The list of North America’s 50 Best Bars, sponsored by Perrier, was announced at the live awards ceremony on April 23, 2024 at Rosewood San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. This was the second year that the awards ceremony was held in Mexico and continues to platform the country’s place as a leader of the global cocktail scene. The annual ranking features bars from across North America, including the USA, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy is crowned No.1 as The Best Bar in North America and The Best Bar in Mexico, sponsored by Perrier. New York City’s Superbueno is ranked at No.2 and claims the title of Disaronno Highest New Entry as well as The Best Bar in Northeast USA 2024, sponsored by Disaronno. New York City’s Overstory follows at No.3.
Toronto’s Civil Liberties, No.21, wins the title of The Best Bar in Canada, sponsored by Naked Malt for the third year in a row alongside Puerto Rico’s La Factoría, at No.18, recognized as The Best Bar in the Caribbean, sponsored by Amaro Lucano for the third year as well. Overall, the U.S. leads the list with 26 bars followed by Mexico with 15 bars, seven from Canada and two on the list from the Caribbean.
You can find the full list of North America’s 50 Best Bars 2024 below.
Handshake Speakeasy makes history as the first bar in Mexico to be named No.1 on a North America’s 50 Best Bars list. The hidden bar is difficult to find, but those who discover the Mexico City lounge are rewarded with an unforgettable, high-end cocktail experience. While the design and ambiance, with a long marble bar and copper arches, recall the glamour and allure of the Prohibition era, the cocktail menu looks to the future. Bar Director Eric van Beek uses molecular mixology to create unexpected cocktails that may appear traditional but reveal complex layered flavors on the palate. On the menu, guests can find cocktails featuring clarified juices, fat-washed spirits and unusual, home-made syrups and infused cordials. Handshake Speakeasy also features batch cocktails on draft and a laboratory hidden within the bar where the team concocts its next liquid revelations. Handshake Speakeasy has featured prominently on the global stage since opening, ranking as No.3 on The World’s Best Bars 2023 list and No.2 on North America’s 50 Best Bars 2023 list.
Emma Sleight, Head of Content for North America’s 50 Best Bars, says: “What a momentous occasion for the Mexico cocktail scene! We give our biggest ¡Felicidades! to Handshake Speakeasy and head bartender Eric van Beek for the team’s incredible work in delivering excellence. Handshake Speakeasy continues to push the boundaries of the art of cocktail creation as well as always putting service first, so we are pleased to see them crowned the first bar in Mexico City named No.1 on North America’s 50 Best Bars list. We also extend our congratulations to all the other incredible bars on this year’s list that are testament to how exciting, innovative and dynamic the North American bar scene truly is.”
Elisa Gregori, Perrier Global Business Unit Director, says: “It is an honor once again to join in celebrating the hard work, ingenuity, and innovation of the great bartenders, mixologists, and professionals who continue to push the bar scene to new heights. North America is the melting pot of the world, where cultures, flavors, ingredients, and techniques combine. This is on display like nowhere else in the bar community that leads the way in terms of innovation and creativity, where hospitality is more of a way of life than just a job. I would like to express my gratitude for always raising the bar on what is possible in the cocktail culture. And, likewise, the entire Perrier team would like to express their gratitude to the bar community. Your extraordinary efforts and unwavering commitment, with which you have created unique shared experiences for everyone who has passed through your doors in the past and in the future, are an inspiration.”
New York Continues to Account for the Most of North America’s Top Bars
Each year, New York continues to excel in delivering the world’s most amazing craft cocktails. In 2024, New York holds 12 of the 26 U.S. listees, including the continent’s highest achievers. The list includes Superbueno (No.2) which is the Disaronno Highest New Entry, Overstory (No.3), and Martiny’s, which jumped 25 spots to No.4 to earn the Nikka Highest Climber Award. Alongside these are additional notable bars including Double Chicken Please (No.7), Katana Kitten (No.12), Employees Only (No.15), Dante (No.20), Attaboy (No.31), The Dead Rabbit (No.33), Maison Premiere (No.41), new entry Angel’s Share (No.43), and Milady’s (No.44).
