The rivalry between New York City and Mexico City has defined North America’s 50 Best Bars since the list launched in 2022 — and on April 22nd, at the live ceremony at the Vancouver Convention Centre, it swung decisively back across the border. Sip & Guzzle, a bar on Cornelia Street in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, was named the Best Bar in North America for 2026 — climbing from fifth place last year to claim the top spot in a list that confirmed New York’s current, undeniable dominance of the continental cocktail scene.
This year’s ranking featured 28 US bars, 11 from Mexico, 8 from Canada and 3 in the Caribbean, with 15 new entries making their debut on the list.
New York City was the most-represented city with 13 ranked spots. Mexico City had the second-highest concentration with 7, and Toronto, Vancouver, and Chicago each had 4 spots on the list.
The ceremony marked the second consecutive year Vancouver has hosted, with Canada’s growing influence on global cocktail culture increasing (and increasingly impossible to ignore).
How The North America’s 50 Best Bars 2026 List Was Made
The voting academy for North America’s 50 Best Bars 2026 was comprised of more than 300 anonymous members, equally split among bar professionals, drinks writers and educators, and well-traveled cocktail experts, with a 50/50 gender balance.
Voters were tasked with choosing bars where they’d had their best experience in the 18 months prior to the voting deadline. And that’s it as far as criteria goes.
The result is a list that captures the genuine pulse of the continent’s cocktail community — not just the loudest or most Instagrammed addresses, but the ones where the industry itself wants to drink, and the nights (against the odds) that they remembered the most.
The Big Stories In North America’s 50 Best Bars 2026
The headline story is New York’s extraordinary moment.
Three of the top five ranked bars are from New York City, and three of them opened in the past two years. Bar Snack (No.3) and Schmuck (No.4) both make their list debut in the top five — a statement about the city’s creative pipeline that few other drinking destinations on earth could match right now.
Mexico City, meanwhile, remains the counterweight.
The city was a powerhouse again within the rankings, represented by Bar Mauro (No.2) as The Best Bar in Mexico, Tlecān (No.5), Form + Matter (No.13), Mecenas (No.18), Licorería Limantour (No.20), Kaito del Valle (No.25) and Baltra Bar (No.48). That places seven of the continent’s best 50 bars are in one city. Remarkable.
The previous year’s top two — Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City and Superbueno in NYC — fell to No.12 and No.9, respectively. 2026 is the first time in four years that Handshake Speakeasy did not clinch one of the top two spots.
Handshake’s reign was extraordinary by any measure, and its No.12 finish — along with the Rémy Martin Legend of the List Award — is recognition of a bar that permanently shifted the global conversation about what Mexican cocktail culture could achieve.
Canada had reason to celebrate too. The Best Bar in Canada was awarded to The Keefer Bar (No.7) from Vancouver, with additional Vancouver bars including June on Cambie (No.17), Prophecy (No.32) and Botanist Bar (No.38). Toronto features prominently with Bar Pompette (No.8), Library Bar (No.19), Mother (No.22) and Civil Works (No.29) — eight Canadian bars on the list in total, reinforcing the country’s growing influence on the global cocktail stage.
Beyond the major metropolitan hubs, the list celebrated remarkable bars in less expected corners of the map: El Gallo Altanero (No.10) from Guadalajara, Bekeb (No.24) from San Miguel de Allende and Selva (No.43) from Oaxaca all made the cut, alongside new Bahamian entry Bon Vivants (No.50) in Nassau and Grand Cayman’s Library by the Sea (No.49).
The Special Awards At North America’s 50 Best Bars 2026
Chicago’s Kumiko (No.11) received the Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award and Freddy Andreasson of El Gallo Altanero (No.10) in Guadalajara was named the winner of the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award.
Chris Hannah of Jewel of the South in New Orleans won the Roku Industry Icon Award. Bar Snack (No.3) earned the Disaronno Highest New Entry Award. Schmuck (No.4) took the Three Cents Best New Opening Award.
Library Bar Toronto (No.19) earned the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award. While Cure from New Orleans (No.21) wass the Nikka Highest Climber Award winner.
