The Margin: The best bar in the world for 2021 is…The Connaught Bar in London

United States

If you want to visit the bar proclaimed as the world’s best, you better book a trip to London.

The Connaught Bar, a London watering hole that bills itself as evoking “a touch of timeless elegance,” was named the top drinking spot across the globe for the second consecutive year by the World’s 50 Best Bars organization.

In a press release, the organization said Tuesday that the Connaught “stays true to its principles of presenting artful, modern drinks with graceful service.” The bar’s menu includes a mix of classics — the Connaught Martini features Tanqueray No. 10 Gin with a blend of vermouths — alongside more inventive sips. One drink, the Ellipses, features dots of edible paint on a square of ice.

While the Connaught may have given England the highest position, the top-50 list was dominated by bars in other locales. For example, Singapore had six bars on the slate, with the highest ranking being Jigger & Pony in the ninth spot.

A handful of U.S. bars also made the cut, including three in New York: Katana Kitten (No. 10), Dante (30) and Attaboy (34). Dante, a Greenwich Village bar that specializes in Italian cocktails, had been named the world’s best bar in 2019 at Tales of the Cocktail, another prominent industry forum.

The announcement of the World’s 50 Best Bars list comes as drinking establishments are still trying to recover from the pandemic, which forced many bars to shut down for months on end and stigmatized the industry even after reopening. By their very nature, bars bring people together in often tight spaces — the very opposite of social distancing — so they were often seen as particularly perilous places to be.

Art Sutley, a hospitality consultant, said he hopes this year’s 50 Best announcement will give the industry a much-needed lift. He added that the places that make it on the list usually see a sizable boost of business from locals and tourists alike. “You become a destination bar,” Sutley said.