Throughout the summer we’ll be posting every Best of Louisville cover since the first one in 1986, plus plenty of canceled categories, longtime winners, bygone bests and more from the archive.

Cover caption: In 1986, the zebra was for the Louisville Zoo, which was the Best Place to Take Children, a category we headlined — gulp — Kiddie-Catchers. The woman in the shades and zebra-print earrings was Best TV News Personality Melissa Forsythe, and a “zebra brownie” was from Best Desserts winner Cafe Metro.

U of L hoops coach Denny Crum was the Best Celebrity You’d Most Like to Meet (with readers also mentioning Cubill Shepherd and Tom Selleck, even though, we wrote, “they’ve never set foot on our hallowed soil, at least as far as we know.”

Canceled Category
Category: Best VHS Rental Shop
Winner: Video Madness
Year closed:

Bygone Bests
Category: Best Bookstore
Winner: Hawley-Cooke
Year closed:

Category: Best Nightclub
Winner: Phoenix Hill Tavern
Year closed:

Category: Best Women’s Store
Winner: Byck’s
Year closed:

Category: Best Business Lunch
Winner: Sixth Avenue
Year closed:

Category: Best Romantic Restaurant
Winner: Casa Grisanti
Year closed:

We’re Still Here
Category: Best Burger
Winner: W.W. Cousins
Total nominations since 1986:
Total wins since 1986:

Category: Best Interior Design Firm
Winner: Hubbuch’s
Total nominations since 1986:
Total wins since 1986:

Categories: Best Neighborhood Bar, Best Brunch
Winner: the Bristol
Total nominations since 1986:
Total wins since 1986:

Category: Best Bakery
Winner: Heitzman
Total nominations since 1986:
Total wins since 1986:

Category: Best Men’s Store
Winner: Rodes
Total nominations since 1986:
Total wins since 1986:

Category: Best Tourist Attraction
Winner: Churchill Downs
Total nominations since 1986:
Total wins since 1986:

Category: Best Florist
Winner: Nanz & Kraft
Total nominations since 1986:
Total wins since 1986:

Pearce Pierced