Krakow claims No. 97 as The World’s Best Bars List is revealed

Exactly one week before the announcement of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022, sponsored by Perrier, the extended 51–100 list has today been revealed for the sixth year. The annual list is decided by a voting panel comprising over 650 independent drinks experts, from renowned bartenders, educators and consultants to drinks writers and cocktail specialists

TAG bar team, photo: press materials

The 51-100 List in Numbers 

  • The 51-100 list includes bars spanning 32 different cities across the world 
  • There are 15 new entries on the list, with 5 cities featuring for the first time: Kraków, Bratislava, Manchester, Playa Del Carmen and Bogotá
  • Singapore leads the list with eight bars, including two new entries in Analogue and Republic
  • UK leads Europe with four bars out of a total of 16 across the continent, including the first UK bar on the 51-100 list to appear outside London and Edinburgh 
  • Eastern Europe sees its first ever entries, as bars from Bratislava and Kraków make the list
  • South Africa has a record 4 bars on the list across Cape Town & Johannesburg, whilst in East Africa Nairobi’s Hero Bar has moved up two places 

The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022 will see the prestigious awards leave London for the first time. It comes as an important milestone for the ceremony and bars across the world, celebrating the return of international travel and the outstanding performance of the global bar sector over the past year. The reveal of the extended 51-100 list aims to cast a wider spotlight on a greater number of bars and regions from around the world.

Mark Sansom, Director of Content for The World’s 50 Best Bars, says “We decided to take the ceremony outside of London for the first time in order to shine a light on the other great cocktail cities of the world, and we are delighted to see so many new cities appear on the extended list for the first time – being able to recognise 32 different global cities out of the available 50 positions is particularly pleasing. All the bars announced today have continued, with outstanding resilience, to overcome the challenges that still face the industry, and it gives us great pleasure to celebrate double the number of establishments and their achievements.” 

Singapore shines through as the 51-100 best performer  

Of the 14 Asian bars on the list, Singapore leads the 51-100 with eight bars. Sago House is the highest ranked at No.51, followed by 28 HongKong Street at No.55, both of which have ranked higher than they did in 2021. Following just behind is MO Bar at No.57 and new entry Analogue at No.65. Further venues include Atlas at No.67, No Sleep Club at No.69, with a re-entry for Nutmeg & Clove at No.74 and a second new entry for Singapore with Republic at No.90. 

UK leads Europe 

Europe continues as a stronghold for cocktail culture, with a total of 16 bars on the list across 10 cities, with the UK leading the charge. It also marks the very first time a bar outside of London or Edinburgh has been represented on the 51-100 list, with Schofield’s Bar in Manchester placing at No.59. Following on from the UK is France and Italy, who each have three bars on the list.  

Cyprus has its first bar on the list since 2019 with Nicosia’s Lost & Found returning at No.81. For the first time, Eastern Europe is represented with two new entries, Antique American Bar from Bratislava at No.91 and Kraków’s Tag at No.97.

USA tops the Americas 

The US has four bars on the 51-100 list, out of a total of 11 across the Americas. New entry Bar Goto from New York is at No.83, followed by Mace at No.93 and The Dead Rabbit at No.96, with Miami’s, Sweet Liberty at No.94. North America also sees Old San Juan’s La Factoría back on the list at No.54 and two new entries from Mexico, with Mexico City’s Brujas at No.64 and Playa del Carmen’s debut with Zapote Bar at No.98. 

South America is represented by four bars, with Buenos Aires’ Presidente at No.61 and São Paulo’s

Tan Tan at No.62, followed by two new entries from Colombia with Cartagena’s El Barón at No.66 and Bogotá’s La Sala de Laura at No.70, the first time the city has featured in either list. 

South Africa makes a splash with 4 bars on the 51-100 list

South Africa has a record four bars on the list, with Cape Town’s Cause Effect Cocktail Kitchen at No.53 alongside new entries Art of Duplicity at No.88 and The House of Machines at No.92, all of which join Johannesburg’s Sin + Tax at No.100. East Africa’s Hero bar in Nairobi moves up two spaces to No.68. 

The list of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022, sponsored by Perrier, will be revealed at a live awards ceremony in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain on 4th October 2022. The countdown of the list will also be broadcast live to a global audience who are not able to attend in person, from 8.20pm local time. Bars and cocktail lovers are invited to join through The World’s 50 Best Bars Facebook page and 50 Best Bars TV channel on YouTube

THE VOTING PROCESS

For 2022, The World’s 50 Best Bars continued to make some changes to adapt to the ever-changing situation following the pandemic. Due to some countries around the world still operating on limited travel throughout the latter half of 2021 and early 2022, The World’s 50 Best Bars continued to review the way voting will operate to reflect this. While voting guidelines still haven’t returned to pre-pandemic regulations, some changes were made in the way voting operated for this edition of the awards to ensure the most authentic vote possible. All members of The World’s 50 Best Bars Academy were asked to vote for seven bars in total, with a maximum of five of these coming from their home country. At least the remaining two had to be international votes, although there is no limit of the number of international votes they could cast, up to a maximum of seven. Voters who were unable to travel internationally in the last year were not required to cast their final two votes. The list of The World’s 50 Best Bars is an annual snapshot of opinions and reflects the state of global travel during the voting period. Voting remained anonymous, secure and the voting process and results are independently adjudicated by Deloitte.

RankingEstablishment City 
51Sago HouseSingapore
52Barro NegroAthens
53Cause Effect Cocktail KitchenCape Town
54La FactoríaOld San Juan
5528 HongKong StreetSingapore
56QuinaryHong Kong
57MO BarSingapore
58Mimi KakushiDubai
59Schofield’sManchester
60Caretaker’s CottageMelbourne
61PresidenteBuenos Aires
62Tan TanSão Paulo
63The SG ClubTokyo
64BrujasMexico City
65AnalogueSingapore
66El BarónCartagena
67AtlasSingapore
68Hero BarNairobi
69No Sleep ClubSingapore
70La Sala de LauraBogotá
71TjogetStockholm
72Three SheetsLondon
73Camparino in GalleriaMilan
74Nutmeg & CloveSingapore
75Side HustleLondon
76CandelariaParis
77The CourtRome
78Röda HusetStockholm
79VesperBangkok
80Dead End ParadiseBeirut
81Lost & FoundNicosia
82Indulge Experimental BistroTaipei
83Bar GotoNew York
84Le SyndicatParis
85DanicoParis
86Freni e FrizioniRome
87ReSydney
88Art of DuplicityCape Town
89Donovan BarLondon
90RepublicSingapore
91Antique American BarBratislava
92The House of MachinesCape Town
93MaceNew York
94Sweet LibertyMiami
95The Bamboo BarBangkok
96The Dead RabbitNew York
97TagKraków
98Zapote BarPlaya del Carmen
99TesouroGoa
100Sin + TaxJohannesburg