Italy Earns 5 Spots in World’s 50 Best Bars 2023 List

The annual World’s 50 Best Bars list was just announced in Singapore, with five destination cocktail bars in Italy, as well as several prominent Italian-born bartenders, gaining recognition.

By Richard Martin

3:19 PM EDT on October 17, 2023

Freni e Frizioni interior — Freni e Frizioni in Rome placed at 33 on the World’s 50 Best Bars 2023 list.

Italian cocktail culture continues to have worldwide influence, not only for its endless Negroni variations and amaro-based drinks, but for its in-demand bars. At the World’s 50 Best Bars 2023 announcement in Singapore today, five Italian spots made the list. Take note, and make reservations, before you next trip to Italy.

The highest-placing Italian bar was Drink Kong at No. 21 (here is their recipe for a Big Trouble in Little Oaxaca cocktail). Freni e Frizioni, also in Rome, is a new entry on the annual list, at No. 33. 1930 in Milan (No. 42), L’Antiquario in Naples (No. 44) and Locale Firenze in Florence (No. 46) also made the cut. Additionally, Barcelona’s Paradiso (No. 4) and Connaught Bar in London (No. 5) are run by Italian barmen.

Alexander Frezza at L'Antiquario in Naples, which placed at 44 on the World's 50 Best Bars 2023 list.

The winner of The World’s 50 Best Bars, sponsored by Perrier, is another Barcelona hot spot, Sips, whose co-founder, Simone Caporale, is a native of Como, Italy.

A release announcing the awards notes of Sips: “Located in the heart of Barcelona’s L'Antiga Esquerra de l'Eixample district, Sips combines elegant design with cutting-edge technique to create an unfussy and playful ‘drinkery house’ from two titans of the industry, Simone Caporale and Marc Álvarez. Drawing on the lessons of their already illustrious careers – Caporale was one half of the creative duo that led London’s Artesian to The World’s Best Bar title a record four times, whilst Álvarez spent almost a decade at Ferran and Albert Adrià’s revolutionary elBulli restaurant group – the duo’s disruptive approach to creative mixology shines through in innovative haute couture serves at pret-a-porter prices.”

The awards, like The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, bestow cachet on its winners, and make them sought-after destinations. The complete list of winners is below:

World's 50 Best Bars 2023

Position	Bar	Location
1	Sips	Barcelona
2	Double Chicken Please	New York
3	Handshake Speakeasy	Mexico City
4	Paradiso	Barcelona
5	Connaught Bar	London
6	Little Red Door	Paris
7	Licorería Limantour	Mexico City
8	Tayēr + Elementary	London
9	Alquímico	Cartagena
10	Himkok	Oslo
11	Tres Monos	Buenos Aires
12	Line	Athens
13	BKK Social Club	Bangkok
14	Jigger & Pony	Singapore
15	Maybe Sammy	Sydney
16	Salmon Guru	Madrid
17	Overstory	New York
18	Zest	Seoul
19	Mahaniyom Cocktail Bar	Bangkok
20	Coa	Hong Kong
21	Drink Kong	Rome
22	Hanky Panky	Mexico City
23	Caretaker's Cottage	Melbourne
24	Café La Trova	Miami
25	Baba au Rum	Athens
26	CoChinChina	Buenos Aires
27	Katana Kitten	New York
28	Satan's Whiskers	London
29	Wax On	Berlin
30	Florería Atlántico	Buenos Aires
31	Röda Huset	Stockholm
32	Sago House	Singapore
33	Freni e Frizioni	Rome
34	Argo	Hong Kong
35	A Bar with Shapes for a Name	London
36	The SG Club	Tokyo
37	Bar Benfiddich	Tokyo
38	The Cambridge Public House	Paris
39	Panda & Sons	Edinburgh
40	Mimi Kakushi	Dubai
41	Scarfes Bar	London
42	1930	Milan
43	Carnaval	Lima
44	L'Antiquario	Naples
45	Baltra Bar	Mexico City
46	Locale Firenze	Florence
47	The Clumsies	Athens
48	Atlas	Singapore
49	Jewel of the South	New Orleans
50	Galaxy Bar	Dubai

Richard Martin

Richard is the co-founder, managing editor and publisher of Appetito. He is also co-author of the new books Preserved: Condiments and Preserved: Fruit, former U.S. editor of La Cucina Italiana, and he was editor-in-chief of the website Food Republic and the magazines Manhattan, Miami, and Complex.