The World’s 50 Best Bars is one of the planet’s most prestigious award events, spotlighting the top places around the globe to grab a drink. This list gets a shaken and stirred anew every year at a special ceremony, which this time around took place in Singapore—marking the event’s first venture into Asia in its 15-year run. The 2023 lineup saw 11 new entries, with Seoul’s Zest hitting the highest new spot at number 18.

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Three spots in the 50 best bars on the planet belong to Greek establishments in Athens. These are Line in Kato Petralona, which clinched the 12th spot, Baba au Rum in Monastiraki, coming in at 25th place, and The Clumsies in Syntagma, which ranked 47th. Meanwhile, Athens’ The Bar in Front of the Bar also featured amongst global winners, in the 50-100 Best category.

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The Line team/Photo: Facebook
Line/Photo: Facebook
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The Clumsies/Photo: Facebook
The Clumsies/Photo: Facebook

Line clinched the Best New Opening 2023 accolade. The World’s 50 Best Bars Awards website reviews Line in the following way: “Greek cocktail wizardry brewing up a storm. Slightly out of Athens city centre, but well worth the journey, is Line, a former art gallery now bar, which is home to some of the most thought-provoking drinks-making around. If its sister bar The Clumsies (a regular in The World’s 50 Best Bars) was the manifestation of Vasilis Kyritsis and Nikos Bakoulis’s mindset in their 20s, Line (also co-founded with Dimitris Dafopoulos) has a more grown-up feel, the double-height ceilinged, airy venue providing a seriously sophisticated backdrop to thoughtful eating and drinking. Everything is made from scratch here, from the house-made beer, fruit wines and cocktails, to cheeses and breads, which are produced from by-products of their ferments. This joined-up thinking sees the likes of fig wine from the basis of the Pisco Sour, while pomegranate wine goes into the house-made vermouth, which then finds its way into their Negroni. It’s all so clever yet, in these relaxed surroundings, it all feels rather effortless too.”

When it comes to The Clumsies, a long-time favourite among top quality cocktail aficionados, the World’s 50 Best Bars Awards website writes: “Legendary Grecian hospitality with longevity. Celebrating a decade in existence this year, The Clumsies has double cause for cheer as it is revealed as the winner of the Rémy Martin Legend of the List Award 2023. This title is bestowed on the bar that has performed most consistently in the 50 Best list since its inception –  and can only be won once. In terms of its cocktail craft, The Clumsies centres its ideology in originality. Its signature serve, the blue-hued Aegean Negroni, inspired by the azure waters of the namesake sea, is now one of the most renowned cocktails in the world. It has featured on numerous TV shows and been exported and served by Kyritsis and Bakoulis at bar takeovers across the globe. Another crowd-pleaser is its Mediterranean Gimlet, a Greek-salad-in-a-glass that has proven the inspiration for many savoury-inspired serves based on indigenous dishes from London to Lima.” 

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Tiki cocktail at Baba Au Rum/ Photo: Facebook
Baba Au Rum/ Photo: Facebook

Finally, Baba Au Rum is described in the following way: “Baba Au Rum has earned international acclaim – and a regular place on The World’s 50 Best Bars list – for its rum cocktails and extensive rum collection, not to mention for its neighbourhood-bar atmosphere and ‘Avant Garde’ menu. That list includes the bar’s namesake cocktail, a take on the daiquiri with Barcelo Imperial Rum, sweet sherry, vanilla, oak, basil and lime, while ‘The Rum Society’ section includes original creations and tiki classics, such as Trader Vic’s original recipe Mai Tai.”

Top International Distinctions

Globally, Barcelona’s Sips clinched the top spot, ascending from its third-place finish at the previous event. Hot on its heels were New York’s Double Chicken Please, Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy, followed by Paradiso in Barcelona, Connaught Bar in London, Little Red Door in Paris, Licorería Limantour in Mexico City, Tayer + Elementary in London, Alquimico in Cartagena, Colombia, and Himkok in Oslo, Norway.

Other special awards included the Campari One To Watch, which went to Lady Bee in Lima, Peru; the Bareksten Best Design Bar awarded to Nighthawk in Singapore; the Ketel One Sustainable Bar won by Röda Huset in Stockholm; and The American Bar at Gleneagles in Scotland, which took home the prize for the best cocktail menu.

When it comes to countries and cities with the most top-tier bars, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the USA are neck and neck, each boasting five bars on the list. Meanwhile, Mexico City stands out as the best-represented city, home to four of the planet’s top bars.