2018 World's 50 Best Bars: Complete Rankings and Results

Ryan 'Mr. Lyan' Chetiyawardana's revolutionary Dandelyan redefined London luxury through botanical cocktail innovation and Tom Dixon's striking design. This World's Best Bar winner at Mondrian London transformed hotel bar conventions with approachable sophistication, Thames views, and groundbreaking mixology before evolving into Lyaness.

The American Bar at the Savoy has spent more than a decade inside the World's 50 Best Bars rankings, reaching number one in 2017. Anchored on the Strand in central London, it occupies a specific tier in the city's cocktail hierarchy: hotel bars with a verifiable international award record and a clientele that spans regulars, professionals, and informed visitors. It is one of the few bars in any European capital that functions simultaneously as a London institution and a global benchmark.

Manhattan Singapore has spent a decade as one of Asia's most-awarded cocktail bars, reaching #1 in Asia's 50 Best Bars twice and climbing as high as #3 globally. Located on Level 2 of 1 Cuscaden Road, it trades in American whiskey-forward programming within a format that prizes depth over novelty. A Google rating of 4.7 across more than 1,000 reviews confirms the bar's consistency beyond its trophy shelf.

NoMad Bar transforms a restored 19th-century Manhattan building into New York City's most theatrical cocktail destination, where Chris Moore's innovative mixology program and towering copper bar create an atmosphere of Gilded Age grandeur beneath soaring ceilings and antique mirrors.

The Connaught Bar has appeared in the World's 50 Best Bars list every year since 2010, twice claiming the top position, and remains the benchmark against which London's hotel bar category is measured. Housed within Mayfair's Connaught hotel, the David Collins-designed space marries Cubist geometry with a service programme of rare technical precision. The bespoke Dry Martini trolley service, led by Agostino Perrone and Giorgio Bargiani, is the bar's most replicated and least reproducible signature.

Bar Termini on Old Compton Street is one of London's most decorated cocktail bars, holding a #6 ranking in the World's 50 Best Bars and currently placed at #130 in the Top 500 Bars. Built around the traditions of the Italian bar — espresso, aperitivo, and precisely made small drinks — it operates from early morning through to midnight, making it one of Soho's few addresses that spans the full day.

The Clumsies has appeared in the World's 50 Best Bars every year since 2015, reaching as high as number three globally in 2020. Located on Praxitelous 30 in central Athens, it operates as a reference point for serious cocktail culture in Southern Europe. A 4.5 Google rating across more than 8,000 reviews confirms its standing extends well beyond the industry circuit.

Among Singapore's most decorated bars, Atlas has held a World's 50 Best Bars ranking every year since 2017, peaking at #4 globally in 2020. Set inside the Parkview Square lobby on North Bridge Road, it operates at the intersection of grand Art Deco architecture and serious gin and spirits programming, placing it in a distinct tier above the city's cocktail-forward independents.

Few bars in New York City carry the kind of documented critical record that Dante NYC has accumulated since 2016. Situated on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village, it holds multiple World's 50 Best Bars placements, including a #1 ranking in 2019, and a 4.5 Google rating across more than 2,500 reviews. The combination of neighbourhood longevity and sustained award recognition places it in a very small peer set.

Operating from Aberdeen Street in Hong Kong's Soho since 2017, The Old Man is a Hemingway-themed cocktail bar that reached #9 in the World's 50 Best Bars global rankings in 2019 and held Asia's #1 position that same year. The I-shaped counter, literary-inspired menu, and technically precise drinks program have kept it a reference point in the region's bar scene across multiple ranking cycles.

Licoreria Limantour on Avenida Álvaro Obregón has appeared in the World's 50 Best Bars ranking every year since 2014, reaching as high as number six globally in 2021. Positioned in Roma Norte, one of Mexico City's most active neighbourhoods for serious drinking, it sits at the top of the city's cocktail scene and holds a 4.4 rating across more than 3,600 Google reviews.

Among Tokyo's most decorated cocktail bars, Bar High Five has appeared in the World's 50 Best Bars rankings every year since 2011, peaking at number three globally in 2013. Situated in a basement space on Ginza's Chuo-dori, it represents a specific strain of Japanese bartending — classical technique, guest-led service, and an absence of theatrical gimmickry — that has given Ginza its international standing in bar culture.

