iStockphoto / MaximFesenko
The World’s ’50 Best’ bars list was announced this week. Normally, I’d talk about how I can’t wait to book a trip to check some of these out but this is a weird year. Sadly, I’ve only been to 4 bars in the top 50 which bums me out, usually my personal numbers are a lot better.
My main takeaway from this year’s ’50 Best’ bars list is that the city of London is killing it on the cocktail front. We’re not talking about pubs here, these are the best cocktail bars in the world. Singapore and Hong Kong are also very well represented on this year’s list of the best bars in the world.
For the best bars in the United States, you’ll need to look to NYC. All five bars on the ’50 Best’ list are located in New York with some other USA bars outside of NYC cracking the top 100. Here’s a look at all of the American bars that made the ’50 Best’ list, not to be confused with the American Bar in London which is #20 overall:
2. Dante – New York
12. Attaboy – New York
13. Nomad Bar – New York
16. Katana Kitten – New York
38. Employees Only – New York
70. Café La Trova – Miami
71. The Dead Rabbit – New York
74. Pacific Cocktail Haven – San Francisco
77. Trick Dog – San Francisco
82. Kumiko – Chicago
89. Death & Co – New York
94. Amor y Amargo – New York
I did a virtual tasting a few weeks ago with a bartender from The Dead Rabbit which was such a fun change of pace from drinking the same cocktails over and over at home for the past few months. I highly recommend getting in on one of these guided cocktail sessions soon. You should 100% check out this 11/9 cocktail experience (for free) with Basil Hayden’s.
The #1 ranked bar in the world is Connaught Bar in London which apparently wowed the judges with its decor and menu which includes a sub-menu of just caviar. They have custom cocktail-making devices to mix up some of their unique in-house cocktails and claim to have the best martini in London. Dante in NYC is #2 on the list which warms my soul with their list of specialty Negronis.
The company behind the annual ’50 Best’ list is based out of London which might explain why the list tends to favor British cocktail bars but they do a pretty spectacular job at ranking the world’s best cocktail bars. If you want to see the complete list of every top cocktail bar in the world you can follow any of those ’50 Best’ links above! And if you want to see what the 2019 list of the world’s 50 Best bars looks like you can click that link.