20 Best Bars in the World: 2023

19. Mahaniyom Cocktail Bar

Bangkok

The latest venture from Ronnaporn “Neung” Kanivichaporn and Chennarong “Jan” Bhumichitr focuses on “resourceful cocktails.” Mahaniyom’s team chooses an ingredient and then extracts as much flavor as possible from the chosen item for drinks. Try Pomelo, whose juice, fruit, skin and even pith of the citrus make their way into the finished beverage.

Credit: Mahaniyom/50 Best/William Reed

18. Zest

Seoul

Zest, a portmanteau of “zero” and “waste,” is the sustainability mission statement of co-founders Demie Kim, Noah Kwon, Jisu Park and Sean Woo. To avoid wasted plastics and cans, they make all their mixers from scratch. They also take their honey from urban beekeepers in South Korea’s capital, harvest herbs and edible flowers by hand, and put most of their would-be waste to re-use as garnishes, ferments or cordials.

Credit: Zest/50 Best/William Reed

17. Overstory

New York

This bar towers 64 stories above Wall Street, with its swank, deco lounge and wraparound terrace offering a view of the Gotham skyline. Bar director Harrison Ginsberg pays homage to the city via (literally) elevated riffs on classics such as the Manhattan Deluxe (whiskey, amaro, raspberry, olive oil, cacao, salt) and originals like The Last Frontier (gin, sherry, mandarin, beeswax, herbal yellow liqueur).

Credit: Overstory/50 Best/William Reed

16. Salmon Guru

Madrid

Diego Cabrera, Salmon Guru’s owner, felt that his team had pushed the bar’s previous concept — flashy drinks, crazy garnishes, dragon-shaped vessels — as far as it could, so he closed his successful establishment for two months and reimagined it. Now, the refreshed Salmon, with its eye-catching aquarium-like bar room, offers cocktails with subtler presentations, but still with characteristically big flavors.

Credit: Salmon Guru/50 Best/William Reed

15. Maybe Sammy

Sydney

Since 2019, Maybe Sammy has been producing memorable evenings for locals and the international crowd — bubble guns, elaborate and experiential serves and full-team dance routines. This year, the team put out its latest Mirage menu in which both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks receive equal billing, with AI-generated art on each page.

Credit: Maybe Sammy/50 Best/William Reed

14. Jigger & Pony

Singapore

When they opened Jigger & Pony 11 years ago, owners Guoyi Gan and Indra Kantono aimed to bring back the classic cocktail, as reflected in the bar’s name, and ensure convivial hospitality. Their focus on continual improvement and progress is reflected in their latest “menuzine,” Identity, which presents a list of traditional drinks recreated with irreverence and flair.

Credit: Jigger & Pony/50 Best/William Reed

13. BKK Social Club

Bangkok

Located in the city’s newest Four Seasons Hotel on the Chao Phraya River, this venue has every detail carefully considered, from the striking back bar to the green velvet banquettes, from the tropical foliage to the low lighting. The bar combines the glamor of Buenos Aires with the vibrancy of Bangkok, and the drinks, curated by Philip Bischoff and his team, reflect its South American decor, using ingredients such as yerba mate and apple.

Credit: BKK Social Club/50 Best/William Reed

12. Line

Athens

Located in a former art gallery just outside the city’s center, Line has double-height ceilings, providing a sophisticated backdrop. Co-owners Vasilis Kyritsis, Nikos Bakoulis and Dimitris Dafopoulos ensure that everything is made from scratch. Fig wine is the basis of the Pisco Sour, for example, and pomegranate wine goes into the house-made vermouth, which then finds its way into the bar’s Negroni.

Credit: Line/50 Best/William Reed

11. Tres Monos

Buenos Aires

Named for the popular Japanese "three wise monkeys" proverb and representing the three co-owners, the bar in the city’s Palermo Soho district sports neon pink lights, graffiti tags and a cheeky middle finger. Regulars are hooked by bargain-priced drinks and delicious signature cocktails, while the team also plays around with classics to create tongue-in-cheek reversions — think bourbon-based Dolce & Banana with dulce de leche, or MistiCollins made with the Monos’ own-label sake and gin.

Credit: Tres Monos/50 Best/William Reed

10. Himkok

Oslo

Himkok translates to “homecooked,” and everything that can be made at Erk Potur’s Oslo bar pretty much is developed onsite. The main bar is the distillery, which pumps gin, aquavit and vodka into taps that form the centerpiece of the back bar. Bar manager Maroš Dzurus’ cocktail list includes Birch, the bar’s Dry Martini twist, with house-made Old Tom Gin, sweetened with meadowsweet and birch sap.

