When putting together the annual poll of our readers’ favorite things about Frederick County, we often notice some voting trends and gather input that help us decide which categories we should keep and delete on future ballots.

One thing we will note is if an existing category feels out of date or if it only garners a few votes. These are usually good indications that retirement is in order for that category. For the latest poll, we said goodbye to categories such as men’s fashion, hiking trail, high school marching band and cocktail, among others.

But in true “circle of life” fashion, we added several new categories, mostly in professional categories such as accountant, insurance (agency and agent) and travel (agency and agent). Other new categories include nonprofit, podcast and dispensary.

This year’s list of “Best of Frederick” winners includes many familiar names and sadly we again had a longtime winner who is no longer in business. Champion Billiards Sports Bar took first place in sports bar, despite closing its doors in Westview Prominade last year. (Champion would have also been eligible as the best billiards bar, where it took first place last year, but that category was since deleted.) 

The debate over the winners will continue, which has been the case for “Best of Frederick” for 32 years. So, check out the following pages and see for yourself. Do you agree with this year’s winners? Also, feel free to email us at editor@fredmag.com and let us know what categories you would like to see added or removed for the next “Best of Frederick” poll, which kicks off in September of this year.