Virginia Living magazine has released its “Best of Virginia 2017” list in this month’s issue.
The list highlights the best places to eat and shop as well as the top services and events. This year, 50,000 people voted on 105 categories.
In the northern Virginia region, here are the awardees from Prince William County:
Best Automotive Repair Shop
Steve’s Auto Repair & Tire; StevesAutoRepairVA.com: An official Goodyear dealer, Steve’s Auto Repair offers services, including inspections, tune-ups and engine repairs and replacements. The team is committed to community outreach and has opened the shop to help Cub Scouts build Pinewood Derby cars for their annual race, and donated a bus to a local Boys and Girls Club.
Second place: Shannon Auto Repair; ShannonAutoSales.com
Third place: Olde Towne Auto Repair; OTAR.MechanicNet.com
Best Accounting Firm
Third place: DuvallWheeler, CPAs; DuvallWheeler.com
Best Architecture Firm
Loveless Porter Architects, LLC; LovelessPorterArchitects.com: The 35-year-old firm’s specialty is commercial design – projects have included schools, office buildings and shopping centers. Loveless provides full service design and construction services, including some interior detail work. For a church building, the team helped select wood for the construction of pews. Loveless also performs residential design.
Best Day Spa
Second place: Tranquility Day Spa & Salon; TranquilityDaySpa.com
Best Dental Practice
Third place: Sporting Smiles Pediatric Dentistry and Family Orthodontics; SportYourSmile.com
Best Event Planning Company
Third place: Creations by Brenda; CreationsByBrenda.com
Best Hair Salon
Second place: Curves Hair Studio; CurvesHair.com
Best Interior Design Firm
Third place: Olamar Interiors, LLC; OlamarInteriors.com
Best Orthodontic Practice
Second place: Dunegan Orthodontics; DrDunegan.com
Best Pediatric Practice
Manassas Pediatrics; ManassasPediatrics.com: Featuring a team of five pediatricians, the practice provides sports physicals, same-day sick visits, asthma care and well visits for babies, kids and adolescents. All of the pediatricians at the 25-year-old practice are on staff at Novant Health Systems’ Prince William and Haymarket medical centers.
Second place: Haymarket Pediatrics; HaymarketPediatrics.com
Best Private Air Service
Chantilly Air; ChantillyAir.com: Chantilly Air customers can charter flights from a fleet of seven aircrafts that includes Learjets and Challengers authorized to conduct flights at Ronald Reagan National Airport. The company’s Jet Card program offers discounts for frequent fliers. The service also provides aircraft management services for private plane owners, including scheduling, crew staffing and maintenance tracking.
Best Real Estate Firm
Third place: DePugh Realty; DepughRealty.com
Best Annual Charity Event
Second place: CASA CIS’ Annual Evening Under the Stars; CASACIS.org
Best Art Event
Third place: Historic Manassas Gallery Walk; ManassasGalleryWalk.com
Best Art Gallery
Third place: Creative Brush Studio; CreativeBrush.com
Best Museum
Second place: The Manassas Museum; ManassasMuseum.org
Third place: National Museum of the Marine Corps; USMCMuseum.com
Best Performing Arts Company
Gainesville Dance Center; GainesvilleDanceCenter.com: Take in a performance by Gainesville Dance Center students, and you just might be wintessing the birth of a star. Former students have gone on to compete on Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance?, and perform with the Radio City Rockettes. More than 100 classes between to locations offer tap, ballet, contemporary and jazz.
Second place: Showcase Dance Studio; ShowcaseDanceStudio.net
Third place: Manassas Ballet Theatre; ManassasBallet.org
Best Bed And Breakfast
Second place: Manassas Junction Bed and Breakfast; ManassasJunction.com
Third place: Bennett House Bed & Breakfast; VirginiaBennettHouse.com
Best “Do Not Miss” Tourist Attraction
Second place: Manassas National Battlefield; NPS.gov/Mana
Best Fishing Outfitter
Second place: Cabela’s; Cabelas.com
Best Hunting Outfitter
Gander Mountain; GanderMountain.com: Gander Mountain sells hunting gear for game big and small from brands like Carry-Lite, Bushnell, River’s Edge and Primos. Inventory includes 2-D and 3-D decoys, tree stands, game and trail cameras, apparel by brands like Under Armour and the North Face, and even shampoos and deodorants for those weekend getaways off-the-grid.
Second place: Cabela’s; Cabelas.com
Best Retirement Community
Second place: Tribute at Heritage Village; TributeAtHeritageVillage.com
Best Bar
Second place: Malone’s of Manassas; MalonesOfManassas.com
Third place: Monza; EatMonza.com
Best Barbeque Restaurant
The Bone; TheBoneBBQ.com: The NoVa-based barbecue chain has five locations and a food truck, and its menu of scratch-made sides and sauces, plus meats smoked daily in house, has a real following, The family-owned restaurant once catered a PGA tournament party for golf pros Rickie Fowler, Tiger Woods, Jimmy Walker and Justin Thomas, who called the Manassas location a “go-to BBQ spot!”
