For the fourth year in a row, we asked readers of SWoCo to pick The Best of Southwest Roanoke County. The votes poured in; nearly 50 percent more than last year and nearly nine times the number our first year. So there’s a lot more competition.In some cases, we had new winners; in other we had repeat winners. Those who have won two years in a row are noted with a double asterisk (**), those who have won three years in a row get three, and those who have won all four years are identifed with four asterisks.
So without further ado, here’s who you picked as this year’s Best Of . . .

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

Best place to take relatives from out of town
1. Mill Mountain Star****
2. Downtown Roanoke
3. Froth

Best place to meet new people
1. Church****
2. Downtown Roanoke
3. Froth

Best park
1. Penn Forest Elementary School Park
2. Garst Mill Park
2. Elmwood Park

Best reason for living in Southwest Roanoke County
1. Schools
2. The people
3. Community spirit

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

Best church outreach program
1. Church of the Holy Spirit
2. Cave Spring Baptist Church
3. Rescue Mission

Best community event
1. Cave Spring High School Jazz Cafe
2. Festival in the Park
3. Project Faith – Faith Christian School

Best local politician
1. Greg Habeeb, state legislator
2. Bob Goodlatte, congressman
3. David Bowers, Roanoke mayor

Best parks and rec. activity
1. All recreation sports
2. Green Ridge Recreation Center
3. Summer Camps and Greenways (tie)

Best new thing in Swoco in the past year
1. South Roanoke County Library
2. Froth coffee shop
3. Greener Pastures Curb Side Pick-Up for Recycle Materials

Best teacher
1. Danielle Johnson – North Cross
2. Tiffany Sakaguchi – Cave Spring Middle School
3. Heather Slaughter – North Cross School

Best school staff member
1. Anne Currin – Cave Spring Elementary Administrative Assistant
2. Dr. Linda Wright – Penn Forest Elementary
3. Mary Beth Gregg – Cave Spring Elementary Mr. Boyer – Cave Spring Middle

Best bus driver
1. Grover Plunkett
2. Ruby Craft – CSHS, CSMS, and Penn Forest
3. Penny Robertson – Oak Grove

Best coach (school sports)
1. Cory Carroll – Hidden Valley High School girls soccer in 2011
2. James Brown – North Cross School
3. Tim Fulton- Cave Spring High School

Best coach (non-school sports)
1. Cory Carroll – Roanoke Star Soccer**
2. Mark Meyer – Roanoke Star
3. Ricky Gregg – baseball

Best school event – high school
1. Football
2. Project Faith – Faith Christian School
3. Cave Spring High School Prom

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

Best place for a family hike
1. Mill Mountain Star Trail**
2. Peaks of Otter
3. McAfee Knob

Best place to go for a bike ride
1. The greenways**
2. Blue Ridge Parkway
3. Carvin’s Cove

Best spot for a picnic
1. Blue Ridge Parkway
2. Mill Mountain
3. Garst Mill Park

Best sporting moment of the past year
1. CSHS winning volleyball state championship
2. North Cross School winning football state championship
3. Cave Spring Football and Hidden Valley Football (tie)

Best place for breakfast:
1. Famous Anthony’s****
2. The Roanoker
3. IHOP

Best coffee:
1. Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea****
2. Starbucks
3. Dunkin’ Donuts

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

Best pizza:
1. Grace’s Place Pizzeria
2. Frank’s Pizza
3. New York Pizza

Best place for lunch:
1. Burger in the Square
2. Wildflour
3. Brambleton Deli

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

Best place to hear local music:
1. Blue 5**
2. Brambleton Deli
3. Kirk Ave. Music Hall

Best restaurant to take the kids:
1. Chuck E. Cheese’s**
2. Macado’s
3. El Rodeo

Best happy hour:
1. 419 West
2. Macado’s
3. Annie Moore’s

Best Place to Buy Wine:
1. Kroger**
2. The Wine Gourmet
3. Mr. Bill’s Wine Cellar

Best place to go after a game:
1. Buffalo Wild Wings***
2. Brambleton Deli
3. Mac & Bob’s

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

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

Best pharmacy:
1. CVS**
2. Kroger
3. Walgreens

Best convenience store:
1. Country Store on Starkey****
2. Sheetz
3. 7-Eleven

Best hair salon:
1. Country Hair Saloon
2. Onyx
3. Glo Salon

Best nail salon:
1. Perfect Nails***
2. Beauty Bar
3. Polished by Claire V.

