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These bracket winners are the best of Lakeland

Readers have chosen their top mural, pizza, sushi, and coffee over the years — did your favorite win?

March 7, 2025 • 
Connor Jacobson
A collage of four photos showing a mural with painted oranges and blue flowers, two boxes with pizza slices and garlic knots, a plate of sushi, and an iced latte topped with sprinkles

When you want the best, go for these bracket winners.

Photos by Gillian Fazio, LALtoday, and @newmoonsushi

It’s acceptable to get mad in March as the NCAA basketball tournaments heat up. With no Lakeland teams on the brackets, we’ve turned to our readers to choose their local winners instead.

Mural winner: Orange mural by Gillian Fazio
In 2022, readers chose these bright blossoms as their favorite backdrop. Find this piece on the south wall of the former Yard on Mass building.

Pizza winner: Palace Pizza
Things got saucy in 2023. You couldn’t resist a slice of this downtown parlor, and neither could we — we celebrated its win with garlic knots.

Sushi winner: New Moon Sushi
You sashimi in a crown. The votes kept rolling in that year as readers chose their top sushi restaurant, opting for this casual south Lakeland spot.

Coffee winner: Andrew’s Coffee
Now this was a hard choice. In 2024, you voted for this shop with a speedy drive-thru, endless customizations, and, our favorite part, gummy worms on the side.

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