It’s 2025, we’re all somehow still here, and we want to know what you love! Our annual Best of the Bay—the first ever contest of its kind when it launched—is back, with a new look and lots of Bay Area love. Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed!
After a half-century of honoring everything from Best Plumber to Best Fudge, Best Politician to Best Politician You Love To Hate, we’re giving Best of the Bay a whole new look. We’re slimming down sections and updating categories to reflect life in the Bay right now. You’ll still find plenty of ways to honor who and what you love!
Join us September 2-September 31 in showering the Bay Area with kudos in this beloved Bay Area tradition. Look out for our Editors’ Picks throughout the next couple months—and save the date for our delightful Best of the Bay Winners’ Party and 48 Hills Gala on October 22!
Dig into last year’s winners here. And for those who don’t know the origin story of the Bay Guardian Best of the Bay, check it out, straight from founding editor Bruce B. Brugmann’s mouth:
In 1974, Esquire magazine asked the Bay Guardian for ideas for its Best of the USA issue, which led us to publish the original Best of the Bay—the first participatory city guide of its kind in the nation, which let our readers themselves tell us that they love. Made by the people of the Bay Area for the people of the Bay Area, it’s our annual opportunity to celebrate the people and places that make this city great. Fifty-one years on, we’re still going strong.
Let’s love it up, starting September 2.
