Seattle Weekly‘s annual “Best of” list is back with its awards for the very best of the best in all things Seattle. While Queen Anne didn’t take home the distinction of “Best Neighborhood to Live in” (that title went to our neighbors over in Ballard), QA was recognized for a bunch of other citywide bests that call the hill home. And so, without further ado and in no particular order, here are all of Queen Anne’s bests:

• Best Lounge: Oskar’s Kitchen
• Best Reason to Look Forward to Winter: Urban Downhill Skiing (shout out to the slipper slopes of the Counterbalance)
• Best View of Downtown: Rooftop of the Queensborough Apartments (in Lower QA)
• Best Stroll: QA Top Pot to the ferry terminal
• Best Theater Company: Teatro ZinZanni
• Best Kids’ Thrill: Seattle Center International Fountain
• Best New Building: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Best Children’s Theater Production: Go, Dog. Go! (At the Seattle Children’s Theater in Seattle Center)
• Best Lesbian Bar: KeyArena (See the Weekly’s reasoning if, like me, your response was like mine–something along the lines of “Huh…?”)
• Best Wine List in a Restaurant, Price be Damned: Canlis
• Best Service in a Restaurant: Canlis
• Best Underage Music Venue: VERA Project
• Best Place to Get Fatter: Red Mill Burgers (Technically in Interbay, but it still counts!)
• Best Record Store – Classical Department: Silver Platters
• Best Car Wash: Brown Bear (locations in QA and elsewhere)

Every year Queen Anne gets a number of shout outs in the ‘best of’ issue, because, well, there are just so many bests we Queen Anne-ers have to boast. Last year Queen Anne’s Easy Street Records, El Diablo Coffee, and our many secret stairways (the “Best Alternative to the Stairmaster”) were just a few of the winners. Check out last year’s wins here.

The Seattle Weekly “best of” list includes people, places, food & drink, sports & recreation and shopping & services. To see the entire list, click here.

Up to 7,000 people are expected to attend the “Amazon.com All Hands” meeting at the KeyArena today, Thursday, March 31. Attendees will be arriving and departing via shuttle buses between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Drivers should expect added congestion around the KeyArena and Lower Queen Anne due to the event.

For the first time since the 1962 World’s Fair, Ivar’s is back at the Seattle Center. The 73-year-old Northwest seafood restaurant opened four new locations–one Ivar’s Seafood Bar, one Kidd Valley, and two Big Foot Hot Dog stands–inside the KeyArena in early March.

“Ivar tested his salmon house idea at the World’s Fair, where he also served fresh hamburgers similar to Kidd Valley. With our new Key Arena holdings, we are now in five of the regional Northwest sporting venues,” Director of Operations for Ivar’s Sports and Entertainment Division Walt Pillman said in a statement. “Our stadium locations are very popular and we serve more than one million venue visitors annually. We’re eager to bring our award-winning stadium fare to Key Arena fans, and we look forward to settling in and cheering on the WNBA Champions, the Seattle Storm.”

Kidd Valley, Ivar’s and Big Foot Hot Dogs operate from walk-up counters and stick to what they do best. Kidd Valley features juicy hamburgers, hand-mixed milkshakes, fries and freshly cut and breaded onion rings; Ivar’s will serve its award-winning chowders, fish ‘n chips and a seasonal seafood catch of the day; Big Foot Hot Dogs will serve its Northwest classic one-foot long hot dogs with all the fixings.

The four locations will be open for all Key Arena events.

If you’re eager to go try out the new Ivar’s in the neighborhood, today would be a good day. Ivar’s restaurants are celebrating founder Ivar Haglund’s 106th birthday today. At all Ivar’s Seafood Bars, including the new outpost at KeyArena, receive a second meal for just $1.06 when one full-priced entree is purchased. Just exclaim, “Happy Birthday, Ivar!” (Dramatic flair is encouraged, just as the playful Haglund would have wanted. Read about Haglund’s shenanigans here.)

The KeyArena may be getting a new name this year. The Seattle Center announced Friday that it is seeking a new naming rights partner for the event hall, after KeyBank’s contract expired on December 31, 2010. The facility, which hosts concerts, sporting and other events, and is home to the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, has worn the Key’s name for 15 years.

