LET’S SAY you can’t get to Licorería Limantour in Mexico City or Double Chicken Please in New York — two of the top 50 bars in the world.
Don’t worry. The World’s 50 Best Bars has made a second, less vaunted list with other bars in those cities. Despite its name, the organization also ranks the top 51-100 drinking holes in the world, based on votes from 680 experts in the field.
New entries on the 2023 list of 51-100 best bars list include Martiny’s in New York City, which ranked No. 68, and Rayo (No. 72) and Kaito del Valle in Mexico City, as well as 11 other additions this year.
A bar from Albania made the list for the first time: Nouvelle Vague in the capital city of Tirana.
The list, owned by UK publisher William Reed Business Media, is closely watched in the industry. On one hand, it’s an honor — and a marketing bump — just to be listed. But if an establishment appears on this half of the list, it also means it’s not in the top half.
Such a fate befell Manhattan, a Singapore bar that has been slowly slipping down the list. It was No. 11 in 2019, No. 33 in 2021, and this year slipped to No. 63. It probably suffered particularly this year because the hotel that houses it was closed for a time for refurbishing. Attaboy in New York and Kumiko in Chicago also slipped off the top 50 list to take spots on the 51-100 ranking.
Critics say that such lists can be influenced by establishments that spend time and money getting voters in the door. (Even though the voter rolls are supposed to be anonymous, bar owners and chefs say they think they can figure out which influencers, journalists, or bartenders might be voting.)
Others say that these lists encourage innovation and ensure that bars don’t rest on their laurels. — Bloomberg
Here’s the full 51-100 list for 2023:
51. Danico, Paris
52. Lady Bee, Lima
53. The Bellwood, Tokyo
54. Lyaness, London
55. Vesper, Bangkok
56. Tan Tan, São Paulo
57. Attaboy, New York
58. SubAstor, São Paulo
59. 28 HongKong Street, Singapore
60. Arca, Tulum, Mexico
61. Byrdi, Melbourne
62. Hero Bar, Nairobi
63. Manhattan, Singapore
64. Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore
65. El Gallo Altanero, Guadalajara, Mexico
66. Tropic City, Bangkok
67. Sidecar, New Delhi
68. Martiny’s, New York
69. Ergo, Dubai
70. Barro Negro, Athens
71. Penicillin, Hong Kong
72. Rayo, Mexico City
73. Civil Liberties, Toronto
74. Hope & Sesame, Guangzhou, China
75. Bar Cham, Seoul
76. Swift, London
77. Velvet, Berlin
78. Analogue Initiative, Singapore
79. High Five, Tokyo
80. La Sala de Laura, Bogotá
81. Kaito del Valle, Mexico City
82. Kumiko, Chicago
83. Native, Singapore
84. Svanen, Oslo
85. Camparino in Galleria, Milan
86. Nouvelle Vague, Tirana, Albania
87. Ruby, Copenhagen
88. Red Frog, Lisbon
89. Thunderbolt, Los Angeles
90. Mirror Bar, Bratislava, Slovakia
91. Maison Premiere, New York
92. Donovan Bar, London
93. Tjoget, Stockholm
94. Sin + Tax, Johannesburg
95. Schofield’s, Manchester, UK
96. Lost & Found, Nicosia, Cyprus
97. Darkside, Hong Kong
98. The Bar in Front of the Bar, Athens
99. Employees Only, New York
100. Artesian, London