Robyn James, proprietor of The Wine Cellar and Tasting Room in downtown Southern Pines, shows off the store’s wine selection, which readers touted as the best in the county.

Vito’s of Southern Pines received the award for “Best Pizza.” Pictured are owners Vito and Jan Gironda in front of their recently renovated Italian restaurant.

Fun, Food and Frolic. That’s what we asked about in our just-for-fun readership poll in late October. And we got what we asked for in the “Food and Drink” category. 

The Southern Pines restaurant Beefeaters was a big repeat winner raking in the awards for eight Sandhills Superlative categories including best steak, best wait staff and more.

The nine-year-old Beefeaters is owned by Grace and Jim Jones, who says the awards are flattering, especially the best steak designation.

In nearby Aberdeen, Squire’s Pub received a repeat award this year for “Best Beer Selection” and, a first-year award, “Best Place to Take a Customer.”

Scott Dawson, who co-owns and operates the restaurant with Dede, Buffy and Jim Dawson says the restaurant has been around almost 10 years and he’s not going anywhere.

“We like it here and will call it home,” Dawson said.

Squire’s Pub stocks 43 different kinds of beers and employs a staff of 36, of which many are long-time workers.

McDonald’s of Aberdeen swept a few awards this year winning “Most Kid-Friendly” and “Best French Fries” for the second year and taking “Best Drive-Thru” clerk for the first time.

McDonald’s customers cited drive-thru clerk Sondra Ratliff, a Laurinburg resident who has worked at the Aberdeen McDonald’s for over a year, as the best. Owners Martha and Franklin Butler and Store Manager Kimberly Corvin were pleased with the news.

The store has been around since 1975 and the Butlers owners since 1998. After being rebuilt last year, the store has upgraded their playground equipment, which Corvin says is the best in the area.

Chef Warren’s also received repeat commendation from readers for “Most Romantic” restaurant.

Overall, readers’ comments in this category cited customer service and friendliness as two important qualities every hospitality business should possess. As well, quality of the products offered and a dedication to the community were also important to readers who responded.

From left, Tim Fairley, lead cook, and Jim Jones of Beefeaters prepare to slice fresh beef for the evening dinner crowd.

This is the second year of The Pilot’s annual readers poll, Sandhills Superlatives.

In the sophomore season of the Sandhills best, some things were the same, many were new and different.

Although readers proved to be a bit fickle, we were too, adding and shifting categories around to better capture the public opinion.

Readers told us last year it was fun to find out who people thought was the most honest mechanic, who was the favorite retiree and where to get a good hamburger. There was a good share of animosity about the poll too, mostly a few sore losers who came through this year with flying colors.

The point is, though, this ballot and its categories are all questions about our hometowns all in the name of fun.

I hope we can continue to have fun with it and support our community’s choices in this poll.

The poll is not, by design, scientific. We attempt to squelch any ballot campaigns by limiting how many times a person may nominate a business or individual and by only accepting original newsprint ballots or accepting them on the web, where an electronic fingerprint exists to prevent duplicates.

Next year, in our quest to improve the contest and spirit of the Sandhills Superlatives, we’ll add an open-ended question about the world to pick the community’s collective brain.

John’s Barbeque and Seafood of Aberdeen received the most votes for “Best Seafood,” while Mesquite Baja Grill in the Town and Country Shopping Center, Aberdeen, wins “Best Margarita.”