Cocktail hotspots across the U.S. such as New Orleans’ Jewel of the South (No.7) named The Best Bar in South USA, sponsored by Tia Maria, and Cure (No.47) have remained on the list in 2024. Top establishments across the U.S. in cities that have been consistently recognized for their cocktail culture include Los Angeles’ Thunderbolt (No.8), named The Best Bar in West USA, sponsored by Rémy Martin, Miami’s Café La Trova (No.13), Kumiko (No.19) from Chicago, which named The Best Bar in Midwest USA, sponsored by Torres Brandy, as well as Service Bar (No.22) and Allegory (No.23) from Washington DC. This year, Los Angeles’ Mírate (No.46) and Chicago’s Best Intentions (No.48) are new entries to the list.
San Francisco’s True Laurel (No.30), another new entry, wins the Kettle One Sustainable Bar Award, with new entry from Chicago Meadowlark (No.32) taking home the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award.
Mexico City Continues to Grow Its Global Cocktail Presence, Winning 9 of Mexico’s 15 Bars
Mexico City accounts for more than half of this year’s best bars in the country. Handshake Speakeasy (No.1) wins The Best Bar in Mexico, sponsored by Perrier for the third year in a row.
Handshake Speakeasy is joined by Mexico City’s Rayo (No.5), Licorería Limantour (No.9), new entry Tlecān (No.10), Café del Nadie (No.17), Baltra Bar (No.26), Kaito del Valle (No.28), Hanky Panky (No.42) and Brujas (No.45).
Mexico’s wider bar scene continues to grow, as can be seen in the list, which includes Playa del Carmen’s Zapote Bar (No.11), Guadalajara’s El Gallo Altanero (No.14), and Tijuana’s Aruba Day Drink (No.16), as well as the country’s newest entry, Bekeb (No.27) in San Miguel de Allende, plus Arca (No.37) in Tulum and Oaxaca’s Selva (No.34).
Canada Continues to Thrive in Cocktail Culture
Civil Liberties (No.21) in Toronto has been named The Best Bar in Canada, sponsored by Naked Malt for the third consecutive year, alongside Vancouver’s Botanist Bar (No.24), Toronto’s Bar Pompette (No.29), Montreal’s Cloakroom (No.39), and a re-entry for this year in Vancouver, The Keefer Bar (No.49).
The Caribbean: Grand Cayman Joins the List
La Factoría (No.18) continues to remain on the list as The Best Bar in the Caribbean, sponsored by Amaro Lucano. Grand Cayman has joined the locations of top bars in the Caribbean with Library by the Sea (No.35) as a new entry.
Special Awards
Among all the spectacular highlights, Simpl Things in Toronto joins the stellar lineup as Campari One To Watch, an accolade given to a bar outside of the main list that the 50 Best team believes has the ability to be named on future editions of the ranking.
Meadowlark (No.32) in Chicago is named winner of the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award. The rotating menu celebrates the history of the region, featuring local spirits and liqueurs. Any bar on the North America’s 50 Best Bars list is eligible to enter this award, which is decided upon by a panel of Academy Chairs. This award was introduced in 2021 to reward bars for their innovation, design, drinks craftmanship and menu communication.
Claudia Cabrera of Mexico’s Kaito del Valle (No.28) receives the accolade of Roku Industry Icon. For this award, all 270 members of the voting Academy are asked to name the person who has done most to progress the bar sector. Cabrera is a vocal advocate for gender equality in the drinks industry and champions the need for more female representation behind the bar. At Kaito del Valle and in the wider industry, Claudia’s dedication to her fellow bartenders, her mentorship to colleagues and her passion to provide outstanding hospitality shines through the bar’s Japanese izakaya-style cocktail menu.
