WORDS Gina Dionisio
The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022 list features bars from 26 cities with 14 new entries spread across Athens, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Dubai, Florence, Hong Kong, Lisbon, London, Naples and New York.
The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022 features bars from 26 cities and sees Barcelona’s Paradiso take the No.1 spot to be named The Best Bar in Europe and The World’s Best Bar, sponsored by Perrier. This is the first time this honour has been bestowed on a bar outside of the historic cocktail capitals of New York and London.
Hidden behind an antique refrigerator in the back of an unassuming pastrami shop in Barcelona’s trendy El Born district, Paradiso offers a truly masterful take on the speakeasy, combining technique, precision and creativity with an unwavering sense of fun.
READ MORE: The World’s 50 Best Bars Reveals its Extended 51-100 List for 2022
In stark contrast to the understated exterior, the majestic front bar welcomes guests into a strikingly playful space, complete with dramatic glass light fittings and Gaudi-inspired curved-wood ceiling. At the bar, myriad meticulously crafted cocktails served in outlandish vessels take centre stage.
From creating coasters and bar tools from single-use waste to hosting the first Paradiso Sustainability Summit, owners Giacomo Giannotti and Margarita Sader and their outstanding team showcase their unwavering commitment to ongoing sustainability, both within Paradiso and the wider industry.
Special award mentions
- Röda Huset in Stockholm, which was named the Campari One To Watch, an honour bestowed on a bar outside of the 1-50 ranking that the 50 Best team believes has what it takes to make future editions of the list.
- Coming into the list for the first time at No.6, New York’s Double Chicken Please is awarded the Disaronno Highest New Entry. Co-founders GN Chang and Faye Chen along with their outstanding team have created an exceptional dual-concept space on New York’s Lower East Side that draws inspiration from the worlds of food, drink and design.
- BKK Social Club in Bangkok is named London Essence Best New Opening. Under the stewardship of industry veteran Philip Bischoff, BKK Social Club draws in the dual inspiration of Buenos Aires and Bangkok, against the glamorous garden-inspired backdrop of the Four Seasons at Chao Phraya River.
- Sips in Barcelona secures the Nikka Highest Climber Award, having moved up 34 places within the 1-50 list to No.3. Founders Simone Caporale and Marc Alvarez have created an immersive space within which to serve show-stopping cocktails in elaborate glassware that are creating waves around the world.
- Licorería Limantour in Mexico City at No.4 claims the title of Rémy Martin Legend of the List, an award which is given to a bar that has performed most consistently in the list since its inception and can only be won once.
- Paris’ acclaimed Little Red Door has won the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award. Long known as the masters of reinvention, Little Red Door have revolutionised urban bar sustainability under the stewardship of Alex Francis, with their innovative farm-to-glass approach, firmly centring the guest experience in French producers.
The full list:
The list of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022, sponsored by Perrier, was revealed at a live awards ceremony in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain on 4th October 2022. For more information, visit worlds50bestbars.com.
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