Final week, the 50 Finest group introduced its checklist of the highest bars in North America. Now in its fourth 12 months (although, globally, the group has been awarding eating places since 2002 and bars since 2009), the annual rating has loads of eyes on it—and a few critics.
When we checked in final 12 months, trade attendees on the awards ceremony had combined emotions. Some discovered the checklist vital and validating, whereas others felt they prioritized sure sorts of bars—these with PR groups, particularly—and one nameless attendee stated the awards “are typically slightly little bit of a circle jerk.” Previously, 50 Finest has additionally obtained criticism associated to sexism (which is one purpose that the voting physique now contains “a 50/50 gender cut up”) and preferential therapy.
Those that have made the checklist say they’ve felt significant, materials impacts from being awarded. “Despite the fact that we’ve all the time believed we had been within the caliber, exterior recognition wasn’t all the time our main objective,” says Nicolas Torres, proprietor of San Francisco’s True Laurel, No. 17 on this 12 months’s checklist. “These techniques do are inclined to drive good foot visitors, and that issues. On the finish of the day, now we have individuals to handle—our workforce and our company. That is the system we’ve all, indirectly, agreed to take part in. We’d like new individuals continually discovering what we do, proper alongside our regulars, and one thing like 50 Finest definitely helps facilitate that.” For Max Reis, beverage director of Mírate (No. 12), the advantages that come from recognition allow the bar to proceed supporting others. “We help households and producers in Mexico as instantly as you may in my area,” he says, “and this simply means we get much more skill to help and momentum to proceed to take action.”
This 12 months, the nominators comprised one-third bartenders and bar homeowners, one-third drinks writers and educators and one-third “well-travelled cocktail specialists.” As for standards, there aren’t many. Every voter (there are greater than 300) is requested to call as much as seven bars the place they’ve had their “finest expertise” up to now 18 months, and a most of 5 of these bars could be in a voter’s house nation (for these outdoors of the U.S.) or house state (for these within the U.S.). The checklist comes with accompanying Particular person Awards, although not each bar that obtained one in every of these made the highest 50.
However what does it take to be a 50 Finest bar? We ran the numbers, taking a look at each entry on the checklist in consideration of varied elements: location, drink costs, social media following, years open and extra. We checked out what number of bars take reservations, what number of have a centrifuge or rotovap, what number of had been new to the checklist in contrast with what number of had been veterans—and we compiled all that knowledge to see what it actually takes to be awarded one of many coveted spots.
Greater than half of the awarded bars (54 p.c) are within the U.S., adopted by 28 p.c in Mexico, 16 p.c in Canada and a pair of p.c within the Cayman Islands. The preferred metropolis represented on the checklist is New York Metropolis, adopted by Mexico Metropolis, Chicago and Toronto.
Solely eight bars on the checklist are new to 50 Finest. Final 12 months, Los Angeles bar Mírate was No. 46. This 12 months, it’s No. 12, leaping 34 locations within the checklist (the largest shift from 2024 to now). Requested how the bar has modified up to now 12 months, beverage director Max Reis says the workforce “honed in and developed our voice as a bar—similar tonality, however clearer and louder.”
Additionally making huge strikes: New York’s Katana Kitten and Dante, which dropped by 30 and 26 spots, respectively, Café de Nadie in Mexico Metropolis (-30) and Finest Intentions in Chicago (+23). On common, most bars moved round 9 locations.
Final 12 months, Sother Teague of Amor y Amargo, which opened in 2011, informed Punch, “I’ve been on [the list] as excessive as No. 23 [in 2022] after which I haven’t been on the checklist in any respect since then… I do see that lots of the new bars that open and which have cash behind them and PR behind them, they do come screaming outta the gate with loads of sizzle and never as a lot steak.” So, does newness matter? On this 12 months’s checklist, six bars (12 p.c) opened in 2024, and 22 bars (44 p.c) opened within the 2020s. The oldest bar on the checklist, Staff Solely (No. 18), opened in 2004—until you rely Angel’s Share, whose unique location opened in 1994, whereas the brand new iteration opened in 2023. However maybe most attention-grabbing—particularly for an inventory capturing the previous 18 months—is the latest: Bar Mauro, at No. 14, opened very lately, in November 2024.
The highest bars on the checklist additionally are inclined to have bigger social media followings, though it may be a little bit of a chicken-or-egg scenario. For instance, the No. 1 bar this 12 months, Handshake Speakeasy, additionally has the very best variety of followers on Instagram, round 159,000, although it’s honest to imagine that loads of that following got here from topping the checklist final 12 months. Nonetheless, the typical follower rely for the highest 10 on the checklist (54,100) is increased than the typical of the complete checklist of fifty (38,920).
Additionally, 52 p.c of bars on the checklist have been lined by Punch.
As Eater reported a number of years in the past, “spontaneity is formally lifeless” on the hottest bars. We discovered this to be true, to an extent, at a lot of the 50 Finest: 52 p.c take reservations, and on a latest Friday when our workforce tried to safe seats for a celebration of two that very same evening, solely eight (about 31 p.c) of these had availability. As for the reservation platform of alternative, 13 bars use Resy, 9 use OpenTable, two use CoverManager, one makes use of SevenRooms and one takes reservations over the cellphone.
At the very least one bar on the checklist, Double Rooster Please (No. 19), has reported points with bots snatching up reservations; on a reservations brokerage web site (it sounds as dystopian as it’s), proprietor GN Chan noticed seats promoting for $340.
We checked out a complete of 43 bars’ menus. For these whose menus weren’t publicly obtainable, we reached out for digital copies. 5 bars didn’t reply, and two bars (Civil Liberties in Toronto, No. 21, and Cloakroom in Montreal, No. 31) don’t have set menus.
One of many, if not essentially the most, costly drinks you may get at a 50 Finest Bar is at Library by the Sea, in Grand Cayman. The Three Musketeers is described as a mixture of brandys, bourbon, rum, amari and liqueurs from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and it’ll run you 690 Cayman {dollars}, or about $829 USD. Essentially the most reasonably priced drinks (not together with mini or N/A cocktails) are round $8, at a number of bars.
We additionally reached out to high bars on the checklist to study extra about their bestselling drinks. At Superbueno, No. 2 on the checklist, the Vodka y Soda nonetheless reigns supreme. Tlecan, No. 3, says the Pulque Colada (a coconut-washed model of the drink made with fermented agave sap) is hottest, whereas Jewel of the South (No. 4) is promoting a number of the Jewel Sazerac. Sip & Guzzle (No. 5) studies the Yuzu Mugirita (a shochu-based tackle the Margarita), Miami Vice Negroni and Tomato Tree (a floral gin cocktail) are tied as bestsellers.
Additionally trending: Coladas of all kinds, from the aforementioned Pulque Colada to the Absinthe Colada at Maison Premiere (No. 33) and Negroni Piña Colada at Clemente Bar (No. 11), in addition to high-tech cocktails—a minimum of 26 p.c of bars on this checklist seem to have a centrifuge or a rotovap.
Disclosure: Some Punch contributors are a part of the voting physique for the 50 Finest Bar awards.