BestOf
MONTEREY 07

•ARTS STORE

SEARLE ART SUPPLIES | 639B Lighthouse Ave., Monterey • 373-0126

There’s a budding artist in most every one of us. Some of us will never find the little imp. Others of us don’t need to—we have Searle. Stocked with the tools and of the trade, Searle lets the little voice of Van Gogh come out in the open. So let go. Play. Be a kid again. Create. Then autograph it, frame it, hang it on a wall, and call it art.  

•ANTIQUE SHOP 

TROTTER’S ANTIQUES | 590 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove • 373-3505

Turning a hobby into a career, it is said, is a surefire way to become successful. Perhaps that’s why Lee Trotter’s beautiful PG shop is a winner in this category once again. Trotter has been collecting rare silver and art glass since childhood. The breathtaking pieces of artwork dot her store and coexist harmoniously with collections of dolls, porcelains, and handcrafted furniture that span over 300 years. This is not the kind of place to confuse with discards and chucked seconds. Trotter’s is home to exquisite treasures for the true aficionado.

•BANK

WELLS FARGO BANK | 14 branches in the county

With branches from the southern end of the Salinas Valley to the far reaches of the Monterey Peninsula, Wells Fargo delivers its customers a convenient and hospitable way to make deposits and withdrawals. For the wheels in the land of high finance they offer trust and investment services, for the business customer they provide lines of credit and lots of loan options, and for the rest of us busy folks they have a number of locations inside grocery stores so people can complete multiple errands in one stop.

•BIKE STORE

AQUARIAN BICYCLES | 486 Washington St., Monterey • 375-2144

They’ve got the shocks for hopping through the Ord, the slicks for riding down Highway 1 and the rack to take back the back country. They’ve got the cruisers for amusement on the Rec Trail and the locks to keep the chrome chassis safe. But this Aquarian race of people didn’t win so much for their comprehensive selection as they did for their street-cool vibe and their responsive service and repair work.

•BOOKSTORE—USED

BOOK HAVEN | 559 Tyler St., Monterey • 333-0383

Every book store has its own character, and Book Haven’s is elegant without being snooty. The aisles are wide and generous, the shelves neatly stocked with carefully selected (mostly hardcover) treasures, and the prices remarkably reasonable. It’s like having a like-minded friend winnow through all the dreck for you, presenting you with the cream of the crop. The military history and local history sections are especially impressive.

•BOOKSTORE—NEW

BORDERS | 2080 California Ave., Sand City • 899-6643

A guy we know has a little test to see if a bookstore is up to snuff. First, he chooses a prominent author like Ernest Hemmingway and sees if the place has a good collection of his works. Our Sand City Borders easily passes this phase with a collection including the mighty The Sun Also Rises, along with lesser-known volumes like The Dangerous Summer, a non-fiction book about bullfighting. Then he checks if the store has any works by a more obscure writer— say, cult favorite William T. Vollmann. A big check. Borders has everything from Vollmann’s National Book Award-winning Europe Centralto a rarely-seen greatest hits collection titled Expelled From Eden. Our local Borders gets an “A” for selection by our guy.

•CAR DEALER—NEW

SAM LINDER AUTO GROUP | 300 Auto Center Circle, Salinas • 424-1500

When it comes to selling cars, it’s what’s on the lot that matters most. Sam Linder’s lots are filled with brand-new Hondas, Cadillacs, Jaguars and Land Rovers—four of the most respected marques in the industry. When it comes to buying a car, price is what matters most. Sam Linder states as its motto: “Our goal is to sell cars for less.” A comfortable shopping environment, where the buyer is in charge, is also crucial. According to the Weekly’s readers, Sam Linder puts all this together.

•CAR DEALER—USED

CARDINALE AUTOMOTIVE GROUP | Seaside Auto Mall, Salinas Auto Center • 394-1233

They’ve got your Audis, your Beamers, your PT Cruisers, your F-150s, your Mercurys and Subarus. In fact it’s a good bet that between their two giant used car lots in Seaside and Salinas, Cardinale has your next car all detailed out and ready to roll. So take a little test drive, do a bit of haggling, turn up the radio and then head out on the highway.

•CAR REPAIR  

FOREST HILL AUTO | 1123 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove • 372-6575

If you think a strut is the way you cruise Alvarado on a Friday night—and a kingpin is the leader of the loadies from your school days—then this PG shop is just the kind of place you might want to store in your Blackberry. For over 40 years, this certified, family-owned business has built a reputation grounded in trust, reliability, reasonable rates, and know-how. Shuttle service is free in and around the Peninsula, and they even promise to welcome Bowser when it’s time to take the family taxi in for a sick-call.

•CAR WASH

EL ESTERO CAR WASH | 590 Fremont St., Monterey • 373-1801

When your hooptie needs some love, take her down to El Estero and let that industrious team of buffing and polishing experts put a high gloss on her sweet little quarter panels. You’ll be amazed at how much better she goes when she’s feeling beautiful. And with a basic car wash starting at just $12.95, it’s the cheapest way in town to pimp your ride.

