For the third year in a row, we asked readers of SWoCo to pick The Best of Southwest Roanoke County. The votes poured in; nearly double the number in 2010 and nearly seven times the number of votes we got our first year. So there’s a lot more competition. In some cases, we had repeat winners, we’ve noted those with an asterisk (*) who won last year, as well. Those with a double asterisk (**) have won all three years. But we also had some new winners — and some new categories, too.

So without further ado, here’s who you picked as this year’s Best Of . . .

Best place for breakfast
1. Famous Anthony’s**
2. IHOP
3. Panera Bread

Best coffee
1. Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea**
2. Starbucks
3. Mojo Cafe

Best iced tea
1. McDonald’s*
2. Hardee’s
3. Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea

Best pizza
1. Frank’s Pizza**
2. Grace’s
3. Bellacino’s

Best place for lunch
1. Brambleton Deli*
2. Panera Bread
3. Elderberry’s

Best place for a fancy meal
1. Carlos**
2. Luigi’s
3. 419 West

Best restaurant to take the kids
1. Chuck E. Cheese
2. Famous Anthony’s
3. Country Cookin’

Best happy hour
1. Annie Moore’s**
2. Brambleton Deli
3. 419 West

Best place to buy wine — new category
1. Kroger
2. Mr. Bill’s Wine Cellar
3. The Wine Gourmet

Best place to go after a game
1. Buffalo Wild Wings*
2. Brambleton Deli
3. Annie Moore’s

Best place for a first date
1. Montano’s*
2. Carlos
3. 419 West

Best place for a family hike
1. Mill Mountain
2. McAfee Knob
3. Blue Ridge Parkway

Best place to take relatives from out of town
1. Mill Mountain**
2. Roanoke Farmer’s Market
3. The Homeplace

Best spot for a picnic
1. Mill Mountain
2. Blue Ridge Parkway
3. Peaks of Otter

Best place to go for a bike ride
1. Greenway
2. Carvins Cove
3. Blue Ridge Parkway

Best coach (school sports)
1. James Brown, North Cross boys and girls soccer
2. Heather Lawrence, North Cross School
3. Billy Hicks, Cave Spring boys basketball

Best coach (non-school sports)
1. Cory Carroll, Roanoke Star soccer
2. Mark Meyer, Butch Carleno (tie)
3. Bobby Jones, Dean Colozzo, Ricky Gregg (tie)

Best place to keep fit
1. The Roanoke Athletic Club**
2. YMCA
3. Gold’s Gym

Best teacher
1. Amanda Amos, North Cross School
2. Dustin McCollum, Hidden Valley High School
3. Heather Lawrence, North Cross School

Best school staff member
1. Ann Currin, Cave Spring Elementary; Linda Wright, principal, Penn Forest Elementary; Melissa Moslow, Faith Christian School (tie)
2. Richard Kemp, Faith Christian School
3. Tess Jones, Faith Christian School; Sam Cox, Faith Christian School; Genia Nichols, Hidden Valley High School

Best bus driver
1. Ms Ruby, bus 131, Roanoke County
2. Bob Davis, Diane Hunt (Cave Spring) (tie)
3. Jay, Bus 110; Grover Plunkett, Cave Spring High School; Tom, Bus 59, Oak Grove (tie)

Best school event – high school
1. Project Faith, Faith Christian School
2. Cave Spring High School football
3. The musical “Peter Pan” at Hidden Valley High School

Best school event – elementary and middle school
1. Project Faith, Faith Christian School
2. Pumpkins on the Playground, Penn Forest Elementary
3. Cave Spring Elementary Carnival

Best place for music lessons
1. Kelly’s Music**
2. The Bandroom
3. Kevin Jones Performing Arts Studio

Best place to go trick-or-treating
1. The Gardens and Groves*
2. Penn Forest
3. Tanglewood Mall

Best place to meet new people
1. Church**
2. Downtown Roanoke
3. Gold’s Gym on Electric Road

Best park
1. Garst Mill Park**
2. Darrell Shell Playground, Penn Forest Elementary
3. Fishburn Park

Best place to access wi-fi
1. Panera Bread**
2. Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea
3. Starbucks

Best reason for living in Southwest Roanoke County
1. Friendly people
2. Schools
3. Mountain scenery

Best place to take the kids for the day
1. Mill Mountain Zoo*
2. Green Ridge Recreation Center
3. Blue Ridge Parkway

Best church outreach program
1. Cave Spring Baptist
2. Cave Spring United Methodist; Church of the Holy Spirit (tie)
3. First Baptist Church, Rosalind Heights Baptist (tie)

