The World’s 50 Best Bars, by the Numbers

Earlier this week, the 50 Best organization announced its list of the top bars around the world. If you’re familiar with the 50 Best Industrial Complex (kidding, but also, it’s a lot: one for each continent, for restaurants, for hotels…), by now, you know the deal. The organization taps 800 experts including bartenders, drinks writers and others in the cocktail industry to anonymously vote on their eight “best bar experiences of the previous 18 months.” 

Any organization that dares to make such a definitive list will have its detractors. While covering the restaurant counterpart, Alan Sytsma wrote in Grub Street: “In the beginning, the list was intended to be something of an antidote to Michelin’s staid system of stars, but over its two decades of existence, it’s begun to feel as predictable and exclusionary as the tire guide it was meant to replace.” Others have criticized 50 Best for sexism and for treating the accolades like a “popularity contest.”

Is it a popularity contest? Without rigid criteria for nominating a bar, it’s hard to actually tell what kind of contest this is. That’s why we decided to run the numbers to try to get to the bottom of it. After looking at locations, menus, social media followings and more, here’s what it apparently takes to be a 50 Best bar. 

The most awarded countries are the U.S. and the U.K., with five bars each. Albania, China, Slovakia and Sweden—four countries not represented in 2024—debuted this year. The most represented continent is Europe, with 23 bars, and the most popular city is New York City, with four bars, followed by Paris and Tokyo, with three bars each.

This year’s award ceremony took place in Hong Kong, which is also home to Bar Leone, No. 1 on the list. “This recognition not only highlights our hard work but also affirms that our city belongs at the very heart of the global bar industry, celebrated for its creativity and warm hospitality,” Lorenzo Antinori, the bar’s owner, said via press release.

Sixty percent of bars on this year’s list were also featured in 2024. 50 Best awarded the Milan bar Moebius Milano, No. 7, its “highest climber” award, moving 31 places year over year. 

Superbueno, No. 12, also made a jump, up 15 places from last year. Asked whether the team had made significant changes since 2024, owner Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez says much of the program has stayed the same, though the recognition from 50 Best and other honors (including Punch’s own Best New Bars of 2023) has enabled the team to “welcome guests from around the world for a Superbueno experience.”