Gay Travel Buddy

Posh Gay Bar – Hell’s Kitchen NYC

405 West 51st, Hells Kitchen NYC.  Click for Google Map

The Ritz Hell’s Kitchen NYC

The Ritz is a definite must-see spot for any one passing through the Hell’s Kitchen area.  Whether you’re looking for a relaxing afternoon happy hour or a packed Friday night dance scene, the Ritz has it all.  You’ll find a mix of both local regulars and new visitors any time you visit.  The crowd is very relaxed and friendly and usually consists of lots of attractive 20-somethings and plenty of professional guys in their late 20′s and 30′s as well.  During the day the guys tends to be slightly older, but on busy nights the younger ones take over.  The bar staff are friendly and efficient (and usually quite attractive), and will make strong drinks if you tip them well.  Prices are typical for the area ($6 beers and $8 wells), and well worth it if you’re in good with the bartender.  If you meet one of the nightly promoters you can usually score a free drink ticket or two as well.  The bar accepts all major credit cards at all times and it’s dangerously easy to start up a tab (two drink minimum).  There’s a very cheap happy hour all-day Sunday, but it’s cash-only at night.  (Make sure you bring some cash if you plan to pay in that because the ATM is always broken.) Talk to the staff if you plan on showing up with a large group of friends, and they might set you up with a free bottle.  There’s usually a professional photographer in the bar Thu.-Sat. nights, so get a picture with your friends if you have the chance.  You can find it on the Ritz’s Facebook page a few days later.  Best of all, there’s never ever a cover.

369 West 46th Street (212) 333-2554

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.

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.

Eastern Bloc NYC – Gay Bar

This hole-in-the-wall was the first gay bar in NYC I ever set foot in. At the time, it wasn’t that crowded so there was room for a tiny pole in the middle of the space for a hunky dancer to show us his private moves. The bar is located right in the East Village, so it’s a convenient place to check out after the other bars in the area get crowded with NYU freshmen. The crowd is a mix of media professionals, scene-y Bowery Boys and muscled men just looking to have a good time. They all bump shoulder pretty frequently, as this is one of the smallest gay bars I’ve ever been to. Eastern Bloc has a reputation of being a raunchy, “anything-goes” sort of place where you can bed a stranger, but it’s also a good bar for friends to catch up and goggle the sleeveless eye candy. And ever since the owner started dating Anderson Cooper, expect the place to continue being an “it” spot.

505 East 6th Street (212) 777-2555

Phoenix NYC – Gay Bar

When I went to visit a couple of friends who live in Stuyvesant Town, I was surprised to learn that their local bar was a gay dive bar, popular with a mid-twenties to early thirties crowd. Phoenix has a great location, near all the hotspots of the East Village. Drinks are relatively cheap – this is a dive after all – so the daily happy hour is quite generous. Phoenix has a pool table and a side room for more intimate conversation. Not too intimate though. Even though I did meet a ton of attractive fellas at Phoenix, things never really heat up. So just keep on sipping on the cheap well drinks and browse through their jukebox. You’ll find classics from Blondie and Prince mixed in with more contemporary gay favorites like Lily Allen, LCD Soundystem and whatever queer-friendly indie hip Brooklyn band is popular at the moment.

447 East 13th Street (212) 477-9979

Sugarland NYC – Gay Bar

Housed in what looks like an abandoned warehouse, in an empty street, this dance lounge has a tinge of Brooklyn grime. Right off the L Stop, Sugarland is accessible even if you’re a Manhattan snob, which I used to be before discovering this place. If you want a night of dancing and bumping it dirty in the dark next to hip queers, this Williamsburg club is the place to be. The same owners of Metropolitan wanted to expand their nightlife horizons and bring a more upbeat spot to the area. Be sure to get there early on weekends, as Sugarland definitely attracts large crowds, and cover tends to be around $7. If it gets too hot on the dance floor, take a break in their upstairs patio and bum a smoke from one of the cuties in plaid.

221 North 9th Street (718) 599-4044

HK NYC

We all know the gays love a good brunch, and New York City has so many options, it’s hard to choose. For those interested in a modern space, here comes the sophisticated alternative, HK in, appropriately enough, Hell’s Kitchen. Like any place that goes just by an acronym, expect a snooty vibe, but it’s all in good fun. Any form of attitude is acceptable considering the bistro lounge serves all the bottomless goods – mimosas, bloody mary’s, screwdrivers or just straight champagne. A popular place for up-and-coming power gays to reminisce on weekend. The food is mostly American with a Mediterranean flare and there’s outdoor seating for those hot New York days. HK turns into a pumping early drinks spot for the resident of what’s quickly becoming “the New Chelsea.”

523 9th Av. (212) 947-4208

Industry Bar NYC – Gay Bar

This year a new bar across the street from Therapy opened with a bang! The owners of Elmo and Barracuda in Chelsea certainly know what boys like, and they used all that experience in creating Industry Bar, a stylish lounge in Hell’s Kitchen without the attitude. Start the night with a 2-4-1 happy hour, or should I say hours – since it lasts from 4pm to 9pm. Feeling hazy after that? No worries, this new hotspot keeps the light low all night, giving it a perfect ambiance to meet and mingle. Different DJs spin here each night of the week; so don’t feel bad if you start to become a regular. The plushy décor keeps you settled and comfortable until the entertainment (usually in the form of drag queens) take the stage.

355 West 52nd Street (646) 476-2747

Vlada NYC Gay Bar

I remember being taken aback by the strong martini cocktails at Vlada. A Hell’s Kitchen lounge that popular with theatre queens and the Broadway-bound, it starts with a relaxed happy hour that lures midtown professionals craving a strong drink. By the time the sun goes down, especially on the weekends, the DJ starts blaring electronic music and both floors of the narrow lounge get packed, shoulder to shoulder. Like most bars in Hellsea (Hell’s Kitchen meets Chelsea), the bartenders are too hunky for sleeves, and just by looking around, I could tell that a majority of the guys here had a gym membership, even the drag queens! It’s nice to see a place that gets crowded with older, more refined gentlemen who can handle their liquor.

331 West 51st St. (212) 974-8030