Seattle Center says it is in the midst of discussing naming opportunities with a number of interested parties, but are not yet ready to announce a successor. The facility will keep the name KeyArena until a new naming rights partner is selected.

“KeyBank has been a wonderful partner over the past 15 years, and we hope to continue to explore opportunities with them in the future,” said Seattle Center Director, Robert Nellams in a press release. “There’s very strong interest by local and national companies that recognize this kind of title sponsorship opportunity doesn’t come around often. The 2011 event line-up, capital improvements and the upcoming 50^th anniversary of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, The Next Fifty, make this naming opportunity very appealing.”

Despite the difficult economic climate, the KeyArena has had quite a year. From Seattle Center:

KeyArena earned the top spot on a 2010 year-end industry list (Venues Today) of the best concert venues in the northwest. It also made it to Pollstar’s worldwide top 50 venues and stadiums list, ranked on ticket sales, for the first time ever. The number of events at KeyArena also saw a significant bump from 2009 – a 26% increase in events and a 40% increase in concerts. By year’s end, gross ticket sales exceeded $17.5 million (not including WNBA Storm and Seattle University Men’s Basketball games).

KeyArena 2011 calendar is already out-pacing last year’s schedule. This year’s lineup will include Seattle University men’s basketball games, the 2010 WNBA Champions Seattle Storm (their season starts on June 4), and the Rat City Rollergirls. Some new events debuting at the KeyArena this year include the Professional Bull Riders, UFC Fight Night 24, at Street League Pro Skateboarding. Touring shows in 2011 will bring Eric Clapton, Katy Perry, Keith Urban, and the Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour by Cirque du Soleil to the venue.

See the full list of confirmed events at the KeyArena in 2011 here.

One of our readers, Greg, had his car broken into in a parking garage near Queen Anne Ave and Republican, a half block west of the KeyArena, where he was attending the Seattle University basketball game. Nothing of value was stolen, but Greg is still hoping to recover some personal property. He writes,

It was my new car; window smashed out, and my commuter b-pac and my lunch pail of all things taken. I am sure when they found nothing in either, it was thrown away? It was a one cross body strap; Columbia pac, with REI reflector on strap.(gray-blue). If any lost & found community resource exists; I would love to get my personal “Junk” back. Any help appreciated!

If anyone has any information on the break in, or Greg’s belongings, please contact him at 206-228-2269.

The Seattle Storm will be celebrating their WNBA Championship victory with a parade and celebration in Lower Queen Anne tonight. The Storm beat out Atlanta in a gripping 85 to 82 win yesterday.

The team will be arriving back in Seattle this afternoon. (Diehard fans who want to congratulate the team upon landing, can greet them at the airport: Delta flight 2129, arriving at SeaTac at 1:20 p.m.).

The parade will begin at 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to line the streets from the KeyArena’s West Plaza, along the parade route. The parade will be followed by a championship celebration inside the KeyArena at 7:30 p.m. (fans should enter through the west doors).

The celebration is free and open to the public. No concessions will be open, however fans are allowed to bring their own food and non-alcoholic drinks. Top Pot Doughnuts will also be representing at the party, selling snacks out of the Storm Team Shop and on 1st Ave after the parade.

Hundreds of people, including family members, public officials, firefighters and complete strangers attended the emotional memorial today at KeyArena for the five victims of last weekend’s tragic fire in Fremont.

“They may be gone but they are not alone,” Daniel Gebregiorgis said of his sister Eyerusalem Gebregiorgis, 22, and nieces and nephews, Joseph Gebregiogis, 13, Nyella Smith, 7, Nisreen Shamam, 6, and Yaseen Shaman who had just turned 5.

Our sister site FremontUniverse.com was at the service and has the entire story.

A memorial service for the five victims of an apartment fire in Fremont Saturday will be held at the KeyArena this Friday, June 18 at 11 a.m. Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. (The service was originally scheduled for the Exhibition Hall at but was moved to KeyArena yesterday).

The fire, which was ruled an accident, took the lives of five family members: Eyerusalem Gebregiorgis, 22, Nisreen Shamam, 6, Nyella Smith, 7, Joseph Gebregiorgis, 13, and Yaseen Shamam, 5. Two other family members made it out alive.

