Gay Travel Buddy

Bonfire Steakhouse in JFK airport – gay friendly

We all love to travel, or we probably wouldn’t be on this website. So I chose to take a minute to review some airport bars and restaurants. I’ll start with JFK, one of the most popular and highly trafficked airports in the United States.

Coming home from the holidays at JFK, we had an hour to kill in Terminal 7, the United/Continental terminal. There isn’t much in the way of food options: a McDonalds, an Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, Balducci’s, and a Wolfgang Express. Seeing as how we wanted to sit and enjoy the hour, we opted for Bonfire Steakhouse, which is an actual full service restaurant.

With prices ranging from $11 for guacamole and chips to $18 for a Quesadilla, the prices aren’t cheap, even compared to regular inflated airport pricing. Considering it is a Steakhouse, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the steak itself, priced in the $28 to $35 dollar range with sides coming in at $8 each.  A glass of wine will run you $12 a glass and a large beer will set you back $10.50.

We made a beeline for the bar, which was occupied by two single gentlemen and two women adjacent at a table. It was obvious to us that one of the gentlemen and the two ladies were LGBT and we weren’t quite sure about the other man until we logged on to Grindr and saw him.

The waitress was friendly without being in your business but remained attentive to our needs.

One of the gentlemen made a comment that it seemed awfully hot in the restaurant and she replied “maybe it’s the company at the bar.” Normally, a comment like that could have been insulting, but was said in such a way, you could tell she meant it, and in a positive and knowing tone. She followed the comment up with me later when I asked, and told me that somehow Bonfire Steakhouse had become the unofficial “gay bar” of Terminal 7, and she assured me she wanted it no other way. According to her, we as an LGBT community tend to be more fun, more outgoing and tip better.

Yes, the pricing is higher than a normal airport establishment, but it has won this traveler over with its good service, decent food, friendly staff, and some nice eye candy decorating the bar. As I am wrapping up this article, a rather handsome gentleman has sat down at the opposite end of the bar and is giving us an alluring smile. Hmm, somehow gay-dar is in full force in Terminal 7 at JFK.

El Castro

ESTACIONAMIENTO

¡Advertencia! Si tienes la intención de conducir en el Castro, mantiene estas cosas en mente sobre donde puedes estacionarte. Entre semana, un permiso S cubri estacionamiento fuera de los parquimetros en frente de las residencias del Castro, Noe Street, Lower Haight, y el área de Duboce Triangle (Triángulo), tal vez unas calles más. Dependiendo de la calle, puedes estacionarte por 1 ó 2 horas antes de necesitar un permiso. Si te estas quedando en casa de un amigo o incluso un “bed and breakfast” (alojamiento y desayuno) se puede obtener un permiso temporalmente. Pero vas a necesitar una prueba de que te vas a quedar en esta area, de lo contrario no lo vas a pode obtener.

Sólo hay un estacionamiento de pago en el Castro y esta muy bien escondido, la entrada esta en Noe Street justo al norte de Market. Ten en cuenta este garaje se cierra a la medianoche. Si estás buscando por este lugar en cualquier mapa, la dirección se encuentra en Market St. así que puede ser un poco complicado de encontrar.

Los parquimetros se vigilan muy estrictamente! El Castro es la parte más estricta de la ciudad, hay más guardias aqui que en cualquier otra parte de la ciudad. Ve tu parquimetro con cuidado y le las señales con mucho cuidado. Algunos de los lugares de estacionamiento estan solamente reservados para los vehículos comerciales hasta las 4pm y no estoy seguro si los sabados tambien estan reservados para vehículos comerciales o no. Los parquimetros son gratis los domingo, hasta los lugares comerciales tambien. Los lugares reservados para vehículos comerciales estan pintados amarillo. Observa cuidadosamente para parquimetros rojo, en estos no mas se pueden estacionar por media. Si tienes una placa de discapacidad, no se estacione en lugares comerciales cuando entre semana o recibirás una multa. En California, placas comerciales se identifican con una sola letra. Por ejemplo, 1X12345 es comercial, 1XYZ1234 no lo es. Estos parquimetros son muy caros y no conozco a muchas personas que tienen mas de $10 en monedas en su bolsillo. Para ser esto mas conviniente, se venden tarjetas que se pueden utilizar para los parquimetros de la ciudad en la tienda Rossi’s Deli.

