• Our annual “Best of New York” issue had a particular mission this year: to hunt down not just the best but the best values in the eating, shopping, drinking, and general-consuming universe of New York. It’s quite the process, this, requiring eating and shopping and drinking (all in the name of research), followed by heated but civil discussion, and heated but less-civil discussion, until a winner emerges in each category. We wolfed down multiple plates of pasta (carbs are definitely back), ran around with the kids until we were ready to drop, had our nails Minxed and our house feng shui’d (for $150 off!). We tested dance parties and dive bars, happy hours and playgrounds, dog runs and exterminators, and we found the people who can save your hard drive, no matter what weird noise it’s making. It was exhausting! But worth it, because nothing sets off a good discussion like a firmly expressed opinion. Your best-ofs? Share them in the comments section here. For ours, click ahead.

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  Contributors: Alec Appelbaum, Amos Barshad, Grace Bastidas, Sarah Bernard, Molly Bennet, Kera Bolonik, Carole Braden, Jessica Coen, Arianne Cohen, Joe DeLessio, Charlotte Druckman, Gillian Duffy, Julie Earle-Levine, Lori Fradkin, Aileen Gallagher, Katie Goldsmith, Wendy Goodman, Kaija Helmetag, David S. Hirschman, Kaitlin Jessing-Butz, Anne Kadet, Nick Lansing, Amy Larocca, Hugo Lindgren, Aja Mangum, Daniel Maurer, Rebecca Milzoff, Lauren Murrow, Rob Patronite, John Pavlus, Adam Platt, Robin Raisfeld, S. Jhoanna Robledo, Emma Rosenblum, Doria Santlofer, David Sax, Paul Schrodt, Beth Shapouri, Susan Stellin, Andrea Strong, Carl Swanson, Jean Tang, Diana Tsui, Alexandra Vallis, Christine Whitney

From the 2009 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine