The world’s best bar is a speakeasy hidden behind a refrigerator

Shaken, stirred, and cooler than liquid nitrogen; the globe’s most intoxicating and inventive watering holes have been revealed at The World’s 50 Best Bars awards in Barcelona this week, with two Australian outposts making the prestigious list.

Paradiso in Barcelona took pole position, with judges waxing lyrical about the speakeasy bar – hidden behind a refrigerator door in a pastrami shop – saying, once inside “the surprises keep on coming, starting with the show-stopping Supercool Martini, which uses a ‘supercooled’ gin mix to build an iceberg in the glass.”

The Vulcano Negroni at Paradiso, Barcelona.

Following closely were the industrial-styled Tayer + Elementary in London, known for its signature ‘One Sip Martini’, and the highly-inventive Sips in Barcelona, which took second and third positions, respectively.

Licorería Limantour in Mexico City and Little Red Door in Paris rounded out the top five.

Announced annually since 2009, the World’s 50 Best Bars is determined by a panel of 650 experts from around the globe. Offshoots include the Best Bars in Asia and the Best Restaurants in the Middle East. 

Flying the flag for Australia, two Sydney bars made it onto the delicious list, proving the great southern land can more than compete on a global stage.

Maybe Sammy in The Rocks was named number 29 in the World's 50 Best Bars.

At number 29 was the 1950s ‘Rat Pack’ Hollywood-inspired Maybe Sammy – a showstopper adorned in pastel hues in The Rocks – and the micro mezcal bar Cantina OK!, tucked in a small laneway off Clarence Street, at 41.

In a post on Instagram, the Maybe Sammy team said: “When we opened Maybe Sammy we never would have dreamed we’d be one of the World’s 50 Best bars four years in a row, let alone the best bar in Australasia each time.”

Cantina OK!, a hole-in-the-wall bar on Council Place in Sydney was named 41.

Cantina OK! kept their announcement short and sweet, with just a simple “thank you”.

Here is the full list.

The World’s 50 Best Bars

1. Paradiso, Barcelona
2. Tayer + Elementary, London
3. Sips, Barcelona
4. Licorería Limantour, Mexico City
5. Little Red Door, Paris
6. Double Chicken Please, New York
7. Two Schmucks, Barcelona
8. Connaught Bar, London
9. Katana Kitten, New York
10. Alquímico, Cartagena
11. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
12. Jigger & Pony, Singapore
13. Hanky Panky, Mexico City
14. BKK Social Club, Bangkok
15. Salmon Guru, Madrid
16. Drink Kong, Rome
17. Coa, Hong Kong
18. Florería Atlántico, Buenos Aires
19. The Clumsies, Athens
20. Baba au Rum, Athens
21. Café La Trova, Miami
22. Attaboy, New York
23. Satan's Whiskers, London
24. Tropic City, Bangkok
25. Kumiko, Chicago
26. Sidecar, New Delhi
27. Tres Monos, Buenos Aires
28. Argo, Hong Kong
29. Maybe Sammy, Sydney
30. Swift, London
31. Line, Athens
32. Baltra Bar, Mexico City
33. Manhattan, Singapore
34. Overstory, New York
35. 1930, Milan
36. Dante, New York
37. A Bar with Shapes for a Name, London
38. Zuma, Dubai
39. Locale Firenze, Florence
40. Red Frog, Lisbon
41. Cantina OK!, Sydney
42. CoChinChina, Buenos Aires
43. Himkok, Oslo
44. Carnaval, Lima
45. Galaxy Bar, Dubai
46. L'Antiquario, Naples
47. Employees Only, New York
48. Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
49. Lucy's Flower Shop, Stockholm
50. Bulgari Bar, Dubai (main image)