Best of Tampa 2008

The results of the record-breaking Readers’ Poll vote have been revealed and here they are in red, white and blue.

Some of the votes were as close as Bush/ Gore, if more verifiable. For instance, The Table & Mesa Lounge just squeaked by Bungalow Bistro for Best New Restaurant, and a tight three-way race for Best Local Metal Act saw The Absence get just enough support to top close runners-up Light Myself On Fire and Elysium.

There were also the usual big vote-getters, the ones that always wallop the competition: Bern’s Steak House, WMNF, Haslam’s Book Store — even Vinny Lecavalier, despite the Lightning’s disappointing season. And we’ve named one new addition to the Readers’ Poll Hall of Fame, based on years of piling up votes — that would be the venerable Hub, the once and future Best Dive Bar .

But one winner towered over everyone else this year, drawing more votes than any other: the Tampa Bay Rays, landslide victors in the race for Best Local Sports Team.

Let’s hope the amazing Rays take this vote of confidence all the way to… OK, we don’t dare finish that sentence. But know this, Rays: Our readers believe.