business in fashion

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Buzios Room. 217 Congress Ave. 479-5002

The Cedar Door.Cedar Door. 201 Brazos St. 473-3712

Chain Drive. 504 Willow St. 480-9017

Champions Sports Bar. 300 E. Fourth St. 473-0450

The Cockpit.113 San Jacinto Blvd. 457-8010

Copa. 217 Congress Ave. 479-5002

Dona Emilia’s. 101 San Jacinto Blvd. 478-2520

Finn & Porter. 500 E. Fourth St. 493-4900

Fleming’s. 320 E. Second St. 457-1500

Four Seasons Hotel Bar. 98 San Jacinto Blvd. 478-4500

Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill. 303 Red River St. 236-9599

Fogo da Chao. 309 E. Third St. 472-0220

Rio Grande.301 San Jacinto Blvd. 476-8300

Roy’s. 340 E. Second St. 391-1500

  • 412955696_2ff127d46b.jpg
    • Still people fix up singles on blind dates all the time. And a curious contender won the A-List vote for best place for a blind date. I guess if you attend a Texas Rollergirls match with a stranger, little is left to the imagination. Either your date joins the cheering, jeering and theatricalized thrumming, or they don’t. That may be a enough. A full 32 percent of voters chose it as a fine first date.

    The more conventional fun of Hula Hut came in second with 15 percent. The even more sedate Shady Grove made third place with 11 percent, and the extra-laid-back Dart Bowl took fourth with 9 percent, right ahead of the perennial — and slightly camp — favorite Peter Pan Mini-Golf.

    Dave and Buster’s, especially lakeside, is an ancient Austin date tradition and earned 8 percent. The B Scene at the Blanton Museum of Art, only a couple years old, offers at classy option with 4 percent. Attracting 3 percent or less were Halcyon, Austin Java, Adult skate night at Playland, Little City and 300 Austin.

  • bluegenie01_sign.jpgBoy, could we use a sale right about now. The economy is in the dumps. Every cent counts.

    Merrily, two of the biggest sales are on their way. I don’t mean the Black Friday madness, but rather two retail/cultural traditions cherished by Austinites.

    The Blue Genie Christmas Bazaar and Armadillo Christmas Bazaar came within one vote of tying for the A-List Best Sale contest — the Genie getting the upper hand. One event is thrown by scruffy artists on the East Side, the other by scruffy — well, more cleaned up these days — artists on the West Side. Each obtained 17 percent of the vote.

    The City-Wide Garage Sale, a similar group effort without the holiday requirement, came in third with 15 percent of the tally, while Four Hands warehouse sale cleaned up 10 percent. Le Garage Sale got 8 percent and A Christmas Affair, the tony Junior League fundraiser raised 7 percent.

    The Buffalo Exchange sidewalk sale pulled in a respectable 6 percent, just ahead of the Literacy Austin Bookfest. A very targeted retail event, the Service Menswear 50 percent-off sale, earned 4 percent while the Austin Record Convention and Strut’s first-of-the-month sale tied at just over 3 percent. Taking less than that were the Flipnotics sidewalk sale and Austin Books and Comics anniversary sale.

    Can you tell what Austin collects?

  • 1077093.jpgThat may be why KUT, the longtime public radio station associated with the University of Texas, picked up 21 percent of the A-List vote for best radio station. True, it channels the same PBS material heard all over North America, but that’s always tempered with local reports and, especially, programs that reflect Austin’s eclectic music scene.

    Also striking a local note is KGSR 107.1. Staying somewhat near the mellower singer/songwriter end of the spectrum, the resonantly Austin station caught 19 percent of the tally.

    96.7 KISS-FM, with the insurgent Bobby Bones, came in third with 9 percent, while Mix 94.7, starring recently profiled JB & Sandy, took forth with 8 percent. Slickly trimmed to the local market, 103.5 BOB-FM, reached fourth place with 7 percent.

    KVET 98.1 and its country coeval, KASE 100.7, each took close to 5 percent, followed closely by that peregrinating collective, KOOP 91.7.

    Taking 3 percent or less were KLBJ-AM 590, Hot 93.3, Jammin’ 105.0, ESPN Radio 1260/1530, 102.3 The River, SportsRadio 1300, Majic 95.5, KAZI 88.7, KMFA 89.5, KVRX 91.7, Talk Radio 1370, La Ley 98.9, Digital 92.5 and La Que Buena 104.3.

  • cannoli.jpgGetting a buffet right takes a lot of care. Often, the food awaiting the diner at a steam table is a pale reflection of its fresh or just-cooked self. We appreciate an exceptional buffet almost as much as an order-driven meal.

    The A-List winner for best buffet this year goes to a relative newcomer, Cannoli Joe’s on U.S. 290 West, which picked up 20 percent of the vote. The a