Hundreds of people voted online and with paper ballots to select this year’s Best of Bellevue. Judges required at least 50 percent of the ballot be filled out to qualify and keep people from “stuffing” the ballot box. We also appreciated comments on the ballots and a few of them even made us chuckle.

In addition, three people won gift certificates in a random drawing from the ballots. Nina Bergman and Ivo Atanosov both received a $100 gift certificate to John Howie and Mary Stumph received a $100 gift certificate to SeaStar.

Here are the top three choices in our Best of Bellevue categories:

Best Bellevue Public Figure goes to our mayor, Conrad Lee. Second Place is awarded to Kemper Freeman and Lynne Robinson comes in third.

Our voters feel that the Best Place For a Date in Bellevue is Lincoln Square. Second place goes to Crossroads Mall and Daniel’s Broiler receives third place.

Bellevue residents love their pets and The Cat & Dog Clinic of Bellevue receives the award for Best Veterinarian Clinic. Second place goes to Companion Animal Hospital and Bellevue Animal Hospital comes in third.

Is your pet looking a little rough around the ears? Bellevue voted Petco as the Best Place to Get Your Pet Groomed. Second place goes to Best Friends Grooming and third is given to Der Pet Haus.

And finally for pets, Best Pet Store goes to Petco, second place to Pet Pros and third place goes to Petsmart.

The Best Salon or Spa in Bellevue goes to Gene Juarez. Second place goes to Seven Salon and third place goes to In Spa.

Bellevue loves to garden and our voters chose Bellevue Nursery as Best Plant Nursery. Wells Medina came in second and Fred Meyer is third.

Flowers are needed for many special occasions and sometimes just because we love them. Bellevue voted for Lawrence the Florist as the Best Florist in Bellevue. QFC floral department came in second and Crossroads Florist is third.

Best Retirement Community is awarded to Silver Glen Independent Living. The Bellettini is second and third place goes to The Garden Club.

The Best Kids Store is Toys R Us. Our voters chose Gymboree second and Merry Go Round is third.

Bellevue resident’s love the consignment and thrift stores we have here. Best Consignment/Thrift Store goes to Goodwill. Second place is The ReDress Shop and third place is Your Sister’s Closet.

The Best Dry Cleaner is Bakker’s Fine Dry Cleaning. Heidi’s Dry Cleaning is second and Camm’s Northstar Dry Cleaning.

The Best Place to Buy Jewelry is Ben Bridge. Dacel’s Jewelers is second and Alvin Goldfarb takes third place.

Bellevue residents voted for Nordstrom’s as The Best Shoe Store. DSW Shoes placed second and Shoes n Feet comes in third.

Best Auto Dealership goes to Michael’s Toyota. Barrier Motors takes second and Honda of Bellevue comes in third.

How about auto repair and maintenance? The Best Automotive Service Shop is Len’s Automotive. Barrier Motors takes second and Les Schwab comes in third.

It’s probably a good idea to replace your tires BEFORE the weather gets bad this year. The Best Place to Buy Tires goes to Les Schwab. Discount Tire takes second and Goodyear comes in third.

The Best Camera Store is Omega Photo. Tall’s Camera takes second place and Camera West comes in third.

Bellevue believes that the Best Place To Buy a Gift is Exclusively Art. Fireworks Gallery places second and Paula’s Hallmark is third.

The Best Furniture Store is Greenbaum Home Furnishings. Masin’s is second and Macy’s comes in third.

This year voters chose offices instead of individuals for Best Real Estate Agent or Agency. Windermere Real Estate is the favorite. Coldwell Banker Bain is second and John L Scott comes in third.

The categories of Best Public Figure, Best Restaurant and Best Shoe Store received the most votes. Wear your cutest shoes to meet your favorite public figure for good food!

Best Dental Clinic or Practice is Cooley Smiles. Factoria Dentistry is second and Bel-Red Dentists takes third.

Bellevue’s favorite Medical Clinic is Overlake Hospital. Group Health is second and UW Medicine in Factoria comes in third.

The Best Fitness & Health Club is YMCA. The Bellevue Club is second and 24 hour Fitness comes in third.

Best Bakery is French Bakery. Belle Pastry takes second and Panera Bread places third.

The Best Breakfast in town is Chace’s Pancake Corral. IHOP is second and Lil’ Jon is third. (Lil’ Jon plans on reopening in October).

Voters said the Food Court at Crossroads Mall has the Best Ethnic Food. Noble Court Restaurant is second and Best Wok came in third.

The Best Happy Hour is at Palamino. The Parlor is second and Ruth’s Chris takes third.

If you like spicy meatballs then Pagliacci Pizza is the Best Place For Pizza. Papa Murphy’s takes second and MOD Pizza comes in third.

Voter’s think The Best Restaurant in town is John Howie or Seastar. Second place goes to Firenze Ristorante and third is Applebee’s.

For dessert The Best Place for a Cupcake is New York Cupcakes. Trophy Cupcakes is second and Cupcake Royale takes third.

The Best Chocolate/Candy Store is Fran’s Chocolates. Amoré Chocolates was voted second and Grendelsweets came in third. We are sorry to report that Grendelsweets is now closed. We know a lot of folks will be disappointed. We wish them well.

We also discovered some other things that Bellevue voters like. Voters prefer Coke over Pepsi. We like Harrison Ford better than Johnny Depp. Bellevue listens to Rock music more than Country. Comedy movies are more popular than Action flicks. Football is favored over Baseball. We like Snow skiing better than Water. Keira Knightly is more popular than Raquel Welch. And voters prefer a nice glass of Wine over Beer.