The Local's List: 2020 Readers' Choice Awards - The Bend Magazine

The Local’s List: 2020 Readers’ Choice Awards

101 Categories and the winners are...

Photos by: Rachel Benavides, Megan Benavides, Lillian Reitz, and Jarred Schuetze

The Bend Magazine truly would not exist if it weren’t for the incredible community of locals who make up the Coastal Bend region. The small business owners who wake up every day with a mission to make this area a better place to live and work; the event organizers who pour their hearts into creating ways for locals to fall even more in love with their city; the creatives who produce beautiful work and put our area on the map as an inclusive home for arts and culture; the chefs and restaurateurs who have a passion for fresh foods and providing others with innovative dishes … the list goes on – and these are the people who allow The Bend Magazine to exist in the first place. Because simply put, without you, we wouldn’t have a story to tell.

The July issue is always a special one, as it allows our staff to take a step back and really listen to our community. We hand things over to our readers as they tell us who their favorite local businesses, services, people, and places are. Over a period of two months, readers nominate and then vote for their top picks in lifestyle-related categories. Nominees are vetted based on their local engagement and category fit, and the top five in each advance to voting.

This year, in the midst of a pandemic and many of the nominated businesses and brands having to close their doors, the votes continued to pour in regardless. In all, 136,121 votes from more than 30,000 people were tallied for this year’s poll. Bellow, you’ll find the results of The Local’s List 2020 reader’s choice poll, where locals voted for their favorites in 101 categories. I’d like to extend a huge congratulations to all of our winners, especially those who have made it onto the list for the very first time. Cheers to you all! 


Arts, Culture, & Entertainment

3D ARITST
Alex Chapa, Moonstone’d Pottery

ART GALLERY

The Art Museum of South Texas

ARTS THEATRE
Harbor Playhouse

BAND
Chicas Rock

COMEDIAN
Tina La Cochina

CULTRUAL EVENT
Dia de los Muertos

DANCE STUDIO
Tippi Toes Dance Corpus Christi

DATE NIGHT
ArtWalk – Downtown Management District

DIGITAL ARTIST / ILLUSTRATOR
Rick Gallegos, Elevated Screen Printing 

DJ
El Dusty

EVENT VENUE
Brewster Street Ice House

FAMILY ATTRACTION
Texas State Aquarium

FEMALE SINGER/SONGWRITER
Clarissa Serna

FINE ARTS PAINTER
Mayra Zamora

GIRLS NIGHT OUT
BUS

HANGOUT SPOT
Executive Surf Club

INFLUENCER/BLOGGER
Gino Montalvo, @ginomontalvo

KID-FRIENDLY ATMOSPHERE
Texas State Aquarium

LIVE MUSIC VENUE
Brewster Street Ice House

MALE SINGER/SONGWRITER(S)
Ty Dietz

MURAL
“The Dokyo Wall” Jeremy Flores, The Dask One

MUSEUM
Art Museum of South Texas

NEWS ANCHOR
Alan Holt

PODCAST
Sew Taco

PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER
Sweetest Snaps

RADIO PERSONALITY
Coco on The Bull 107.3

SPORTS TEAM
Corpus Christi Hooks

TATTOO ARTIST
Chris Lain, Pinnacle Tattoo

WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
Fonzie Munoz 

Food & Drink

ASIAN CUISINE
BKK thai kitchen + bar

BAKED GOODS
JB’s German Bakery & Café

BAKERY
S&J’s Bakery

BARBECUE
Salty Oak BBQ

BEER LIST
B&J’s Pizza – Brewpub

BREAKFAST TACOS
Nano’s Taco Run

BRUNCH
Hester’s Café

BURGER
Padre Island Burger Company

CATERING
Hester’s Café

CHEF
Tony Posada, The Blue Clove

COFFEE
Coffee Waves – Alameda

COLD-PRESSED JUICE
The VINE Juice Company

CRAFT COCKTAILS
The Post at Lamar Park

DINER/DIVE
Andy’s Kitchen

DISTILLERY
South Texas Distillery – Home of Wild Rag Vodka

DONUTS
Gates Donuts

FOOD TRUCK
Tacobar Street

FRENCH FRIES
Executive Surf Club

FROZEN TREAT
Snowball

GOURMET DINING
Republic of Texas Bar & Grill

ITALIAN CUISINE
Bellino Ristorante Italiano e Bottega

MARGARITA
Kiko’s Mexican Food Restaurant & Cantina 

MEXICAN CUISINE
Kiko’s Mexican Food Restaurant & Cantina

MICROBREWERY
Lazy Beach Brewing

MIXOLOGIST
Michael Green – The Post

NEW RESTAURANT 
Bien Mérité Chocolate and Bakery

OUTDOOR SEATING
Snoopy’s Pier

PIZZA
B&J’s Pizza – The Original

POKE
Hanaya Poke Southside

SANDWICH
Hester’s Café

SEAFOOD
Water Street Oyster Bar

SOUP
Nuevo Café

STEAK
Niko’s Steakhouse

STREET TACOS
Jefe’s Mobile Café

SUSHI
Rock & Rolls Sushi Lounge

THAI CUISINE
Thai Cottage – Corpus Christi

SPECIALTY FOODS
BKK thai kitchen + bar

WINE BAR
Tannins Wine Bar & Tapas Restaurant 

WINE LIST
Tannins Wine Bar & Tapas Restaurant 

Health & Beauty

BARBER SHOP
Flawless Barber Shop

DAY SPA
The Woodhouse Day Spa – Corpus Christi

FITNESS STUDIO
Corpus Christi Athletic Club

HAIR SALON
Riptide Salon

LICENSED ESTHETICIAN
Cierra Page, Beauty Dungeon

MAKEUP ARTIST
Rubenn Ashlee MUA

MESSAGE THERAPIST
Amanda Gomez – The Woodhouse Day Spa

MEDICAL SPA
CC Institute of Cosmetic & Plastic Surgery

MICROBLADING/COSMETIC TATTOOING
Gold Dust Cosmetic Tattooing

NAIL ARTIST
Linh Odom – Kosmo Salon

PERSONAL TRAINER
Kyle Polansky – The Quad Fitness Studio

TANNING SALON
Third Coast Spray Tans & More

YOGA STUDIO
Water Dog Floating Yoga

Home, Shopping, & Garden

ANTIQUE SHOP
Wildflowers

CHILDREN’S CLOTHING
Four Chicks in the Park

CONSIGNMENT/RESALE SHOP
Threads

FARMER’S MARKET VENDOR
Bluntzer Fruit Stand

FLORIST
Wild Veggie Bouquet LLC

FURNITURE
Chic to Chic

GIFT SHOP
Bleu Frog Mercantile

HANDCRAFTED PRODUCT
Sew Bonita

HOME RENOVATION
Brandt Design Co. 

HOMEBUILDER
Hogan Homes

INTERIOR DESIGNER
Bennett Maddox Designs

JEWELRY
Tula Blue

LANDSCAPING
Gill Garden Center + Landscape Co. 

PET BOARDING/GROOMING
Barkaritaville Pet Resort

PET WELLNESS
VCA Oso Creek Animal Hospital and Emergency Center

POP-UP MARKET VENDOR
Sew Bonita

VINTAGE RETAILER
Threads

WARDROBE SYLIST
Alexa Gignac, Julian Gold

WOMEN’S CLOTHING BOUTIQUE
The B Hive Boutique