An account has been set up to support the family of the victims. Donations to the Seattle Children’s Fire Fund can be made at any Bank of America. Next door neighbor Allecia Clemons is working to put together a community concert to help raise money for the family. Find more information on the event and how to get involved here.

Seattle Center and the KeyArena are inviting the public to come skate around the ice at the Key for free until 8 p.m. today, Friday, June 4.

Free admission, free skate use and 17,000 square feet of ice offer a cool way for families and friends to slide into summer!

There are no tickets required. Skating session begin at the top of each hour and lest 40 minutes. Some concessions stands will be open and selling snacks.

The Free Skate is part of ongoing efforts by Seattle Center Productions, the public programming arm of Seattle Center, to open Seattle Center campus venues for free public activities. The ice is in place on the KeyArena floor for Smucker’s Stars on Ice, May 29, featuring Winter Olympic ice skating champions.

The lot at 100 Republican in Lower Queen Anne used to be a QFC. Now it houses a temporary auto dealership and the occasional mobile food truck. In the next two year, however, the owners of the property, Burkheimer Family LLC, plan to turn the Seattle Center-adjacent site into another residential/retail mixed-use development.

This rendering of the project design, provided by Burkheimer Family LCC in a Department of Planning and Development proposal (.pdf) back in July 2009, shows what the building would look like from the intersection of Republican St. and Warren Ave N.

The six-story building will house 275 units–studios, 1-2 bedrooms and 10 town homes–parking, and 17,725 square feet of street level retail space. The average residential unit size will be 696 square feet. The building will also have two rooftop courtyards–one 9,028 sf, the other 5,985 sf–and an over 2,000 sf outdoor plaza on Republican St. that serves as an entrance to the rest of the building.

The building, located just across the street from the KeyArena and Seattle Center campus, is expected to be completed in 2012, according to a Daily Journal of Commerce story published today. For more information on the building specs and zoning issues, see the DPD project proposal (.pdf).

(Thanks to reader Jon for the tip!)

One of our readers, Katie Gilliam, parked along the right side of Roy St, between 3rd Ave and Nob Hill, on Tuesday evening for the Seattle University basketball game at KeyArena. There are no meters on the street and no “No Parking” signs posted. She got a $38 ticket.

“There’s a construction fence up along the side of the road, but no signs indicating cars should not park there. A number of other cars had parked in the area, so we did the same,” she wrote.

When she got back to her car after the game, she saw a Seattle Parking Enforcement employee ticketing all the cars along the street – about 20 she estimated. The parking enforcement officer told her that she goes to the same spot every night to write out tickets. Katie wrote,

We asked her why the city doesn’t put up a sign indicating that cars cannot park there, and she said she didn’t think the city would do that because of “the budget.

On one level, this seems like a quick and dirty way for the city to make money – one that intentionally misleads people into getting a ticket. On another level, this is a blow to Queen Anne businesses. This area is already struggling to make up for the loss of the Sonics, and when 20 people who ventured into the area for a basketball game receive parking tickets, it leaves a sour taste in our mouths.

Katie wrote in hoping to prevent others from getting tickets and pressure the city to put up a “No Parking” sign. Though a call to SDOT was not immediately answered, there are ways to make a request for street sign maintenance online through their website. Here is a link to SDOT’s Street Maintenance Request form. Other customer requests and feedback can be made here.

Jill Arnow of the Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce was quoted in the Seattle PI when asked her opinion about whether the Washington State legislature

should take up a discussion regarding Senate Bill 6116.  This bill would extend the funding generated by existing taxes on hotel and restaurants that now goes towards the funding of Safeco Field to the arts and heritage programs, youth sports activities, publicly-owned stadiums, and more.

“We’re still hoping,” she said. “It’s important to my neighborhood, so we’re going to see what we can do.”

This year’s session in Olympia was extremely challenging.  Read more about the pro’s and con’s of continuing the KeyArena discussion by going to the Seattle PI.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is leading a new effort to remodel KeyArena and bring another NBA team to Seattle as soon as 2010, reports the Seattle PI. “It should be noncontroversial, because it’s a city-only tax that already exists and will not be an increase,” said Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis. He said that the city would not spend the $300 million in renovations until a NBA team is committed to move here. The plan needs approval from the legislature.