Best of El cErrito

Frequently Asked Questions

The Best of El Cerrito is a program of the El Cerrito Chamber of Commerce and the Best of City Contests team.

What is the Best of El Cerrito?

Supporting our local businesses is more important than ever. The Best of El Cerrito Program celebrates businesses of all sizes that make our place special. This is done by encouraging you, the community, to nominate and vote for your favorites.

During the contest, all businesses benefit, thanks to your nomination (or vote).  While not all businesses make the final round, EVERY BUSINESS gains increased awareness (and potential customers) and appreciation by participating in the campaign.

Each business that wins is recognized with a “Best of” logo and receive an array of benefits including window clings, certificate, digital assets showing the business was voted as the best, and more.  By voting, you help lift these businesses and our local economy.

How do I vote for my favorites?

Visit the Best of El Cerrito Ballot here. The Best of program is carried out in two phases: a nomination and voting phase. During the nomination phase (closes May 9th), you can write in your favorite business for each category on our nomination page. After the one-month write-in nomination phase, you get to vote for your favorites on the digital ballot. It’s easy to register and vote for your favorites.

How does a business participate?

Businesses are nominated by the public. If you are an El Cerrito based or an El Cerrito-serving business, you can register for a free Best of El Cerrito digital badge to help you get out the vote. Our Best of City Contest team partners provide you with a custom “nominate us” badge that can be shared with your customers. If your business is nominated and reaches the second voting round, then you’ll also be eligible to request a vote for us badge.

How does my business show up on the ballot?

During the nomination phase, encourage your community to write in you in as a contestant.  Once a threshold of write-in's is reached (varies by category), your business will show up on the ballot. 

To advance to the final (run off) voting phase, a category must have at least three contestants. All businesses that advance to the voting round will be listed on the ballot.

If you’d like to increase awareness of your business by enhancing your ballot listing with displaying your name, logo, and website directly in your category, you can explore additional marketing options here.

How are winners chosen?

Businesses with the most votes from the public during the voting phase are the winners.

As a business, why should I participate?

• Thanks to sponsors and hours of volunteer work (professionals during personal time), there’s no cost to businesses to participate. The program’s goal is to raise awareness of El Cerrito area businesses and to encourage shopping locally. If you run a local business in or around El Cerrito, we invite you to register.  You'll receive free contest materials, including a custom nominate us or vote for us badge (depending upon the program phase).
• During the contest, there are optional paid advertising features.  Some businesses appreciate accessible advertising for their shop or service.
• Winner benefits include window clings for your storefront, digital assets showing your business was voted as the best, and a complimentary invitation to the award celebration.
• Optional recognition awards will also be made available after the contest to help promote winners including featured listings in a Best of El Cerrito, a website listing winners by category and custom award plaques.

Interested in supporting the Best of El Cerrito program?

To keep the program free for all businesses in the El Cerrito area, the program is supported by sponsors.  Check out sponsorship benefits here.  Best of El Cerrito costs include promotional materials, a secure technology platform, an awards party expenses (such as food, music, certificates) and more.   El Cerrito Chamber of Commerce and Best of City Contest team provide project design, management and implementation labor (p/t staff hours + volunteers) over the approximately 12 months of the project (concept to post award party).

About Categories

• Want to nominate a business and can't find a category?  Let us know. We're able to adjust categories up until 4/18/25.
• A business may be nominated for multiple relevant categories (up to 3).
• To advance to final voting round, a category must have at least 3 contestants.