Two Aussie venues named in World's 50 Top Bars list

No one knows for sure how many bars exist on Earth, but there are likely millions of spots around the world where patrons can get a glass of wine or a bottle of beer.

But within that number, how many offer cocktails that are served inside giant balloons, made from foraged ingredients, or topped with pastel-coloured edible foam?

And of all these wide and diverse alcohol-vending establishments, which ones are worth travelling for?

That's a question that the World's 50 Best group tries every year to answer. The UK-based organisation puts together an annual ranking of the world's best bars and reveals the winners in October.

For 2025, the No. 1 answer to that question is Hong Kong's Bar Leone.

This Italian spot in the fashionable Sheung Wan area is helmed by Rome native Lorenzo Antinori, who said he wanted the bar to feel "like my grandmother's living room."

It is the first-ever bar in Asia to win the No. 1 spot.

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"Grazie mille!" he said as the bar's name was called.

"Our idea was try to be a neighbourhood bar as much as possible," Antinori said at a press conference after the ceremony.

"We are living in times where consumers are seeking for comfort. There's no smoke and mirrors. What you see on the menu is what you're going to get."

The world's best bars list was announced at a splashy, cocktail-attire-please event in Hong Kong, where the hometown crowd seemed firmly on Bar Leone's cheering squad.

Second place went to Handshake Speakeasy, a Prohibition-inspired cocktail spot in Mexico City. It won the World's Best Bar title last year.

Sips in Barcelona earned the No. 3 ranking.

Australia scored two spots on the list, with Melbourne's Caretaker Cottage and Sydney's Maybe Sammy ranking at 19 and 42 respectively.

One way to spot potential future honorees is to look at the list of the 51st-100th best bars, which was released on September 24.

New entries to the list include New York City's Schmuck ("effortlessly cool"), São Paulo's Exímia ("a taste of Brazil in a glass"), and Taichung's Vender ("disguised as one of Taiwan's many vending machines").

The World's 50 Best began as a restaurant ranking in 2002, then expanded to bars and hotels.

There are also prizes for sustainable practices and for standout bartenders.

The world's 50 best bars for 2025:

1. Bar Leone, Hong Kong
2. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
3. Sips, Barcelona
4. Paradiso, Barcelona
5. Tayer & Elementary, London
6. Connaught Bar, London
7. Moebius Milano, Milan
8. Line, Athens
9. Jigger & Pony, Singapore
10. Tres Monos, Buenos Aires
11. Alquimico, Cartagena
12. Superbueno, New York City
13. Lady Bee, Lima
14. Himkok, Oslo
15. Bar Us, Bangkok
16. Zest, Seoul
17. Bar Nouveau, Paris
18. Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
19. Caretaker's Cottage, Melbourne
20. The Cambridge Public House, Paris
21. Satan's Whiskers, London
22. Locale Firenze, Florence
23. Tlecan, Mexico City
24. Tan Tan, São Paulo
25. Mirror Bar, Bratislava
26. CoChinChina, Buenos Aires
27. Baba au Rhum, Athens
28. Nouvelle Vague, Tirana
29. Hope & Sesame, Guangzhou
30. Danico, Paris
31. Scarfes Bar, London
32. Svanen, Oslo
33. Sastreria Martinez, Lima
34. Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
35. Roda Huset, Stockholm
36. Mimi Kakushi, Dubai
37. Salmon Guru, Madrid
38. Coa, Hong Kong
39. Sip & Guzzle, New York
40. Drink Kong, Rome
41. Double Chicken Please, New York
42. Maybe Sammy, Sydney
43. 1930, Milan
44. Jewel of the South, New Orleans
45. Virtu, Tokyo
46. Overstory, New York
47. The Bar in Front of the Bar, Athens
48. The Bellwood, Tokyo
49. BKK Social Club, Bangkok
50. Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore