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Welcome to our historic 45th annual edition of the nation’s original Best of the Bay. Thousands of you voted, here are the results. Stay tuned for our 2020 Editors’ Picks and a special group of Stories of Resilience submitted by our readers, published later this month.

We know that this year is incredible different—an economic tragedy for local businesses and workers and a time of political and social upheaval (some of it very hopeful).

We wrestled with the idea of continuing Best of the Bay this year, with so many of our favorite spots struggling, shutdown, or permanently closed. In the end, we decided that it’s essential to bring the community together to celebrate its classic resilience, pay respects to legends, and energize ourselves for the fight to continue.

Our designs throughout this issue represent new growth springing from fires, both real and symbolic, that have challenged us this year. We hope that all the protest energy, networks of support, and empathy and adventurousness of the true Bay spirit will continue to heal our communities and represent the Best of us!

Thank you to everyone who voted. Please support our mission to keep Bay Area media independent here.

Designer Aaron Joseph, Audrey Fukuman/Identafire Best of the Bay Editor Marke B. Bay Guardian Editor Tim Redmond Web Developer Matt Fisher Bay Guardian Publishers Emeritus Bruce B. Brugmann and Jean Dibble Special Thanks Caitlin Donohue, Hunky Beau