2014 Best of the Butte Winners

This year’s Best of the Butte was the perfect mesh of old school and new school. It turns out we’ve got some people here who understand the Internet. Close to 400 Best of the Butte surveys were completed online. We can’t thank you enough as now we have far fewer handwritten surveys of variable legibility to sift through and decipher this year—and a couple trees were saved. Though we must admit, it’s amazing how bad some people’s handwriting is (granted, some of the collection boxes were in bars).
The most heated races were in the Best Local Musician/Band category and KBUT DJ. Free the Honey, Doctor Robert and Tyler Hansen were neck-and-neck-and-neck until Tyler edged out a one-vote win. The same can be said for Chad Reich, Andrew Hadley, Angie Hornbrook and Grant McFarren, with Reich taking the win for Best KBUT DJ by one vote.
Then there was the gut check. Seriously, people! You voted for Whatever as Best Local Event? Granted, it was a good time but c’mon. It was an event that happened locally, not a local event.
The ballot boxes are always a treat. Random bits of bar detritus are often left in them, including a credit card receipt of what appears to be a bit of a bender one night at Kochevar’s. This year, though, we received the best piece of ballot box randomness: A plastic skull. Thank you for that.

There are a few surprises, some repeat
winners and, as always, some great randoms.
Personal favorites include:

Best Breakfast Joint: Pre-98 Bubba Kush
Best Happy Hour: 9-10 a.m. on a powder day
Best Adrenaline Rush: Riding the Gravitron at Cattleman’s Days.
Crossing Elk Avenue in the summer.
Best Nickname: The Bald Eagle (George Reinhardt).
Spilliam Doucheyertrim (William Dujardin)
Best Customer Service: The library
Local Rumor: Mark Reaman is a socialist
Biggest Local Issue: The Wookie Invasion
Biggest Town Character: Mr. Jingles

And now…the winners:

Best coffee joint  – Camp 4
Best breakfast joint – Paradise Cafe
Best waitron – Mary at the Noodle
Best customer service – Teocalli Tamale
Best sandwich – Sunflower
Best happy hour – Pitas in Paradise
Best veggie dish – Ginger Café
Best ethnic food – Ryce
Best fine dining – Soupçon
Best burger – Last Steep
Best pizza – Secret Stash
Best dessert – Third Bowl
Best place for a first date – Lil’s
Best bang for the buck – Teocalli Tamale
Best bar – Kochevar’s
Best bartender – Teddy at Kochevar’s
Best cocktail – Montanya
Best budtender – Soma
Best skier – Francesca Pavillard
Best snowboarder – Mary Boddington
Best uber-athlete – Stevie Kremer
Best ski run – Third Bowl/International
Best ski tuner – Eliot Rosenberg/Brock Smith
Best board tuner – Pat at CB Sports
Best bike tuner – Eliot Rosenberg at Big Al’s
Best adrenaline rush – Doctor’s Park
Best backcountry stash – Not Telling
Best KBUT DJ – Chad Reich
Best nickname – Tiddy
Best local non-profit – Adaptive Sports
Best local musician/band – Tyler Hansen
Biggest town character – Mikey Shorts
Best local rumor – Beyoncé at Whatever
Best local event – Whatever
Most important local issue – Red Lady Mine
Best thing about Crested Butte – The People