Hrecommended: My Best of Ann Arbor Food for 2010

The alphabetical order by venue is intentional. All of these places have more going for them than just the items I've chosen to highlight. That said, most of these are local, owner-operated and almost certainly have less consistency to their execution than the robots at a chain restaurant can deliver. This was the year of the food cart as vehicle for testing out a menu. It was also the first year of the smoking ban in bars so the "best place to have smoke-free drink" became meaningless. Finally it was the year of the concept burger place. As always, this is my list. Yours will almost certainly be different.

• Amadeus -- Cheapest Trip to Europe
  
• Beezy's -- Best Chicken Salad
  
• Cafe Zola -- Best Weekday Lunch Spot (try the crepes, olives, Turkish brunch)
  
• Dimo's -- Best Burger (tie), Best Doughnuts
• Eat! Ann Arbor -- Best Food Cart
• Lotus Thai -- Best Thai
• Northside Grill -- Best Breakfast (try the Huron Sampler)
  
• Paradise -- Best Asian
  
• Paesano's -- Best Seasonal Menu (try the soups, pasta features)
  
• Pub Pizza -- Best Pizza (tie)
• Red Hawk -- Best Bar Food, Best non-Beer tap (try the hard ciders and root beer)
• Selma Fridays -- Best Hidden Kitchen
  
• Sidetrack -- Best Burger (tie)
• Silvio's Gourmet Pizza -- Best Pizza (tie), Best Pasta
  
• Star Cafe -- Best Middle-Eastern
  
• Totoro -- Best Sushi (tie)
• Uptown Coney -- Best Club Sandwich, Best Egg-man (particularly if you like 'em scrambled)
  
• Yotsuba -- Best Sushi (tie)
  
• Zingerman's Bakehouse -- Best Bread, Best Bagels
• Zingerman's Roadhouse -- Best Chili (try the Ancho Beef), Best Mac & Cheese (try it mixed with the chili), Best Haute Cuisine, Best Chef (Alex Young)

Sadly, no winners for: Best BBQ, Best Home-style Desserts, Best Fish and Chips, Best Tapas, Best Cajun, Best Service, Best Mexican

Gone but not forgotten: Allen and Rumsey Steakhouse, American Spoon Gelato, Brewbaker's Ginger Cream Soda, Frog Holler Produce's Frog Blog, Manali, Mr. Rib, Latdior, Los Tres Amigos, Philly's, Original 60's Sub Shop, Rio Bravo, Zydeco, chef Takashi Yagihashi, chef Mark Pruitt, chef Isabella Nicolleti. Raleigh's 2nd City Grill was shuttered this year as well.