Organised by William Reed, the people behind The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and The World's 50 Best Hotels, The World's 50 Best Bars is a snapshot of the opinions and experiences of 680 bar industry experts across the globe. None of the employees of the organiser or any of the sponsors associated with the awards, including the main sponsor, has any influence over the results.
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What constitutes ‘best’ is left to the judgment of these trusted and well-travelled experts. The list is the result of a simple computation of votes. Given that the ranking is based on personal experiences, it can never be definitive, but we believe it is an honourable survey of current tastes and a credible indicator of the best places to drink across the world.
The list is compiled by votes from The World’s 50 Best Bars Academy, which comprises 680 drinks experts, including renowned bartenders and consultants, drinks writers and cocktail specialists from around the world, with 50/50 gender balance.
Each voter casts seven votes based on their best bar experiences of the previous 18 months. For the last few editions, to reflect the reduced travel opportunities afforded to panellists due to the pandemic, there was no requirement for voters to cast any international votes (while in previous years, voters would be asked for at least three votes outside their home country, or home state in the US). Voters are required to remain anonymous and voting is confidential and secure.
The main rules of voting are:
These criteria are designed to allow panellists to vote far and wide. They could vote for a small, unknown bar in a remote area of Asia, or select the best-known venue in their own country or region – it is their opinion and the experiences they have had that matter.
This method means that bars cannot apply to be on the list, and cannot be nominated, and no external influences (from William Reed or our sponsors) can influence the list. It also means that every bar in the world is eligible, unless it is closed at the time that the list is announced, or we receive notice that it will be closing in the near future.
There are no criteria that a bar has to meet. They certainly do not have to sell a certain product. They do not need to have been open a certain number of years and they do not need to have won any other accolades.
Learn more about The World's 50 Best Bars Academy
Since 2020, professional services consultancy Deloitte is the official independent adjudicator of The World’s 50 Best Bars. Deloitte has been granted full and independent access to The World’s 50 Best Bars voting process and data and has performed certain procedures to confirm the integrity and authenticity of the voting process and the resulting list.
In order to guarantee a fair relationship between the percentage of votes a region receives and their proportionate representation in The World’s 50 Best Bars list, in the event of a significant variance, Deloitte will apply a normalisation process to the voting data.
Founded in 1845, Deloitte has grown to become one of the world’s pre-eminent and most trusted professional services consultancies. As part of its wide-ranging portfolio, Deloitte works with companies in all areas of the licensed retail industry and has considerable experience in providing bespoke adjudication services for a number of internationally recognised awards.
It has a dedicated team devoted to the hospitality sector that specialises in a comprehensive range of audit and advisory services, complemented by industry-specific knowledge and the leverage of a network of specialist expertise across the UK, Europe, the US and Asia. In the sector Deloitte works with businesses spanning one-site start-ups through to FTSE-listed groups – and it is proud to be acting as independent adjudicator for The World’s 50 Best Bars.
deloitte.co.uk/travelhospitalityleisure
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Cocktail lovers are scrambling for reservations and bar owners are preparing for the rush of new customers. It can only mean one thing: The 50 Best organization has announced its annual list of the 50 Best Bars in North America. This year’s best bar, crowned at a ceremony on April 23 in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, is Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City, led by bar director Eric van Beek. The top spot was previously held by Double Chicken Please (now ranked seventh), a Manhattan cocktail bar serving creative drinks like the “Cold Pizza,” which features Parmesan, burnt toast, and tequila.
Handshake Speakeasy, which opened in 2018, is the first bar in Mexico to take the revered list’s number one spot. The bar’s interior plays into a sleek Prohibition era vibe—a polished black marble bar, black velvet seats, and gold accents throughout. The drinks are similarly understated: The piña colada, for example, comes not in a hurricane glass with a colorful umbrella but clarified and carbonated with a single long block of ice.
Of the 50 bars on this year’s list, 26 are in the US. (On last year’s list, that number was 28.) Fifteen of the winning bars are in Mexico, seven are in Canada, and two are in the Caribbean. New York had a strong showing with 12 bars. Superbueno, a new addition to this year’s list, placed second. The East Village bar, which opened in 2023, reinterprets classic cocktails with modern spins and Mexican ingredients and spirits. A mushroom margarita features earthy huitlacoche, and the cheekily named “vodka y soda” is a surprisingly complex cocktail of vodka, guava, and pasilla chile.
“Best” is, of course, a subjective title, but the organization does have some clear procedures for reaching its final list: 50 Best taps a group of 270 bar industry experts across the region to cast a maximum of seven votes for bars they’ve visited in the past year. The group’s makeup is half bartenders and bar owners, a quarter “well-traveled cocktail experts,” and another quarter drinks writers and educators. According to 50 Best, at least 25% of voters are new to the voting pool each year. “Given that this list is based on personal experiences, it can never be definitive,” the 50 Best website reads, but still, industry insiders and mixology enthusiasts tend to treat the list like a bible.
Inclusion on this list can significantly increase a bar’s business. But the organization has also faced its fair share of criticism. Voters aren’t required to pay for their drinks or meals, which means they may be more likely to cast votes for bars and restaurants with the resources to offer free meals and trips. “We trust that voters make an independent choice and are not swayed simply by the fact that they might have been hosted by other brands that are not 50 Best,” a spokesperson tells Bon Appétit via email.
The organization has also been criticized for the way it divides and excludes regions; In the voting for North America’s 50 Best Bars, for example, Canada is divided into two regions, the US four, while Mexico and the Caribbean are each considered a single region. Central America is not considered for inclusion on the list.
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