People's Choice 2024 Winners

After more than five decades in business, Pizza Pit is still serving up Madison’s favorite pizza pies. A true hometown original, the pizzeria chain blossomed from humble beginnings on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus in 1969.

“The business started when a group of guys got together to address the fact that there wasn’t any pizza delivery service in Madison,” said the company’s president Robby Bisbee.

For Von Serig and his staff of professionals, serving people at Beltone Hearing Aid Center in Madison is more than business as usual — it’s a family tradition. His parents started the company in 1966, he took the helm more than 40 years ago and his son, Ryan Wilson, now co-owns the company with him. He even has hopes that his 11-year-old granddaughter will eventually join in the family legacy.

“We pride ourselves on taking wonderful care of our patients during their journey,” Serig said. “Our love for our patients is our strongest asset.” Generations of customers return for help with hearing loss, and the top service and deep roots in the community are only some of the reasons why Beltone Hearing Aid Center was named Best Hearing Aid Center in the People’s Choice Awards. “We treat our customers like family,” he said.

For more than 100 years, Gunderson Funeral Home has been serving families as they go through some of their hardest moments. The longest running family-owned and -operated funeral home in Dane County takes pride in caring for others and the neighborhoods where they reside.

“The Gundersons have built their family and their legacy here for generations,” said Sierra Miles, general manager of Gunderson Funeral Home and Cremation Services. “Whether it’s through philanthropy or supporting their employees’ career growth, they believe in investing in this community. Because of that, people know they can turn to us during a difficult time.”

Food co-operatives — customer-owned and -operated grocery store models with an emphasis on natural and organic products — have been a mainstay in Madison for decades, with Willy Street Co-op leading the charge after Common Market moved operations out of the near-eastside neighborhood it called home in 1974.

“When Willy Street Co-op opened, there were six full-time staff members and a few hundred owners,” said marketing and communications director Brendon Smith. “Today, we have almost 400 staff members and nearly 34,000 owners with three stores, a production kitchen, a community space and a business office.”

Built in the early 1900s and originally called the Airway Tavern, Off Broadway Drafthouse is a gathering spot with a full bar and menu, with 24 rotating craft beers on tap, in Madison’s Waunona neighborhood just a block from the lake loop. Restaurant goers can arrive on bicycle as the spot has ample bicycle parking.

Renamed Hansen’s Jazz Club, South Town Lounge and South Bay Lounge and Grill by owners over the years, its current rendition came in 2015 when husband and wife Joe and Rita Klinzing discovered the need for niche food and craft beer. Dubbing it “Off Broadway Drafthouse” after its location off the main road West Broadway, they pledged to create a restaurant honoring local flavor and the location’s past.

The process of electrification — upgrading home appliances, such as HVAC systems and water heaters, to run on electricity — reduces fossil fuel use. And new tax incentives for Wisconsin homeowners could make these upgrades more affordable today.

“Electrifying your home is all about efficiency and reducing your carbon footprint,” said Aaron Robarge, a master electrician with Madison-based All Comfort Services. “With the rebates and tax credits available, the process is more affordable. It’s a win-win.”

At Kopke’s Greenhouse, everything’s coming up roses … and then some. Family-owned from the very beginning, the Oregon-based business launched as Kopke’s Fruit of the Bloom in 1981, transitioning to Kopke’s Greenhouse within the past decade and growing into one of Wisconsin’s largest direct-to-consumer retail growing operations.

From sprouts to blossoms