For the Featured Winners Click HERE.
Every July we host our BEST OF competition online, and this year’s voting was another huge success. With well over 100,000 votes cast, EXPLORE’s BEST OF has fast become the area’s premier and most coveted BEST OF contest.
To backtrack and perhaps explain a bit of history, we should admit that the BEST OF contest sort of started out as a bit of a “joke”. We were definitely serious with our intention to create the best voting system in the area, but the whole idea came about in a staff meeting where we reviewed a local newspaper’s BEST OF that had “Best Hamburger” going to Dairy Queen. Nothing against Dairy Queen, but I’m sure we’d all agree that there’s some seriously fine hamburgers being produced locally. So upon a little investigation, we discovered that some local publications that have also done a BEST OF contest have required voters to purchase a copy of the paper, hand-fill out the ballot and drop it off to the paper itself.
Living in 2022, we figured we could do a little better.
So 4 years ago we launched our fully online, IP-tracked (so you could only vote once) BEST OF contest. When we did so, the website crashed in 15 minutes due to the traffic. We beefed up the site, voting resumed and social media exploded with businesses and their customers encouraging one another to vote for their favorites. It was great to see the celebration of local small businesses! Ultimately, we eclipsed over 60,000 votes in year 1 and we considered it a tremendous success.
Each year since, the voting participation has increased and this year we are pleased to report that we were close to 200,000 votes!!As you go through the magazine, we have chosen a collection of these businesses to allow them a little space to tell you a little more about their business and to thank everyone for the support. As we always say here at EXPLORE, please SHOP LOCAL. As you’ll see, these business owners are working tirelessly to make their dreams work, and we are quite proud to provide an opportunity for the local supporting public here in Kendall County show some love to their favorite small businesses and their owners. We thank all of you for the support for this year and can’t wait for next year’s contest!
WINNERS!
Best Alternative Medicine – Annie’s Apothecary
Best Antique Store – John’s Road Antiques
Best Arbor Care – Burkett Arbor Care
Best Art Gallery – Texas Treasures Fine Art
Best Asian Food – N’s Thai Food
Best Assisted Living Facility – Menger Springs/Morningside Senior Living
Best Auto Care – Ritchie Automotive
Best Bakery – Bear Moon
Best Bar – Cibolo Creek Brewing
Best BBQ – Klein’s Smokehaus
Best Breakfast – Little Gretel
Best Breakfast Tacos – Mary’s Tacos
Best Burger – Cibolo Creek Brewing
Best Candles – Lillian Jaxx Candles
Best Caterer – Socially Cured
Best Chiropractor – Boerne Wellness
Best Coffee Shop – Black Rifle Coffee Co.
Best Craft Brewery – Kinematic Brewing Co.
Best Date Night Activity – Assemble Cocktail Workshop
Best Daycare – Lil Explorers School of Boerne
Best Dentist – Wade Hundley, DDS
Best Electrician – NH Electric
Best Family Photographer – Cooley Portraits
Best Family Practice Physician – Boerne Family Medicine (Ben Stahl)
Best Florist – The Flower Shop
Best Full-Service Jeweler – Morrell Jewelry
Best Furniture Store – Boerne Farmhouse
Best Gift Shop – Handmade on Main
Best Golf Cart Service & Sales – Omni Golf Carts
Best Golf Course – Tapatio Springs Hill Country Resort
Best Gym – Planet Fitness
Best Gymnastics – Boerne Gymnastic
Best Hair Salon – Tres Bella Salon
Best Home health Care – Visiting Angels
Best Hotel – The Bevy Hotel
Best Ice Cream/Yogurt – Parker’s Ice Cream
Best Investment Company – Edward Jones
Best Italian Food – Bella Sera
Best Kid’s Party Place – Arrows Active Playpark
Best Kids Camps – Gina Marie’s Art Studio
Best Landscaping Company – Hill Country Scapes & Design
Best Light Lunch – Epicure
Best Live Music Venue – Dog & Pony
Best Margarita – El Rio
Best Massage Therapy – Massage Matters
Best Medical Aesthetic Spa – No One Voted!
Best Men’s Clothing – Billy’s Western Wear
Best Mexican Food – Compadres Hill Country Cocina
Best Mortgage Lender – Lisa Blake VanDyk Mortgage
Best Nail Salon – Boerne Nails & Spa
Best Non-Profit – Day 1 Bags
Best Optical Provider – Dietz McLean Optical
Best Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Office – Kendall Implant and Oral Surgery
Best Orthodontist – Ferris Orthodontics
Best Park – Cibolo Nature Center
Best Pet Groomer – Boerne Grooming
Best Pie – Bumdoodler’s
Best Pizza – Z’s Wood Fired Pizza
Best Plumber – Hill Country Plumbing Inc.
Best Private School – St. Helena’s Episcopal School
Best Realtor – Tiffany Gil
Best Roofing Contractor – Kendall County Roofing
Best RV Service/Sales – Explorer RV Supercenter
Best Sandwich – Bumdoodler’s
Best Septic Company – RW Septic
Best Sign Company – Circle H Signs
Best Skilled Nursing/Rehab – Cibolo Creek Nursing
Best Skin Care – Simply Serene
Best Title Company – Kendall County Abstract
Best Travel Agency – Boerne Travel
Best Veterinary Clinic – Herbst Veterinary Clinic
Best Wedding Venue – Kendall Pointe
Best Well Water Company – H.W. Schwope & Sons Water Well Drilling
Best Wine List – Thirty Eight & Vine
Best Wine Tour Operator – Boerne Wine Tours
Best Women’s Clothing – Under the Fig Tree
Best Yard Greeting Company – Card My Yard Boerne
Best Yoga Studio – Agave Wellness Studio