The bar industry has no shortage of award programmes, ranking lists, and recognition bodies. The World's 50 Best Bars is the most globally recognised. Tales of the Cocktail's Spirited Awards is the most prestigious within North America. The TIME Out Bar Awards cover the UK market with granular depth. The Bar World 100 tracks individual operators rather than venues. And dozens of city-specific programmes produce their own lists of local recognition every year.
Across all of these, a small number of bars appear again and again. Their collective award haul over the past 15 years amounts to a sustained argument about what greatness in this industry actually looks like. We have compiled the 15 most decorated bars in the world, based on a composite of top-10 appearances across major global rankings, national award wins, and sustained critical recognition from industry panels. What these bars share is not a style or a geography. It is a standard.
How We Scored the Rankings
We assigned points for: World's 50 Best top-10 appearances (3 points per year in the top 10, 5 points for number 1), Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award wins in major categories (2 points each), Bar of the Year wins from Time Out, Imbibe, CLASS, and Difford's Guide (1 point each), and sustained presence on critics' best-of lists over 3 or more years (1 point per qualifying list per year). Total scores were then reviewed by our editorial team and adjusted for recency, since bars that are currently excellent carry more weight than historical winners that have declined.
01
Connaught Bar
Mayfair, London
Three consecutive years as world's best (2020-2022), 9 consecutive top-10 appearances, 4 Spirited Awards, Bar of the Year from 6 separate publications. The Connaught Martini trolley has become the single most recognised service ritual in bar culture. Read the
full story of the Connaught Bar.
02
Dante
Greenwich Village, New York City
World's best bar in 2019 and 2021, 8 top-10 appearances, 3 Spirited Awards including World's Best Bar twice. The Negroni programme at Dante has been studied and replicated more often than almost any other single-concept bar menu in history. Dante's expansion to London, Tokyo, and Sydney extended the brand without diluting the original.
03
Dead Rabbit
Financial District, New York City
World's best bar 2016 and 2017, the only bar to hold the title in consecutive years. 7 top-10 appearances. The flip cocktail revival and the illustrated seasonal menu format are Dead Rabbit's permanent contributions to bar culture. Read the
full story of Dead Rabbit.
04
Attaboy
Lower East Side, New York City
Consistently top-20 since 2014, multiple Spirited Award nominations. The menu-free service model that Attaboy operates has been adopted by more than 200 bars worldwide. Its influence on the industry far exceeds its award total. Read the
full story of Attaboy.
05
Lyaness (formerly Dandelyan)
South Bank, London
Dandelyan earned the world's best bar title in 2018 before closing and becoming Lyaness in 2019. Ryan Chetiyawardana's venue has held 8 consecutive top-10 positions across the two identities. The seasonal ingredient-led programme at Lyaness is the most intellectually rigorous cocktail menu in British bar culture.
06
American Bar at the Savoy
Strand, London
The oldest continuously operating cocktail bar on this list, having served guests since 1893. Multiple top-10 appearances, Spirited Award wins, and a legacy that includes the invention of the Hanky Panky cocktail by Ada Coleman in 1903. Ada Coleman was the most celebrated female head bartender of her era, and the bar has honoured that legacy with a women-led programme since 2020.
"What makes a bar truly great is not one brilliant night. It is 10,000 brilliant nights in a row."
07
Employees Only
West Village, New York City
World's best bar in 2010, consistent top-20 presence since. The speakeasy-inspired room behind a psychic parlour on West Washington Street is one of the most copied concepts in modern bar design. The 4am closing time and the post-midnight food menu are part of a hospitality offer that few bars have matched.
08
Bar Benfiddich
Shinjuku, Tokyo
The most internationally recognised Japanese cocktail bar, Bar Benfiddich holds a unique position in the global rankings as a one-man operation: owner-operator Hiroyasu Kayama grows many of his own herbs and botanicals on a farm outside Tokyo. The 7-seat bar has appeared in the top 50 consistently since 2017 and represents the apex of the Japanese bar tradition of extreme craft and minimal theatre. If you are exploring
Tokyo's cocktail bar scene, Benfiddich is the essential reference point.
09
Atlas
Bugis, Singapore
Atlas holds one of the largest gin collections in the world, with over 1,300 labels, and operates from an art deco space of extraordinary grandeur. The bar has been in the top 10 since 2018, won Asia's best bar title twice, and introduced a generation of guests to the depth and variety of European gin culture. The gin tower behind the bar is 7 storeys high and visible from every seat in the room. See our guide to
cocktail bars in Singapore for the broader picture.
10
Paradiso
El Born, Barcelona
World's best bar in 2022, entered via a hidden door in a pastrami sandwich shop on Carrer de Rera Palau. The concept is overtly playful but the cocktail programme underneath the theatre is genuinely excellent. Head bartender Giacomo Giannotti has built one of the most consistently inventive menus in European bar culture. Paradiso has appeared in the top 10 5 years running. For more great bars in Barcelona, start with our
Barcelona cocktail bar guide.
What the Patterns Tell Us
Across the 15 most decorated bars in the world, several patterns emerge. 9 of the 15 are independently owned. The freedom that comes with full ownership allows for the creative conviction and long-term thinking that awards bodies recognise. Hotel bars (Connaught, Savoy, St Regis Shanghai) succeed because they can draw on a hotel's infrastructure while maintaining genuine creative independence.
Most of the bars on this list have been open for 8 or more years. The award structure rewards consistency over time more than novelty. The bar award ecosystem is designed to surface venues that sustain excellence, not just achieve it in a single opening year.
Geographically, New York and London together account for 8 of the top 15, reflecting the depth of cocktail culture in both cities and the concentration of international judges who visit them regularly. Tokyo, Singapore, and Barcelona are the strongest challengers, and the gap is narrowing. If you are planning serious bar travel, any of the cities that produced bars on this list deserve extended time. Our best bars in the world 2025 guide provides the current top 50 with visit information for every venue.
Know a bar that deserves to be on this list?
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Author
Tom Callahan
Senior Contributing Editor, Global Bar Culture. Tom has visited over 300 bars across 40 countries and has covered the World's 50 Best Bars since 2014. He specialises in craft beer, hidden gems, and the culture of bar excellence worldwide.
