We review every submission. If a bar meets our editorial standards, we add it to our guide and it stays there for free. No catch, no obligation to advertise.
Every bar on barsforkings.com earns its listing through editorial review. We do not accept payment for inclusion, which is why our readers trust us. When you submit a bar, our local editor for that city reviews it against our selection criteria.
We review roughly 140 submissions per month and add around 60 new listings. Turnaround time is typically 2 to 4 weeks. You will receive a confirmation email and, if accepted, a notification when your listing goes live.
If a bar is accepted, we write the listing ourselves in our editorial voice. We may reach out to you for factual details such as hours, address, and notable cocktails. If a bar is declined, it will not appear on the site but you are welcome to resubmit after 6 months.
Fill in the bar name, city, primary category, and your contact details. The more information you give us, the faster we can review it.
Our local editor reviews the bar against our selection criteria. For cities we cover actively, this takes 2 to 4 weeks. We may visit in person or review the bar from available information and reader reports.
If accepted, we email you a link to the live listing. If declined, we let you know why and whether resubmission is possible in the future.
Your listing stays on the site at no cost. We do not charge for organic listings. If you want a sponsored placement at the top of your category page, that is a separate paid option — but it is entirely optional. Learn about advertising.
We do not list every bar that opens. We look for bars that offer something specific and do it exceptionally well. Here is what our editors look for when evaluating a submission.
The best bars know exactly what they are. A sports bar that commits fully to game-day atmosphere. A cocktail bar that takes its menu as seriously as a Michelin kitchen. We look for bars with a point of view, not all-purpose venues.
We read reader reports, check recent reviews, and look at how the bar has maintained its reputation over time. A single brilliant night does not earn a listing. Consistent execution does.
Every bar we list should be worth travelling across a city to visit. If someone reads about it in our newsletter and makes a special plan to go, we need to be confident they will not be disappointed.
Bars live and die by atmosphere, and we only list places where the atmosphere is genuinely memorable. Not clean and pleasant. Memorable. The kind of room you think about afterwards.
We need to be able to give concrete ordering advice. Every bar we list has at least 2 things our editors can confidently recommend, whether that is a house cocktail, a specific beer, or a food pairing.
We only list bars that are open and trading. We remove listings when bars close or when quality drops significantly. Submitting a bar that has closed or is not yet open will result in an immediate decline.
One email every week. The bars our editors are recommending right now, across 60 cities worldwide.
Want guaranteed placement and a sponsored listing at the top of your category? Our paid advertising packages start at $299/year. See advertising options.