For the first time, a bar outside of London and New York has been crowned The World's Best Bar.
Barcelona’s Paradiso was named The Best Bar in Europe and The World’s Best Bar at an awards ceremony on 4 October that was fittingly held in Spain's second largest city.
It is the first time a bar outside of the traditional cocktail capitals of New York or London has won the top award in a year when Spain dominated the top 10, according to the World's 50 Best franchise.
"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," the award organisers said in a statement.
London's Tayēr + Elementary maintained its No. 2 place, but another Barcelona bar, Sips, took Paradiso's third place slot from 2021 while Two Schmucks from the same Spanish city came in at No. 7.
The World's Best Bar in 2021, London's Connaught Bar, slipped to eighth place. Only two bars in the English capital made the top 20 in this year's rankings. Paris only had one bar on the list, Little Red Door, at No. 5.
New York had the most bars on the list of any city in the world, with two of the six making it into the top 10: Double Chicken Please at No. 6 and Katana Kitten, which rose one place to No. 9.
Licorería Limantour continued to spearhead Mexico City’s burgeoning emerging cocktail scene at No. 4 and also took the The Best Bar in North America gong for the second consecutive year.
Back in Europe, bars from Florence, Lisbon and Naples featured in the top 50 ranking for the first time. Rome’s Drink Kong at No. 16 was in the highest place of the four bars from Italy. Two bars in Athens squeaked into the top 20: The Clumsies (No.19) and Baba Au Rum (No. 20).
The awards, sponsored by Perrier, have been held every year since 2009. The list is compiled by votes from The World’s 50 Best Bars Academy, made up of more than 650 drinks experts from around the globe.