Native on Amoy Street has held a place in the World's 50 Best Bars global list every year since 2017, reaching as high as #12 worldwide and #4 in Asia. The bar operates Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm, anchored in a forage-and-ferment philosophy that draws directly from Southeast Asian ingredients and traditions. It sits among Singapore's most recognised bars and is a reference point for the region's bar scene.

Florería Atlantico has ranked inside the World's 50 Best Bars every year since 2013, reaching as high as number three globally in 2019. Operating beneath a flower shop on Arroyo, the bar's cocktail program draws on the histories of migrants and Indigenous communities who shaped Argentine culture. It remains the clearest argument that Buenos Aires belongs in the same conversation as London, New York, and Tokyo for serious drinking.

On Eldridge Street in the Lower East Side, Attaboy has built one of the most sustained award records in North American bartending — ranked as high as #4 globally by World's 50 Best Bars and #1 in North America as recently as 2022. The format is spare and the room is small, but the cocktail program operates with a precision that places it in a different category from most bars in the city.

Positioned at the serious end of New York's cocktail hierarchy, The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog at 30 Water St has held a place in the World's 50 Best Bars rankings every year since 2013, including the #1 spot in 2016. The Financial District address shapes the experience as much as the program itself: a two-floor Irish-American bar where the drinking is taken seriously and the historical framing runs deep.

Oriole has held a position in the World's 50 Best Bars three times and carries a 4.7 Google rating across more than 1,100 reviews, placing it firmly in London's upper tier of serious cocktail programmes. Located on Slingsby Place in Covent Garden, it operates in the tradition of destination bars built around technique and transport-themed storytelling rather than neighbourhood drop-in drinking.

A French-accented cocktail bar on Bethnal Green Road that reached No. 18 on the World's 50 Best Bars list in 2018 and maintains a 4.7 Google rating from over 650 reviews. Coupette's programme centres on Calvados, French spirits, and technically structured drinks that reward the kind of attention East London's bar scene now routinely asks of its audience.

Behind an unmarked door on Storgata, Himkok runs one of the most decorated cocktail programmes in Europe — ranked #6 on Top 500 Bars in 2025 and a consistent presence in the World's 50 Best Bars since 2016. The bar's attached micro-distillery produces its own aquavit, gin and vodka, and its menus function as collaborative art projects with Oslo's creative community.

Once ranked among the world's twenty best bars, Speak Low on Fu Xing Zhong Lu remains one of Shanghai's most decorated drinking addresses, with a track record in the World's 50 Best that few Chinese bars have matched. Its multi-floor format and sustained critical recognition place it firmly in the city's upper tier, alongside a food programme designed to hold pace with its drinks list.

Sweet Liberty Drinks & Supply Company on Miami Beach has held a position inside the World's 50 Best Bars global rankings, reaching #21 in 2018 before transitioning into the North America tier. Sitting at 237 20th Street in Miami Beach, it draws a 4.6 Google rating across more than 2,500 reviews and holds a 2025 Pearl Recommended designation. For Miami's cocktail scene, it remains a consistent reference point.

Eleven consecutive appearances on the World's 50 Best Bars list — most recently ranked #17 in 2024 — position Baba au Rum as one of the most consistently recognised bars in Europe. Located at Klitiou 6 in central Athens, the bar's back bar holds more than 400 rums, and its rum-and-cocktail-society format has drawn a devoted local and international following for over 15 years.

Operation Dagger at 76 Neil Rd has held consecutive placements in the World's 50 Best Bars list every year from 2016 to 2019, reaching #21 globally and #6 in Asia. The bar occupies a subterranean space in the Tanjong Pagar conservation shophouse belt, operating with a technical, ingredient-led cocktail program that sits at the serious end of Singapore's bar scene. Google reviews average 4.3 across 485 ratings.

Le Syndicat on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis is the bar that put French spirits on the global cocktail map, reaching No. 24 in the World's 50 Best Bars in 2018 by working exclusively with French-produced ingredients. Ranked No. 173 in the Top 500 Bars for 2025 and rated 4.5 across more than 1,500 Google reviews, it remains a reference point for how indigenous products can drive technical cocktail programs.

Lost & Found has appeared on the World's 50 Best Bars list every year since 2015, reaching as high as #25 in 2018 — a sustained record that places this Nicosia address in a genuinely competitive international tier. Located on Lord Byron Street, it operates as one of the few bars in Cyprus with a consistent global ranking, drawing a crowd that ranges from serious cocktail tourists to the city's own discerning after-dark regulars.

