North America’s 50 Best Bars List Revealed — Here’s a Defining Cocktail From Each of the Top 5

On late Tuesday night, North America’s 50 Best Bars list was unveiled to rapturous applause and a few raised eyebrows.

The crème de la crème of bartending awards typically heaps praise on the kinds of places you might expect: glitzy hideouts specializing in clarified spirits, gourmet foams, molecular mixology and everything fancy in between. This year was no different. Painstakingly crafted martinis were just as common a sight as caviar-garnished negronis. Drinks were served in “vessels,” not glasses; margaritas prone to swap lime juice for bacon fat.

In its finer details, however, the 2025 list may have looked a little unexciting. Once again, New York and Mexico City clobbered the competition with nearly a dozen entries each, many of which made appearances on last year’s list. Some — including this year’s No. 1 and No. 2 awardees — maintained the exact same position. Others rose and fell in the rankings by slight margins.