The World's Best Bar Is Hidden Behind An Unmarked Door In Mexico City

(MENAFN- Live Mint) (Bloomberg) -- Down a hall that leads to a hotel, behind an unmarked black
door is Handshake Speakeasy.
Tonight, it's also the best place to drink in the world.

The bi-level bar, in the Colonia Juarez neighborhood, is hidden behind an unmarked door; inside, the elegant
Art Deco, speakeasy space is buzzing.
Marcos Di Battista, Rodrigo Urraca and noted bartender
Eric van Beek run the place. His classically inspired drinks feature a dose of molecular gastronomy. Among his signatures are the
Mexi-Thai, an unlikely and intoxicating mix of
tequila, makrut lime, coconut, basil and tomato; and the creamy Carino, made with aged rum, yellow Chartreuse and Greek yogurt.

The No. 2 ranked spot is also a brand new entry to the list:
Bar Leone in Hong Kong's Central district, from cocktail legend
Lorenzo Antinori. His casual
Italian
establishment specializes in deceptively simple-sounding
drinks like Olive Oil Sour and both classic and adventurous Negronis. Earlier this year, the bar was No. 1 on Asia's 50 Best Bar list; it was the first time a new spot ever got that distinction. Despite that remarkable showing, Hong Kong had only one other spot, Coa, while its regional rival Singapore scored
four places in the top 50.

Even though a Mexico City establishment topped the global list, this year marked a decline in the city's overall bar standing. Last year, Mexico City
had three places in the top 25 alone; this year, there are three on the entire top 50 list.

This year also put an end to Barcelona's
winning streak: over the past two years
it was the home
for
two separate No. 1 establishments.
In 2023,
the winning bar was the super modernist Sips
whose co-owner
worked with the revolutionary Spanish chef Ferran Adrià; this year it's No. 3. In 2022, the top spot was Paradiso, a fantastical place hidden behind a white refrigerator door and a pastrami counter -
now it's No. 10.

The rankings are created by
the 50 Best. The organization has
been publishing the list since
2009 and throwing a party to mark it since 2012. This year,
votes were cast by over 700 drinks experts from around the world, including bartenders, writers and cocktail consultants. The list is owned by the UK-based William Reed Business Media who
produce
similarly titled lists like
the World's 50 Best Restaurants and more recently, the
50 Best Hotels.

The awards took place on Tuesday night at the Madrid Arena in Spain's capital city; there was a raucous standing and celebrating crowd of around 1,300 people including all 50 winners of the top-ranked bars, according to Emma Sleight, head of content for the
World's 50 Best Bars. She added,
“50 Best is not just about a ranking or a list- it's about building a community.”

The list generally reflects the setting
of the awards in recent years (a lot of voters attend the event, and then, of course go out to drink). For years, the awards took place in London; not coincidentally, the
Connaught Bar in London has twice taken the top spot. In 2022, the event moved to Barcelona,
which until recently
dominates the top five.

Another winner this year was New York City, which had four places in the top 50 including the delightful Mexican spot Superbueno in the East Village, No. 27, which was also given
the
Best New Opening Award. The city's
top-ranked spot was Double Chicken Please, which dropped to No. 14 from the No. 2 position last year. The place is famous for its genius, culinary-inspired cocktails; it's also renowned for the difficulty in getting in,
thanks in good part to bot reservations. Co-owner
GN Chan has seen seats at his place
going for more than $300 -
each -
on reservation platforms
like Cita Marketplace.

The
51-100 winning bars
were
announced earlier in October. That list included a drinking spot in Sri Lanka, Smoke & Bitters in Hiriketiya;
it's the first time
the country made it on list. Another notable drinking destination
on the second half of the list is
Athens; the burgeoning cocktail destination claimed three spots. Among New York City's
four spots in that half of the rankings was
Dante, which was No. 1 just five years ago; now it's No. 79.

Following are the World's 50 Best Bars. Numbers in parenthesis below represent their standing on last year's list. An asterisk (*) represents a new entry.

1. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City (3)2. Bar Leone, Hong Kong *3. Sips, Barcelona (1)4. Tayēr Elementary, London (8)5. Jigger & Pony, Singapore (14)6. Line, Athens (12)7. Tres Monos, Buenos Aires (11)8. Alquímico, Cartagena (9)9. Zest, Seoul (18)10. Paradiso, Barcelona (4)11. Himkok, Oslo (10)12. BKK Social Club, Bangkok (13)13. Connaught Bar, London (5)14. Double Chicken Please, New York (2)15. Overstory, New York (17)16. Lady Bee, Lima *17. Baba au Rum, Athens (25)18. Coa, Hong Kong (20)19. The Cambridge Public House, Paris (38)
20. Tlecān, Mexico City *21. Caretaker's Cottage, Melbourne (23)22. Cochinchina, Buenos Aires (26)23. Salmon Guru, Madrid (16)24. Martiny's, New York *25. Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo (37)26. Maybe Sammy, Sydney (15)27. Superbueno, New York *28. Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore*29. Satan's Whiskers, London (28)30. Panda & Sons, Edinburgh (39)31. Tan Tan, São Paulo *32. Licorería Limantour, Mexico City (7)33. Drink Kong, Rome (21)34. Jewel of the South, New Orleans (49)35. Byrdi, Melbourne36. Locale Firenze, Florence (46)37. Scarfes Bar, London (41)38. Moebius Milano, Milan*39. Bar Nouveau, Paris *40. Mimi Kakushi, Dubai (40)41. Bar Us, Bangkok*42. Virtù, Tokyo *43. Atlas, Singapore (48)44. La Sala de Laura, Bogota *45. Röda Huset, Stockholm (31)46. Florería Atlántico, Buenos Aires (30)47. Angalogue Initiative, Singapore*48. El Gallo Altanero, Guadalajara*49. Danico, Paris*50. 1930, Milan (42)

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