The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022 features bars from 26 cities and sees Barcelona’s Paradiso take the No. 1 spot as the Best Bar in Europe and World’s Best Bar. This is the first time this honor has been bestowed on a bar outside of the historic cocktail capitals of New York and London.

The 2022 list features bars from 26 cities, with 14 new entries spread across Athens, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Dubai, Florence, Hong Kong, Lisbon, London, Naples and New York.  For the first time, bars from Florence, Lisbon and Naples feature in the 50 Best list.

© The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022

The list is compiled by votes from The World’s 50 Best Bars Academy, which comprises more than 650 drinks experts with 50/50 gender parity, including renowned bartenders and consultants, drinks writers and cocktail specialists from around the world. The Academy of voters spans 28 global geographic regions, each headed by an Academy Chair who selects their region’s voters, with the distribution of voters designed to reflect the relative development and sophistication of the drinks sector, as well as the concentration of quality bars in each region. Each voter casts seven votes based on their best bar experiences of the previous 18 months, although if they have been unable to travel, they are welcome to provide five votes from their home country or SAR. Voters are required to remain anonymous and voting is confidential, secure and independently adjudicated by Deloitte. The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022, sponsored by Perrier, were unveiled at a live awards ceremony in Barcelona last month.

© The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022

Hidden behind an antique refrigerator in the back of an unassuming pastrami shop in Barcelona’s trendy El Born district, Paradiso offers a truly masterful take on the speakeasy, combining technique, precision and creativity with an unwavering sense of fun. In stark contrast to the understated exterior, the majestic front bar welcomes guests into a strikingly playful space, complete with dramatic glass light fittings and a Gaudi-inspired, curved-wood ceiling. At the bar, a myriad of meticulously crafted cocktails served in outlandish vessels take center stage. Paradiso signatures, such as the Supercool Martini, use ‘supercooled’ gin to build an iceberg in the glass before tailoring the final product tableside for a uniquely personal guest experience.

Coming into the list for the first time at No. 6, New York’s Double Chicken Please is awarded the Disaronno Highest New Entry. Co-founders GN Chang and Faye Chen, along with their outstanding team, created an exceptional dual-concept space on New York’s Lower East Side, drawing inspiration from the worlds of food, drink and design.

© The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022

BKK Social Club, at No. 14 in Bangkok, is named London Essence Best New Opening. This bar entered the list and scored in the highest position of any opened during the voting period. Under the stewardship of industry veteran Philip Bischoff, BKK Social Club draws in the dual inspiration of Buenos Aires and Bangkok, against the glamorous garden-inspired backdrop of the Four Seasons at Chao Phraya River.

Sips in Barcelona secures the Nikka Highest Climber Award, having moved up 34 places within the top 50 list to No. 3. Founders Simone Caporale and Marc Alvarez created an immersive space within which to serve showstopping cocktails in elaborate glassware, creating waves around the world.

Licorería Limantour in Mexico City ranks No. 4 and claims the title of Rémy Martin Legend of the List, an award given to a bar that has performed most consistently in the list since its inception. This award can only be won once. With more than a decade as an institution in Mexico City’s bubbling nightlife scene, co-founder Benjamin Padrón and his team are renowned for their electric atmosphere and refined cocktails. It also takes the honor of being The Best Bar in North America.

The other World’s 50 Best Bars can be explored in this video.