Fijate por señales en los parquimetros anunciando eventos o zonas de construcción, esos van a ser enforzados estrictamente. Tambien revisa tus llantas por marcas con gis, si sigues poniendo dinero en el parquimetro más allá del tiempo asignado puedes obtener una multa. La manera fácil de que te estan moderando de encontrar esa marca de gis en las llantas que se da a la calle.

No sé a ciencia cierta, pero me han dicho que una compañia privada fue contratada para encargarse de las multas de estacionamiento. Ya que la multa se haya dado, no hay manera de cancelar, asi que no vale discutir con la gerente o puedes terminar en la cárcel. Esta no es una broma, si se sienten amenazados pueden llegar a lanzarte tras las rejas! Muchos de estos gerente tienen muy mal humor y no toleran mucho. Es en tu mejor interés no molestarlos. Puedes tratar de luchar contra una multa de estacionamiento, pero en mi experiencia, esto es casi una cosa imposible de ganar. Es peor que la lucha contra una multa por velocidad. Si piensas que el gerente se ha equivocado, puedes hacer lo que quieras para justificarte, pero no hay mucho a tu lado.

Ten en cuenta que enfrente del Castro Theater hay 4 o 5 lugares de estacionamiento que en cualquier momento puede cambiar a no ser disponible, solo zonas de carga. Va a ver señales cuando esto pase, asi que fijate. Igual, no intentes discutir, realmente no vale la pena.

Y para tu informacion, estacionamiento con parquimetros adicionales está disponible detrás del teatro, y Sliders está justo en frente. El acceso a este lote es a la derecha de Naia. Hay un segundo lote junto en la calle 18, detrás de Walgreen y a lado de Magnet, la clinica de salud sexual para hombres.
Los parquimetros son caros, $0.25 no te compran más que unos minutos en algunos locales. Puedes comprar una tarjeta de estacionamiento en la página web de MTA, y la estación del MUNI Montgomery los vende durante horas de trabajo regulares.

Tambien puedes comprar tarjetas de estacionamiento en Rossi’s Deli, direccion 426 Castro St. cerca de la tienda Diesel en la interseccion de Market y Castro. El otro lugar donde he comprado tarjetas de estacionamiento es en el la gasolineria Chevron, también en la esquina de Market y Castro, pero ahi no mas venden la tarjeta de $20.

TRANSPORTE PÚBLICO:

Si estás buscando alternativas para llegar al Castro, estás de suerte. San Francisco tiene un gran sistema de transporte público, y hay un montón de opciones. Durante las ferias como Orgullo Gay y la Feria de Castro Street a lo mejor es fácil conseguir un taxi que te lleve al Castro, pero conseguir una de salida puede ser un caos. Olvídate de estacionamiento, tendrás un tiempo muy difícil encontrar un lugar porque estas ferias son muy populares tambien con personas que vienen desde lejos en sus Vehículos. Muchas de las calles se cierran temporalmente o están configuradas para no ser disponibles para estacionar.

Tambien hay un tren de cable que va encima de Market Street llamado la línea F, estos trenes van desde Fisherman’s Wharf al Castro. Por lo general este servicio termina alrededor de las 11 o medianoche. Puedes tomar este servicio desde Union Square, donde se encuentran la mayoría de las grandes tiendas y hoteles. Pero esta es la manera más lenta posible de transportacion en San Francisco, aparte de caminar. Estos trenes son antiguos y por eso muy lentos!

Si vienes desde Union Square, la forma más rápida a llegar al Castro es a través del servicio de tren MUNI, que se encuentra bajo tierra. Para aliviar la confusión, en Union Square se puede entrar a las estaciónes de Montgomery, Powell Street, o en Civic Center (Centro Cívico). Estas estaciones son los más cerca a Union Square, y Powell Street es la calle más céntrica de Union Square. También hay una parada del la linea F y de BART en Powell.

En la plataforma hay dos direcciones, inbound (entrada) y outbound (salida). Trenes que van de entrada se dirigen hacia el Embarcadero o siguen en dirección oeste hacia la bahía. Trenes de salida van hacia el este, y pasan por el Castro. No utilice la linea J, porque se dirige a Church Street, que si está cerca al Castro, pero no es la mejor opción. La línea N se dirige al distrito del Sunset y recorre todo el camino hasta llegar a la playa. Aunque la linea J y la linea N se paran en estación de Church Street, no pasan por el Castro, aunque se puede caminar desde allí. Tanto las líneas J y N salen a veces a la superficie.

