The hefty issue you hold in your hands is the 16th edition of our Best of the Chippewa Valley Reader Poll. For 16 years, you’ve voted on your favorite local stuff in ever-growing numbers – this year more than 16,000 of you placed over 190,000 votes – making this poll the clear leader on taking the measure of what our community likes and loves. The gold badges you award to the businesses, places, and ideas of this community appear everywhere – on windows, billboards, TV commercials, service trucks, and right here in our pages.

Just as all the poll winners are justly proud of their accomplishments, we’re proud to live in a community that can produce so many truly great things. The Chippewa Valley is an all-American place – in fact, Eau Claire was officially dubbed an All-America City a few years back – and you’ll notice the artwork on our cover and throughout the issue reflects an all-American diner vibe. Hey, you can’t make a great milkshake without America’s Dairyland, right?

For 16 years, through constant changes and challenges, our community continues to push forward, celebrating our past while forming a better future. And that’s what our Best of the Chippewa Valley Reader Poll, and hopefully most of what we do at Volume One, has always been about.

ON THE COVER • “Best of the Chippewa Valley 2023” by Volume One staff • This year’s cover and visual theme was ideated and executed by Ma Vue, Allison Buchli, Jade Juedes, and Nick Meyer.