Best Breakfast Restaurant
Ashton Family Restaurant; AshtonFamilyRestaurant.com
Best Farmers’ Market
City of Manassas Farmers’ Market; VisitManassas.org: Operating year-round, 1-3 times each week depending on the season, the market offers fresh, local produce and wares – including meats, cheeses, baked goods, candles, skin creams and handmade clothing – from vendors located not more than 150 miles from the Manassas city center. Last year, more than 56,000 visitors attended the market days.
Best Food Truck
Second place: The Bone; TheBoneBBQ.com
Best Local Gourmet Food Store
Third place: Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.; Wegmans.com
Best Local Ice Cream Shop
Nathan’s Dairy Bar; NathansDairyBar.com: Named for the owner’s son, Nathan’s Dairy Bar has all the charm of an old-fashioned ice cream shoppe, including a walk-up window where you can order soft serve ice cream or sherbert. Special flavors, like salted caramel and chocolate raspberry truffle, change twice weekly , and with the seasons, Its food truck – called Nate Jr. – is available for events.
Third place: Milkberry Yogurt & Bubble Tea; MilkberryYogurt.com
Best Locally Owned Coffee Shop
Third place: Jirani; JiraniCoffeeHouse.coma
Best Mexican Restaurant
Zandra’s Taqueria; ZandrasTacos.com: Housed in a historic 1920s building, Zandra’s offers a menu of nearly two dozen a la carte tacos. Guests are encouraged to try multiple variations built on soft corn or flour tortillas or with lettuce wraps. The menu includes traditional items like carnitas salsa verde and more inspired options like sesame-crusted Ahi tuna with cabbage and Santa Fe dressing.
Third place: El Tio, Tex-Mex Grill; ElTioGrill.com
Best Outdoor Dining
Second place: Monza; EatMonza.com
Best Pizzeria
Tony’s New York Pizza; TonysNewYorkPizza.com: Naples-born Tony D’Agostino founded Tony’s in 1989 to bring authentic Italian food – such as pasta al forno (or “messy lasagna”), which includes house made meatballs, Italian sausage, beef, ricotta, mozzarella, sauce and ziti – and New York style pizza to Prince William County. Tony’s now has three locations in the region.
Best Place For Brunch
Second place: Malone’s of Manassas; MalonesOfManassas.com
Best Seafood Restaurant
Second place: C.J. Finz; CJFinz.com
Third place: Blue Ridge Seafood; BlueRidgeSeafood.com
Best Creative Cocktail Menu
Third place: Malone’s of Manassas; MalonesOfManassas.com
Best Book Store
Richard McKay Used Books; McKayUsedBooks.com: Richard McKay has been buying, selling and trading used books – including children’s, fiction and non-fiction, graphic novels, textbooks and comic books – since 1983. Over the years, the shop has added vinyl records, CDs, DVDs and games (both board and video) to its inventory, and features a local authors table.
Best Bridal Boutique
Amy’s Bridal Boutique; AmysBridalBoutique.com: Founded in 2008, the boutique moved to its current location in historic Manassas two years ago. It offers gowns from designers, including Stella York and Justin Alexander, and outfits bridesmaids and groomsmen as well. Retro Fans can pick up 1950s-inspired dresses and accessories from the brands Pimp Girl Clothing and Lindy Bop.
Second place: Jeanette’s Bride N’ Boutique; JeanettesBride.com
Best Car Dealer
Shannon Auto Sales; ShannonAutoSales.com: Shannon Auto Sales specializes in pre-owned vehicles from makers like Audi, BMW, Fiat and Hummer. The dealership provides everything you need for your new wheels right on site: along with in-house financing, it also has repairs, including tire balancing, brake service and repair and safety inspections.
Best Fine Jewelry
Third place: Ashby Jewelers; AshbyJewelers.com
Best Florist
Second place: Flower Gallery of Virginia; FlowerGalleryManassas.com
Best Gift Shop
Shining Sol Candle Company; ShiningSol.com: While on the road touring with Brett Michaels, Pete Evick purchased a candle – and was thoroughly unimpressed. So the rock- and roller embarked on a new career path: Making candles of his own. Five years later, the brand, which hand makes hand pours every candle on site, offers some unusual scents, including officially-licensed candles for Def Leppard (“Pour Some Sugar On Me”) and Aerosmith (“Permanent Vacation”).
Second place: The Things I love; TheThingsILoveManassas.com
Best Independent Home Decor Store:
Second place: The Things I love; TheThingsILoveManassas.com
Best Motorcycle/Scooter Dealer
Second place: Whitt’s Harley-Davidson; WhittsHD.com
Best Women’s Clothing Store
Second place: Allyssa Bryn; AllyssaBryn.com