Las líneas de salida que te llevarán a la estación del Castro son K, L y M. Durante las horas pico entre semana, hay una linea S o la línea de Castro Express que salta muchas paradas y es muy rápido. Aungque no es muy buena idea esperar por la linea S, a veces el tiempo de espera entre los trenes puede ser muy largo y he esperado un buen tiempo por la linea S desde Powell no mas para encontrarlo tan lleno que no se podía subir.

No se apoye en las puertas de los trenes en movimiento, he escuchado historias de las puertas abriendose repentemente mientras los trenes se están moviendo a toda velocidad. Estoy seguro de que no es divertido salir volando afuera de estos trenes. No trate de subirse en el tren sin un pase válido, no tire este pase después de pasar por la puerta. Estos trenes tienen policía que comprueban las entradas, y te darán una desagradable multa si te encuentran sin un pase. Yo también no tocaria nada en el tren, algunas personas que viajan en los trenes no son muy higiénicos!

Algunas noches cierran los trenes subterraneos temprano y servicio pasa a los autobuses de la calle, que tendrá las mismas letras que los trenes. Durante los fines de semana hay autobuses que funcionan toda la noche por Market St. que no recurren seguido, pero es una alternativa si no tienes dinero para un taxi.

VIDA NOCTURNA Y BARES GAY:

Aunque el Castro tiene una larga lista de bares gay, se pensaria que habria más lugares para elegir, sin embargo hay un límite estricto sobre las licencias de bebidas alcohólicas dentro del Castro por lo que es casi imposible abrir más bares.

Blackbird es un bar que abrio reciente en el Castro, y tiende a tener un público más joven y mezclado. Es unas buenas cuadras desde Market y Castro, pero vale la pena el esfuerzo. Es el bar más cerca a un “lounge” que tenemos y tambien tiene una mesa de billar.

Blush – Un favorito personal, este bar de vinos sofisticados es muy relajante y ubicado en el corazón del Castro, cerca a 18^th St.

2223 es un bar y restaurante, así que puedes cenar y brindar en una sola sesión. Buena comida!

El Café es un bar y club de baile gay muy grande situado en el centro del Castro, con un montón de eventos todas las noches.

Twin Peaks es una barra de buen tamaño en el Castro, que atiende a un público de edad mayor. También se conoce como el “Glass Coffin” (ataúd de cristal0, así que usted puede leer entre líneas.

440 Castro es una barra de buen tamaño, que tiende a satisfacer a los osos y cachorros. También tienen un par de noches que son para chicos más jóvenes y un noches de cerveza barata que son muy popular.

Bar On Chuch (formalmente conocido como Bar On Castro), pero después de perder su contrato de arrendamiento se movió desde el Casto a Church St. El nuevo lugar es muy amplio, y la gente es una mezcla, pero por el lado más joven en general. A unos cortos pasos de Gayway, perdon Safeway.

Trigger es un bar para el público “gay yuppie” (jovenes profesionales), las bebidas son por lo general el doble precio que en cualquier otro lugar. A mi me gustava ester lugar, pero se ha dejado ir en calidad en mi opinión. Incluso page por su “Black Card” (tarjeta negra) el primer año, pero no lo volveré a hacer.

Martuni’s es un bar gay con piano, situado en las afueras del Castro. Aqui hacen sus bebidas y cocteles muy fuertes y diferentes eventos casi todas las noches, es un buen lugar, intimo y elegante.

The Mix es otra barra gay de tamaño medio con una bonita terraza al exterior en la parte trasera. Aqui tienen algunos divertidos eventos y una mesa de billar. Atrae a una gran variedad de público, y en el pasado he conocido a algunos chicos muy agradables aquí.

Moby Dick es un bar pequeño pero divertido con una mesa de billar y un tanque de peces detras de la barra. Un lugar popular para los equipos de deportes gay para brindar despues de un partido.

Harvey’s es un restaurante muy popular y emblemático de la vida gay. Esta situado en el corazón del Castro en la esquina de 18th y Castro, visita obligada para todos los turistas.

The Edge es el bar para osos y cachorros, nunca he estado aquí, pero siempre veo que hay mucha gente por lo general.

