Greetings! In this week’s issue, we kick off a new year of Best of Austin polling. Whether you’re new to the paper or just need a refresher, we’re here to demystify the process.
What Is Best of Austin?
First started by The Austin Chronicle in 1990, the annual Best of Austin Awards celebrate community excellence across Arts & Entertainment, Food & Drink, Kids & Family, Nightlife, Politics & Media, Shopping, Services, and Sports & Recreation.
Who Decides Who Wins These Things?
The Chronicle editorial staff and a handful of our trusted freelancers decide the Critics Picks winners – there’s usually about 60 or so of those – but the bulk of the awards are decided by you fine folks via the Readers Poll.
The Readers What?
The Readers Poll. Over the course of two rounds, our readers first nominate their favorites and then select a winner from five finalists in 180 categories – from the practical (Best Roofer, Best Veterinarian, Best Mani/Pedi) to the playful (Best Playground, Best Dive Bar, Best Cannabusiness) to the downright essential (Best Queso).
Can I Ask People to Vote for Me?
You sure can. In fact, we built “Get Out the Vote” social media materials that you can download for free at vote.austinchronicle.com. It’s a big ballot, so we recommend you tell your supporters which category they should vote for you in – really spell it out for ’em. (Literally, if you’ve got a complicated name.)
When It Comes to Campaigning, What’s Cool, and What’s Not?
Cool: Tacking up a flyer at your business encouraging clients to vote for you. Sending a newsletter to your subscribers with a link to the ballot. Posting to social media a heartfelt request to your followers.
Not cool – like, grounds-for-disqualification levels of uncool: Promising anything in exchange for a vote. Creating multiple email accounts to vote more than once. (One voter, one vote, y’all.) Employing bots, or any other chicanery that, when you’re really being honest with yourself, you know isn’t fair play.
Fair play is a two-way street: We promise readers that awards can’t be bought, not now and not ever. You’ll see lots of BOA-targeted ads on the online ballot and in these pages. We’re awfully grateful for our advertisers – we couldn’t fund our journalism without them – but what they’re getting is primo placement in front of your juicy eyeballs, nothing more.
And This Is All Happening Now?
Right now! Act fast! The first round – what we call the nominating, or write-in, ballot – kicks off Thursday, March 26, and ends at 11:59pm on Monday, April 6. In this round, you can vote for whoever and whatever your heart desires. (Not finding a category that fits your field/business/unique skill set? That’s what the wild card categories are for. Don’t be shy – we sometimes steal wild card ideas for our Critics Picks.)
When that round ends, we crunch the numbers and put together a finalist ballot – typically five nominees in each category. In this round, which runs May 7-18, you don’t just get to vote; you get to leave comments – little testimonials about what you love about a finalist – which we just might pick for publication in the big Best of Austin issue.
… Speaking of?
The 36th annual Best of Austin awards issue hits stands June 18.
This article appears in March 27 • 2026.