It is my honor to introduce the “Best of CU” publication, one of buzz’s most highly anticipated guides, both from the buzz staff and from the Champaign-Urbana community. Each fall, the C-U community votes on the best of the best in the area, from local restaurants, campus favorites and unique spots. The buzz staff then highlights the winners in our “Best of CU” publication and shares the results with the community. In the past, many winners have even posted their “Best of CU” plaque in their stores to express the pride they feel being recognized so highly by the community.

We spent the past couple of weeks tallying up the votes and writing about the incredible winners, and we are so appreciate of the community’s participation and enthusiasm for this guide.

This year’s has been a big one for buzz, full of both exciting changes and beloved traditions. We’ve combined both newness with tradition in this year’s “Best of CU” by cutting down the categories to 30 and swapping out some old categories with new ones that capture the ever changing nature and development of the C-U community. We hope these new categories were exciting for the community to vote on and provided a sense of freshness to what has been a buzz tradition for so long.

As in year’s past, we’ve also included Editors’ Picks in this year’s “Best of CU,” which you can find at the end of the guide. This year, the buzz editorial staff wrote about the Best Underrated Spots on Campus, so be sure to check that out once you’ve gotten through the rest of the categories. We’re also very excited to include special editorial selections from The Daily Illini editorial board about some of our favorite spots to read The DI.

I’ve had the pleasure to participate in three “Best of CU” publications since my freshman year: two as a staff writer, one as an assistant editor and finally this one as the buzz Editor. Like buzz and this guide, I’ve grown and changed in so many ways, and I could not be more proud of the buzz staff and this year’s final product of “Best of CU,” which though is different from past guides, captures the bones as essence of “Best of CU,” which I know is cherished by so many people in the C-U community, including me.

Many of us have had a rough year and half, but the support of the C-U community is what keeps the buzz staff and the community motivated and unified. We’ve had the chance to speak with local business owners about the impact of COVID-19 as well as see some new businesses flourish, and it’s been a pleasure to be able to tell some of these people’s stories and share their many talents with the C-U community.

“Best of CU” allows both buzz and the community to celebrate everything C-U has to offer and give some recognition to the people, places and things that touch our lives so deeply. Buzz and The Daily Illini want to thank everyone who voted and who read the paper.

Without your support, we wouldn’t be able to successfully do our job and highlight some of the community’s favorites, and we couldn’t be more thankful for your participation and passion for everything that makes C-U so special. We hope you enjoy this year’s “Best of CU,” and we look forward to producing next year’s edition in 2022.

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