Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy tops The World’s 50 Best Bars

If you think the speakeasy trend is over, well, think again. When The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024 were announced on October 22, a Mexican City speakeasy took the No. 1 spot—the second time in recent years that a speakeasy has won. (The Barcelona speakeasy Paradiso, which is accessed through a pastrami shop, won in 2022.)

It’s the first time CDMX has topped this global chart, but anyone who has visited knows it is a terrific city for cocktails. The winning Handshake Speakeasy is a terrific example of what makes it so great. Secreted behind a black door marked with a silver number 13, it is a Prohibition-themed enclave where bar director and co-owner Eric Van Beek has built a shrine to molecular mixology. It’s a must on any cocktail-loving travellers’ list.

In a happy coincidence, the host city for The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022 is also home to The World’s Best Bar, Paradiso—and two more bars in the top 10. From the Western Canadian Academy Chair for the awards, here’s the rundown on some of this year’s other big winners. 

“If you build it, they will come” could have been the tagline for the 10th anniversary of The World’s 50 Best Bars awards ceremony, held in Barcelona on October 4. It has been a buzzy cocktail destination for the last several years—and particularly during the pandemic, when Spain remained relatively open to tourists. Building on  that strong foundation, the city has scored bragging rights for The World’s Best Bar of 2022: Paradiso. Also placing in the top 10 were the city’s beloved Two Schmucks (#7) and Sips (which had the most impressive rise from last year’s list, up 34 places this year to #3).

An on-trend bar crawl during World’s 50 Best Bars week recaps some top watering holes of the year, and what leading bartenders are mixing up for the coming year.

Pandemic be damned, I went to London for the World’s 50 Best Bars event in December 2021. Here’s a curated crawl of award winners, bars to watch and insider hangouts that hints at what the bar world might deliver in 2022.