Cocktail lovers are scrambling for reservations and bar house owners are getting ready for the frenzy of recent prospects. It may solely imply one factor: The 50 Finest group has introduced its annual record of the 50 Finest Bars in North America. This 12 months’s finest bar, topped at a ceremony on April 23 in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, is Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico Metropolis, led by bar director Eric van Beek. The highest spot was beforehand held by Double Rooster Please (now ranked seventh), a Manhattan cocktail bar serving inventive drinks just like the “Chilly Pizza,” which options Parmesan, burnt toast, and tequila.
Handshake Speakeasy, which opened in 2018, is the primary bar in Mexico to take the revered record’s primary spot. The bar’s inside performs right into a smooth Prohibition period vibe—a refined black marble bar, black velvet seats, and gold accents all through. The drinks are equally understated: The piña colada, for instance, comes not in a hurricane glass with a colourful umbrella however clarified and carbonated with a single lengthy block of ice.
Of the 50 bars on this 12 months’s record, 26 are within the US. (On final 12 months’s record, that quantity was 28.) Fifteen of the successful bars are in Mexico, seven are in Canada, and two are within the Caribbean. New York had a robust displaying with 12 bars. Superbueno, a brand new addition to this 12 months’s record, positioned second. The East Village bar, which opened in 2023, reinterprets basic cocktails with fashionable spins and Mexican substances and spirits. A mushroom margarita options earthy huitlacoche, and the cheekily named “vodka y soda” is a surprisingly advanced cocktail of vodka, guava, and pasilla chile.
“Finest” is, after all, a subjective title, however the group does have some clear procedures for reaching its closing record: 50 Finest faucets a gaggle of 270 bar business consultants throughout the area to solid a most of seven votes for bars they’ve visited up to now 12 months. The group’s make-up is half bartenders and bar house owners, 1 / 4 “well-traveled cocktail consultants,” and one other quarter drinks writers and educators. In line with 50 Finest, no less than 25% of voters are new to the voting pool annually. “Provided that this record relies on private experiences, it could actually by no means be definitive,” the 50 Finest web site reads, however nonetheless, business insiders and mixology fanatics are likely to deal with the record like a bible.
Inclusion on this record can considerably improve a bar’s enterprise. However the group has additionally confronted its justifiable share of criticism. Voters aren’t required to pay for his or her drinks or meals, which suggests they might be extra prone to solid votes for bars and eating places with the assets to supply free meals and journeys. “We belief that voters make an unbiased selection and will not be swayed just by the truth that they could have been hosted by different manufacturers that aren’t 50 Finest,” a spokesperson tells Bon Appétit by way of e-mail.
The group has additionally been criticized for the best way it divides and excludes areas; Within the voting for North America’s 50 Finest Bars, for instance, Canada is split into two areas, the US 4, whereas Mexico and the Caribbean are every thought-about a single area. Central America will not be thought-about for inclusion on the record.
