Best of Humboldt, 2014 

Humboldt has spoken. But, and you may disagree, we are not a group that agrees on everything, so Humboldt may go on speaking. As feisty as we are about our politics, it's no surprise we clash over who's cutting the crispiest fries, where you should take your busted car or who's the finest tattooist to ink up your sleeves. If you've got any spirit at all, you'll roll your eyes, scratch your head or even rail against some of these winners. You'll probably agree with a fair number, too. Enjoy the smug satisfaction — you liked them before they won Best Of Humboldt.

Browse Sections and Categories at left.

Big Turnouts

Categories that touch our daily survival needs (possibly in order of importance) garnered the most response.

Best Coffee House: 924 votes

Best Brewery: 922 votes

Best Grocery Store: 919 votes

Landslides

Ten winners swept it with 60 percent or more of the vote, but these three came, saw and conquered their categories with over 70 percent.

Best Place to Take a First Date: Moonstone Beach (75%)

Best Thing to Bitch About in Humboldt: Tweakers (73%)

Best Vista That Never Gets Old: Trinidad (71%)

Oooh, That Was Close

We had a tie between Humboldt Patient Resource Center and The Humboldt Collective for Best Dispensary, and 20 categories were decided by less than 20 votes. Seven categories came down to fewer than 10 votes, and these nail-biters were settled by just one or two keystrokes:

Best Hot Dog: Costco: 269 votes, Humboldt Hot Dogs: 268 votes

Best Auto Repair: Antich Auto: 132 votes, Franklin's Service: 131 votes

Best Tattoo Artist: Henry Kruger: 172 votes, Brian Kaneko: 170 votes

ON THE COVER

click to enlarge

Concept – Drew Hyland and Lynn Jones. linoleum block print – Lynn Jones/Just My Type Letterpress. Art Direction, Holly Harvey. Photography, Terrence McNally. Model, Renee Rivers.