Welcome to our annual Best Of readers poll.

If you’ve never read one of these babies before, here’s the deal: For most of the year, our small editorial staff decides what the paper is going to cover.

But for this one, it’s all on you, dear reader.

Or to be more specific, those readers who took the time to vote for their favorites in the categories of dining, arts and culture, nightlife, people and places, and goods and services. This year, while we’re all stuck in one of the most traumatic public health emergencies to hit the world in a century, numbers were up slightly: 35,477 voters cast 159, 473 votes.

Whether or not you agree with all the winners here – always a tall order – it’s nice during this stressful time, when most our lives have been upended in some fashion, to remember that Richmond’s got it going on in many ways.

And one day, we’ll be able to enjoy everything in large groups again, hugging and high-fiving without fear or foul.

Survey Methodology: The 2020 Style Weekly Readers’ Poll was open to anyone with access to the internet, and promoted through Style, word of mouth and various outlets. Entries were restricted to voters who registered online, meaning that participants could vote in categories only once per account. Thousands of ballots were cast anonymously between Feb. 1 and March 15. Style reserved the right to discard votes for winners in inappropriate categories. Style advertising staff had no access to survey results until they were tabulated and finalized by editorial staff. Profiles of the winners were written entirely by editorial staff and not seen by advertising staff until publication.