Gay Travel Buddy

Lookout – Gay Bar

The Lookout is a very popular gay bar in the Castro, located on the second floor of the building with a long balcony that wraps around the building. They allow smoking outside. This place is usually packed on Friday and Saturday nights, Sunday days when the weather is good as well. It has 2 bars.

During the day they sell food from their restaurant called Thick and Thin Pizza. They sell more than just pizza, the wings are particularly good.

The music is popular gay top 40 and is typically pretty good, they have a decent sound system and usually great DJ’s. This bar is a nice mix of locals and tourists, mostly younger guys but a decent mix overall.

The Lookout has been recently updated and now has more bathrooms, updated food menu and the food is so much better than it used to be.  Drink prices are a little higher than on average in the Castro, but commonly the crowd is more attractive and when the bartenders aren’t goofing off, the service is pretty good as well.

Try the mini burgers!

The Lookout is located next door to Cafe Flore and above Squat and Gobble. 3600 16th St, next to Market st and Noe.

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.

Castro Street Fair

Tomorrow is the return of the annual Castro Street Fair, a fair dedicated to businesses and services catered to the Castro.  This is one of the only times of year that access to upper Market is closed for this fair, I would not recommend driving to the festivities.  If you are driving into the city, consider parking in SOMA or at a Muni station beyond the Castro and taking MUNI train in.  Every year traffic around the Castro is nearly at a complete stop, do yourself a favor and avoid this area.  If you are flying in, you can take BART to Van Ness or Powell St and switch to the MUNI train.  You have to walk out of BART’s gate to get into MUNI.  DO NOT TRY AND RIDE MUNI WITHOUT A TICKET, you will get a serious fine.  It’s not worth messing with this, do not throw out your ticket as its likely that the police will be on the trains!

You can read lots of great tips about the Castro on our page dedicated to the Castro.

Bisou Castro – French Restaurant

I love French food, not a fan of Parisians but still love the food.  I constantly talk about Grand Cafe at the Hotel Monaco in Union Square.  It’s damd good and very accesible, but I can’t say its the best French in town.  After eating at Bisou for the second time tonight, I must say without a doubt in my mind it is the BEST French Restaurant in San Francisco, in fact I have not had better anywhere in North America.  The owner is an amazing man, very committed to his customers and only meeting him a few times he remembered me and I got a big hug when I came in.  The service is impecable, the bar is very well stocked, their wine list is divine.  But the food, is to die for.  This place is very hard to get into, so don’t try and walk in on a Friday night and think you will have a chance.  Make reservations, they are on open table.  The prices are very reasonable for the quality and creativeness that goes into every dish.  The Kobe Steak – Tar Tar appetizer is amazing, the French Onion Soup just blew me away.

This particular location has been cursed for years with restaurants that just can’t make it.  It speaks so highly of Bisou’s commitment to the gay community for taking a chance at this spot.  Which btw is just below, The Cafe a large gay bar located in the heart of the Castro.  Just across is Trigger a way over priced gay bar and across from Catch another restaurant that I love.  When visiting, this is a must try, I am a very picky eater and love this place!!

2367 Market St. San Francisco in the Castro

Gay Friendly Cities

I and many of our amazing contributors have been all over the US and over the world.  I am adding this page to try and help you determine if a city is friendly enough to visit.  Some places can be down right dangerous, for example its illegal to be gay in Jamaica, I have heard many horror stories.

But Moving on to my current home to start.

Austin - Is a very gay friendly town, a very large selection of Gay Bars, very gay friendly hotels like the W.  The new W is actually just around the block from Oil Can Harry’s.  Great restaurants as well, Santa Rita, Kerbey Lane Café and South Congress Cafe too name a few.  It’s sorta like San Francisco in a strange way, and a big music town.

Denver – Is an amazing, mostly gay friendly city. This city also has its share of religious nut cases who cause some trouble from time to time. From what I know of, there isn’t a specific gay hotel in Denver. However you have many options
downtown, including the Westin and Sheraton, which are both gay friendly. The mile high city also gets more sunny days than any other major city in the US. The Westin actually has this fairly strange indoor-outdoor pool, its rather unique as well as a gym. The famous Palms steak house is attached and is very good. Personally I prefer to patronize gay owned restaurants, so I wind up at Hamburger Marry’s a very large gay bar/restaurant/drag show.  You can find a good selection of Denver’s Gay Bars.

Las Vegas – This one is really on the fence for a full recommendation. If you have other options, I think you should consider them. Even with such a huge service industry, overall Las Vegas is not all that gay friendly. Promoters like J.Son are
trying to change that; he was able to convince the Luxor to host the only weekly gay pool party throughout the summer season. In the 90’s their spa became a little hot spot for gay men, however the Luxor had security in they’re at all hours throwing them out. This is a big change in direction. On the other hand you have hotels like the Encore who have pages promoted online about being gay friendly. They forgot to tell their staff about that. Even the high priced hookers wouldn’t leave me alone; she couldn’t believe I was gay.

Las Vegas has only 1 all gay hotel that is clothing optional called Blue Moon Resort, located just West of the North end of the strip. On the strip there is one gay nightclub called Krave. It is not open every night, there is always a high priced
cover and the drinks though strong are very expensive. It’s on the south side of Planet Hollywood off Harmon. Just east on Harmon a few blocks and a right turn on Paradise will get you into what’s known as the fruit loop. You have multiple
bar options here, 8 ½ and Piranha are connected, and this is a higher end bar/dance club. As well as Gipsy, which is just next-door. Across the street you will find Buffalo, a mixed crowd with pool tables. Just to the right of Buffalo is an adult video and toy store. Across from The Buffalo is Free Zone, make sure you check out their calendar before going, they host many ladies nights as well.  There are quite a few more gay bars, my personal favorite is Charlies which is located West of the strip off Tropicana and on Arville in what looks like an industrial business building.  Starwood has one hotel just east of the strip on Flamingo, its a Westin, has a small casino as well.

