How to Win Best of Chicago: Nominations, Finals and Voting
You win Best of Chicago voting by collecting write-in nominations under one exact name, making the Chicago Reader's finalist list, then bringing real customers back for the December round. The Reader's staff may combine write-ins at its discretion and disqualifies picks traced to vendors, third-party apps or one person's extra email accounts. Check each edition's policies page for any daily limit. Nobody can promise a place, because the Reader decides.
By Victor Brown · Last updated
Who runs Best of Chicago voting, and what each round decides
Best of Chicago voting is run by the Chicago Reader on its own website, in two rounds. The first is an open write-in where any name can be entered. The second is the public round among the finalists, whose names stay hidden until that round opens.
No panel picks the finalist list. The Reader's staff compiles it from the businesses, groups and individuals with the most write-ins, and it combines nominations at its own discretion. That last clause matters more than it looks. If customers type your bar's name four different ways, you are counting on an editor to notice that the four are one place, and the policies give you no say in how that call goes.
Scale works against the quiet business. According to the Chicago Reader's policies page, a typical final round carries more than 1,500 nominees and the Reader cannot contact each one, so nobody calls to tell you that you made the list. The 2025 results spread across more than 200 categories. In our tracking, the program has an edition recorded in each of the 6 years from 2021 to 2026, and it is one of 2 recurring public-pick programs filed under the Chicago metro, both run on the organizers' own sites.
When Best of Chicago nominations and the December round usually open
Best of Chicago nominations ran from October 15 to November 7 in 2023, and the 2025 public round stayed open from December 1 through December 31. In our tracking, December is the usual opening month and the usual closing month in 2 of 3 dated records for the Chicago Reader's programs.
That calendar runs against the rest of Illinois. In our tracking, June is the most common opening month for recurring Illinois programs with a recorded start (33 of 193), and June is also the most common closing month (38 of 193). Across 233 dated Illinois nomination and public-pick promotions from 2016 to 2026, the median window was 27 days. A 31-day December round is a little longer than that, and it lands in the holiday weeks, when your regulars are shopping, traveling or simply busy.
Two dated editions are not a schedule. The Reader prints the windows for each year, and the recurrence model in our tracking lists 2027 as the next expected edition year, which is a planning hint and nothing firmer. I'd bookmark the Best of Chicago page in early autumn and check it weekly until the write-in form appears. A business that hears about nominations in mid-November may already be too late.
Chicago Reader Best Of nominations: how a write-in reaches the final round
Chicago Reader Best Of nominations are decided by count: the businesses, groups and individuals with the most write-ins in a category become the finalists for the public round. Because Reader staff may combine write-ins at their discretion, a business whose customers use three spellings is relying on an editor's judgment it never sees.
So the first job is boring and decisive. Pick the one name you want printed, exactly as it should read in the results, and use only that version in every ask: on the counter card, in the newsletter, on the receipt line. The legal name, the name on the awning and the nickname regulars use are three different write-ins until somebody merges them.
Category choice is the second decision. With more than 200 categories in the 2025 results, there is usually one where your customers already think of you first, and that is where the write-ins belong. Asking people to nominate you in five places spreads a small pile of support across five smaller piles.
Miss the finalist cut and December cannot help you. A nomination ask that does its job carries these pieces:
- The exact business name, spelled the way the results should print it
- The category, copied word for word from the Reader's form
- The last day of the write-in window for that edition
- A note to use one personal email address, since the Reader treats several addresses for one person as fraud
What the Reader's fraud clause says about vendors, apps and extra email accounts
The Chicago Reader disqualifies picks it suspects were obtained through third-party applications or vendors, or by one person using several email accounts, and it may block abusive users by IP address. Either the Best of Chicago software or a staff member can flag nominations generated by outside programs, and those can be thrown out.
Who makes that call is spelled out. The editor in chief, the managing editor, the publisher or the associate publisher can disqualify a nominee for abuse, for breaking the program's promotion rules, or at their own discretion. The Reader names those promotion rules on its policies page without printing them, which leaves a business guessing about where ordinary marketing ends.
Incentives are where I'd be most careful. The Reader's fraud and disqualification wording says nothing about a free dessert for anyone who shows a confirmation screen, and silence is not permission. With the promotion rules unpublished and the disqualification power this broad, I would not reward picks at all, and I'd put any doubtful idea to the Reader in writing before it goes on a table tent.
The Reader also sells sponsorship packages around the Best of Chicago awards. That is advertising in a newspaper, a separate purchase from the awards count with its own terms, and I would read those terms rather than assume a package touches the result in either direction.
How Chicago businesses win Best of Chicago awards inside the rules
Chicago businesses win Best of Chicago awards by asking real customers twice: in the write-in window for one exact name in one category, and again in December for the finalist pick. The 2025 round ran December 1 through December 31, which gives a shop a full month of ordinary visits in which to ask.
The asks that work are tied to a moment the customer is already in. A line on the receipt. A sentence from whoever rings up the sale, or a short note in the email you already send. Give the category name every time, because a regular who wants to help but has to hunt through 200-plus categories to find you will give up somewhere around the bakeries.
Then there is the allowance. Whether the Reader lets each person choose once per category per day, or once for the whole round, sits on that edition's policies page, and your reminder schedule should follow it. If repeat picks are allowed, a weekly reminder across December is plenty. If they are not, one clear ask with the closing date beats four reminders that annoy people for nothing.
Example scenario (illustrative - not a client result): a neighborhood restaurant settles its printed name and one category before the write-in form opens, mentions the category at the register and on a menu insert during nominations, searches the finalist list the day the public round starts, and spaces its December reminders through the month instead of crowding them into the last weekend. No rewards, no shared logins, one email address per customer.
