These U.S. bars were just named the best in North America

Time Out

30-04-2025

If you're like a lot of us, you look forward to a bar visit on your vacation. It's always fun to see seasonal or specialty cocktails on the list, and soaking up the boozy atmosphere and music can be elating. (Truth be told, we also love a great mocktail and staying sharp for the evening). So if you're thinking of building a trip around visiting one of the continent's best bars, we're thrilled for you. Winners of North America's Best Bars 2025 have just been announced, and 26 of those 50 are here in the U.S. There are also 14 in Mexico (including the No. 1 pick, Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City), eight from Canada and two from the Caribbean.
The first U.S. bar on the list is Superbueno in New York, which was also No. 2 last year —way to hold strong! Jewel of the South in New Orleans rose from the No. 6 spot to No. 4. Overstory in New York fell from No. 3 to No. 6, taking over the Jewel's former spot. Other U.S. bars in the top 10 are Sip & Guzzle in New York, showing up at No. 5 out of nowhere (it wasn't on the list last year) and Kumiko in Chicago, rising to No. 10 from No. 19. Sip & Guzzle has an enormously interesting backstory, based on an 1874 contingent of Japanese samurai who came to New York, where bartender Jerry Thomas invented a cocktail specifically for the Japanese diplomat Tateishi Onojirou Noriyuki. Today in Tokyo, Shingo Gokan's The SG Club imagines the kind of bar those samurai would have opened upon returning, and in a playful turn, Sip & Guzzle (with the same initials) imagines the bar that the samurai would have opened if they returned to New York with everything they'd learned. That's for sure on my visit list the next time I'm in New York!
The Best Bars in North America 2025:
1. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
2. Superbueno, New York
3. Tlecān, Mexico City
4. Jewel of the South, New Orleans
5. Sip & Guzzle, New York
6. Overstory, New York
7. Bar Pompette, Toronto
8. El Gallo Altanero, Guadalajara
9. Licorería Limantour, Mexico City
10. Kumiko, Chicago
11. Clemente Bar, New York
12. Mírate, Los Angeles
13. Café La Trova, Miami
14. Bar Mauro, Mexico City
15. Martiny's, New York
16. Pacific Cocktail Haven, San Francisco
17. True Laurel, San Francisco
18. Employees Only, New York
19. Double Chicken Please, New York
20. Baltra Bar, Mexico City
21. Civil Liberties, Toronto
22. Aruba Day Drink, Tijuana
23. Service Bar, Washington, D.C.
24. Thunderbolt, Los Angeles
25. Best Intentions, Chicago
26. Botanist Bar, Vancouver
27. Arca, Tulum
28. The Keefer Bar, Vancouver
29. Selva, Oaxaca
30. Library by the Sea, Grand Cayman
31. Cloakroom, Montreal
32. La Factoría, San Juan
33. Maison Premiere, New York
34. Bijou Drinkery Room, Mexico City
35. Hanky Panky, Mexico City
36. Atwater Cocktail Club, Montreal
37. Bar Mordecai, Toronto
38. Meadowlark, Chicago
39. Bisous, Chicago
40. Kaito del Valle, Mexico City
41. Yacht Club, Denver
42. Katana Kitten, New York
43. Angel's Share, New York
44. Mother, Toronto
45. Allegory, Washington, D.C.
46. Dante, New York
47. Café de Nadie, Mexico City
48. Silver Lyan, Washington, D.C.
49. Bekeb, San Miguel de Allende
50. Cure, New Orleans
If you want to see the continuing list, here's No. 51-100, named for the first time this year.