
World's 50 Best Bars 2013: Complete Rankings
Annual global rankings celebrating exceptional bars for innovation and excellence.
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Artesian
London, United Kingdom
Artesian at The Langham London held the World's 50 Best Bars number one position four consecutive years from 2012 to 2015, a run that placed it at the centre of London's cocktail conversation for a generation. 6 from 865 reviews and has maintained a presence in the Top 500 Bars list through 2025. It remains one of the most award-documented hotel bars in Europe.

Nightjar
London, United Kingdom
A basement bar on City Road that has spent over a decade among the world's most recognised cocktail addresses, Nightjar deals in prohibition-era atmosphere, live jazz, technically elaborate drinks. Ranked as high as No. 2 in the World's 50 Best Bars, it opens nightly from 6pm until 3am, making it one of London's few serious late-night destinations for craft cocktails.

Bar High Five
Tokyo, Japan
Bar High Five has appeared on the World's 50 Best Bars list every year since 2011, reaching as high as #3 globally in 2013. Located in a basement in Ginza, it represents the classical Tokyo bar tradition, precise technique, minimal theatre, drinks built around the guest rather than the menu. reflects consistent execution over more than a decade.

The Connaught Bar
London, United Kingdom
The Connaught Bar has appeared in the World's 50 Best Bars rankings every year since 2010, reaching number one twice. Its David Collins-designed interior and technically precise cocktail programme, anchored by a signature tableside Dry Martini, set the standard by which other hotel bars in London and beyond are measured. Open Tuesday through Sunday in the heart of Mayfair.

The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog
New York City, United States
The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog sits in New York City's Irish-bar lineage with a more serious cocktail pedigree than the category usually suggests. Its two-floor format, Irish produce and hospitality brief, long run on World's 50 Best Bars lists make it a useful reference point for how tavern energy and awards-level drinks can share the same room.

Happiness Forgets
London, United Kingdom
One of Hoxton Square's most recognised addresses, Happiness Forgets earned a place in the World's 50 Best Bars every year from 2012 to 2019, peaking at number six globally. The basement bar trades in precisely constructed cocktails without theatrical staging, positioning itself in the quieter, more technically serious end of London's drinking culture. Open daily from 5pm, it remains a reference point for how East London reshaped the city's cocktail conversation.

Black Pearl
Melbourne, Australia
Black Pearl on Brunswick Street has held a position in the World's 50 Best Bars rankings for over a decade, peaking at number seven globally in 2013. Open nightly until 3am, it functions as both a serious cocktail destination and a genuine Fitzroy local, the kind of bar that draws regulars as reliably as it draws out-of-towners. Its longevity in a competitive field says more than any single award.

The Baxter Inn
Sydney, Australia
A Clarence Street basement that spent six consecutive years inside the World's 50 Best Bars top ten, The Baxter Inn is the reference point for serious whisky drinking in Sydney. The format is deliberate, low ceilings, candlelight, a back-bar collection that runs to several hundred bottles. Plan to arrive before 9pm if you want a stool.

Candelaria
Paris, France
A taqueria on Rue de Saintonge that conceals one of Paris's most decorated cocktail bars behind an unmarked interior door. Candelaria built its reputation on Mexican spirits and inventive mixing, earning a place inside the World's 50 Best Bars top 20 across multiple consecutive years. The reflects a crowd that returns for the drinks, not the novelty.

28 HongKong Street
Singapore, Singapore
One of Singapore's most decorated cocktail bars, 28 HongKong Street occupies a converted shophouse on 28 Hong Kong St and has appeared in the World's 50 Best Bars list every year since 2012. A sustained run of recognition, including a #1 Asia ranking in 2016, places it among the bars that shaped the city's modern cocktail identity.

Employees Only NYC
New York City, United States
<strong>Employees Only NYC</strong> remains a defining West <strong>Village cocktail</strong> room because it treats classic drinking as theatre without letting the room swallow the drinks. Its long run on the World's <strong>50 Best Bars</strong> list, including #95 globally and #18 in <strong>North America</strong> for 2025, places it in a rare category: a 2004-era <strong>New York</strong> bar that continues to compete with younger technical programs.

Please Don't Tell (PDT)
New York City, United States
Please Don't Tell (PDT) entered the New York cocktail conversation in 2007 through a phone booth hidden inside a hot dog counter on St. Marks Place, it spent the next several years at the top of the World's 50 Best Bars rankings, reaching No. 1 in 2011. It remains Pearl Recommended in 2025, making it one of the few bars from that era still earning serious critical attention.

