Earlier this week in Barcelona, during a ceremony live-streamed across dozens of locales around the globe, the annual line-up of the World’s 50 Best Bars was announced – including two Aussie awardees, both located in Sydney. Tough break Melbourne – better luck next year.
For inveterate readers of previous 50 Best editions, the Sydney-side venues that managed to crack this year’s list will hardly come as a surprise. Pitched at a very respectable No. 29, boozehounds will find Maybe Sammy – arguably Australia’s premiere drinking destination, which fuses “top-flight innovative cocktails” with a heaping spoonful of “Italian-Australian irreverence.”
2022 marks the fourth time Maybe Sammy has been lauded by the 50 Best Academy: an impressive feat further buoyed by its status as Best Bar in Australasia.
“We’re so grateful our team continues to be recognised for the brilliant work they do,” says Stefano Catino, Maybe Sammy Co-founder.
“When we opened in 2019, we never would have dreamed we’d be one of the ‘World’s 50 Best Bars’ four years in a row.”
Meanwhile, sitting pretty at No. 41 is Cantina OK! – a real microcosm of Aussie excellence that dispenses of virtually everything except for the mise en place, in the form of a carport-sized bar nestled off of Clarence Street.
The venue’s capacity maxes out at 20 and there’s no real design angle to speak of, leaving you to appreciate the only thing that matters – the house’s delicious, inventive, largely agave-based cocktails.
“It’s mind-blowing for us to have even been considered,” says Ryan Bickley, GM of parent group Mucho Aloha.
“With Cantina, it was just a place we wanted people to come and to feel at home.”
Elsewhere on the list, the 50 Best Bars in 2022 include a number of milestones. Most notably, Paradiso, which took home this year’s top spot, is the first ever venue outside London or New York to snag the coveted World’s Best Bar title – an acknowledgment of all the mixological innovation that has been occurring these past few years outside the traditionally English-speaking epicentres of the beverage industry.
In general, European cities enjoyed excellent representation across the board this year, with this edition of 50 Best the first ever to recommend multiple venues from Florence, Naples, and Lisbon.
You can explore the full list of the World’s 50 Best Bars in 2022 below.
- Paradiso, Barcelona
- Tayēr + Elementary, London
- Sips, Barcelona (Highest Climber Award)
- Licorería Limantour, Mexico City (Best Bar in North America)
- Little Red Door, Paris (Sustainable Bar Award)
- Double Chicken Please, New York (Highest New Entry)
- Two Schmucks, Barcelona
- Connaught Bar, London
- Katana Kitten, New York
- Alquímico, Cartagena (Best Bar in South America)
- Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
- Jigger & Pony, Singapore (Best Bar in Asia)
- Hanky Panky, Mexico City
- BKK Social Club, Bangkok
- Salmon Guru, Madrid
- Drink Kong, Rome
- Coa, Hong Kong
- Florería Atlántico, Buenos Aires
- The Clumsies, Athens
- Baba au Rum, Athens
- Café La Trova, Miami
- Attaboy, New York
- Satan’s Whiskers, London
- Tropic City, Bangkok
- Kumiko, Chicago
- Sidecar, New Delhi
- Tres Monos, Buenos Aires
- Argo, Hong Kong
- Maybe Sammy, Sydney (Best Bar in Australasia)
- Swift, London
- Line, Athens
- Baltra Bar, Mexico City
- Manhattan, Singapore
- Overstory, New York
- 1930, Milan
- Dante, New York
- A Bar with Shapes for a Name, London
- Zuma, Dubai (Best Bar in the Middle East and Africa)
- Locale Firenze, Florence
- Red Frog, Lisbon
- Cantina OK!, Sydney
- CoChinChina, Buenos Aires
- Himkok, Oslo
- Carnaval, Lima
- Galaxy Bar, Dubai
- L’Antiquario, Naples
- Employees Only, New York
- Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
- Lucy’s Flower Shop, Stockholm
- Bulgari Bar, Dubai