Best place to get pampered:
1. Azario Salon
2. Pure Spa
3. Salon Del Sol

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

Best place to shop for antiques:
1. Black Dog Salvage**
2. Roanoke Antiques Mall
3. Buy The Season

Best place to buy unique gifts:
1. Chocolatepaper****
2. Two and A Half Sisters
3. Steger Creek

Best place to buy women’s fashions:
1. TJMaxx
2. Stein Mart
3. Belk

Best jeweler:
1. Fink’s****
2. Jewells Fine Jewelry
3. Two and A Half Sisters

Best florist:
1. George’s Flowers***
2. Stritesky’s
3. Petal Pushers

Best frame shop:
1. A.C. Moore
2. Brambleton Frame Shop
3. Frame N Things

Best bargains:
1. TJ Maxx****
2. Goodwill
3. Two and A Half Sisters

Best dentist:
1. Dr. Gary Roach
2. Hunting Hills Dentistry
3. Dr. Scott Ward

Best family physician:
1. Dr. Donald Smith of Brambleton Family Medicine***
2. Dr. Nina Sweeney of Roanoke Partners in Health
3. Dr. Ella Youngblood

Best lawyer:
1. John Lichtenstein**
2. Doug Wilson
3. Mark Skolrood

Best place to go for financial advice:
1. BB&T***
2. SunTrust
3. Jason Bialek of Atlantic Mortgage

Best insurance agent:
1. Steve Nash of Allstate**
2. Mark Meyer of Allstate
3. Brian Evans of State Farm

Best builder: *New Category
1. Simpson
2. Al Cooper
3. David James Homes

Best plumber/electrician/home repair service:
1. Richardson Plumbing and Heating***
2. Nelson Repair and Maintenance
3. Wisler Plumbing

Best lawn or landscaping service:
1. Varsity Landscaping & Grounds****
2. Langford’s Lawns & Such
3. TJS Enterprises

Best dry cleaner:
1. Cave Spring Cleaners
2. Wheeler’s Fast Service Laundry and Cleaning
3. Air-Lee Cleaners

Best car wash:
1. Tanglewood Auto Wash***
2. Brambleton Car Wash
3. Southern Classic Car Wash

Best place to buy a car:
1. Brambleton Imports**
2. Berglund Automotive
3. First Team Auto Mall

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

Best place for music lessons:
1. Kelley’s Music****
2. The Bandroom
3. Martin Music Services

Best preschool or day care:
1. Cave Spring Baptist***
2. HoneyTree
3. Country Bear Day School

Best apartment community:
1. Sunscape Apartments***
2. The Pines Apartments
3. Pebble Creek Apartments

Best real estate firm/brokerage:
1. Lichtenstein Rowan Realtors
2. Long & Foster Realtors
3. MKB Realtors

Best real estate agent:
1. Callie Dalton of Long & Foster
2. Glenna Bannister of Long & Foster
3. Vickie Clarke of Long & Foster

Best veterinarian:
1. Big Lick Veterinary Services
2. Cave Spring Veterinary Clinic
3. Roanoke Animal Hospital

Best pet grooming/pet sitting/pet boarding service:
1. Hair of the Dog with Lorie Bowling
2. Clip & Dip
3. Yuppie Puppie

Best tattoo studio:
1. Star City Tattoos****
2. Asylum Tattoos
3. Danny’s Ancient Art

Best thing not on this list:
1. Easy Green Curbside Recycling
2. Greener Pastures Curbside Recycling
3. Cabinetry with TLC

Here’s who won in 2011 and 2010 and 2009.