Door 74
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Door 74 on Reguliersdwarsstraat has held a place on the World's 50 Best Bars list multiple times since 2011, reaching as high as #15 in 2013. One of Amsterdam's most consistently recognised cocktail addresses, it operates behind a discreet entrance on a street better known for its nightlife than its craft bartending. confirms its standing with a broad cross-section of visitors.

Le Lion Bar de Paris
Hamburg, Germany
Once a consistent presence in the World's 50 Best Bars top 25, Le Lion Bar de Paris at Rathausstraße 3 sits at the serious end of Hamburg's cocktail spectrum. The room leans toward old-world discretion rather than theatrical spectacle, placing it in a category of European bars that treat the drink as the central proposition. reflects sustained consistency rather than novelty appeal.

Buck & Breck
Berlin, Germany
Buck & Breck has held a position inside the World's 50 Best Bars every year since 2013, reaching as high as number 16 in 2015. The bar operates as a small-format, appointment-style room in Mitte, where the counter format and craft-focused program sit closer to the Tokyo or New York model than the high-volume Berlin club scene. For serious cocktail seekers, it remains a fixed reference point in a city with no shortage of good drinking.

The Parlour
Frankfurt on the Main, Germany
The Parlour occupies a compelling position in Frankfurt's drinking culture, operating from Zwingergasse 6 in the city's historic core. points to consistent execution rather than occasional brilliance. The bar's award recognition and focused hours make it a reference point for anyone serious about drinks in Frankfurt on the Main.

Jerry Thomas Speakeasy
Rome, Italy
One of Rome's most awarded cocktail bars, Jerry Thomas Speakeasy has held a place in the World's 50 Best Bars since 2013, peaking at number 19 before settling into a consistent presence in global rankings. Its speakeasy format, tucked into a narrow alley off Campo de' Fiori, represents the pre-theatrical era of the genre before the city's bar scene moved toward more transparent technical programs. confirms enduring local and visitor appeal.

American Bar
London, United Kingdom
Few bars in London carry a ranking history as sustained as American Bar at the Savoy. From World's 50 Best number one in 2017 to consistent top-twenty placement across more than a decade, its position in the global cocktail conversation is grounded in verifiable record rather than reputation alone. The Strand address puts it at the centre of London's most storied hospitality corridor.

Death & Co NYC
New York City, United States
Death & Co at 433 E 6th St has shaped the East Village cocktail scene since 2006, building a track record that includes a top-ten ranking in the World's 50 Best Bars for four consecutive years between 2009 and 2013.

Schuman's Bar
Munich, Germany
Schuman's Bar has held a place in the World's 50 Best Bars every year between 2010 and 2019, reaching as high as number 20 in 2010. Positioned at Odeonsplatz, one of Munich's most architecturally considered public squares, it occupies a tier of German cocktail bars that compete internationally rather than regionally. suggests a venue that polarises, which is often the mark of a bar with a clear point of view.

The Everleigh
Melbourne, Australia
The Everleigh Melbourne channels golden age glamour through an unwavering dedication to classic cocktails, where Michael and Zara Madrusan's collaboration with legendary mixologist Sasha Petraske created Australia's most influential cocktail destination. Behind an American diner facade, this intimate sanctuary offers bespoke table service and hand-crafted classics that set the benchmark for luxury cocktail culture.

Eau de Vie
Sydney, Australia
Beneath a Wynyard Lane laneway entrance, Eau de Vie operates as one of Sydney's most credentialed cocktail bars, having held a World's 50 Best Bars ranking continuously from 2011 through 2014, peaking at number 13. The program sits in a tier defined by technical precision rather than theatrical novelty. Holding, it remains a reference point for serious drinking in the CBD.

Bar 1880
Sydney, Australia
Daily-changing cocktail menus and authentic newspaper heritage define Bar 1880 Sydney, where expert bartenders craft innovative drinks within the atmospheric Press Room and Headline Bar spaces of a historic Bulletin newspaper building.

69 Colebrooke Row
London, United Kingdom
69 Colebrooke Row is a compact cocktail bar on Islington's canal-adjacent backstreets that spent the early 2010s placing consistently inside the World's 50 Best Bars — reaching number seven in 2011 and number eight in 2012. The bar, and remains one of the addresses that shaped how London thinks about the serious cocktail bar format.

Chainaya, Tea & Cocktails
Moscow, Russia
Chainaya, Tea & Cocktails placed on the World's 50 Best Bars list three consecutive years between 2012 and 2014, peaking at number 28, which positioned it among the most internationally recognised bars in Eastern Europe during that period. Located on 1-Ya Tverskaya-Yamskaya Ulitsa in central Moscow, it built its reputation around a tea-driven cocktail program that few Russian bars were attempting at the time.

