If you want to visit the bar proclaimed as the world’s best, you’d better book a trip to Barcelona.
Paradiso, a watering hole in the Spanish city, was named the top drinking spot across the globe by the World’s 50 Best Bars organization. The announcement was made at a Tuesday event held — coincidentally or not — in Barcelona.
Paradiso is celebrated for its “majestic Dali-esque curved wooden bar,” and creative drinks, according to the World’s 50 Best Bars team. One noteworthy cocktail on the menu is the Supercool Martini, which is flavored with fennel and oregano.
The bar ranked third in the World’s 50 Best Bars 2021 survey. Paradiso co-owner Giacomo Giannotti was overwhelmed with emotion at Tuesday’s ceremony, which was carred live online. “I don’t know where to start,” he said.
A handful of U.S. bars also made the top-50 cut, including six in New York: Double Chicken Please (No. 6 — the highest rank among American drinking spots), Katana Kitten (9), Attaboy (22), Overstory (34), Dante (36) and Employees Only (47).
Dante, a Greenwich Village bar that specializes in Italian cocktails, had been named the world’s best bar in 2019 at Tales of the Cocktail, another prominent industry forum.
The announcement of the World’s 50 Best Bars list comes as drinking establishments continue to recover from the pandemic, which forced many bars to shut down for months on end .
William Reed, the media company behind the bar ranking, also releases an annual survey of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, plus it launched a 50 Best Bars in North America survey earlier this year.
Here’s the full list:
| 1 | Paradiso | Barcelona |
| 2 | Tayēr + Elementary | London |
| 3 | Sips | Barcelona |
| 4 | Licorería Limantour | Mexico City |
| 5 | Little Red Door | Paris |
| 6 | Double Chicken Please | New York |
| 7 | Two Schmucks | Barcelona |
| 8 | Connaught Bar | London |
| 9 | Katana Kitten | New York |
| 10 | Alquímico | Cartagena |
| 11 | Handshake Speakeasy | Mexico City |
| 12 | Jigger & Pony | Singapore |
| 13 | Hanky Panky | Mexico City |
| 14 | BKK Social Club | Bangkok |
| 15 | Salmon Guru | Madrid |
| 16 | Drink Kong | Rome |
| 17 | Coa | Hong Kong |
| 18 | Florería Atlántico | Buenos Aires |
| 19 | The Clumsies | Athens |
| 20 | Baba au Rum | Athens |
| 21 | Café La Trova | Miami |
| 22 | Attaboy | New York |
| 23 | Satan’s Whiskers | London |
| 24 | Tropic City | Bangkok |
| 25 | Kumiko | Chicago |
| 26 | Sidecar | New Delhi |
| 27 | Tres Monos | Buenos Aires |
| 28 | Argo | Hong Kong |
| 29 | Maybe Sammy | Sydney |
| 30 | Swift | London |
| 31 | Line | Athens |
| 32 | Baltra Bar | Mexico City |
| 33 | Manhattan | Singapore |
| 34 | Overstory | New York |
| 35 | 1930 | Milan |
| 36 | Dante | New York |
| 37 | A Bar with Shapes for a Name | London |
| 38 | Zuma | Dubai |
| 39 | Locale Firenze | Florence |
| 40 | Red Frog | Lisbon |
| 41 | Cantina OK! | Sydney |
| 42 | CoChinChina | Buenos Aires |
| 43 | Himkok | Oslo |
| 44 | Carnaval | Lima |
| 45 | Galaxy Bar | Dubai |
| 46 | L’Antiquario | Naples |
| 47 | Employees Only | New York |
| 48 | Bar Benfiddich | Tokyo |
| 49 | Lucy’s Flower Shop | Stockholm |
| 50 | Bulgari Bar | Dubai |
