Deering Library on Northwestern University's Evanston campus. Photo: Teresa Grau Ros from Barcelona / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
The Daily Northwestern, the student-run newspaper at Northwestern University, published the results of its first Best of Evanston competition in late May 2013. Students nominated their favorite local businesses and spots, then voted on the finalists, and the paper ran the winners by category.
The poll was aimed squarely at the campus audience, which made the results a useful read on where students actually spent their money and free evenings. Restaurants dominated the categories, and the question types, such as first dates and dinners with visiting parents, reflected campus habits.
Some of the winners
Coverage in the Daily from May 29, 2013, named Bat 17 as the best place for a first date and for a sandwich. Tapas Barcelona was named the best place to take your parents to dinner. Edzo’s Burger Shop, at 1571 Sherman Ave., finished third in the burger category that first year.
The first-year results turned out to be a preview. The next year the Daily ran a second annual poll, and Edzo’s took first place for best burger, while Bat 17 ranked first overall for best Evanston restaurant. When the Daily marked the poll’s later years, it noted that Tapas Barcelona and Bat 17 were the only winners from the current list who had also won in the original 2013 survey.
Tapas Barcelona and Bat 17 kept their standing. In the Daily’s 2015 results, Tapas Barcelona was named best date spot and Bat 17 best Evanston restaurant.
Why the lists matter
Reader polls are not scientific and the Daily’s does not pretend otherwise. A student electorate favors cheap eats, late hours and places within a short walk or bus ride of campus. Even so, a poll like this is a handy snapshot of local taste.
The Daily has run the competition annually since 2013, which gives that first set of results a second life as a baseline. Restaurants that appeared in the first poll and kept showing up in later ones can claim a long run of student loyalty, and the Daily’s archive of winners from each year is the easiest way to see which names lasted.
Sources: The Daily Northwestern.
Rachel Lindqvist covers community life, the lakefront, dining and the arts for The Evanston Edge.
