On October 13th the Dining Examiner reported the kick off of AOL’s Best contest. From Oct. 13 through Nov. 30, Baltimore residents cast their votes to select their favorite venues from a list of top local businesses in many various categories.

AOL today also announced winners for the 2010 City’s Best program in 25 major cities:  Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Twin Cities and Washington, DC. Voters throughout all 25 major cities joined the quest for their “City’s Best” by visiting www.citysbest.com or by downloading City’s Best applications for iPhone and Android to vote for their favorite food, entertainment and lifestyle businesses.

And the Baltimore winners are....after two months of voting for their favorite food, entertainment and lifestyle nominees, residents have identified the following category winners:

Best After-Work Bars:

Bay Cafe

Best Burgers:

Five Guys Burgers & Fries

Best Cheap Eats:

Paper Moon Diner

Best Chinese Food:

Szechuan House

Best Cocktails:

Captain Larry's

Best Crab Cakes:

Koco's Pub

Best Day Drinking:

Bad Decisions

Best Desserts:

Vaccaro's Italian Pastry Shop

Best Family-Friendly Restaurants:

G&M Restaurant

Best Fashion Boutiques:

Babe. (a boutique)

Best Hotels:

Tremont Plaza Hotel

Best Irish Pubs:

Thornton's Pub

Best Italian Food:

Sotto Sopra

Best Live Music:

Cat's Eye Pub

Best Movie Theaters (tie):

Charles Theatre

Best Movie Theaters(tie):

Landmark Theatres Harbor East

Best Pizza:

Matthew's Pizza

Best Places to Break Up:

The Brewer's Art

Best Romantic Restaurants:

Woodberry Kitchen

Best Salons:

NV Salon Collective

Best Seafood:

Obrycki's Crab House & Seafood Restaurant

Best Sports Bars:

The Greene Turtle

Local business nominees were chosen based on overall reputation.  City’s Best editors and writers selected the nominees based on editorial insight and local opinion of residents.  The selection process was fueled by the mission of City’s Best, which is to bring experts and neighbors together to find and share the best. Voting by residents determined the final winners in each category.

Brewer’s Art has won awards  but I’m not sure winning Best Place to Break Up is one they want to publicize.  Should a date or mate take you there, wouldn’t you be wondering if this was the last time?