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World’s 50 Best Bars 2023: Sips from Barcelona topped the list, followed by New York’s Double Chicken Please and Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy

By Tori Latham 20 October, 2023

The World’s 50 Best organisation gave the Spanish bar Sips top honours during an awards ceremony in Singapore

If you’re looking for the best bar in the world, you better head to Barcelona.

Sips, from the industry luminaries Simone Caporale and Marc Álvarez (pictured above), was named the No. 1 bar on the planet in the latest World’s 50 Best Bars ranking. The organisation held its annual awards ceremony on Tuesday in Singapore, the first time it hosted the gathering in Asia. Sips, which only opened two years ago, moved up to the top spot from No. 3 last year.

“Sips was destined for greatness even before it rocketed into the list at No. 37 just a few short months after opening in 2021,” William Drew, the director of content for 50 Best, said in a statement. “The bar seamlessly translates contemporary innovation and technical precision into a playful cocktail programme, accompanied by the warmest hospitality, making it a worthy winner of The World’s Best Bar 2023 title.”

Double Chicken Please
Cold Pizza. Photo by Double Chicken Please

Coming in second was North America’s best bar: New York City’s Double Chicken Please. The top five was rounded out by Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy, Barcelona’s Paradiso (last year’s No. 1), and London’s Connaught Bar. The highest new entry was Seoul’s Zest at No. 18, while the highest climber was Oslo’s Himkok, which moved up to No. 10 from No. 43 last year.

Barcelona may be home to two of the top five bars, but London has cemented its status as the cocktail capital of the world: The English city had five bars make the list, more than any other town represented. Along with Connaught Bar in the top five, Tayēr + Elementary came in at No. 8, and Satan’s Whiskers (No. 28), A Bar With Shapes for a Name (No. 35), and Scarfes Bar (No. 41) all made the grade too.

Sago House interior
Singapore’s Sago House made it to the list, along with Jigger & Pony and Atlas. Photo by Sago House

The United States similarly had a good showing this year. New York City, in particular, is home to a number of the best bars: Overstory (No. 17) and Katana Kitten (No. 27) joined Double Chicken Please on the list. Elsewhere, Miami’s Café La Trova hit No. 24 and New Orleans’s Jewel of the South snuck in at No. 49, bringing the Big Easy back to the ranking for the first time since 2014.

To celebrate their accomplishments, all of this year’s winners deserve a drink—made by somebody else at least just this once.

Check out the full list of the 50 best bars in the world below.

  1. Sips, Barcelona
  2. Double Chicken Please, New York
  3. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
  4. Paradiso, Barcelona
  5. Connaught Bar, London
  6. Little Red Door, Paris
  7. Licorería Limantour, Mexico City
  8. Tayēr + Elementary, London
  9. Alquímico, Cartagena
  10. Himkok, Oslo
  11. Tres Monos, Buenos Aires
  12. Line, Athens
  13. BKK Social Club, Bangkok
  14. Jigger & Pony, Singapore
  15. Maybe Sammy, Sydney
  16. Salmon Guru, Madrid
  17. Overstory, New York
  18. Zest, Seoul
  19. Mahaniyom Cocktail Bar, Bangkok
  20. Coa, Hong Kong
  21. Drink Kong, Rome
  22. Hanky Panky, Mexico City
  23. Caretaker’s Cottage, Melbourne
  24. Café La Trova, Miami
  25. Baba au Rum, Athens
  26. CoChinChina, Buenos Aires
  27. Katana Kitten, New York
  28. Satan’s Whiskers, London
  29. Wax On, Berlin
  30. Florería Atlántico, Buenos Aires
  31. Röda Huset, Stockholm
  32. Sago House, Singapore
  33. Freni e Frizioni, Rome
  34. Argo, Hong Kong
  35. A Bar With Shapes for a Name, London
  36. The SG Club, Tokyo
  37. Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
  38. The Cambridge Public House, Paris
  39. Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
  40. Mimi Kakushi, Dubai
  41. Scarfes Bar, London
  42. 1930, Milan
  43. Carnaval, Lima
  44. L’Antiquario, Naples
  45. Baltra Bar, Mexico City
  46. Locale Firenze, Florence
  47. The Clumsies, Athens
  48. Atlas, Singapore
  49. Jewel of the South, New Orleans
  50. Galaxy Bar, Dubai

This story was first published on Robb Report USA