The Margin: The best bar in the world is this ‘majestic’ Barcelona drinking spot

United States

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

Paradiso, a watering hole in the Spanish city, was named the top drinking spot across the globe by the World’s 50 Best Bars organization. The announcement was made at a Tuesday event held — coincidentally or not — in Barcelona.

Paradiso is celebrated for its “majestic Dali-esque curved wooden bar,” and creative drinks, according to the World’s 50 Best Bars team. One noteworthy cocktail on the menu is the Supercool Martini, which is flavored with fennel and oregano.

The bar ranked third in the World’s 50 Best Bars 2021 survey. Paradiso co-owner Giacomo Giannotti was overwhelmed with emotion at Tuesday’s ceremony, which was carred live online. “I don’t know where to start,” he said.

A handful of U.S. bars also made the top-50 cut, including six in New York: Double Chicken Please (No. 6 — the highest rank among American drinking spots), Katana Kitten (9), Attaboy (22), Overstory (34), Dante (36) and Employees Only (47).

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 continue to recover from the pandemic, which forced many bars to shut down for months on end .

William Reed, the media company behind the bar ranking, also releases an annual survey of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, plus it launched a 50 Best Bars in North America survey earlier this year.

Here’s the full list of the 50 Best Bars in the World:

1 Paradiso Barcelona
2 Tay?r + Elementary London
3 Sips Barcelona
4 Licorería Limantour Mexico City
5 Little Red Door Paris
6 Double Chicken Please New York
7 Two Schmucks Barcelona
8 Connaught Bar London
9 Katana Kitten New York
10 Alquímico Cartagena
11 Handshake Speakeasy Mexico City
12 Jigger & Pony Singapore
13 Hanky Panky Mexico City
14 BKK Social Club Bangkok
15 Salmon Guru Madrid
16 Drink Kong Rome
17 Coa Hong Kong
18 Florería Atlántico Buenos Aires
19 The Clumsies Athens
20 Baba au Rum Athens
21 Café La Trova  Miami
22 Attaboy New York
23 Satan’s Whiskers London
24 Tropic City Bangkok
25 Kumiko Chicago
26 Sidecar New Delhi
27 Tres Monos Buenos Aires
28 Argo Hong Kong
29 Maybe Sammy Sydney
30 Swift London
31 Line Athens
32 Baltra Bar Mexico City
33 Manhattan Singapore
34 Overstory New York
35 1930 Milan
36 Dante New York
37 A Bar with Shapes for a Name London
38 Zuma Dubai
39 Locale Firenze Florence
40 Red Frog Lisbon
41 Cantina OK! Sydney
42 CoChinChina Buenos Aires
43 Himkok Oslo
44 Carnaval Lima
45 Galaxy Bar Dubai
46 L’Antiquario Naples
47 Employees Only New York
48 Bar Benfiddich Tokyo
49 Lucy’s Flower Shop Stockholm
50 Bulgari Bar  Dubai