Toad Hall es un bar gay muy popular por un patio exterior, la gente es mezclada con una gran cantidad de jóvenes para elegir. Yo lo llamo “Toad Vomit” (vómito de sapo), pero no mas es mi punto de vista.

Badlands es el bar gay más popular en el Castro, gente muy joven, con pantallas LCD en todas las paredes. Esta es la trampa para todos los turístas porque cuando entres no vas a querer salir, los precios de las bebidas son muy razonables y una buena hora orientada a matar a las personas con intoxicación alcolica.

The Mint, técnicamente está fuera del Castro, pero que está cerca de Martuni’s que vale la pena mencionarlo. Este es tu lugar si quieres una noche de karaoke.

TIENDAS

Best in Show – Una boutique de juguetes para tu perrito, tu ser mas querido.

PERSONAS SIN HOGAR:

San Francisco es la capital para personas sin hogar de Norte America. Y los turistas son los principales objetivos. Sé que vas a sentir lástima por ellos y ellos te dirán todo tipo de historias locas sobre todos sus problemas. Si les das dinero, te seguiran preguntando, una vez que observen que le diste a uno, los otros te perseguiran por mas cambia. Tan feo como suena, es mejor no hacer contacto y decir no gracias y seguir caminando. Si les das un cigarro abres las puertas para que empiezen a pedir dinero. La ciudad les ofrece dinero, alimentos y vivienda.También tienen decenas de opciones de educacion, ayuda a conseguir un trabajo y asistencia médica. Ellos o tienen problemas mentales o elegin sequir molestando no mas para arruniar tu dia.

RESTAURANTES:

El Castro tiene una gran selección de restaurantes para elegir, todos muy fáciles de llegar a pie. En el extremo major en terminos de precio, hay Catch, un restaurante de mariscos que es realmente delicioso, está situado en Market St. en el Castro. Igual que Eureka, que se encuentra el la calle 18, tres quartos de cuadra desde Castro St. en dirección hacia “Dolores Park” (Parque Dolores). Una de las mejores novedades es Starbelly, en la esquina de la calle 16 y Market. Puedes hacer reservaciones en “Open Table” (Mesa Abierta) para ambos Catch y Eureka. Starbelly, a menos que haya un grupo muy grande es por orden de llegada, hacie que espera una espera.

Francés

Bisou – Esto es mi restaurante Francés favorito en San Francisco, sin duda alguna! Tienes que probarlo!

Americana – Alimentos para satisfacer a los borrachos

Harvey’s – Debes probarlo, concinan muy bien la comida Americana, tiene tambien una barra grande y el personal es muy amable.

Home Restaurante – Este es el restaurant que debes de ir para probar el almuerzo, asegúrate de conseguir una reservacion y trata los panes hechos en casa.

Cafe Flore - Un café al aire libre, con un bar y un restaurante, agradable en los días soleados.

Orphan Andy’s – clásica cena Américaca, abierto las 24 horas, también tienen una gran seleccion de comida con bajas calorias y carbohidratos para los borrachos en dieta.

China

Brandy Ho’s – Uno de mis favoritos tambien, su estilo es Hunan asi que puede ser picante.

Nirvana – Comida aqui es más fusión asiática. Los fideos valen la pena probar. Y tambien los excelentes cócteles!

Sushi

Osaka Sushi – buena comida, excelente ubicación, por lo general algunas de las opciones de pescado son bastante buenas.

India

Bombay

Kasa – Kasa es un pequeño restaurante y único en como sirven la comida India, he comido aquí decenas de veces y siempre me encanta.

Méxicana – Latina

Luna

Mediterráneo

Café Mystique – Una adicion más reciente en el Castro y un buen cambio de las típicas opciones.

La Mediterranee – no lo he probado, pero otra opción.

Italiano – Pizza

Nizarios – Pizza servida en rebanadas y siempre rico.

The Sausage Factory – Uno de mis restaurantes italianos favoritos en San Francisco, debes probarlo.

Escape From New York Pizza – Un buen lugar para una rebanada o si tienes apetito, toda la pizza entera. Tambien entregan a domicilo.

Marcello’s Castro – Pizza por la rebanada

Mariscos

Anclaje Oyster Bar – Una gran opción para los amantes de ostras!

Catch – Cena de lujo, tambien uno de mis lugares favoritos.