Credit: Himkok/50 Best/William Reed

9. Alquímico

Cartagena, Colombia

After French-Vietnamese owner Jean Trinh fell in love with Colombia, he wanted to give something back to the country he now calls home. He opened Alquímico, each of whose three floors expresses its own identity through drinks and vegetarian dishes. Alquímico is also Trinh’s Antioquia farm, which provides the Cartagena team with many Colombian ingredients, such as pine extract or the citrus cordial that goes into the Gimlet.

Credit: Alquímico/50 Best/William Reed

8. Tayēr + Elementary

London

The bartending supergroup Monica Berg and Alex Kratena’s Tayēr + Elementary in east London represents a philosophy of bartending, from the ingredients-led seasonal cocktails to the modernist, sustainably minded techniques that underpin them and the bespoke bar stations from which they’re served. The first space you’ll step into is Elementary, the industrially styled street-side space, with a long communal table on to which come own-label wine, beer and fast-filled glasses of seasonal classics, including the bar’s stalwart One Sip.

Credit: Tayēr + Elementary/50 Best/William Reed

7. Licorería Limantour

Mexico City

Benjamin Padrón and José Luis Leon’s split-level bar in the Roma Norte district buzzes with energy, and guests spill out onto the street every night. The bartending team continues to innovate, while keeping room for now-iconic serves such as the Fluffy Paloma and Margarita Al Pastor. The bar’s latest menu, Ida y Vuelta, draws on native Oaxacan ingredients, with the mezcal milk punch Rosita de Cacao a favorite with regulars. Credit:

Credit: Licoreria Limantour/50 Best/William Reed

6. Little Red Door

Paris

This cosmopolitan nightspot, entered through a red door in the Marais district, is now a leading voice in sustainable bar practices. Its farm-to-glass model reveals how urban bars can bring producers and cocktail-makers closer together. Little Red Door’s 2023’s Evergreen menu features beautiful photography of the producers that make the ingredients that headline its cocktails, including clearly named concoctions such as Melon, Apple, Holy Basil and Olive.

Credit: Little Red Door/50 Best/William Reed Saffron Cocktail, Little

5. Connaught Bar

London

Agostino Perrone, Maura Milia and Giorgio Bargiani, the leaders, leave nothing to chance at this hotel bar, putting eight hours of preparations into every service. Top of the bill is the Dry Martini, which sees the bar’s own liqueur stirred down in a bespoke mixing glass and made to measure with a choice of homemade bitters designed by Perrone himself. The more modernist Icebreaker (rum, pisco, sherry, peanut butter, fermented banana, verjus and bitters) is a standout on the drink list.

Credit: Connaught Bar/50 Best/William Reed

4. Paradiso

Barcelona

You enter Paradiso through a pastrami shop fridge into a space with a sculpted Dali-esque curved wooden bar, bustling atmosphere and otherworldly drinks — a spectacle created by owners Giacomo Giannotti and Margarita Sader. On Fire, a sharing milk punch cocktail with bourbon, oloroso sherry, tahini, sweet potato and smoked milk, is a highlight. Served in a clear, round dish, with garnishes created in the Paradiso lab to represent humankind’s ancestors sitting around a fire, the cocktail uses a laser to create a flame that smokes the Jerez wine.

Credit: Double Paradiso/50 Best/William Reed

3. Handshake Speakeasy

Mexico City

Handshake Speakeasy’s location in the Colonia Juarez neighborhood is a black varnish, marble and brass shrine to the cocktail. While the mid-century interior celebrates the golden age, the menu looks to the future. Bar director Eric van Beek’s Matcha Yuzu resembles a highball but delivers a balance of whiskey, matcha, yuzu, vanilla and whey upon sipping.

Credit: Handshake Speakeasy/50 Best/William Reed

2. Double Chicken Please

New York

The “double” in this establishment’s name alludes to co-founders GN Chan and Faye Chen as well as to the bar’s duality of concepts. The front room is casual, an upscale tribute to the soda shops once ubiquitous in its Lower East Side neighborhood, serving Asian-inflected cocktails like the popular #3 (apple brandy, cranberry, spiced pear, ginger ale). The back room, dubbed the Coop, offers a refined lounge accented by banquettes, downlighting and wood furnishing. A second menu offers liquid takes on culinary classics like Red Eye Gravy (Irish whiskey, coffee butter, corn, walnut, wild mushroom, microwaved coppa), as well as an assortment of chicken sandwiches.

Credit: Double Chicken Please/50 Best/William Reed

1. Sips

Barcelona

Created in 2021 by Simone Caporale and Marc Álvarez, Sips’ pastel pink and green decor makes this an approachable early evening venue that easily transitions with the fading light into a dark and sultry hideaway. Primordial — a blend of 12-year-old Scotch, Ruby Port and pera nashi — is served to visitors in a metal cast of two hands, rather than a glass, while the Daiquiri Heliodora arrives via a hand-turned machine that delivers grapefruit shaved ice before an oversized pipette drops sherry into a glass of rum and lime.

Credit: Mireia Rodriguez/50 Best/William Reed