Beloved Lawrence people and places honored at annual Best of Lawrence awards

photo by: Libby Stanford

Audience members cheer as Best of Lawrence winners are announced on Thursday, June 21, 2018.

Dozens of beloved Lawrence places and people were honored at the annual Best of Lawrence awards presentation Thursday night — and the winners made sure to note that they couldn’t have done it without their community behind them.

“It’s humbling,” said Dan Ranjbar, orthodontist at Ranjbar Orthodontics, after winning the award for Best Orthodontic Practice. “It’s your patients basically saying they like you. It feels good.”

The annual awards, which are sponsored by the Journal-World and Sunflower Publishing, let members of the community vote for their favorite things about Lawrence in a number of categories. Many of the awards are for businesses, but there are categories for local events, too, as well as individual categories for community leaders, artists, bartenders and more.

Thursday’s event, held at Abe and Jake’s Landing, 8 E. Sixth St., marked the seventh year in a row that Ranjbar Orthodontics won in its category. But there were many new faces in 2018’s Best of Lawrence class, too.

Shantel Grace, co-owner of first-time winner Ramen Bowls, said it was exciting just to be nominated for the Best Asian Food category.

“I think (Best of Lawrence) is just a chance to celebrate all the small businesses in this incredible town, that are independent and unapologetic about it,” Grace said.

Other winners recognized how the event brings community members together.

“It provides enthusiasm, encouragement and innovation, which is what we need,” said Taylor Legg, manager at Port Fonda, which won second place for Best Place to Get a Margarita and third place for Best Mexican Food.

To see all of the Best of Lawrence winners, go to lawrence.com or check out the Best of Lawrence magazine. Subscribers of the Journal-World will receive a copy of the magazine with the Sunday newspaper, and copies of the magazine can be bought at the Lawrence Journal-World office, 645 New Hampshire St., or on the Lawrence Journal-World online store.

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