Tailandesa

Thai House Express

Vietnamita

Zadin – Un gran restaurante vietnamita, tambien incluye un menú sin gluten.

Postres – Cafes

Castro Tarts – Un café pequeño, es un poco difícil de encontrar.

Hot Cookie – Una pequeña panadería que hace unas galletas que parecen muy similares en el sistema reproductivo humano, pero mas sabrosos.

The Cove Cafe – Una pequeño café con postres.

San Francisco Gay Pride

It’s coming up on that time of year again, San Francisco loves Gay Pride and you will see signs of it all over town.  Rainbow flags can be seen on most major street for at least a month before pride.  The festivities are scattered all over the city, you may think that the Castro would be the center of everything.  However, the Castro is no wear near large enough to host the event.  The city is very generous to us and provides the park just across from city hall and ropes off many blocks beyond the common areas.

Entertainment

Throughout pride, there will be a very diverse set of shows, concerts and other fun and very well organized events.  This map is from sfpride.org, it can give you an idea of the size.  The line up of acts are scattered all over, each street has its own stage, some have several.  A very detailed map can be found here.

Pride Parade

The official Pride Parade is held June 26th, it starts at 10:30am.  Still blows me away that they start it so early, especially since so many party till 6am.  The parade starts near the Embarcadero that famous building that says the Port of San Francisco and is in many movies.  Depending if the city changes things, at the moment its scheduled to start at Market at Beale and heads down Market st and ends on 8th St.

This is the 41st pride parade with the theme of “In Pride We Trust”.

Transportation / Parking

This is really important to know if you have not been to SF Pride before.  If you are driving in, Market St is closed for the Parade from the Embarcadero, where Market st starts and will be close all the way to Van Ness.  It will be impossible to drive across Market and when the parade is in motion, you will not be allowed to cross on foot either.  Under the Westfield center, where Nordstroms and Bloomingdales are easy to find, at the basement levels and also on the street, harder to get to when its that crazy.  You can enter the MUNI/BART station and come up on the other side, making it easier to get through.

Be aware, parking will be VERY difficult, even as a local who knows where find parking, I struggle and everyone says I have the ultimate parking Karma.  So just do yourself a favor and try not to drive, if you are coming in from out of town you can always stop at a major BART station just outside of the city and take the train in.  The trains will be packed and uncomfortable, if you are clostrophobic I would suggest not going this route.

I highly suggest arranging for a driver, if you are an iPhone user or an Android user.  Download the free app UberCab, I use this service all the time and so far have had little to no problems.  Get a group to meet in one of the outside of the city parking lots and have a driver pick you up and drop you off.

If you are coming from SFO on the day of the parade, either take BART, which is going to suck.  Or arrange a car service, TRUST ME, the cab drivers here will purposely try to drive through the worst of it just to get that meter up.  Most car services are just a little more expensive than a cab.  Be sure to be VERY specific in your instructions about how to get there.  TRUST me, you will hate life waiting in the car for 3 hours fighting through traffic.  Always double check traffic online, if you don’t have an iphone or another smart phone, you should not be even getting on a plane.  Sorry this is just too basic.

Have the driver take you 101N heading to the Golden Gate Bridge, DO NOT get off on 7th, normally that is the fastest route, just not on any parade day.  The 101 to the bridge is on the left side and you will want to head towards Duboce.  There are 2 lanes, the right lane will force you into Mission St, it moves faster and you will be tempted to take it. DONT!!  Take Duboce to either Pearl or Guerrero St. and turn right.  You will run into Market, turn right on Market and merge left IMMEDIATELY!  Or be stuck in the traffic I am trying to get you out of.  The left lane will push you towards Franklin, you want to turn left on Franklin.  Your best bet, unless you are handicap, is to have the driver drop you at the San Francisco Opera on the Franklin side.  Just walk across Van Ness and you will be right there.  That may be a mess, so here is another option.

If Franklin is too busy here is a local shortcut, taught to me by a vet cab driver.  Same way off the 101 N, head on Duboce and do not turn.  You will hit Market St.  Cross over and head up the hill, the name changes to Buchanan St.  As soon as you see a clear street to turn left, turn left and then take a right on Webster.  Webaster is a hidden, very fast way across the city, its heavily patrolled so don’t drive like I do.  Keep going till you get to at least Eddy and the turn right.  Cross over Van Ness and then turn right at the first available street that does not look like a disaster.  Yes, it is possible to look before turning, most drivers can’t do this, but well learn.  Those are the easiest ways to get dropped off.  You should not get picked up on the East site of Van Ness, its just too crazy.

