The 50 Best Bars 2026 list is here

The results are in, and for the second year in a row, Hong Kong’s Bar Leone has clinched the top award at The 50 Best Bars 2026, sponsored by Perrier. The ceremony in Milan named its host city’s Moebius Bar in second place, while London venues The Connaught Bar and Satan’s Whiskers retained their places in the top 50, and the much-loved Waltz was a new entry at number 32.

While the restaurant world has historic awards going back more than a century, in the cocktail-bar industry it’s The 50 (newly rebranded from 50 Best earlier this year) that has the biggest say. The ceremony and production was reliably polished, upbeat and exciting, compèred by London-born king of mixed drinks Pritesh Mody, and held in Palazzo del Ghiaccio to the south east of the old centre, where the big, full-hearted energy in the room reiterated what this means to the cocktail community.

New for 2026

As the awards have evolved in recent years, a sense of local culture now shines across the awards’ winners and the whole of the list – something that seems to be at the heart of The 50 Best Bars in 2026. Nouvelle Vague from Tirana and Mirror Bar from Bratislava were both in May’s inaugural Europe’s 50 Best Bars awards and are now regulars in the global edition.

Bars from Cartegena and Medellín, meanwhile, are showcasing the country’s incredible biodiversity and young, upwardly mobile cocktail culture. Colombia, in fact, is a gold standard in representing how quickly a local bar community can show itself on the world stage. There were no cocktail bars of this type 20 years ago; now there are four in the top 50. That’s similar for Lima, which has had incredible success on the global stage for restaurants, but is now catching up with its bars.
There’s a notable multi-storey theme, with bars like Cartagena’s Alquímico and New York’s Sip & Guzzle that showcase distinct styles of drinks and service across two or more floors, balancing a high-volume format with a slower pace downstairs. Meanwhile, the rise of the listening bar format seems to be making itself known in the top bars on the list, with Waltz and Buenos Aires’ Victor Audio Bar both representing hi-fidelity experience, marrying vinyl and cocktails.

Bar Leone, winner of the World's Best Bar award for the second year running

Waltz in Shoreditch was a new entry for 2026

Fittingly for an awards show taking place in one of Italy’s great cities, there is also – as there so often is – a strong Italian contingent in the list that goes far beyond the bars from Italy. The winner, Bar Leone, is a project from teams formerly based in Italy and those on the ground in Hong Kong (and now Shanghai), while former winner Paradiso is Barcelona-based but Italian-owned. “Italian bartenders around the world are known for their personality and their capability to make people feel welcome,” says Bar Leone co-founder Lorenzo Antinori. “It’s part of our strength.”

London’s winners

There was a time where London had much of the top end of the list on lock. Not so much these days, but that’s more a result of dynamic local culture elsewhere in the world making competition stronger than ever.

Reliably part of the top end of the list is The Connaught Bar, still a reference point for bars across the world, with directors Ago Perrone and Giorgio Bargiani a fixture of the pop-ups and events hosted across the city in the build-up. Also a reliable entry, with a different style of service more at home in its Bethnal Green habitat, Satan’s Whiskers has made itself impossible to ignore.

Waltz, meanwhile, is a relatively new opening and a new entry for 2026. Founder Gento Torigata is a celebrated bartender, who spoke passionately at Europe’s 50 Best Bars in May about drawing from Japanese hospitality in a London setting. For those that haven’t been, it’s well worth a visit – even if the queue is likely to be that little bit longer.

What do the awards mean?

To the winners, a huge amount. “It catapults a bar and its talented leaders into verified industry stardom,” reports Tyler Zielinski, Foodism contributor, consultant and founder of bar-industry platform Zest Stories, in this excellent article on what winning the top award means. “The average increase in revenue from surveyed bars is around 20% – a significant bump to the bottom line.” Beyond that, they represent an international industry of like-minded bartenders, bar owners and industry professionals who are striving to do more and do better, with spectacular results.

The Bar Leone team at The 50 Best Bars 2026

The 50

The awards are judged by a huge global panel of industry tastemakers, with representatives based permanently in each major region. For those punters who want to engage with cocktails and bar experiences at the highest level, the awards provide a list of some of the best venues at some of the world’s most dynamic and exciting cities. The 50 is at its heart about travel and hospitality, and if this year’s list has cocktail drinkers booking flights to Colombia, Bangkok or Athens, it’s done its job.

The 50 Best Bars list 2026

1. Bar Leone, Hong Kong (The World’s Best Bar, sponsored by Perrier) (also The Best Bar in Asia)
2. Moebius Milano, Milan (also The Best Bar in Europe, sponsored by Torres Brandy)
3. Alquímico, Cartagena (also Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award and The Best Bar in South America, sponsored by Rémy Martin)
4. Bar Us, Bangkok
5. Line, Athens
6. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City (also The Best Bar in North America, sponsored by Monkey Shoulder)
7. Zest, Seoul
8. Connaught Bar, London
9. Lady Bee, Lima
10. Bar Mauro, Mexico City (also Disaronno Highest New Entry Award)
11. Schmuck, New York (also Three Cents Best New Opening Award)
12. Hope & Sesame, Guangzhou
13. The Cambridge Public House, Paris
14. Sip & Guzzle, New York
15. Bar Nouveau, Paris
16. Sips, Barcelona
17. Paradiso, Barcelona (also Rémy Martin Legend of the List Award)
18. Jigger & Pony, Singapore
19. The Bar in Front of the Bar, Athens (also Nikka Highest Climber Award)
20. Exímia, São Paulo
21. Tres Monos, Buenos Aires
22. Mamba Negra, Medellín
23. De Vie, Paris
24. Himkok, Oslo
25. Argo, Hong Kong
26. Danico, Paris
27. Dry Wave Cocktail Studio, Bangkok
28. El Gallo Altanero, Guadalajara
29. Satan’s Whiskers, London
30. BKK Social Club, Bangkok
31. Victor Audio Bar, Buenos Aires
32. Waltz, London
33. Locale Firenze, Florence
34. Mirror Bar, Bratislava
35. Tan Tan, São Paulo
36. Montana, Hong Kong
37. Sastrería Martinez, Lima
38. Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore
39. Bar Carmen, Medellín
40. Barro Negro, Athens
41. Gokan, Hong Kong
42. Mimi Kakushi, Dubai (also The Best Bar in the Middle East, sponsored by Mancino Vermouth)
43. Nouvelle Vague, Tirana
44. Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
45. Caretaker’s Cottage, Melbourne (also The Best Bar in Australasia, sponsored by Mr Black)
46. Martiny’s, New York
47. Tlecān, Mexico City
48. Virtù, Tokyo
49. Bar Snack, New York
50. Angelita, Madrid

See more at the50.com/bars