•COMPUTER STORE

PC PEOPLE | 534 Abrego St., Monterey • 649-5900

Hardware hiccups. Wine on the laptop. Fried motherboards. Viruses with global ambitions. Bring it on. “We can fix anything,” says owner John Blankfort, who just celebrated 20 years of successful business, “though it does reach a point where it becomes non-economical.” Blankfort knows how the PCPs have won a wall of Best Of plaques. “It’s about customer service,” he says. “It’s about meeting customer needs—it keeps ‘em coming back year after year.”

•CRAFTS STORE

BEVERLY’S FABRIC AND CRAFTS | 2090 North Fremont Blvd., Monterey • 646-5141 | 344 Main St., Salinas 422-1508

Beverly’s is the perfect place to foster the inner Martha Stewart. Seasoned craftspeople will find the best tools for their decoupage, scrapbooking,  candlemaking, etc.,  projects.  Novices will find classes in all of the above and a lot more. Because really, what a glue gun can’t fix, no one really needs.

•DIVE SHOP

BAMBOO REEF | 614 Lighthouse Ave., Monterey • 372-1685

The 30-ton wonder glides through infinite blue. She and her friends train big glassy black eyes on the funny-flippered bubblers. Compared to the awkward humans, the grey whales’ movements are at once massive and effortless, their presence simple but profound. They passed within 15 feet of the divers just the other day, says Bamboo’s John Haley. “They’re just curious,” he says, “like us.” The curious (and amphibious) in Monterey County would do well to start at Bamboo en route to their underwater encounters—whether for an air fill, a dive class or a wetsuit rental—as did those divers. Twenty-seven years of experience helps Bamboo guide clients to greatness.

•DRY CLEANER

VAPOR SUDDEN SERVICE CLEANERS | 1193 10th St., Monterey • 375-5221

Besides having what may be the most heroic name in dry-cleaning history, this place is a trendsetting, eco-friendly establishment that seven years ago adopted a patented technology called Green Earth. Completely non-toxic—that means sayonara to those nasty TCE’s that give dry cleaners a bad name—as well as odorless (the formula is sand-based), Green Earth leaves your clothes looking spiffy and your conscience feeling clean. Owner Duke Quinones uses recycled plastic bags, too, even though they’re more expensive. “We’re trying to cover the whole circle of it,” he says. Thanks, Duke. That takes true grit.

•ETHNIC MARKET

THE FILIPINO INDIAN MARKET | 1914 Fremont Blvd., Seaside • 393-9175

Your Indian naan is a nonstarter without a stop at this joint first. And yup, those lumpia dreams are pretty much dead without a visit. But that’s just the beginning. This market stands out in a crowd of great ethnic spots in Seaside because it can take you to Thailand, China, Japan, and Fiji too. The market’s Tess Boria is succinct about the reasons for the store’s success: “We have a lot of stuff in here,” she says.

•FLORIST

SWENSON & SILACCI FLOWERS | 432 Alvarado St., Monterey • 375-2725 | 110 John St., Salinas • 424-2725

Can’t think of the right gift? A flood of good ideas will greet you at Swenson & Silacci Flowers. Just point at one of the fine bouquets in gorgeous vases in the large glass cooler. Or point at a photo in one of the albums presenting every permutation of floral arrangements for every occasion. If you insist on doing the work yourself, select the cut flowers, greens, and twiggy things for your arrangement. You’ll also find green plants, flowering plants, plant stands, candles, and gourmet food items for baskets. Meanwhile, enjoy the high oxygen level and soothing gurgling of a fountain at this family-run shop.

•REALTOR

KELLER WILLIAMS | 26200 Carmel Rancho Blvd.,Carmel • 622-6200

In the shifting sands of the local real estate market, Keller Williams has quickly set down a solid foundation. Since arriving on the scene brand new in 2005, the office has grown from 15 agents to over 100, and it appears that the readers of the Weeklyhave found things they like about those agents. Listings proliferate, sales close and Keller Williams earns honors like a Green Ribbon award from the Carmel Chamber.

•GOLF SHOP

GOLF MART | 2040 Fremont Blvd., Seaside • 583-1000

Just atop the hill at the far end of Fremont, a couple of long par fives from the back nine at Bayonet & Blackhorse, sits a warehouse-like building housing treasures far beyond simple art, gold or jewels. Golf equipment, that’s the stuff that gets golfers’ hearts a-fluttering. 460cc Titanium alloy drivers with adjustable weights, factory matched irons with progressive center-of-gravity distribution, belly putters, two ball putters, blade putters, long putters; Titleist, Nike, Adams, Callaway, Cleveland, Foot-Joy, Taylor Made…it may not be the Louvre, but beauty is in the back nine of the beholder.