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Best Deli 2007 by online reader survey
Thursday November 15, 2007
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Best of 2007 online reader survey: Editorial and Results
Matt Harrison, Editor of the Ottawa XPress
Thursday November 15, 2007
According to this year's survey, my mom (the lovely Mrs. Harrison) was the most consistently voted person throughout our entire online reader survey. Best Means of Getting Around? My mom. Best Museum? My mom. How about Best Reason to Jeer the City? Actually, not my mom. That's because, in the Local Lore category, Mayor Larry O'Brien pretty much stole the show. For example, his cancellation of the O-Train expansion won the Best Scandal and Best Reason to Jeer the City categories - not a popular move, it seems, with our readers, since expanding the O-Train won Best New Idea for the City category. Take a hint Mr. Mayor, XPress readers want you to quit stalling on making the city more transit friendly, greener, and lest congested. Bring back the choo-choo train.
But back to my mom... While I'm flattered someone would actually take the time to laboriously write her name in all of our categories, it makes me wonder about whether adding the "other" option to our survey was such a good idea after all, since this was the kind of thing we were trying to get rid of by creating the much-hated, but much-used, short list.
I'm only half-joking. In fact the "other" option turned out to be quite successful. A significant number of voters used it to write in their own suggestions, and when it came to the Best Live Music Show of 2007, the number and diversity of answers proved that our short list wasn't the be-all and end-all. Unfortunately there were few cases where something in the "other" category actually got more votes than one of our selections in the short list - something I suspect that has to do with general laziness, since people are more likely to click on what is already there than to write something in. In order to help correct this, the "other" selections that did gain a significant number of votes will be included in next year's short list. For example, in the category Best Night Out, there were many votes (not enough to win, but nevertheless a lot) for Guerrilla Gay Fair - an event that originated in L.A., where members of the gay community take over a straight club for a night, and which is now happening in Ottawa. It wasn't included in our shortlist but it will be (if it's still happening with continued success in '08) in next year's survey.
As for the results, there are a number of surprises this year. First of all, Tokyo Sex Whale won in two categories: Their album Feed the Beast won Best Punk/Metal/Hard Rock Album/EP of 2007, and the band itself was voted as the Best New Musical Artist/Group in Ottawa. The Acorn's Glory Hope Mountain may have appeared to be Ottawa's uncontested indie-rock album of the year, but Jet Planes Of Abraham's self-titled record was a very close second. It was also extremely close between Barrymore's and The Black Sheep Inn concerning the category Best Place to Hear Live Music. There were also a few ties - the most significant one was between Beckta and E18hteen for first place in the Best Splurge category. As for upsets: Local Heroes reclaimed its title as the King of Wings, Oh So Good beat out Thyme & Again for Best Dessert, while Savana Café climbed up from last year's fourth place spot to win Best Romantic Restaurant, and - though it didn't win any category outright - the new Aunt Olive's Café and Vintage Clothes did work its way into several honourable mentions.
Perhaps the most interesting part of our survey is the Local Lore section, since it acts as a barometer for how people felt about the past year. According to this year's survey, it was a mixed one for our mayor. According to our readers, cancelling the O-Train was a bad idea, but the mayor's increased funding for the arts was a good move. The new Somerset Bridge over the Rideau Canal was a clearly a great idea since it won first place in two of our categories. And while people voted overwhelmingly that the best method of getting around was either by biking or walking, it doesn't explain why the roads are clogged with cars with single occupants.
Anyhow, we hope that you'll not only enjoy reading the survey but will keep it around as a guide of sorts to restaurants, bands, books and everything else Ottawa has to offer. Enjoy.
The Best of Ottawa 2007 online reader survey's results are divided into four sections: Food & Drink, Arts & Culture, Around Town, and Local Lore. In each section the categories are listed alphabetically. Honourable mentions are ranked in the order of second, third and fourth place winners. If you have any questions, concerns or feedback, please email us at letters@ottawaxpress.ca.
1. FOOD & DRINK
Best deli
Winner: La Bottega (64 George)
Honourable Mentions: Nicastro's (all locations), DiRienzo's Grocery (111 Beech), Sausage Kitchen (5 Byward Market Square)
Best sandwich
Honourable Mentions: La Bottega (64 George), Gooney's Sandwich Works (360 Laurier), Aunt Olive's (209 Gilmour)
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