Hidden Barcelona Speakeasy Named ‘World’s Best Bar’

A lavish speakeasy tucked into the back of a pastrami shop in Barcelona has taken home the title of “The World’s Best Bar of 2022.”

Paradiso, located in Barcelona’s trendy El Born district, topped the annual “World’s 50 Best Bars” list this year, with judges praising its “outlandishly inventive cocktail program, sustainable ethos, work in the global bar community and brilliant sense of fun.”

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More than 26 cities are represented on this year’s “Best Bars” list with Paradiso claiming the top spot for the first time. This is also the first time the title of “World’s Best Bar” has been bestowed on a bar outside of New York or London.

Still, both cities are well-represented on the 2022 list. London’s Tayēr + Elementary comes in at the number two spot, while Connaught Bar places eighth. New York places six entries on the Top 50 list, meantime, led by the Lower East Side’s Double Chicken Please at number six, and the Greenwich Village hotspot Katana Kitten rising one place to number nine.

Double Chicken Please was also awarded the “Disaronno Highest New Entry” award for its “World’s Best Bars” debut. Worth noting: both bars are Asian-owned and operated.

Further proof of Asia’s emergence on the cocktail scene: Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong each have two bars on this year’s list, with Singapore’s Jigger & Pony (number 12) named “The Best Bar in Asia.”

New Delhi’s Sidecar rises 21 places to number 26, after its debut last year, when it became the first Indian entry since 2010. Bar Benfiddich in Tokyo rounds out the Asian honorees, coming in at number 48.

The Top Ten though is dominated by mainstays, like Sips in Barcelona, Licorería Limantour in Mexico City and Little Red Door in Paris leading the pack after Paradiso.

This is the 14th edition of the “World’s 50 Best Bars” list, which honors the “bartenders, bar owners and brands at the forefront of the international cocktail scene.” The list is chosen by an Academy of more than 650 drinks experts, renowned bartenders, consultants, drinks writers and cocktail specialists from around the world.

In a press release, World’s 50 Best Bars content director Mark Sansom offered his “heartfelt congratulations” to the bars on the list, adding that his team is “delighted to once again be able to showcase the incredible diversity of the global bar sector, from grand hotel bars and dive bars to neighborhood speakeasies and stunning rooftop spaces.”

Here is the full list of establishments that made this year’s “World’s 50 Best Bars” list.

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