Best 50 Bars in the World Bar Crawl
And you thought a fancy bar crawl was an oxymoron!
When you want the best of the best, things can get expensive - fast. A really fancy bottle of wine or bottle of whisky can run you several thousand dollars. But a cocktail from one of the best bars in the world? Usually less than $20. Go ahead and have 3 or 4 - you're still hanging out around $100 for a night of the best cocktails in the world!
In any given year, at least 5 of the world’s best 50 bars are in NYC. So, experience the world’s finest without breaking the bank by doing your very own best bars in the world bar crawl!
You are indeed very welcome for this incredible life hack.
Attaboy
Walking down Eldridge St. on the Lower East Side before 4pm, you would never notice Attaboy. But starting around 4:30, you’ll see a line start to form in front of an unmarked door. In New York, that usually isn’t a sign of insanity - it’s a sign that someone is more in the know than you are.
With a long bar and just a few tables in the back, Attaboy is a very small establishment. You will definitely need to wait to get in. But it’s most certainly worth it; this menu-less cocktail bar just might be my favorite in the city. Just tell the bar tender what you like and wait to be served something original and delicious!
Katana Kitten
New to the list this year, Katana Kitten is a Japanese fusion bar with a small creative menu of appetizer-ish items. Rock music pairs well with the Japanese movie posters and Katanas adorning the walls. Cocktails feature ingredients like miso, yuzu, shiso, and matcha. How could you not love this place?
Employees Only
Employees Only is the only bar that’s made the 50 Best Bars list all 12 times! And with good reason - it’s one of our favorite bars in the city … and everyone else loves it too. Employees Only is always packed, so be prepared to stand with your drink, and perhaps get lucky enough to snag a spot on the mantle to put it down once in a while.
Hack: You can make dinner reservations at EO and enjoy your cocktails from your very own chair! EO does not accept drinks only reservations.
Weird factoid: EO has an all-gender restroom (yay!), but strikingly straight-male oriented decor - there are a bunch of vintage photos of topless women on the wall! I mentioned this to my husband, who informed me that this is actually quite common in mens rooms. WTF!
Dante
In 2019, Dante took the number one slot on the list. Their speciality is the Negroni - they have a huge menu of Negroni variants, which I’m sure are delicious … if you like Negronis. Personally, I cannot fathom enjoying the taste of Campari, however diluted. I got their least Negroni-ish Negroni, and it was … fine. They do have true non-Negroni cocktails - I just figured that if I was going to like one, it would probably be at Dante! And I didn’t. So there you go.
#51-100
I promised you at least 5 bars, so where’s the 5th? Well, NoMad Bar was in the list, but it closed during the pandemic.
The list goes up to #100 though, so here are a few other bars to hit:
Dead Rabbit
With a very cool menu designed like a comic book and over 40 drinks, Dead Rabbit us undeniably fun. However, the wait is always insane, and the place to wait is at their downstairs bar, where you will be smushed against your fellow revelers like sardines. I enjoyed my drinks, but my husband who prefers distinctly un-sweet smoky drinks never really found anything he liked. YMMV.
Death and Co
This one has been on my list forever - you might beat me to it! During COVID, they created outdoor seating, but it’s still very hard to get in.
Amor y Amargo
Never heard of a bitters tasting room, but worth a try!