I'd skip anything that asks one fan for more than one identity. A regular who picks you from a work address and then again from a personal one is doing exactly what the Reader's clause describes.
Where an agency fits the Best of Chicago Reader vote, and where it stops
Voting Now does not sell votes in the Best of Chicago contest. Voting Now runs promotion that puts a Chicago entry in front of real local people through paid ads, native PR, partner groups, bloggers and its own social accounts, and each person then decides whether to choose it with their own email address.
The Reader's fraud clause names vendors, so the sequence matters. Before anything runs, we read the edition's policies with you and ask the Reader in writing whether paid promotion that points people at the voting page fits its promotion rules. If the answer is no, or no answer comes, we decline that contest.
Pricing for contest promotion is built the way advertisers price leads, with a quote agreed before anything runs. What we cannot change is the result. Reader staff compile the finalists, may combine write-ins and decide disqualifications, and the people we reach make their own picks. If you want a second pair of eyes on the rules first, send us the contest link for a free analysis.
| Stage | Rule to verify | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Write-in nominations | Any name can be entered, and Reader staff may merge similar write-ins at their discretion. | Agree on one exact business name and give customers that spelling in every ask. |
| Nomination window dates | Dates change by edition; the 2023 nomination window ran October 15 to November 7. | Save that edition's dates and ask customers inside them, not after the close. |
| Finalist cut | Finalists are the names with the most write-ins, hidden until the second round opens. | Search the public round for your exact name on the day it appears. |
| Best of Chicago 2025 voting window | The 2025 public round ran from December 1 through December 31. | Spread reminders across the month instead of one burst in the final days. |
| Per-person daily allowance | Whether one pick per category per day applies is set by that edition's own policy. | Tell customers the limit in plain words so no click is wasted. |
| Third-party apps and vendors | Picks from apps, vendors or several email addresses mean disqualification, and IP blocks are possible. | Ask each supporter to use one personal email address, on their own. |
| When outside promotion is wrong | Breaking the Reader's unpublished promotion rules can disqualify a nominee at senior editors' discretion. | Skip paid promotion when only a win will do or the Reader says no. |
Step by step
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Save the Reader's policies page
Before the write-in form opens, save the Chicago Reader's Best of Chicago Facts & Policies page and that edition's main page, and mark the fraud clause, the disqualification list and any per-person allowance.
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Choose one name and category
Decide the business name exactly as it should print in the results, pick the one category where customers already think of you, and put both on every receipt, sign and email you control.
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Collect write-ins inside the window
In 2023, nominations ran October 15 to November 7. Ask customers for write-ins only inside the edition's printed window, because finalists come from the write-in count and late enthusiasm adds nothing.
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Search the public round list
When the public round opens, search your category for your exact name. The organizer announced that it typically lists more than 1,500 nominees and cannot call each one, so finding the listing is your job.
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Spread reminders across December
The 2025 round ran December 1 through December 31. Space reminders through the month at the pace the allowance permits, one email address per person, with no reward attached to a pick.
Questions and answers
How can a Chicago shop win local business awards like Best of Chicago?
A Chicago shop wins local business awards like Best of Chicago by turning regulars into write-ins under one exact name, then bringing them back for the public round. The Reader's finalist list rests on write-in counts, so autumn effort decides more than December effort does. Keep every ask inside the edition's allowance, skip rewards for picks, and expect the Reader's staff, not the shop, to settle merged names and disqualifications.
Does the Chicago method help you get Best of Omaha?
Yes. The habits carry over to Best of Omaha: one printed name, one category, and asks timed to the publisher's own windows. The rules do not carry over. Omaha's program belongs to a different publisher, whose limits, nomination format and fraud wording may look nothing like the Chicago Reader's, so read that program's own rules page before you schedule a single reminder.
Can a Chicago-style plan win Best of Boston too?
No. A Chicago-style plan fits Best of Boston only where Boston's own rules match the Chicago Reader's write-in round, finalist cut and December timing. Boston's publisher decides who chooses the winners, when nominations close and how often readers may pick. Keep the method (one name, one category, real customers, no rewards) and rebuild the calendar from Boston's own published rules before asking anyone.
Is getting nominated for Best of Las Vegas different from Chicago's write-in?
Yes. Getting nominated for Best of Las Vegas follows that program's own publisher and rules, while Chicago's first round accepts any name as a write-in and promotes the most-nominated names to the finalist list. The Chicago Reader keeps nominees hidden until its public round opens, a detail that may not hold in Las Vegas. Before asking customers anywhere, find out whether one nomination is enough or whether a count decides.
When does Best of Chicago 2026 open?
The Chicago Reader sets the Best of Chicago 2026 dates when it announces the edition, and recent editions point to autumn write-ins and a December public round. Nominations ran October 15 to November 7 in 2023, and the 2025 round was open December 1 through December 31. In our tracking, the recurrence model lists 2027 as the next expected edition year, so trust the Reader's own announcement over any date repeated elsewhere.
Are the Chicago Tribune readers choice awards the same as Best of Chicago?
No. The Chicago Tribune readers choice awards belong to a different newspaper, and the write-in round, finalist cut and fraud clause of Best of Chicago are the Chicago Reader's rules alone. A restaurant entered in a Tribune food category should read the Tribune's own rules for dates, limits and disqualification before asking customers for anything. A finalist spot in one program carries nothing into the other.
Sources
- chicagoreader.com. chicagoreader.com/best-of-chicago-voting/.
- chicagoreader.com. chicagoreader.com/best-of-chicago/2023-ballot/.
- chicagoreader.com. chicagoreader.com/best-of-chicago-facts-policies/.
- chicagoreader.com. chicagoreader.com/best-of-chicago-voting/.
- chicagoreader.com. chicagoreader.com/best-of-chicago-voting/.
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