Mutis
Barcelona, Spain
Mutis is an Eixample cocktail bar that earned consecutive World's 50 Best Bars rankings between 2011 and 2013, peaking at number 16 globally. Sitting on Carrer de Còrsega in Barcelona's grid-planned residential and commercial centre, it operates as a neighbourhood fixture rather than a destination spectacle, drawing a mix of locals and informed visitors who track its sustained critical recognition.

Smuggler's Cove
San Francisco, United States
Smuggler's Cove on Gough Street is San Francisco's most decorated rum bar, appearing in the World's 50 Best Bars every year from 2011 to 2016 and holding a Pearl Recommended status in 2025. The bar opens daily from 5pm and closes at 1:45am, making it one of the city's later-running serious cocktail destinations. confirms its sustained standing with both regulars and first-time visitors.

Clover Club
New York City, United States
One of Brooklyn's most decorated cocktail bars, Clover Club at 210 Smith St has held a place in the World's 50 Best Bars rankings since 2009, reaching as high as #18 globally in 2012. It occupies a particular position in New York's bar scene: technically serious, historically grounded, deliberately unglamorous in the way only confident institutions can afford to be.

Bramble
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Bramble has held a position in the World's 50 Best Bars since 2009, reaching number seven in the world in that same year and peaking at number ten in 2012. Located on Queen Street in Edinburgh's New Town, it operates as a benchmark for serious cocktail craft in Scotland, with across nearly a thousand reviews. Its sustained recognition over more than fifteen years places it in a different tier from most Edinburgh bars.

Le Forum
Paris, France
Family-owned since the 1930s, Le Forum Paris represents the pinnacle of classic cocktail culture, where three generations of expertise have created a timeless institution. This legendary bar combines masterful execution of traditional cocktails with authentic Parisian sophistication in an atmosphere of refined elegance.

Zetter Townhouse
London, United Kingdom
The Zetter Townhouse bar in Clerkenwell earned back-to-back placements on the World's 50 Best Bars list in 2012 and 2013, reaching as high as number 15 globally. Housed in a Georgian townhouse on St John's Square, it operates in a tier of London bars where atmosphere and ingredient-led cocktail craft matter more than volume.

Florería Atlantico
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Florería Atlantico is Buenos Aires drinking culture at its internationally recognised end: a cocktail bar whose programme draws on migration, Indigenous influence, Argentina’s Atlantic-facing history. Its long run on the World’s 50 Best Bars list, including #46 in 2024 and #90 in 2025, makes it a reference point for visitors comparing the city’s serious cocktail rooms.

Lebensstern
Berlin, Germany
A Kurfürstendamm-adjacent bar that ranked among the world's 30 best in 2012, Lebensstern operates in the upper tier of Berlin's serious cocktail scene. Open from 8am through to 1am, it covers more hours than most of its peers, making it as plausible a morning coffee stop as an evening destination for considered drinking.

La Capilla
Tequila, Mexico
La Capilla sits on Hidalgo street in the old town of Tequila, Jalisco, holds a place in the World's 50 Best Bars record that few cantinas anywhere can match: four consecutive rankings between 2011 and 2014, peaking at number 16. The bar is less a cocktail destination in the contemporary sense and more a living document of how Mexico's national spirit has been served and celebrated in its birthplace for generations.

Quinary
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
On Hollywood Road in Central, Quinary has anchored Hong Kong's serious cocktail scene since 2012. Named to the World's 50 Best Bars list every year from 2013 through 2021, ranked among Asia's Best Bars consistently through 2025, it sits in a peer tier defined by technical precision and longevity rather than novelty. signals a floor of reliability that few bars at this level maintain.

Little Red Door
Paris, France
Little Red Door has held a place in the World's 50 Best Bars rankings every year since 2013, reaching as high as sixth globally. Tucked into Rue Charlot in the Haut-Marais, it functions as a serious cocktail address that has shaped how Paris thinks about bar culture, drawing a neighbourhood crowd as readily as international visitors.

Le Coq
Paris, France
Jacques Garcia's stunning design defines Le Coq Paris on Place du Trocadéro, where Thierry Costes' modern brasserie concept elevates traditional Parisian hospitality. Premium cocktails complement acclaimed rotisserie cuisine in an atmosphere of sophisticated intimacy, featuring mirrored walls, striking red tables, ice-inspired columns that create the perfect backdrop for luxury Paris bar experiences.

Shady Pines
Sydney, Australia
Authentic Nashville honky-tonk atmosphere meets serious cocktail craftsmanship at Shady Pines Sydney, the landmark speakeasy behind Crown Street's unmarked door. Since 2010, this influential bar has redefined Sydney's drinking culture through expert whiskey selection, vintage taxidermy décor, unpretentious hospitality that seamlessly serves both craft cocktails and beer-and-shot efficiency.

