street Café

Best Pet Groomer Doggie Styles

Best Pet Store Pet Club

Best Place for a Kid's Party Bay Area Discovery Museum

Best Playground Millennium Park, San Anselmo

Best Toy Store A Child's Delight

Best Children's Clothing Outgrown

SHE WORE A GREEN RIBBON

Best Beach Stinson Beach

Best Bike Shop Mike's Bikes

Best Business that Promotes Going Green Green Fusion Design Center

Best Nursery/Garden Center Sloat Garden Center

Best Organic Produce Marin County Farmers Market

Best Park McNears Beach Park

Best Place for Hiking Tennessee Valley

Best Place to Bike China Camp State Park

Best Resale/Consignment Shop Dove Place Antiques & Consignment

Best Solar Supplier Marin Solar www.marinsolar.com

A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS

Best Frame Shop Frame-O-Rama frameorama.com

Best Gift Shop Great Acorn

Best Lighting Shop Lights of Rafael lightsofrafael.com

Best Patio Furniture Smith and Hawken

Best Shopping Center The Village at Corte Madera

INTO THE SUNSET

Best Day Trip within Two Hours of Marin Sonoma

Best Local Government San Rafael City Council

Best Marin Town, other than your own Fairfax

Best Place to Bring Out-of-Towners Muir Woods

Best Real-life Western Character Annie Oakley

Best Western Actor Clint Eastwood

Best Western Film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Best Western Movie Director Clint Eastwood

Best Western Movie Supporting Actor Jack Palance

Biggest Local News Story Marin gives Obama biggest victory in state

Worst Traffic Jam Highway 101 south (morning)

Worst Western Film City Slickers 2: The Legend of Curly's Gold

Worst Western Stereotype Virginal schoolteacher

HALL OF FAME 2009

1st YEAR

Best Hair Salon, Men And Women Brewer Phillips Hair Design

Best Frame Shop Cheap Pete's Frame Factory Outlet

Best Takeout Food Comforts

Best Roofer DeMello Roofing

Best Pub/Sports Bar Marin Brewing

Company

Best Auto Dealer Marin Honda

Best Theater Company Marin Theatre Company

Best Domestic Auto Repair Mellow Motors

Best Blinds/Draperies Shades of Marin

Best Japanese Restaurant Sushi to Dai For

Best Video Store Video Droid

2ND YEAR

Best Ski/Camping Shop Any Mountain

Best Pilates Studio Fit First Pilates

Best French Restaurant Left Bank

Posted by Jordan Penman, a resident of the Terra Linda neighborhood, on Mar 26, 2009 at 5:06 pm

2 years now with no "Best Martial Arts" division. I hope this omission is corrected by next year!

Posted by jennifer, a resident of the San Rafael neighborhood, on Mar 26, 2009 at 7:19 pm

how about best free events category like the ones at Pleasures of the Heart

Posted by Toni Jones, a resident of the Fairfax neighborhood, on Mar 26, 2009 at 7:38 pm

Hi,

Your awards carry a lot of weight in the community.

We just won Bohemian Best of Marin Independent Copy and Business Center

I was hoping you might add this as a category next year.

Thank You,

Avatar Community Business Center

769 Center Blvd., Fairfax

www.avatarbiz.com

Posted by Gwynie & Toni, a resident of the Fairfax neighborhood, on Mar 28, 2009 at 10:30 am

Yayyyyyy for Sol Food! ! !

You Rock Sol!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Posted by Johnnie, a resident of the Mill Valley neighborhood, on Mar 29, 2009 at 12:24 pm

It's good to see that "Jennie Low's" got your readers' recognition. Although "Jennie's" prices are "Low", we miss her in Mill Valley now that particular location is closed. However, it's worth the trip to Novato to get such fresh-tasting Chinese food.

Posted by MarinResident, a resident of the Mill Valley neighborhood, on Mar 29, 2009 at 12:38 pm

Why is there no category for "Best Place to buy Vitamins"? Or is this considered party of the category "Best Health Food Store"?

The two places that usually win "Best Health Food Store" are Whole Foods and Good Earth...basically, those are now supermarkets imo.

Please consider a "Best Place to buy Vitamins" category in the future.

Posted by Marin Marie, a resident of the Novato neighborhood, on Mar 31, 2009 at 12:07 pm

Best Novato restaurant = BOCA?

You joke-a.

I guess if you prefer meat and potatoes, it's fine.

BUT

The hands down winner is RICKEY"S.

The Craftsman decor-ambience is only outshined by the fabulous food.

It's fresh, delicious and meets the way many folks prefer to eat now.

Posted by Bella, a resident of the Mill Valley neighborhood, on Apr 18, 2009 at 12:55 pm

How come there is no best manicure and pedicure? I would think many women would want to know. Other "Best of" have it.

