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.”
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.
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.
- Sips, Barcelona
- Double Chicken Please, New York
- Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
- Paradiso, Barcelona
- Connaught Bar, London
- Little Red Door, Paris
- Licorería Limantour, Mexico City
- Tayēr + Elementary, London
- Alquímico, Cartagena
- Himkok, Oslo
- Tres Monos, Buenos Aires
- Line, Athens
- BKK Social Club, Bangkok
- Jigger & Pony, Singapore
- Maybe Sammy, Sydney
- Salmon Guru, Madrid
- Overstory, New York
- Zest, Seoul
- Mahaniyom Cocktail Bar, Bangkok
- Coa, Hong Kong
- Drink Kong, Rome
- Hanky Panky, Mexico City
- Caretaker’s Cottage, Melbourne
- Café La Trova, Miami
- Baba au Rum, Athens
- CoChinChina, Buenos Aires
- Katana Kitten, New York
- Satan’s Whiskers, London
- Wax On, Berlin
- Florería Atlántico, Buenos Aires
- Röda Huset, Stockholm
- Sago House, Singapore
- Freni e Frizioni, Rome
- Argo, Hong Kong
- A Bar With Shapes for a Name, London
- The SG Club, Tokyo
- Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
- The Cambridge Public House, Paris
- Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
- Mimi Kakushi, Dubai
- Scarfes Bar, London
- 1930, Milan
- Carnaval, Lima
- L’Antiquario, Naples
- Baltra Bar, Mexico City
- Locale Firenze, Florence
- The Clumsies, Athens
- Atlas, Singapore
- Jewel of the South, New Orleans
- Galaxy Bar, Dubai
This story was first published on Robb Report USA