Bestofdenton: How Voting Works & How to Win

What Best of Denton is and who runs it

Best of Denton is the readers' choice awards program of the Denton Record-Chronicle, the daily newspaper serving Denton, Texas, from its offices at 2413 Ft Worth Dr. The ballot is published on the paper's own domain at dentonrc.com/bestofdenton/, and the program sits squarely in the best-of vertical: readers pick favorite local businesses across the everyday spending categories a Denton household actually uses, from where to eat and drink to where to shop, which service provider to call, and which spots make life in the city fun.

Three things define the program's shape. First, it is a public-vote award, meaning the finalists and winners are selected by voters every year between April and July rather than by an editorial panel. Second, it runs in two phases, a nomination round that builds the ballot and a voting round that decides it, so a business's calendar for the program starts in spring, not summer. Third, it is anchored to one market: this is a Denton city ballot, not a countywide or statewide one, which is why a win carries local weight with the paper's own readership.

The dated record for Best of Denton

The program is a long-running fixture in Denton. The organizer's own FAQ states that Best of Denton began in 1993, and confirmed editions appear for 2023, 2025 and 2026. The 2025 cycle ran in the two phases the program uses every year: nominations were accepted from April 11 through May 25, 2025, and voting ran June 13 through July 20, 2025. For 2026 the newspaper is already promoting the ballot, with a vote-now prompt for the 2026 Best of Denton awards sitting on the program hub. If the annual pattern holds, the next cycle would land in 2027.

One gap stands out for any nominating business: the Denton Record-Chronicle has published no per-supporter vote limit and no eligibility rule anywhere on the pages held for the 2026 Best of Denton ballot; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

That gap matters in practice. A business planning a customer push across the June-through-July window has no published ceiling to plan around, and a supporter wondering whether repeat visits count has no printed answer either. The ballot's own instructions at submission time are the only authority the newspaper currently offers on both questions, which is why the live form, not a summary written months earlier, should settle them.

How a supporter votes in the 2026 Best of Denton ballot

Supporting a Denton business starts at the program hub. Open dentonrc.com/bestofdenton/ and the ballot divides into browsable sections, including food and drinks, life and fun, services, and shopping, each with its own page on the newspaper's domain. A supporter picks a section, finds the business to back, and casts a public vote. No purchase is necessary to nominate, so the entry path into the ballot is open to any local business or resident during the spring phase.

Because the cycle splits into a nomination phase and a voting phase, timing decides what is even possible. A business that misses the April-through-May nomination stretch cannot appear on the summer ballot at all, no matter how loud its customers get in June, so the first move for any business is to make sure it is on the ballot before the voting round opens. Once voting is live, the work shifts to mobilizing the customers who already know the business under the name it is listed under, since a vote for a name the ballot does not carry helps nobody.

The category sections also shape where support goes. A restaurant and a hair salon sit in different sections, so a business with several strengths can collect votes in several groups, and a supporter with a few favorites can spread ballots across the hub in one visit.

How Best of Denton sits beside its Texas neighbours

Denton's ballot is one of several readers' choice programs across Texas, each answering to a different publisher in a different city. The nearest big-city analogue is Best of Fort Worth, run by the Fort Worth magazine in the metroplex next door, while Dallas has its own Best of Dallas Readers' Choice. Further out, Best of Austin Readers Poll, Best of Houston, Best of San Antonio and Best of El Paso cover the state's other major metros.

What makes the Denton program distinct is scale and ownership. It belongs to the city's daily newspaper rather than to a glossy city magazine, and its market is a single college town rather than a metro of millions, so the competitive field in each category is smaller and a determined customer base can genuinely swing a result. The two-phase calendar, spring nominations then summer voting, is also a feature a business should plan around explicitly, because the nomination window is where a campaign is won or lost before a single summer vote is cast.

For a business weighing where to invest effort, the choice between these programs is really a choice about audience: the Denton ballot reaches the paper's local readers, while the metro programs reach far larger but less concentrated ones.

Strengthening support in the Best of Denton window

A push that fits this ballot works with its calendar, not against it. Secure the nomination in the spring phase first, then spend the June-through-July voting round on the customers who already visit: a counter sign with the exact category and business name as listed, a line on receipts, and a reminder on the channels the business already uses. Because the organizer prints no per-person limit for the 2026 round, the live form's own instructions are the rule to follow on repeat participation. For a fuller walkthrough of ethical vote-driving on a newspaper readers' ballot, see our guide to getting more votes online, and for what purchased support involves, our votes page covers the mechanics without promising outcomes.