San Diego - My home town, most of the gay activity is centralized in one area called Hillcrest.  You will find a nice selection of gay bars, restaurants of all types, gay gyms like 24 hour fitness, and shopping galore.  However, like San Francisco there are few hotel options.  There are tons of gay friendly hotels in down town San Diego near the Gas Lamp District that has great restaurants, shopping and gay bars.  San Diego offers lots of beach options, however I believe all of the beaches are now alcohol free and the police will check coolers.  San Diego does not have a very user friendly public transportation system, so consider renting a car.

San Francisco - Ok yeah, duh San Francisco is a very gay friendly town.  You might be surprised to know that its not the highest population of Gay people, Dallas I believe is number 1 then Los Angeles and then NYC.  San Francisco is very diverse, although the Castro is the heart of anything Gay, you can find gay establishments all over the city.  The city is broken into many districts, The Castro, The Haight, Lower Haight, Nob Hill, Lower Nob Hill, Union Square, Fisherman’s Wharf is a huge tourist trap, avoid at all cost.  The older gayborhood was on Polk St. so you can find a few bars in that area as well.  I can’t think of any major hotel in the city not being friendly, now some of the smaller cheap “weekly” rate type places.  The largest concentration of Gay Bars is in The Castro, then in SOMA there are some of the more leather, daddy type places.  My current favorite bar in The Castro is Blackbird, a laid back gay bar with an awesome staff.  My other favorite is a wine bar called Blush, amazing wine, food and people!  San Francisco also throws and incredible pride event every year, you just missed it this year but if you have the chance you must see it.  The Castro has very few options when it comes to lodging, I would suggest trying Union Square.  Most of the best shopping is in Union Square.  There are also several options for gay gyms in The Castro, 24 Hour Fitness and Gold’s Gym to name a few.

Seattle – Other than the lack of warm days, Seattle is extremely gay friendly with the majority of activities, including bars and restaurants are located in Capitol Hill. Very close to down town, it’s a bit of a hike if you choose to walk it. The hills are nowhere as steep as San Francisco but if its cold enough you will regret not taking a cab or driving. Be very mindful of the parking signs, they have some of the strangest parking restrictions I have ever seen in the US. They do not color the curbs either, my first visit I wound up getting a nice fine, nowhere near a fire hydrant.

Like Portland, there is a large hipster community, however not as intrusive. Washington State also has the highest taxes on alcohol so when you walk into a dive bar and get charged $10 for something most other places would be $4-5.  Gay Bars and Night Clubs list.

As any big city, Seattle has tons of hotel options. My personal favorites are Starwood properties. The Westin is one of the largest and is not owned by Starwood, it is a franchise. They are undergoing renovations; their new rooms are very nice if you can get one. Some of their older rooms do show their age, ask if you can get a remodeled room.  We have a short list of gay friendly hotels in Seattle.

This article is a work in progress and not close to being done.

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.

Every Friday night at The Cafe is an event called Boy Bar in the Castro.  This event is hosted by Gus Presents a talented promoter.  You can be sure that this event will be pretty packed.  Basically you are paying for the dancers in their underwear.  Sometimes the dancers are hot, they are always in good shape but based on what I am attracted to they are never as hot as the guys in the ad like the one above.  I have never seen this guy at this event, I would shove a $20 down his shorts if I saw that one.  There is a cover charge, I do not recall what it is.  The Cafe is pretty big and is commonly the favorite for the bridge and tunnel crowd, this should be pretty easy to figure out.  Boy Bar is across the street from both Catch and Trigger another gay bar that the bridge and tunnel crowd likes, they just charge more for entry.

2369 Market St @ Castro (415) 834-5840

A great restaurant in the Castro is known as 22 23, for its location 2223 Market St.  They have a great menu and offer a nice brunch and dinner menu.  They have a full bar with a great staff which is very friendly and quick.  I have always received great service from them.  They are located between 16th st and Dirty Sanchez or just Sanchez st.  This restaurant is not far from the Church St Muni Station and near LIME another restaurant and gay bar as well as Sweet Inspiration and Peet’s Coffee.

2223 Market St, 415-431-0692

The Castro is well known for its selection of Gay Bars and the Cafe is one of the largest.  This is a multi level club with dancing and pool tables.  Throughout the week they have different events that cater to different crowds, so make sure to check out their website before heading there.  Some of the crowds are not that appealing to me, some nights can be more bridge and tunnel than I care for.  To elaborate, the bridge and tunnel crowds tend to be guys that do not like living in San Francisco so they tend to rub me the wrong way.  They are not all bad.

The Cafe has been recently renovated, I have not been there since they re-opened.  They are located on Market St. just steps from the Castro MUNI station.  They are located near BLUE a great restaurant and just across the street from Catch my favorite seafood restaurant.  They are also just across from Trigger another large multi level bar, so if you are not happy you can always just cross the street and try something different.

2367 Market St.

I have only been to the Twin Peaks bar once and I felt so uncomfortable with the stairs of lust from the older gentlemen who hang out here.  This bar is also known to the younger crowd as the Glass Coffin, with all the big windows and the average age over 50.  I don’t know a lot about this bar, its right next to the Castro Theater.

401 Castro St, 415-864-9470