You've probably seen the Best of Las Vegas logo many times – at your favorite bakery, doctor's office, gym and salon. You've heard about it on the radio, seen it on television commercials and billboards, and on websites. The Review-Journal's Best of Las Vegas, or BOLV as it's affectionately known, is the most dynamic multi-platform program in the country. Readers, customers and fans come together to nominate their favorite businesses and entertainers, and then the community votes to select the Bronze, Silver and Gold winners in each category.

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The original 1981 Best of Las Vegas reader's poll was a mail-in ballot with a few general categories, and has undergone many changes over the years. As Las Vegas has grown, so has BOLV. As Senior Vice President of Advertising and Sales Michael LaBonia says, "Over the last 45 years we've refined, modernized and expanded the program."

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Gone are the days of hand counting ballots and deciphering handwriting in general categories or difficult to navigate online contests. In 2017, the Review-Journal partnered with Nerus Strategies, LLC., who administers programs in 60 markets. The partnership allowed for third-party vote tabulation, which enabled massive growth in the contest. Today, Best of Las Vegas has 550 subcategories in 15 main categories, including Beauty & Fitness, Eat & Drink, Education, Entertainment, Finance, Health & Wellness, Home & Garden, Hotel & Casino, Motors, Law, Living Local, Real Estate, Services, Shopping and Things to Do. The variety of subcategories allows the community to vote on their favorite businesses of all types.

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"Local Las Vegas businesses are extremely competitive to win BOLV, because they understand the powerful brand recognition and positive impact to their business that comes along with winning in their business categories," LaBonia says.

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The winners are announced each year in a glossy magazine and distributed to subscribers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, in racks in over 540 locations throughout the valley and at select businesses.

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In 2025, over 9,000 businesses were nominated, garnering more than 17,800,000 votes, an 11 percent increase over 2024. Deidre Stroud, director of advertising operations for the Review-Journal, who oversees the contest contributes the growth in engagement to the nature of the contest.

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"Best of Las Vegas is all about positivity, without negative comments on review sites," she says. "The community rewards their favorites with their votes as well as their business." Each year Stroud and Nerus assess the categories; some are removed for lack of engagement, and new categories are added based on demand. In 2026 the Living Local category is adding five new subcategories for best breakfast in each region.

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"Best Breakfast has been a very competitive category, and with so many wonderful businesses with single locations in each region, we feel voters will be excited to support these new categories," she says.

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For the 45th anniversary edition, nominations are from July 13-July 29, and voting begins Aug. 17 and ends on Sept. 10. Anyone can nominate or vote for businesses at votebolv.com during those periods. The 2026 winners will be announced Dec. 6, both in the magazine and at bestoflasvegas.com.