Welcome to the first ever issue of "The Best of Point." Students, faculty and staff were asked what they believed to be were the greatest businesses around Stevens Point. The results have been tallied and the winners announced. Find out if your favorite businesses made the cut.

“Spring of 1965.” After 44 years, three universities and countless baseball anecdotes, Dr. Dennis Riley remembers the precise moment when he knew that being a political science professor was his life’s passion. It was on a Thursday during Riley’s senior year when his mentor Dr. Ed Stillings had him go to the front of the class.

At the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where eating naturally and organically is a top priority for both students and staff, the CPS Café offers a wide array of healthy foods to suit any appetite.

Knutzen Hall has had its roots deeply embedded in environmentalism long before it was named the “Eco-Hall” 10 years ago. In 1967, this four-story residential hall was built and dedicated to Norman E. Knutzen.

What started out as couches from rummage sales and lamps from thrift stores has transformed over the years into a coffeehouse pub and is now what University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point students call the “best campus hangout.”

Whether it is the fast-paced action of the game, hard hits or the thunderous rowdy crowd making noise on Friday and Saturday night home games, the Pointer hockey program definitely draws an impressive number of fans.

From trapping deer in Schmeeckle Reserve to ear-tagging gray squirrels, The Wildlife Society is not your typical student organization.

The Best of Point in some areas was a close call for the winner. This was not one of those areas. Belts’ Soft Serve has been voted best place to get ice cream in town.

Starting eight years ago, Partner’s Pub introduced the all-important “birthday mug,” which has become a tradition for Stevens Point residents celebrating their twenty-first birthday and subsequent birthdays thereafter, making Partner’s Pub the number one choice for best Stevens Point birthday bar.

Among all esteemed establishments in a town, only one seems to universally hold a place in our hearts (and social lives) as much as the local neighborhood bar.

In an environmentally-friendly community cluttered with 5-second attention spans and apathetic behavior, Toppers Pizza sets itself to blend in. They use green peppers. Outside of that, they actually tend to set a different tone.

Driving east on Hwy 10 you may develop a gut feeling. You find it hard to identify what is going through your mind. Do you want to drive by the husk of the old Wal-Mart building? Continue out into the country and visit the John Deere Implement dealer? What if that gut feeling was an actual gut feeling and you were hungry? Then there is a solution. Hilltop Pub and Grill.

She wanted to give children the experience she had as a child. After spending endless hours researching toy companies and their products, in 1981 she was ready to put her knowledge to the test.

“Fourthmeal”: the meal after dinner and before breakfast. It is the meal that is craved by countless college kids and consumed throughout the wee hours of the morning. Fourthmeal is the meal that earned Taco Bell the “Best After Midnight Dining” award.

Long rumored to be a hot dance spot, Bruiser’s Nightclub has now officially been recognized as the “Best Place to Dance” in Stevens Point.

But even in the most hostile of wars or most inhospitable conditions, havens still exist where harsh discomfort gives way to cathartic ambiance. With its colorful décor that contrasts so brilliantly with the monochromatic winter blues, the Gyros and Kabob House just might be one of those places.

Even with the addition of Jimmy John’s this past fall, Subway Sandwiches and Salads still takes home “The Best of Point” award...

Downtown, near some of your other favorite hotspots like Guu’s, The Afterdark, Gepetto’s Workshop and the Gyros and Kabob House, lies a small bookstore voted the number one bookstore in Stevens Point. That bookstore is none other than Book World...

Only a block from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, Cost Cutters Family Hair Salon is a convenient spot for students who require routine hair grooming throughout the school year.

Skipp’s Bowling Center has been named the best place to put on some used shoes and toss a 12-pound ball at some pins.

Multiple music acts every week, local and nationwide artists and great coffee make the Afterdark Coffee House a natural selection for the best music venue of Stevens Point.