My Guide to North America's 50 Best Bars: The Abbreviated U.S Hit List
World's 50 Best Bars recently announced the second iteration of its top 50 bars in North America. Given April and May's American drinking theme, I share the U.S Bars worth visiting.
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North America’s 50 Best Bars 2023
The list of North America’s 50 Best Bars was announced at a live awards ceremony on May 4, 2023 at Hacienda Los Picachos in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. This represents the first time the awards ceremony was staged in Mexico — a nod to the country’s rapidly growing presence on the global cocktail scene.
In the second year of the awards for North America — which includes bars from the USA, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean — American bars, mostly from New York, dominated the list.
If you remember my newsletter from February where I rounded up the best cocktail bars in New York City, you’ll recall my love for Double Chicken Please. Unsurprisingly, this exceptional cocktail bar was crowned No.1 as The Best Bar in North America and The Best Bar in Northeast USA at the prestigious awards ceremony. The minimalist and innovative Handshake Speakeasy from Mexico City took the second spot on the list (read my story about Handshake’s Mexi-Thai cocktail for Punch), and New York’s Katana Kitten was No.3 on the list.
My hot take: Double Chicken Please will be well in contention for best bar in the world when the World’s 50 Best Bars ceremony comes around in October 2023 in Singapore. It is truly one of the finest cocktail bars I’ve been to — make a reservation, and good luck getting in these days.
My U.S Cocktail Bar Hit List
As with any awards list, there’s always plenty of bias when it comes to the panel of judges. But the World’s 50 Best organization has done an excellent job at improving and diversifying their judging academy every year to the point where I think the list is as credible as one could get.
So, with that, I’ve taken the liberty of abbreviating North America’s 50 Best Bars list to only include American bars to align with my April and May newsletter theme, but I’ve reorganized the list to rank the bars in order of most travel-worthy.
I’ve based these rankings on either my own experiences at the bars, things I’ve heard from credible sources who have been to the bars, or from what I’ve seen online and understanding their beverage programs and general concepts. As a part of my job, I spend a lot of time learning about what bars around the world are up to, so I’ve built a pretty solid understanding of what’s what.
There are many factors to consider when it comes to evaluating what makes a bar particularly special and destination worthy, so I encourage you to read an old newsletter of mine where I dissect this exact topic. But for now, here is my list of the best bars in America based on this year’s 50 Best North American Bars list.
*Indicates that I’ve actually been to the bar
The Best American Bars Ranked by Travel-Worthiness
Double Chicken Please, New York City*
Café La Trova, Miami
Katana Kitten, New York City*
Attaboy, New York City
Thunderbolt, Los Angeles
The Dead Rabbit, New York City*
Yacht Club, Denver
Jewel of the South, New Orleans
Kumiko, Chicago
Dante, New York City*
Overstory, New York City*
Maison Premiere, New York City
Martiny’s, New York City
Allegory, Washington D.C.
Cure, New Orleans
Herbs & Rye, Las Vegas*
Mace, New York City
Bar Leather Apron, Honolulu
Employees Only, New York City*
Pacific Cocktail Haven, San Francisco
Death & Co (Los Angeles), Los Angeles
Clover Club, New York City
Sweet Liberty, Miami
Milady’s, New York City
Other bars on North America’s 50 Best List
I’ve not included these few bars in my list because I’ve actually never heard of them and it didn’t feel right to include, but I’m sure they’re dope.
Milk Room, Chicago
Platform 18, Phoenix
Youngblood, San Diego
Service Bar, Washington D.C.