Posted by Chris, a resident of the Marinwood neighborhood, on Jun 7, 2009 at 4:43 pm

Petty it may be but I would like the best pedicure place in Marin. It's the one luxury I afford myself every so often.

Posted by david finkelstein, a resident of the Belvedere neighborhood, on Jun 29, 2009 at 2:04 pm

Best barbecue and lunch spot on San Rafael is Smokey's Deli just off Belham at Anderson. This place is unbelievable with plates loaded to overflowing with great food at low prices. The chicken teriyaki is to die for but all the breakfast items are $5 or less and lunch is only a bit more. Don't go if you are not hungry.

Service is also fantastic and the place is super clean, but not fancy. Go before they get discovered.

Posted by Frank Hills, a resident of the Mill Valley neighborhood, on Aug 24, 2009 at 10:32 am

Please consider some sort of "BEST VOLUNTEER" as there are many deserving of recognition. Thank you.

Posted by Connie, a resident of the San Rafael neighborhood, on Oct 23, 2009 at 5:55 pm

I agree with Betty and Chris. Marin really needs to have a Best Manicure and Pedicure. It is so hard to find a decent one now. I would definitely vote for the place I go to now in San Rafael's 4th Street near San Anselmo. They are the best!

Posted by Enrique, a resident of the San Rafael neighborhood, on Oct 29, 2009 at 5:10 pm

Personally, I'd like to see a category for Best Appliance REPAIR. There's too many big box businesses selling major appliances, but they won't fix 'em when the warranty expires.

Sure, they'll sell you expensive extended warranties, but let's support and reward local business.

Posted by earl, a resident of the San Rafael neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2009 at 9:17 am

No Barber category this year?

As always, (check the archives for the past 15 years) it's a large (multi-chair) Beauty salon which wins. This category is redundant as over 75% of hairstylists in the County are self-employed chair-renters and therefore perpetually unable to harness the numbers of votes.

In a pure 'numbers-game' there's no way for anyone except a large salon to win.

The only fair way to have a category like this is to open it up to salons based on the number of chairs in the business, (the way it's done in most national 'freebie' publications of this type), i.e. salons with 1-3 chairs, those with 4-6 chairs, and those large salons 7-10 chairs, which always win the Pac. Sun poll.

It's a disservice to both the public and the independent hairstylists who form the vast majority of Marin hairstylists to continue the present system when the deck is perpetually loaded against then.

Posted by debbie, a resident of the Mill Valley neighborhood, on Nov 10, 2009 at 8:31 am

Any best upholsterer? Or did I miss it?

Posted by Margaret, a resident of the Mill Valley neighborhood, on Dec 8, 2009 at 10:22 pm

This Best of Marin contest, aka Most Costly of Marin, really is a term of endearment for the wealthy. What people really want is to know which company provides a quality service for a reasonable price, including respectful customer service. So many of your winners charge an arm and a leg for good work, but so what. Most working people can't afford them.

Posted by Dee, a resident of the Marin City neighborhood, on Dec 11, 2009 at 9:43 am

I too, would also appreciate a category for best mani/pedi or best nail shop.

Posted by JOE, a resident of the San Rafael neighborhood, on Jan 2, 2010 at 2:47 pm

I want to vote for Peter Levi Plumbing and

I choose Saigon Village restaurant ,720 B St.,San Rafael.

Posted by Maryann Jurchan, a resident of the San Rafael neighborhood, on Jan 23, 2010 at 11:27 am

We're transplants from San Rafael to Denver but still buy wine from Heslip Family Winery in Novato. No mention of these special wines made locally One taste is all you will need. They definitely belong in any "Best of...." listing.

Posted by Rob and Melanie Limacher, a resident of the Terra Linda neighborhood, on Feb 27, 2010 at 5:54 pm

While my wife and I drink wines from many areas of California we always turn back to Heslip Family Winery. Colleen and Brian Heslip consistently bottle the best bold enjoyable wines available. Located right in Novato thats no easy task for a wine producing family. We toast you and look forward to many years of quality wines.

Posted by David Gaylord, a resident of another community, on Mar 29, 2010 at 11:41 pm

I went to Toyota of Marin (Marin Toyota) to purchase a vehicle with a friend of mine and after the car was delivered and they actually cashed my deposit money! I had already driven away with the car, spent days with them, and we both signed the contract in all places. They called me almost a week later and told me the bank wouldn't finance me! Then they demanded their car back. Funny, my credit was good enough to buy a car at a place nearby which was a pleasant experience and quick... the following day. Anyway, Marin Toyota or Toyota of Marin was the absolute worst experience I've ever had with a business. I hardly agree (NOT) that this business has the best car dealer, unless this "great" - (NOT) dealer is someone I didn't meet. This contest must have been rigged because without a doubt, hands down, Marin Toyota has to be the most dishonest dealership around. I would not advise anyone to go there. As far as I'm concerned, they should all be arrested. They are crooks!