The best pickup locations are going to be south of Market, way south, like 5 -10 blocks down.  West of Van Ness at least 2-4 blocks.  This event is worth planning a transportation strategy or you will be SO SORRY that you will never want to do this again.  I have been to 6 of these, every year its worse and worse.  Of course if you are staying in Union Square, you can just walk and that saves tons of un wanted stress.

The parking garages will be nearly all full unless you get there at say 6 am.  Let’s face it, you come to SF Pride and are not out late the night before?  The geriatric pride is in another city.

Have a disabled placard?  That’s cool, won’t help you worth a shit.  There is NEVER even close to enough diables spaces to accommodate everyone, maybe 10% at most.  SF is big on helping disabled people, but this is one event that no matter if they made every space around the area for disabled vehicles, it would not help at all.  I am disabled, I rarely use the placard myself unless I am in dire need, so I understand the frustration.

So you are staying in Union Square and are going to walk over?  I do not intend to scare you with this, but just follow these simple rules and you will have no issues.  To get to this area you have to walk through the Tenderloin District, an area with a tremendous amount of homeless and drug addicts.  They prey on tourists.  This is slightly hard to stomach, but just trust me and keep walking, do not make eye contact and say no thanks.  Most of them will not go much further than that, unless you make eye contact.  You can read a little more about how to handle them on our Castro page.

San Francisco Hotels

It’s easy to assume that the gay mecha in the US would have a great selection of hotels in the Castro.  Sadly there are only a few options and only 1 of them is a typical hotel rather than a bed and breakfast.  The only main stream hotel is Beck’s Motor Lodge, I have been unable to get a rate with them yet.  But will post a link if I can get one.

The majority of the bars are located in Union Square, below are hotels that I have personally stayed in.  If you choose to book through the link provided, we receive a tiny commission to help pay the hosting.

Union Square

Hotel Diva – A simple boutique that I used to stay at all the time before moving here.  Great staff, small rooms, very simple amenities.  Great location, plus a StarBucks attached to the lobby for the coffee addicts.

Westin St. Francis – By far my favorite hotel in San Francisco, it is older, but very well maintained.  Some of the views, especially from the newer tower is breath taking.  The elevator is all glass and freaks people out.

There are far more great, gay friendly hotels that we have not had a chance to write up yet.  The Monaco, Adagio, St. Regis, Hyatt, 4 Seasons, Sheraton and a few others are great.  We will get more up soon.  If you are like me and want to not hear screaming children when I am on vacation or a business trip.  Stay away from the Marriott, the lobby is constantly covered in them.  Imagine waking up with a raging hang over and going down to the piercing screams of a miss behaved 10 year old or 30 of them?  I just can’t do it.

SOMA – South of Market Area – Near Union Square

Westin – The Westin is located just half a block from Market St. a wonderfully upgraded hotel and views that are hard to forget in the right rooms.

W Hotel – A great choice for the trendy crowd, the bar is a great place to people watch and is only 2 blocks from Market St.

The Castro

Will be absolutely nuts during the entire event, by no means is this a warning to stay away.  You must visit the Castro, help keep our community strong by eating at places that are gay owned.

Parking is horrible all year round in the Castro, during pride or the Castro Street Fair, just forget about it.  The absolute best way to get in and out is using the underground MUNI train.  They will be very busy during pride, do not go down to BART, you will wind up in another city.  The most common lines are K,L,M or as a very good friend told me tonight.  Just think of Martin Luther King, MLK when getting on a train.  None of those will send you the wrong way.  From the event, you will want to go “Out Bound”, “In Bound” will send you the wrong way.  There is a station directly in the Castro, just wait till you get there.

Security and Self Protection

Even in the most gay friendly town in the US, we still have problems.  Please be aware of your surroundings at all times.  Do not accept a drink from a random stranger, that cute boy may give you something that will make you do what he wants.  Likely just to rob you, but maybe worse.  While in bars, DO NOT ever let you drink out of your hand or site.  Getting drugged is not a common problem, but especially during big events when people from out of town come in, all sorts may show.