Employees Only has held a place in the World's 50 Best Bars rankings every year since 2009, peaking at #4 globally in 2015. The West Village address on Hudson Street operates as one of New York's most consistently recognised cocktail programs, drawing on a European apéritif and spirits tradition that sits apart from the speakeasy-revival bars that followed in its wake. In 2025, it holds #18 in North America and #95 globally.

Central Station earned back-to-back placements in the World's 50 Best Bars — ranked 26th in 2016 and 27th in 2018 — making it one of the few Beirut bars to register on the global cocktail circuit. Its position in the Armenian Street neighbourhood places it at the centre of the city's most concentrated stretch of late-night drinking culture, drawing a crowd that ranges from local regulars to visiting bar professionals.

Matt Whiley's groundbreaking Scout in Shoreditch pioneers zero-waste luxury through hyper-seasonal British cocktails and closed-loop sustainability. This intimate London cocktail bar transforms discarded ingredients into boundary-pushing libations, creating an educational experience where environmental consciousness meets exceptional mixology.

Three Sheets on Kingsland Road sits in a different tier from the polished cocktail bars of central London — a Dalston neighbourhood bar that appeared in the World's 50 Best Bars four consecutive years, peaking at number 16 in 2019. The Google rating of 4.7 across 403 reviews reflects a loyal local following as much as destination traffic. It earns repeat visits rather than one-off pilgrimages.

Few bars in the Asia-Pacific region carry a decade-long presence in the World's 50 Best Bars rankings. Black Pearl on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy has held that ground continuously, peaking at #7 globally in 2013 and returning a 4.6 Google rating from over 700 reviews. Open nightly until 3am, it sits at the serious end of Melbourne's cocktail spectrum without the velvet-rope posturing that often accompanies that status.

Tales & Spirits has held a place on the World's 50 Best Bars list every year from 2014 to 2018, peaking at number 18 in 2016. Tucked into a narrow alley off the Nieuwmarkt quarter, it operates as one of Amsterdam's most consistently recognised cocktail addresses, rated 4.6 across nearly 2,000 Google reviews. The bar sits in a peer set that includes Door 74 and Super Lyan, anchoring the city's serious cocktail scene.

Tjoget has appeared in the World's 50 Best Bars every year since 2016, peaking at #25 in its debut year and holding a position in 2025 at #76. Located on Hornsbruksgatan in Södermalm, it functions as a neighbourhood anchor as much as an award-circuit bar — the kind of place that earns its ranking through consistency rather than spectacle. Google reviews sit at 4.2 across more than a thousand ratings.

Little Red Door has held a position inside the World's 50 Best Bars rankings every year since 2013, peaking at number six in 2023 — a record that places it among the most consistently recognised bars in Europe. Located on Rue Charlot in the Marais, it operates within a cocktail tradition that prizes conceptual rigour over crowd-pleasing approachability. Google reviewers rate it 4.4 across more than 2,700 scores.

28 HongKong Street has held a position in the World's 50 Best Bars global list every year since 2012, making it one of Singapore's most consistently recognised cocktail bars. Located at 28 Hongkong St in the CBD fringe, it operates as a serious spirits-forward programme in an understated space that prioritises the glass over the room. A 4.4 Google rating across more than 1,100 reviews suggests it delivers consistently at scale.

Happiness Forgets is a basement cocktail bar on Hoxton Square that spent much of the 2010s inside the World's 50 Best Bars top 12, peaking at number six in 2013. Its combination of low-key format, serious drink-making, and east London positioning made it a reference point for the no-frills, high-craft model that reshaped London's bar scene over that decade.

La Factoría has held a place on the World's 50 Best Bars list every year since 2015, making it one of the most consistently recognised cocktail programmes in the Americas. Occupying a colonial building on Calle San José in Old San Juan, the bar operates across several distinct rooms, each with its own format. Open Tuesday through Saturday, it draws a mix of locals and well-travelled drinkers who understand what the ranking signals.

Named the World's Best Bar in 2022 and ranked #2 in the Top 500 Bars in 2025, Paradiso operates behind a refrigerator door in a pastrami shop on Carrer de Rera Palau. Inside, a curved wooden interior and theatrically presented cocktails define the experience. Its current menu, The Mysteries of the Universe, frames each drink around a scientific or cosmic concept developed in the venue's dedicated research lab.