Best community event
1. Project Faith
2. “Monster Musicals” by Kevin Jones Performing Arts Studio
3. Festival in the Park

Best place to hear local music
1. Blue 5
2. Brambleton Deli
3. Annie Moore’s

Best local politician
1. Bob Goodlatte, congressman**
2. Greg Habeeb, state legislator
3. Onzlee Ware, state legislator

Best parks and rec activity
1. Green Ridge Recreation Center
2. South County softball
3. Basketball

Best apartment community
1. Sunscape*
2. Pebble Creek
3. Cedar Point

Best customer service
1. Berglund Automotive
2. Licensed to Cut
3. Frantz Diamonds, aka The Gem Gallery

Best hair salon
1. Azario Salon
2. Glo Salon
3. Licensed to Cut

Best nail salon
1. Perfect Nails*
2. Beauty Bar
3. Q Nails

Best place to get pampered
1. Pure Spa
2. Zee’s Salon
3. Licensed to Cut

Best car wash
1. Tanglewood Auto Wash**
2. Brambleton Car Wash
3. Cave Spring Auto Wash

Best place to get your car fixed
1. Cave Spring Auto Body**
2. Brambleton Auto
3. Crescent Heights

Best preschool or day care
1. Cave Spring Baptist**
2. HoneyTree
3. Covenant Presbyterian Preschool

Best dentist
1. Andy Henritze
2. Hunting Hills Dentistry
3. Scott Ward

Best family physician
1. Donald Smith, Brambleton Family Medicine*
2. Lisa Deyerle, Cave Spring Family Practice
3. Ella Youngblood

Best pharmacy
1. CVS
2. Walgreen’s
3. Kroger

Best lawyer
1. John Lichtenstein
2. Mark Skolrood
3. David Bullington

Best frame shop
1. Frame N Things**
2. A.C. Moore
3. The Frame Connection

Best plumber/electrician/home repair service
1. Richardson Plumbing & Heating*
2. Wisler Plumbing
3. David Funk

Best place to go for financial advice
1. BB&T*
2. Jason Bialek — Atlantic Mortgage
3. Greystone Financial

Best lawn service or landscaping service
1. Varsity Landscaping and Grounds**
2. GreenUp
3. Valley Landscaping

Best place to shop for antiques
1. Black Dog Salvage
2. Roanoke Antiques Mall
3. Goodwill

Best bargains
1. TJ Maxx**
2. Goodwill
3. Hidden Treasures

Best place to buy unique gifts
1. Chocolatepaper**
2. Steger Creek
3. Edible Arrangements

Best place to buy fresh food
1. Fresh Market**
2. Roanoke Farmer’s Market
3. Kroger

Best place to buy women’s fashions
1. Stein Mart*
2. Talbot’s
3. Vivendi

Best dry cleaner
1. Air-Lee Cleaners*
2. A Cleaner World
3. Harvey’s

Best jeweler
1. Fink’s**
2. Jewell’s
3. Frantz Diamonds, aka The Gem Gallery

Best florist
1. George’s*
2. Petal Pushers
3. Blumen Haus

Best veterinarian
1. Cave Spring Vet**
2. Big Lick Vet
3. Vet to Cats

Best convenience store
1. The Country Store**
2. Stop-In
3. Countryway

Best insurance agent
1. Steve Nash (Allstate)
2. Jack Sale (State Farm)
3. Mark Meyer (Allstate)

Best real estate agent
1. Beth Wilson*
2. Curtis Burchett
3.Tim Toohig

Best real estate firm
1. Long and Foster*
2. RE/MAX Valley
3. MKB

Best pet grooming / pet sitting / pet boarding
1. Clip & Dip**
2. The Happy Dog
3. Yuppie Puppie

Best tattoo studio
1. Star City Tattoos**
2. Danny’s Ancient Art
3. Alex’s New Tattoo

Best value for the money
1. About Pets Center
2. The Frame Connection
3. Classic Floors

Best place to buy a car
1. Brambleton Imports
2. Berglund Automotive
3. Haley Toyota

Best place to work — new category
1. Wildwood Smokehouse
2. Roanoke County schools
3. Pino Gelato, Carilion (tie)

Best new thing in Southwest Roanoke County in the past year
1. Greener Pastures Recycling
2. Pino Gelato cafe
3. Wal-Mart in Clearbrook

* Best thing not on this list
1. Greener Pastures Curbside Recycling
2. Paw Paw’s Dog Biscuits
3. Steve Nuckols (pharmacist, Medicap), The Shoppes at West Village Center, the wait staff at Frank’s Pizza on Brambleton Avenue

Here’s who won in 2010 and 2009.

Got an idea for a category we should add in 2012? Let us know!