By Kathy Chouteau
Voting is underway for “The Best of El Cerrito” contest hosted by the El Cerrito Chamber of Commerce alongside the Best of City Contests team—and numerous Richmond businesses are in the mix.
The contest doesn’t only include El Cerrito businesses, but also those in bordering cities including Albany, Berkeley, Richmond and Kensington and unincorporated communities.
“The Best of El Cerrito Program celebrates businesses of all sizes that make our place special. This is done by encouraging you, the community, to nominate and vote for your favorites,” stated the El Cerrito Chamber of Commerce on its website.
Voting is done via a digital ballot through June 27 (11:59 p.m. Pacific) and businesses with the most votes from the public are the winners—to be announced July 4. A celebration will be held Sept. 18 at the El Cerrito Honda.
Categories for The Best of El Cerrito contest include Animal Services, Coaching and Therapy, Food & Drink, Health & Beauty Services, Household and General Services, Kids Education & Activities, Lifestyle & Leisure, Professional Services and Retail Stores. Subcategories exist under each of the major contest categories. Questions? Contact info@elcerritochamber.org.
Richmond businesses nominated in the various overall categories include:
Animal Services: Metro Dog and Richmond Veterinary Hospital.
Coaching and Therapy: Dora Ritzer, LMFT and The Practice Space.
Food & Drink: Sheng Kee, Gran Milan (3x), The Factory Bar (2x), El Jardín De Los Sueños Café, The Artisan Café, Phila Burger Station, Rincon Latino, Daimo Chinese Restaurant, Tsing Tao Restaurant, Catahoula, Kaleidoscope Coffee, Waffles & Cream, Joe’s Market, Biancoverde at Hotel Mac (2x), Mi Casa Grill, El Sol Mexican Restaurant, El Agave Azul, Taqueria La Bamba, Richmond Pizza House, Raymond’s Pizzeria, Armistice Brewing Company, East Brother Beer, Pickles N’ Smoke (2x), Anaviv’s Table, Angelo’s Gourmet Delicatessen, Taqueria La Estrella, La Flor De Jalisco, PraJam Thai, Anh Restaurant and Bar, Huong Tra Restaurant and Windchaser Wine Co.
Health and Beauty Services: Cuts 1st Class Barbershop, Innersport Chiropractic, Costco and Pacific East Dental Care.
Household and General Services: Stewart’s Body Shop, Costco, Richmond Express Cleaners, Heavenly Garden Cleaning, Conscious Construction, Newton’s Hauling & Moving Services (2x), Val Betti and Mauro’s Plumbing Services.
Kids Education & Activities: Bay Area Girls Club, Yes Nature to Neighborhoods (2x), Crestmont School, Outside School (2x) and Heather Taylor of the Outside School.
Lifestyle & Leisure: Richmond Art Center (2x), Allegro Ballroom and Club, Exhale Fitness (2x), Planet Fitness, Masquers Playhouse, Steadfast Martial Arts, The Practice Space, East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, The Fountain Project Foundation, The Milo Foundation, Contra Costa Chorale, Wendy Medina of Exhale Fitness and The Plunge.
Professional Services: Cheryl Powell of East Bay Bookkeeping, ClientClicks Internet Marketing, MA Hays Insurance Brokers, Farmers Insurance, Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers, GJEL Accident Attorneys, Professional Property Management, First Republic Real Estate and Tony Valadez of Coast Architecture and Design.
Retail Stores: Bay Quilts, Multicultural Bookstore, Kingstone Bookstore, 7 Stars Holistic Healing Center, Hanlees Hilltop Toyota, Kwik Serv, Costco Gas Station, Target, Grocery Outlet, Metztli and 99 Ranch Market.