San Francisco Police Department is very supportive of Gay Pride and provides a literall army of officers to keep things under control.  Unless you are being dumb, peeing on the street – illegal now, finally.  Or beng out of control, they will be very helpful.

The Castro page has links to every bar and most restaurans in the area, hopefully that will help you find the right bar.

Gay Travel Buddy has been created to fill a void in the Gay Travel space.  Every major travel site has added a gay section to their site in order to go after a market that few understand, except gay travelers.  We applied through Commission Junction to several programs like Hotels.com and Starwood.  This site was automatically approved for the Tripadvisor.com program and then manually removed by Trip Advisor.

If working with a gay travel blog is too much for them, please do not give them your money.  We will do our best to expose companies like Trip Advisor and inform you on their actions.  I am hoping the HRC notices this post and makes sure to advise its members not to spend any money with this site.

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From TripAdvisor Commerce Campaign Subject Affiliation Terminated  Date 3-Nov-2010

Dear Gay Travel Buddy,

We regret to inform you that the Commission Junction advertiser TripAdvisor Commerce Campaign has chosen to expire its affiliation with you effective 10-Nov-2010.

If you would like to locate another advertiser in the network to partner with, login to your Account Manager (http://www.cj.com/login.jsp) and visit the Get Links tab.

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Client Services
Commission Junction

I know it may be hard to believe, but there are a ton of gay guys in New York City.  All joking aside, there is a lot to do in Manhattan.  I took a few photos on my last business trip, I was hoping to take more but I will take more on my next visit in about a month.

My writing is assuming you have either never been to NYC before or have not seen much on previous trips.  I did not first visit the city until I was 24, but living all of my life in California it’s not exactly a 20-minute drive.

The city is broken up in sections and burrows, with very light borders.  The upper East and West sides are more known for residences and some high end shopping, apartments and homes are known for being the high rent district.  Which is not saying much, since it’s easy to spend $5k a month on a 1 bedroom for rent.  Typically the upper side starts off in the 70’Th street numbers, give or take a few.

Mid Town is also broken down in an East and West division.  The West side is known for Times Square, which basically starts at the upper 30’s and goes up to about 60^th St, between 5^th and 9^th.  West of 9^th is Hell’s Kitchen, you may see HK in ads or when someone talks about Hells Kitchen.  Hell’s Kitchen has been an up and coming gayborhood for the past 6 years or so.  HK is a great spot for it’s wide range of restaurants; some of my favorite places are around there.  If you are a fan of Argentinean Empanada’s stop by Empanada Mama, which is just around the corner from Posh one of my favorite gay bars in Hell’s Kitchen.

Time’s Square is home to some of the best shows on and off Broadway, there is tons of information all over regarding what’s playing and when.  Time’s Square is also the hotel hotspot in Manhattan; you will have a hard time walking 20 steps without walking past a hotel.  Since it is the single largest concentration of hotels, it is going to be the most cost effective place to stay.  If your budget permit’s staying in Chelsea or other parts of the city will provide a less congested and more comfortable place to get in and out of.  Personally I am a fan of the Starwood brand of Hotels, which include Westin, W, Sheraton and St. Regis to name a few.  The Starwood chain is very gay friendly and if you ever have a problem, CALL their main office and tell them about it.  They will take action immediately.

I would suggest avoiding the Sheraton Manhattan, it’s old and run down, however much cheaper than the Sheraton Towers just across the street.  If you can afford to stay at the Towers then do it, even though I have had my problems with the Towers,, its much newer and the rooms are nicer.  The Westin and the W are my favorite Times Square properties, but they are pricey.  I have arranged a few discounts with the Westin and the W hotel, see links I posted below.  I am not going to hide it, I get a little kick back when you book with these links, but it helps pay for my $200 a month hosting bill.  There is also a 4 Points Sheraton on 40^th, I just stayed there for the first time this trip.  The rooms are freshly remodeled and though are small are comfortable.  My biggest peeve with the 4 points is the hallways and elevators are not air-conditioned and it feels like a sauna in there.

On the West side below 30^th is Chelsea, another heavily gay neighborhood that has a nice selection of bars, restaurants and a few hotels.  My favorite restaurants in Chelsea are Cafeteria a fun place that has some very fun spins on dishes like their deep fried mac and cheese spring rolls, these things are to die for!  A few of the great local gay bars are XES, Baracuda, G Lounge and Splash NYC a big gay club that is very expensive and of course they have hot guys dancing on the bars in their underwear so it is worth the price of admission.  Unfortunately Splash also has all of the hot New Yorkers, who know they are hot and look down on everyone else as if they are second rate humans, my single word for them “CUNT”.  That should sum it up all in a jiff!

