A great bar isn't just great cocktails — it's the room, the bartender, the regulars, and the way one drink turns into three. These ten consistently top the World's 50 Best lists for good reason.
No. 01 · London, UK
Connaught Bar
Mayfair art-deco grandeur with the most theatrical martini service on earth.
Ago Perrone's tableside martini trolley is a 7-minute performance for a single drink — and the drink is perfect.
Tip · Reserve 3 weeks ahead; jacket recommended, drinks £25.
No. 02 · London, UK
Tayer + Elementary
Shoreditch two-room bar — casual front, fine-dining cocktails in the back.
Monica Berg and Alex Kratena's lab pushes cocktails into territory nobody else is exploring.
Tip · Walk in to the front room; book for the back lab 2 weeks out.
No. 03 · Barcelona, Spain
Sips
Eixample bar that took World's #1 in 2023 with sense-of-humor mixology.
Simone Caporale and Marc Álvarez are world-class — and the bar still feels neighborhood.
Tip · 8 p.m. walk-ins seat at the counter; later requires booking.
No. 04 · Barcelona, Spain
Paradiso
Hidden behind a pastrami counter in El Born — Speakeasy of the decade.
Giacomo Giannotti's edible-smoke and balloon cocktails are gimmick-free brilliance.
Tip · Show up at 7 p.m. opening; queue forms by 7:30.
No. 05 · Mexico City, Mexico
Handshake Speakeasy
Juárez basement bar — World's #1 in 2024.
Brilliant Mexican-ingredient cocktails (mezcal, hoja santa, ant-salt) in a tiny atmospheric room.
Tip · Reserve weeks ahead — walk-ins almost never get in.
No. 06 · Singapore
Jigger & Pony
Hotel bar in the Amara, magazine-style cocktail menu.
Asia's most consistent cocktail bar — never a bad drink, never a stuffy night.
Tip · Sit at the bar (not the lounge) to watch the team work.
No. 07 · Tokyo, Japan
Bar Benfiddich
Hiroyasu Kayama forages his own herbs in his Shinjuku farm.
His absinthe-and-amaro cocktails (ground at the bar with a mortar and pestle) are unique on earth.
Tip · Cover charge ¥1,000; 10 seats only — arrive at 6 p.m. opening.
No. 08 · Singapore
Atlas
Parkview Square's art-deco hall with 1,300 gins behind the bar.
The room (20-meter ceilings, gold-plated tower of bottles) is the show; the gin program backs it up.
Tip · Sunday afternoon tea is a more affordable way to experience the room.
No. 09 · San Francisco, USA
Trick Dog
Mission-district bar with a different menu theme every six months.
Smart, weird, packed, and the best cocktail menu in America.
Tip · Get there by 6 p.m.; no reservations and a 90-minute wait by 8.
No. 10 · Lima, Peru
Carnaval
World's #1 in 2023 — Aaron Diaz's love letter to Latin America.
Each drink references a Latin American festival or tradition — pisco, agave, and rum done with research and joy.
Tip · Reserve 4 weeks ahead — the bar's reputation has made walk-ins nearly impossible.
Great bars reward the second visit. Sit at the counter, ask what the bartender's drinking, and tip in the local norm.