City Paper has released its 2008 Best of … edition. While everyone on the list deserves their place, the Polish Hill Civic Association would like to take a moment to congratulate Polish Hill winners. First up is Gooski’s, who is no stranger to this list. Gooski’s is known for having the best juke box in Pittsburgh!

Best neighborhood dive whose menu has global appeal
Gooski’s
3117 Brereton St., Polish Hill. 412-681-1658
“Unpretentious” is the word pretentious people use for “scruffy.” So let’s just call Gooski’s what it is: a gritty-but-friendly bar that, like the gritty-but-friendly city itself, takes all kinds. Gooski’s has been known to attract the occasional Hollywood star and even a world-renowned installation artist or two. And what brings them in? Sure, it’s the bands in the back, and the jukebox between shows. But it’s also the great beer selection, replete with imports — and bar food that tastes much better than it has a right to. People praise the wings, but we say, “It’s Polish Hill, people: Order the Polish food.” The pierogies are a particular highlight — wash ’em down with a Baltika. (We may be mixing Slavs here, but isn’t that what Pittsburgh is all about?) Someday, we’ll be talking about this place the way geezers talk about The Decade. But in the meantime, order up.

Gregg Gillis was also a staff pick, for Girl Talk.

Best local “PC”
Girl Talk
The recent Microsoft ad featuring Girl Talk, a.k.a. Gregg Gillis, opens with the line, “I’m a PC, and I make people sweat.” And the number of bodies the mashup artist has warmed up this year with his plastic-wrapped laptop has been astonishing. In June, he released Feed the Animals, the follow-up to the 2006 album that put him on the map, Night Ripper, and spent the summer jetting to festivals across Europe and the States; he’s currently wrapping up his headlining North American tour. If you haven’t caught Girl Talk live yet, visit his MySpace page (www.myspace.com/girltalk), which contains zany YouTube videos from each stop on his tour. But slap on some deodorant first — you’re liable to break a sweat yourself.