Grindr Users Pick Best Bars, Clubs, Icons, Athletes & More In "Best Of 2012" Awards! Print
Written by Instinct Staff | Wednesday, 09 January 2013

grindrawards

It's always a question of who ends up on top when it comes to Grindr, so having the gay geo-social app host a "best of" awards totally made sense. Grindr tasked some of its 4.5 million worldwide users with the job of naming the top pop- and local-culture items from 2012. Given that these are some of the pickiest gays on the planet, the winners should be very illuminating!

Find out which celebrities, TV shows, athletes, bars, clubs, parties, salons, gyms, bartenders and more were favored by Grindr users after the jump!

Says Grindr founder and CEO Joel Simkhai, “Grindr guys are always at the forefront of what’s trending and impacting gay culture. With their fingers on the pulse on what’s important and impressing them the most, our guys are watching ‘Modern Family,’ getting their gossip from TMZ and rocking out to ‘Call Me Maybe.’ In addition, they’ve chosen some significant gay icons from 2012, including Anderson Cooper and Orlando Cruz for his famous and inspirational coming-out story.”

For the general national awards, Grindr users chose these winners:

 

  • Gay icon of the year: Anderson Cooper
  • Straight ally of the year: Barack Obama
  •  Best TV show: “Modern Family”
  • Best TV host: Ellen DeGeneres
  • Best source for gossip: TMZ
  • TIE for best comedian: Kathy Griffin and Margaret Cho
  • Best athlete: Orlando Cruz
  • Movie of the year: “Magic Mike”
  • Song of the year: “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen
  • Gadget of the year: iPhone 5
When its broken down into the big, gay American cities, Grindr users picked these local landmarks to come out on top:
Gym with the hottest guys:
  • Fitness SF (San Francisco)
  • Vida Fitness (Washington, D.C.)
  • David Barton Gym, Chelsea (New York)
  • 24 Hour Fitness (Denver)
  • Boston Sports Club (Boston)
  • FFC Fitness (Chicago)
  • Equinox (Los Angeles)
  • 24 Hour Fitness (Houston)
  • Club Fitness (St. Louis)
  • 24 Hour Fitness (Dallas)
Best place to get a haircut:
  • Salon Baobao (San Francisco)
  • Bang Salon (Washington, D.C.)
  • Astor Place Barber Shop (New York)
  • Floyd's 99 Barber Shop (Denver)
  • Barbershop Deluxe (Boston)
  • Chicago Male (Chicago)
  • Shorty's Barber Shop (Los Angeles)
  • Sports Clips (Houston)
  • Paul Mitchell Salon (St. Louis)
  • Supercuts on Lemmon (Dallas)
Best place to take a first date:
  • Castro (San Francisco)
  • Lauriol Plaza (Washington, D.C.)
  • Central Park (New York)
  • TIE: Red Rocks and Linger (Denver)
  • Club Cafe (Boston)
  • Wood (Chicago)
  • The Grove (Los Angeles)
  • Boheme Café and Wine Bar(Houston)
  • Forest Park (St. Louis)
  • West Village (Dallas)
Best Sunday funday:
  • Jock Sundays at the Lookout (San Francisco)
  • Drag Brunch at Nellie's Sports Bar (Washington, D.C.)
  • Griffin Sundays at the Griffin (New York)
  • Legendary Beer Bust at Wrangler (Denver)
  • Fritz (Boston)
  • Sidetrack (Chicago)
  • The Abbey (Los Angeles)
  • Crocker (Houston)
  • Just John's (St. Louis)
  • The Grapevine (Dallas)
Favorite gay bar/club:
  • Badlands (San Francisco)
  • Town Dance Boutique (Washington, D.C.)
  • Therapy (New York)
  • X Bar (Denver)
  • Club Cafe (Boston)
  • Roscoe's (Chicago)
  • The Abbey (Los Angeles)
  • F Bar (Houston)
  • Just John (St. Louis)
  •  The Round-Up Saloon (Dallas)
Favorite bartender:
  •  Mike at Lookout (San Francisco)
  • Carlos at JR's (Washington, D.C.)
  • Jacob at G (New York)
  • Kurt at Tracks (Denver)
  • Joe Jovelle (Boston)
  • Linda Little (Chicago)
  • Anthony Saldana (Los Angeles)
  • Leo at South Beach (Houston)
  • Christian Lucas (St. Louis)
  • Dylan Brown (Dallas)
Best gay night/party:
  • Beatbox (San Francisco)
  • Bear Happy Hour at Town (Washington, D.C.)
  • Alegria (New York)
  • Thursdays at Tracks (Denver)
  • Epic Saturdays at the House of Blues (Boston)
  • Northalsted Market Days (Chicago)
  • Rasputin (Sat., Los Angeles) / Stripper Circus at Here Lounge (Wed., Los Angeles)
  • Saturday Nights at South Beach (Houston)
  • Attitudes Nightclub (St. Louis)
  • Purple Party (Dallas)
Best DJ:
  • Haute Toddy (San Francisco)
  • TIE: Matt Bailer and Shea Van Horn (Washington, D.C.)
  • Corey Craig (New York)
  • Sean O'Grady (Denver)
  • Richie LaDue (Boston)
  • Phil DaBeatz (Chicago)
  •  Josh Peace (Los Angeles)
  • Joe Ross (Houston)
  • Charlie Buttons (St. Louis)
  • Brandon Moses (Dallas)
Fiercest drag queen/nightlife personality:
  • Pollo Del Mar (San Francisco)
  • Shaquita Lee (Washington, D.C.)
  • Bianca Del Rio (New York)
  • Nina Flowers (Denver)
  • Katya Zamolodchikova (Boston)
  • Frida Lay (Chicago)
  • Raven (Los Angeles)
  • Kofi Cakes (Houston)
  • Dieta Pepsi (St. Louis)
  • Krystal Summers (Dallas)
Local hero/community advocate of the year:
  • Scott Wiener (San Francisco)
  • Barack Obama (Washington, D.C.)
  • Anderson Cooper (New York)
  • Corky Blankenship (Denver)
  • Elizabeth Warren (Boston)
  • Bill Pritchard (Chicago)
  • John Duran (Los Angeles)
  • Annise Parker (Houston)
  • Leon Braxton (St. Louis)
  • James Doyle (Dallas)       
Best local gay news outlet:
  • The Bay Area Reporter (San Francisco)
  • Metro Weekly (Washington, D.C.)
  • Next Magazine (New York)
  • OutFront Colorado (Denver)
  • EdgeBoston.com (online, Boston) / Bay Windows (print, Boston)
  • Windy City Times (Chicago)
  • Frontiers (Los Angeles)
  • OutSmart Magazine (Houston)
  • The Vital Voice (St. Louis)
  • Dallas Voice (Dallas)
Did Grindr users get it right, Instincters??
(Source: Grindr press release)