Grace Tsai's innovative tea-based cocktails and Aki Wang's cultural vision define Indulge Experimental Bistro in Taipei, where Taiwan's multicultural heritage transforms into award-winning mixology. This Asia's 50 Best Bars mainstay reinvents its entire menu every 15 months, creating an ever-evolving luxury cocktail experience that serves as Taiwan's liquid cultural ambassador.

El Copitas bar in St. Petersburg has held a position inside the World's 50 Best Bars top ten since 2021, peaking at number eight — a ranking that places it alongside a very short list of addresses outside the traditional cocktail capitals of London, New York, and Tokyo. With a 4.7 Google rating across more than 900 reviews, it operates at the upper tier of Russia's bar scene from a compact address on Kolokol'naya Ulitsa.

Tommy's Mexican Restaurant on Geary Boulevard has earned a place among the world's most recognized bars, appearing in the World's 50 Best Bars list across six editions from 2009 to 2018. The bar's reputation rests on a decades-long commitment to 100% agave tequila and mezcal, placing it firmly in the specialist tier of San Francisco's drinking culture. A 4.5 Google rating across 890 reviews reflects a loyal, well-informed crowd.

Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry's Blacktail recreates Prohibition-era Havana in the heart of Manhattan, where historically accurate Cuban cocktails and immersive period design transport guests to the golden age of American bartending in 1920s Cuba.

Candelaria holds a firm place in Paris's cocktail conversation, ranking as high as #9 in the World's 50 Best Bars (2013) and returning to the Top 500 in 2025. The bar on Rue de Saintonge in the 3rd arrondissement built its reputation on a Mexican-rooted drinks program that sits apart from the classical French bar tradition, drawing a crowd that books well in advance and stays late.

Schuman's Bar occupies a corner position on Odeonsplatz, one of Munich's most formally charged public squares, and has held a place in the World's 50 Best Bars every ranked year from 2010 through 2019. Its back bar is built around depth of spirits curation rather than cocktail theatre, placing it alongside Germany's small cohort of bars that compete on substance over spectacle. Reservations are advisable.

Trick Dog has held a place in the World's 50 Best Bars rankings every year since 2014, yet it operates out of a Mission District corner like a neighbourhood institution rather than a destination trophy bar. Open from 4pm daily at 3010 20th St, it draws a crowd that ranges from local regulars to out-of-town drinkers who've tracked it for years, sustained by a program that takes cocktails seriously without making the room feel like a seminar.

Fifty Mils occupies a prominent position on Paseo de la Reforma, earning a place on the World's 50 Best Bars list in 2018 and maintaining recognition through 2025's Top 500 Bars ranking at #114. The bar operates from midday into the early hours most nights, making it one of the few Reforma-adjacent programs that functions equally as an afternoon and late-night destination. A 4.5 Google rating across nearly 1,000 reviews points to consistent execution across a wide audience.

Swift has appeared on the World's 50 Best Bars list every year from 2018 to 2023, peaking at number 33 in 2020 before settling at number 133 on the Top 500 Bars ranking in 2025. Occupying a two-floor site on Old Compton Street in Soho, it draws a crowd that runs from after-work regulars to serious whisky drinkers seeking one of London's more considered back-bar selections.

Salmon Guru has held a position inside the World's 50 Best Bars every year since 2018, currently ranked #11 in the Top 500 Bars (2025). The Madrid flagship on Calle de Echegaray spans three visually distinct rooms — from an underwater main space to manga-covered walls and a Chinatown-inflected back room — and a drinks program built around Guru Lab, the bar's dedicated research and development operation.

Buck & Breck on Brunnenstraße has held a place inside the World's 50 Best Bars since 2013, reaching as high as #16 in 2015. Berlin's small-format cocktail room operates on limited capacity and a serious back bar, placing it among the city's most consistently recognised bar programmes. Its longevity at the top of global rankings distinguishes it from Berlin's broader cocktail scene.

Bar Benfiddich occupies the ninth floor of a Nishishinjuku building, where Hiroyasu Kayama works a 17-seat walnut counter stocked with antique bottles, farm-grown botanicals, and homemade spirits including his own distilled absinthe. Ranked in the World's 50 Best Bars continuously since 2016 and placed ninth in Asia's Best Bars 2025, it operates nightly from 18:00 to 02:00.

Lost Lake Chicago elevated tiki culture through Paul McGee's innovative tropical mixology and sophisticated design that eschewed kitsch for authentic escapism. This Logan Square destination featured signature rum-forward cocktails, an educational rum club, and immersive tropical atmosphere that redefined modern tiki sophistication.