FLINT, MI -- Flintoids have known it all along, but now it's official: The Torch Bar & Grill is among the best dive bars in America.

The website Thrillist recently put out a story

. The 65-capacity bar tucked away in downtown Flint's Buckham Alley is right there with the rest of them.

Thrillest is a site with an email subscription service that, according to its website, finds "guys the best in everything from food, drink, and gear, to services and travel."

The description of The Torch reads:

"The ceilings and lights are low, the barroom's impossibly cavernous, the burger's one of the Mitten's best, and the clientele -- from

to the old blue-collar regulars -- are a picture of a new Flint mentality, where pride stubbornly thrives in the face of adversit ... especially when it's fueled by super-cheap local microbrews and fried pizza rolls."

The Torch has gotten its share of attention this year. It was voted as having some of the

, it's the home of an

. Its regulars have come to

.

Torch owner Mike Melenbrink said he was unaware of Thrillist and that the bar was being considered for the honor, but he was glad to have it.

"It's a pretty cool thing," he said, adding that the term "dive bar" doesn't bother him.

He cited recent remodeling projects the Torch has undergone as well as a cleaning routine that earned it the title of being

.

"Dive bars are small, hole-in-the-wall, out-of-the-way places. I don't think being called a dive bar is a bad thing," he said. "The Torch has had a good 2013."