Attaboy NYC
New York City, United States
Attaboy NYC is a New York City cocktail bar with no printed menu, a bespoke drinking format, a long awards trail that runs through World's 50 Best Bars and Top 500 Bars. Its lineage from the former Milk & Honey space gives it rare historical weight, while the 2025 expansion changed access without abandoning the bar's tightly controlled style.

Sherry Butt
Paris, France
Sherry Butt has conflicting public status signals as of the June 22, 2026 audit. Public venue details are withheld pending confirmation.

Pouring Ribbons
New York City, United States
Joaquín Simó's groundbreaking Pouring Ribbons revolutionized New York City's cocktail scene through its innovative matrix-style menus and thematic storytelling approach. This influential East Village destination made sophisticated mixology accessible via seasonally rotating concepts, from "Route 66" to "Silk Road," while maintaining the perfect balance between technical precision and playful hospitality that defined modern cocktail culture.

Nottingham Forest
Milan, Italy
One of Milan's most recognised cocktail bars, Nottingham Forest at Viale Piave has held positions inside the World's 50 Best Bars list across multiple years, peaking at number 15 in both 2012 and 2014. The bar operates Tuesday through Saturday from 18:30 and on Sundays from 18:00, placing it firmly in the evening-only tier.

Delicatessen
Moscow, Russia
Delicatessen earned three consecutive placements on the World's 50 Best Bars list between 2013 and 2015, reaching as high as 32nd globally, which places it among the small group of Moscow bars that shaped how the city's cocktail scene was understood internationally. The bar sits on Sadovaya-Karetnaya in central Moscow, where its food and drink programme operates as an integrated whole rather than two separate menus.
Overview
The 2013 World's 50 Best Bars crowned Artesian in London as the winner, with the UK dominating the top 10—four bars in the first six positions. The list represents 50 bars across 16 countries and 24 cities, marking a significant shift from previous editions with a complete roster turnover from the prior year's rankings.
London owned 2013 with four spots in the top ten: Artesian at #1, Nightjar at #2, The Connaught Bar at #4, and Happiness Forgets at #6. Beyond the UK, geographic diversity spread across Asia (Tokyo's Bar High Five at #3, Singapore's 28 HongKong Street at #10), Australia (Melbourne's Black Pearl at #7, Sydney's The Baxter Inn at #8), the United States (New York's The Dead Rabbit at #5), and Europe (Paris's Candelaria at #9). The edition represented 16 countries total across 24 cities, showing the global reach of cocktail culture in the early 2010s. The complete turnover from the previous year—50 new entrants replacing all prior winners—suggests either a format change or a fundamental shift in evaluation criteria.
The 2013 World's 50 Best Bars delivered a decisive verdict: London is the cocktail capital. Four of the top six bars are in the UK, with Artesian claiming the top position. This edition saw a complete roster change—all 50 bars from the previous year dropped out, replaced entirely by new entrants. Whether you're tracking Tokyo's Bar High Five at #3, New York's The Dead Rabbit at #5, or Melbourne's Black Pearl at #7, this list captures a snapshot of the global bar scene across 16 countries and 24 cities.
Quick Facts
- Top Bar
- Artesian (London)
- Total Bars
- 50
- Countries
- 16
- Cities
- 24
- London Bars in Top 10
- 4
- New Entrants
- 50 (100% turnover)
- Previous #1
- El Celler de Can Roca
About This Edition
The 2013 rankings represent a watershed moment with 100% turnover from the previous edition. Every single venue from the prior year—including the previous top bar, El Celler de Can Roca—dropped off the list, replaced by 50 new entries. This suggests either a significant methodology shift or a refocusing from restaurant bars to dedicated cocktail establishments.
London's dominance is the story here. Artesian, Nightjar, The Connaught Bar, and Happiness Forgets claimed four of the top six positions, establishing the UK capital as the clear leader in global cocktail culture. The remaining top 10 positions showcase geographic breadth: Tokyo's Bar High Five represents Japanese precision, New York's The Dead Rabbit brings American cocktail history, Melbourne's Black Pearl and Sydney's The Baxter Inn demonstrate Australia's emerging scene, Paris's Candelaria offers European flair, and Singapore's 28 HongKong Street anchors Southeast Asia.
The 50-bar list spans 24 cities across 16 countries, representing the most influential cocktail destinations of the early 2010s. This geographic spread—from established cocktail markets to emerging scenes—captures a moment when craft cocktail culture was expanding globally beyond traditional strongholds.
Frequently Asked Questions
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How many bars from the previous year's list returned in 2013?
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Find out on Pearl and keep score across every place in 2013 World's 50 Best Bars.