Chelsea is also home to one of my favorite coffee shops in North America, Grumpy Coffee.  This place has some great organic coffee and espresso.  I am a caffeine junky and just one shot of their espresso has me shaking for an hour.

Just below Chelsea is the Village, it’s another hopping gay area with tons of great food options and bars as well.  Not much for hotel’s, maybe a bed and breakfast.  I attempted to stay in what they called a hotel in the Village once, the manager gave my room to someone else.  I showed up at 1am as agreed upon in my reservation and was sent away after pre-paying for my room, never the less I reversed the charges.  I wrote a review on Expedia about it, but they rejected it.  Don’t believe the hotel reviews there, I often find fake reviews from the hotel owners there.

When planning on flying to New York, there are 3 major airports that cover this large metropolitan area.  JFK, is the largest and is pretty far from NYC, you can take a train, cab or limo to the city.  My experience is the town car drivers from all of the companies ALWAYS show up late to JFK.  They will make up half a dozen excused but I am stuck either freezing or sweating my balls off on the curb with them saying I am 2 minutes away, 30 minutes later they show up.  Just take a cab, it’s a flat $45 to anywhere in NYC and they have to take credit cards, make sure you tell them in advance to prevent the argument when you get to your hotel.  DO NOT take rides from the guys just outside the airport, a few years ago I made the mistake and the guy made me sit in the front seat of his PEACE OF SHIT sedan that had no shocks, after my teeth where ground down from fear he had the audacity to demand $100 for the ride.  I told him to fuck himself and gave him $40 and told him to call the cops if he had an issue with it.  I just don’t want you to go through the same shit I have.

Laguardia (LGA) is the closest option, however none of the carriers on the West Coast fly directly to LGA, you can fly to Denver and take United over.  From SFO I prefer the United PS service, which is a 3 cabin flight.  The Business class is great and they have WIFI.  I am writing this article from my connecting flight from Denver to Las Vegas or as I call it HELL.  The PS flight also has all Economy Plus seating as well, which if you cannot upgrade makes it a little better for 5 hours.  Just a tip, on every row in Economy Plus there is an 110 AC plug under the middle of the seat.  There is no indication that it’s there, so before you sit look for it.

Newark (EWR) or as my friend calls it, Bayroot is your 3^rd option.  Flights may be cheaper both in and out of Newark but the cab ride will make up for it.  Expect $100 each way, it’s not a fixed rate.  Do yourself a favor and NEVER stay in hotels in Newark, it’s an awful city and if you walk down the wrong road you can kiss you wallet and life good bye!

Are you just arriving into SFO “San Francisco Airport”? SFO has many different options for tourists who don’t have a ride to their hotel.

Some hotels may be able to pick you up or may even have a shuttle, this is rare in San Francisco proper. I have seen it for hotels near the airport.

You can always take a taxi, available just outside the baggage pickup at the airport. Be aware of the town car drivers trying to grab a fare, this is illegal and you are likely to be taken for quite a financial ride. A typical cab ride to Union Square should be around $40. You can also ask for a cab that takes credit cards, other than Yellow Cab many of the drivers will bitch and moan over taking a credit card and may actually lie about their machine not working. Ask in advance. Also the route to Union Square is via the 101N, they may switch to the 280 when in the city. If they take you on the 280 from the airport your fare will double in price, make sure they do not do that.

You can also arrange for a shuttle service such as Super Shuttle, I personally hate these services. If you are lucky you will be the first to be dropped off, if not you have to wait through all of the other passengers, I really hate this. But its cheap.

There is also BART “Bay Area Rapid Transit”, it’s our rail system. Take the airport mini train to the International Terminal to get to BART. The prices keep going up so I am not quite sure what you will pay these days, I heard last $10. The train is rather slow, for a new system it should be much better than it is. But it will take you to Powell St. the station that is central to all the hotels in Union Square. San Francisco is not flat, so be aware how far your hotel is from the station. If you plan on dragging your over packed luggage, yes gay guys often take way too much crap, don’t deny it! You will be hounded by homeless asking for money, they see luggage and will jump out and prey on you.