The 2022 Press Picks are coming!

We’ve been fielding a lot of questions lately about the 2022 edition of Press Picks. Traditionally, the annual contest kicks off in September, but this year, we wanted to work on fine-tuning our voting process in hopes of making it much smoother this go around. So, while we haven’t started accepting nominations yet, they are right around the corner. Below are some dates to keep in mind.

October 24-31: Nomination Period

November 3-10: Voting Period

December 8: Winners Announced

The dates aren’t the only thing we’re changing up this year. We have also done a deep dive into our categories. In the past, there have been a number of overlapping categories such as best taco and best Mexican food. This year, we’re combining some categories to up the ante on taking home top honors. In 2022, if you’re in the restaurant business, you’ll be judged on the overall strength of your menu, staff, and ambiance, rather than on a particular dish. Of course, there are a few exceptions, like Best Pho – with so many pho offerings in Anchorage, we wanted to know once and for all, who is the king or queen of noodles.

We’ve also nixed the locations categories. After all, Press Picks is about celebrating Anchorage businesses, rather than pointing out the best places to break up. We know some people might be bummed to see this section get the chop – heck, some of our staff were sad to see it go – but we are standing firm on our desire to celebrate rather than shade, local businesses.

While we have shaved off a few categories, rest assured that there are still hundreds of categories to vote on.

In the words of Effie Trinket, “May the odds be ever in your favor.”

O’Hara Shipe

Managing Editor