Grand Cayman’s Library by the Sea (No.35) earns the London Essence Best New Opening Award, as the bar enters the list for the first time. Library by the Sea presents a drinks program highlighting art, literature and local Caymanian and Caribbean culture, while balancing inventive names and flavors that are enriched with the history of the region. The bar brings each of its drinks concepts to life without limitations, using bespoke ingredients made with local botanicals such as a sea mineral-adjusted vermouth to bring the complexity and heritage of local island flavors to the fore.
True Laurel in San Francisco earns the title of Ketel One Sustainable Bar at No.30. The award is gifted to bars that demonstrate the strongest commitment to sustainability. The Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award is independently adjudicated by 50 Best’s international audit partner, the Sustainable Restaurant Association.
Additional special award winners, announced prior to the reveal of this year’s list, include New Orleans’ Jewel of the South (No.6) receiving the Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award and Kate Boushel of the Barroco Group and Atwater Cocktail Club (No.50) in Canada, who is celebrated as the winner of Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award.
1-50 LIST IN RANKING ORDER
1. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
2. Superbueno, New York
3. Overstory, New York
4. Martiny's, New York,
5. Rayo, Mexico City
6. Jewel of the South, New Orleans
7. Double Chicken Please, New York
8. Thunderbolt, Los Angeles
9. Licorería Limantour, Mexico City
10. Tlecān, Mexico City
11. Zapote Bar, Playa del Carmen
12. Katana Kitten, New York
13. Café La Trova, Miami
14. El Gallo Altanero, Guadalajara
15. Employees Only, New York
16. Aruba Day Drink, Tijuana
17. Café de Nadie, Mexico City
18. La Factoría, San Juan
19. Kumiko, Chicago
20. Dante, New York
21. Civil Liberties, Toronto
22. Service Bar, Washington DC
23. Allegory, Washington DC
24. Botanist Bar, Vancouver
25. Herbs & Rye, Las Vegas
26. Baltra Bar, Mexico City
27. Bekeb, San Miguel de Allende
28. Kaito del Valle, Mexico City
29. Bar Pompette, Toronto
30. True Laurel, San Francisco
31. Attaboy, New York
32. Meadowlark, Chicago
33. The Dead Rabbit, New York
34. Selva, Oaxaca
35. Library by the Sea, Grand Cayman
36. Century Grand, Phoenix
37. Arca, Tulum
38. Pacific Cocktail Heaven, San Francisco
39. Cloakroom, Montreal
40. Bar Mordecai, Toronto
41. Maison Premiere, New York
42. Hanky Panky, Mexico City
43. Angel's Share, New York
44. Milady's, New York
45. Brujas, Mexico City
46. Mírate, Los Angeles
47. Cure, New Orleans
48. Best Intentions, Chicago
49. The Keefer Bar, Vancouver
50. Atwater Cocktail Club, Montreal
Are you registered for our Crave and Crave on the Menu newsletters? Sign up today!
Plan to Attend or Participate in Our Events:
- 2024 Bar & Restaurant Expo Texas, October 28-30, 2024 in San Antonio, TX
- 2025 Bar & Restaurant Expo, March 24-26, 2025, Las Vegas, Nevada
To learn about the latest trends, issues and hot topics, and to experience and taste the best products within the bar, restaurant and hospitality industry, plan to attend Bar & Restaurant Expo 2025 in Las Vegas. Visit BarandRestaurantExpo.com.
To book your sponsorship or exhibit space at our events, contact:
Veronica Gonnello (for companies A to G) e: [email protected] p: 212-895-8244
Tim Schultz (for companies H to Q) e: [email protected] p: 917-258-8589
Fadi Alsayegh (for companies R to Z) e: [email protected] p: 917-258-5174
Also, be sure to follow Bar & Restaurant on Facebook and Instagram for all the latest industry news and trends.