Italy Earns 5 Spots in 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. 

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