Loco over local

Tens of thousands ballots later (excluding the stuffed ballots that went straight into the recycling bin), Oklahoma Gazette's Best of OKC results are ready for you to celebrate or debate.

http://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/article-12635-loco-over-local.html

Cattlemans beats out Boulevard and Red? No thank you to that.

I think Louie's and Jimmy's Egg are reallly over rated yet they seem to be there every year. Sometimes its more about how many ballots you can get filled out and not really who's better (they both have so many locations). And how did Bricktown Brewery beat out COOP? The F-5 and DNR are better than all the brewerys beers put together.

No joke, badfish. COOP is a brewer Oklahoma City ought to be immensely proud of, it should be the obvious choice.

I dont pay too much attention to the list. I assume most people only eat and vote at/for the same old places year after years w/o trying anything new or different.
Earls for best bbq is a joke as is Teds for best mexican food.

I want to start something similar here.

Create our own categories, come up with a ton 10 or so in each, then allowed on-line voting -- but you have to be registered to vote, and can only vote once.

It seems there is usually a relationship between the top three winners and the amount they advertise in the Gazette.

It seems there is usually a relationship between the top three winners and the amount they advertise in the Gazette.

Sounds similar to the Better Business Bureau...Pay your dues and your rating magically goes up

I dont pay too much attention to the list. I assume most people only eat and vote at/for the same old places year after years w/o trying anything new or different.
Earls for best bbq is a joke as is Teds for best mexican food.

I pretty much feel the same way. This poll reminds me of those OETA ballots: Same stuff every time. Never any new suggestions.

(Which is not to take anything away from The Gazette. I love the Gazette.)

It seems there is usually a relationship between the top three winners and the amount they advertise in the Gazette.

Actually, it has more to do with top of mind awareness and familarity with the winner. I'd say at least over half ( if not 75%) of the winners do not advertise, have never advertised, or do so only periodically with the Gazette. Those that run ads during the voting period increase their odds just by simply putting their name out there. Many that run consistanly did not win.

Yep another lame list that are little more than "crowd favorites". Oklahoma Gazette has really slacked when it comes to this. Louies should NEVER be on anything "best" when it comes to their food. When I saw that I knew I was in store for mediocrity and wasn't disappointed.

Yep another lame list that are little more than "crowd favorites". Oklahoma Gazette has really slacked when it comes to this. Louies should NEVER be on anything "best" when it comes to their food. When I saw that I knew I was in store for mediocrity and wasn't disappointed.

There is no way to get a true "BEST" list from something like this. Of course, it's crowd favorites. If we really wanted a best list we would go to food critics or experts for advice. But anything to do with food will really just be opinion. Using the name "Best of OKC" is not the most accurate way to describe the winners.

"Best" of anything, should it be chosen by the:
"experts"
"peers"
"sales"
"patrons"
"general public"

"Best" of anything, should it be chosen by the:
"experts"
"peers"
"sales"
"patrons"
"general public"

Larry, that depends on the definition of "BEST". That means different things to different people. That's why I said that "BEST" was not the most accurate way to describe the winners.

I think it's like elections: people vote based on name recognition. And some other criteria that escapes me. No way does Cuppies and Joe have better coffee than Coffee Slingers. And why wasn't Red Prime nominated for appetizers? They have the best appetizers in the city. Zio's has the best Italian? I think Spaghetti Warehouse is better than Zio's, to be honest with you, and neither is close to the best Italian food in the city. Anyway, some of the winners seem very deserving and some just don't.

Yeah . . .
That Zio's pick for "Best Italian" was especially strange . . .

Their sales reps come by and you can buy a spot on the best of list for the oklahoman and gazette

One of my business's won their category about ten years ago. Our ad rep just put us on the final list and then delivered a trunk load of ballots. She said that most of the winners do this every year. We had our customers fill them out and then she picked them up. We talked to a couple other businesses and we picked who should win most of the category's. She told us how many we needed to win and we did. We never really heard much about it other than when the rep asked us to run a big ad thanking the voters! I think most know it's a crock. It's just a scheme for the Gazette to have you run more ads both asking for votes and then thanking for votes. I didn't like campaigning so I never did it again.