Best populist theater: At The Backlot, where every little group doing anything from cabaret to piano jazz to edgy performance art has a chance to find an audience. Power to the people!

Best breath of fresh air: the new young retailers who are serious about making downtown a shopping destination, investing heavily in their inventories and staying open late and for special events.

Best show of optimism: In a down real estate year, Lakewood Ranch opened The Lake Club, where 1,100 glamorous residences will sell for $1 million to $8 million, with nary a beach or golf course for miles.

Best place to read the Sunday Times: Over buttermilk pancakes or the Mexican omelet at the counter at Word of Mouth in Gulf Gate—and the scones may be the best in town.

Best spot in the expanded Ringling Museum complex: The little nook at the back of the new galleries, where you can sit on a bench and contemplate the lawn and bay when art fatigue sets in.

Best proof that Sarasota is getting younger: 32-year-old Kelly Kirschner’s landslide victory over a 51-year-old incumbent in the March race for the City Commission.

Best trip back in time: The 50^th anniversary of the Hob Nob Drive-In should inspire every true Sarasotan to take a seat at those outdoor tables along U.S. 301 and order a wax-paper-wrapped cheeseburger and a red basket of fries, topped off by a root beer float.

Best place to eat at the bar: The intimate downstairs bar at the new Cork’s on St. Armands Circle is the place to enjoy great bistro food—try the steak frites—and lively conversation with local bigwigs and stylish tourists.

Best way to get your groove back: Drive up to Anna Maria Island and order a beer on the deck of the Beach House while you look at sparkling surf and puffy white clouds drifting across the bright-blue sky. We guarantee your spirits will soar.

Best way to start a weekend morning: With eggs Benedict at Chef Paul’s diner at the Days Inn on the North Trail. The Hollandaise has just enough tang, and the home fries are out of this world.

Best brand-new beach: A $12 million restoration project on south Siesta Kay has enormously expanded once-narrow Turtle Beach and eliminated the sharp slope that made it unfriendly to beach walkers.

Best cannolis: Those cheese-filled dreams at Paisano’s Italian bakery on Clark Road.

Best places to set up a mobile office downtown: Since the city’s wireless service is still spotty, roaming workers head to Whole Foods, with its own network that works both outside and in, or Selby Public Library, with wireless, tables—and big windows for people-watching when your focus wanders.  

Best local version of Cheers: Shakespeare’s English Pub on South Osprey Avenue attracts a fun crowd of regulars for its round-the-world beer selection, caramelized onion burgers and fabulous fish and chips.

Best unofficial park: On Bird Key, people are hanging out at the pretty green space by the Ringling Causeway and enjoying one of the best views in Sarasota.

Best grade point average: This year our own New College of Florida was named the No. 1 public liberal arts college in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, and No. 1 Best Value by Princeton Review.

Best Asian salad: Believe it or not, it’s at a Scottish bar in Lakewood Ranch—McAllister’s Asian chicken salad with ginger dressing. 

Best free entertainment and enlightenment: Every week, our eight bloggers sound off on politics, food, theater, nightlife, shopping, city issues, their personal lives and much more at  sarasotamagazine.com. They range from hard-partying GenXtra girl to a comic novelist turned real estate junkie; you won’t find a more engaging mix of Sarasota personalities and ideas anywhere.