Creative Loafing Tampa's 23rd annual Best of the Bay is divided into four thematically organized sections: People, Places & Politics; Food & Drink; Arts & Entertainment; and Goods & Services. We don’t have individual bylines on the critics' picks, but just so you know who to thank (or curse), here (in alphabetical order) are the writers who contributed to BOTB this year: Shawn Alff, Rebecca Bailey, Joe Bardi, Natalie Campisi, Jon Palmer Claridge, Brian Frederick, Julie Garisto, Chris Girandola, Scott Harrell, Leslie Joy Ickowitz, Colin Joyce, Nicole Kibert, Mark E. Leib, Sean Nordquist, Mitch Perry, Leilani Polk, Deborah Ramos, Ray Roa, Linda Saul-Sena, Tom Scherberger, Andy Stern, Arielle Stevenson, Megan Voeller, and myself.

For results of the Readers' Poll, click on the links to the right of the Critics' Picks in each section. Turnout broke records this year, with 14,349 voters casting over 300,000 votes in closely fought categories like Best New Restaurant, Best Local Business, and Best College Hangout.

Thanks to all who took part. Here's hoping some of your own personal bests came away with a win.

If you asked Gary to suggest an even more horrible name for the massive shed located off I-4, he’d probably just shrug his shoulders in befuddlement. No worries, though, as 58-year-old MidFlorida Credit Union has come to the rescue and slapped its banner onto the structure, ensuring the venue will continue to cause head-scratching amongst booking agents, artists, and fans alike. Good thing it’s still a great place to see a show... midflorida.tampaamphitheatre.org

The St. Pete City Hall reporter is another relative newcomer, having been recruited from a gig in Cleveland a few years ago. In the past year the Times has been branding its reporters online by running their mugs next to their stories. Although Puente is a mellow guy, his photo screams that you better go easy with him, even if you disagree with his latest piece.

It’s with reluctance that we mention this Seminole Heights watering hole because drinking here feels like home (with a lot more selection, obviously) and we don’t wanna ruin it. There are countless reasons to be charmed by the open-to-the-public venue (there’s a cuss jar – and they use it), but a good place to start is on Thursday nights when Johnny Charro’s dance band plays tunes you can mingle and just be neighbors with someone to. Just remember to be nice; it’s not that hard, you know.

In June 2012, Justin Vernon and his demigod-status project Bon Iver played before a packed house and put on a spectacle within the cavernous space of the Straz Center’s Morsani Hall. A little over a year later, another neo-folk messiah — Winston Yellen of Night Beds — would hold a much smaller audience in a relatively tiny venue equally (if not more) spellbound. The boy’s haunting tenor is breathtaking, and hearing him quietly work through cuts from what might be one of the best albums of the year (Country Sleep) was a gift you don’t get handed very often.

We liked Tony Stark’s latest tricks and gizmos in Iron Man 3, but the real scene-stealers were massive street art-style paintings by St. Pete-based artist BASK, whose work won a cameo in the summer blockbuster. His gritty, politically charged paintings transformed the lair of pseudo-villain the Mandarin into an unforgettable place.