As we’ve mentioned, Handshake Speakeasy (No.12) earns the Rémy Martin Legend of the List Award. And Washington DC’s Allegory (No.57) was awarded the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award. Finally, Daydream Rum Bar from Albuquerque won the SevenRooms Best Bar Design Award.
No.1 — Sip & Guzzle, New York
Sip & Guzzle is a dual concept New York cocktail bar from a trio of industry heavyweights — one who will be particularly familiar, Asia-based bar magnate Shingo Gokan, here collaborating with Employees Only veteran Steve Schneider and former head bartender at Double Chicken Please Ben Yabrow — that splits the experience into two distinct moods under one roof.
Sip focuses on refined, Japanese-inspired cocktails with precision and elegance, while Guzzle is louder and more casual, serving bold highballs, beers and fun bar snacks.
Located just two doors down from Taylor Swift’s Cornelia Street townhouse, the two-level venue offers a lively walk-in hotspot on the ground floor and an intimate, refined cocktail bar on the lower level. A relative newcomer that entered the list at No.5 last year, it now stands at the top of the continent. The Big Apple’s moment is here.
North America’s 50 Best Bars 2026: The Full List
50. Bon Vivants, Nassau, Bahamas (New Entry)
49. Library by the Sea, Grand Cayman
48. Baltra Bar, Mexico City, Mexico
47. Bandista, Houston, USA (New Entry)
46. Viceversa, Miami, USA (New Entry)
45. Employees Only, New York, USA
44. Daisy Margarita Bar, Los Angeles, USA (New Entry)
43. Selva, Oaxaca, Mexico
42. Café La Trova, Miami, USA
41. Pacific Cocktail Haven, San Francisco, USA
40. Maison Premiere, New York, USA
39. Service Bar, Washington DC, USA
38. Botanist Bar, Vancouver, Canada
37. Attaboy, New York, USA (Re-entry)
36. Bar Madonna, New York, USA (New Entry)
35. Double Chicken Please, New York, USA
34. Press Club, Washington DC, USA (New Entry)
33. Overstory, New York, USA
32. Prophecy, Vancouver, Canada (New Entry)
31. Angel’s Share, New York, USA
30. Bisous, Chicago, USA
29. Civil Works, Toronto, Canada (New Entry)
28. Mírate, Los Angeles, USA
27. Gus’ Sip & Dip, Chicago, USA (New Entry)
26. La Factoría, San Juan, Puerto Rico (Best Bar in the Caribbean)
25. Kaito del Valle, Mexico City, Mexico
24. Bekeb, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
23. Martiny’s, New York, USA
22. Mother, Toronto, Canada
21. Cure, New Orleans, USA (Nikka Highest Climber Award)
20. Licorería Limantour, Mexico City, Mexico
19. Library Bar, Toronto, Canada (New Entry / Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award)
18. Mecenas, Guadalajara, Mexico
17. June on Cambie, Vancouver, Canada
16. Best Intentions, Chicago, USA
15. Clemente Bar, New York, USA
14. True Laurel, San Francisco, USA (Best Bar in West USA)
13. Form + Matter, Mexico City, Mexico
12. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City, Mexico (Rémy Martin Legend of the List Award)
11. Kumiko, Chicago, USA (Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award / Best Bar in Midwest USA)
10. El Gallo Altanero, Guadalajara, Mexico (Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award)
9. Superbueno, New York, USA
8. Bar Pompette, Toronto, Canada
7. The Keefer Bar, Vancouver, Canada (Best Bar in Canada)
6. Jewel of the South, New Orleans, USA (Roku Industry Icon Award / Best Bar in South USA)
5. Tlecān, Mexico City, Mexico
4. Schmuck, New York, USA (New Entry / Three Cents Best New Opening Award)
3. Bar Snack, New York, USA (New Entry / Disaronno Highest New Entry Award)
2. Bar Mauro, Mexico City, Mexico (Best Bar in Mexico)
1. Sip & Guzzle, New York, USA (The Best Bar in North America 2026)
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