Bar Leone is crowned the World’s Best Bar for the second year in a row

There was a bit of a furore among the F&B and hospitality industry in July when the results of the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list dropped and Hong Kong’s Bar Leone, which won the title of the World’s Best Bar in 2025, slipped slightly down the list to third place – but our city has come out swinging once again, as Bar Leone has just been named the World’s Best Bar for the second year in a row!

The 18th edition of The 50 Best Bars’ live awards ceremony was held in Milan on October 7, with a list that features outstanding drinking spots from 26 cities and Bar Leone sitting pretty at the top. Co-founded by Lorenzo Antinori and Justin Shun Wah, Bar Leone brings a taste of traditional bars in Rome’s Trastevere district to the heart of Hong Kong with cocktail popolari (‘cocktails for the people’), warm hospitality, a banging mortadella sandwich, and the most addictive smoked olives.

Hong Kong is also represented by three other bars on the top 50 list, cementing our status as Asia’s leading cocktail city. Argo at the Four Seasons Hong Kong has reentered the chat at No. 25, which is a great comeback from its position in the 51-100 extended list last year. There are also two new entries from our city: Montana at No. 36, followed by Gokan at No. 41.

The Cuban-inspired Montana is also Antinori’s brainchild in collaboration with Simone Caporale, the mixologist behind Sips in Barcelona (which has ranked at No. 16 on the list, by the way), and serves our favourite coffee cocktail in the city. Gokan’s founder, the globally respected mixologist Shingo Gokan, was also honoured with the Roku Industry Icon Award.

As for how everyone else fared on The 50 Best Bars 2026, Milan’s Moebius Milano is No. 2, followed by Alquímico in Cartagena at No. 3 and Bangkok’s Bar Us at No. 4, with Line in Athens rounding off the top five bars in the world this year.

Click here to see more on the World’s 50 Best Bars 2026.

The 50 Best Bars 2026:

1. Bar Leone, Hong Kong
2. Moebius Milano, Milan
3. Alquímico, Cartagena
4. Bar Us, Bangkok
5. Line, Athens
6. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
7. Zest, Seoul
8. Connaught Bar, London
9. Lady Bee, Lima
10. Bar Mauro, Mexico City
11. Schmuck, New York
12. Hope & Sesame, Guangzhou
13. The Cambridge Public House, Paris
14. Sip & Guzzle, New York
15. Bar Nouveau, Paris
16. Sips, Barcelona
17. Paradiso, Barcelona
18. Jigger & Pony, Singapore
19. The Bar in Front of the Bar, Athens
20. Exímia, São Paulo
21. Tres Monos, Buenos Aires
22. Mamba Negra, Medellín
23. De Vie, Paris
24. Himkok, Oslo
25. Argo, Hong Kong
26. Danico, Paris
27. Dry Wave Cocktail Studio, Bangkok
28. El Gallo Altanero, Guadalajara
29. Satan’s Whiskers, London
30. BKK Social Club, Bangkok
31. Victor Audio Bar, Buenos Aires
32. Waltz, London
33. Locale Firenze, Florence
34. Mirror Bar, Bratislava
35. Tan Tan, São Paulo
36. Montana, Hong Kong
37. Sastrería Martinez, Lima
38. Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore
39. Bar Carmen, Medellín
40. Barro Negro, Athens
41. Gokan, Hong Kong
42. Mimi Kakushi, Dubai
43. Nouvelle Vague, Tirana
44. Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
45. Caretaker's Cottage, Melbourne
46. Martiny’s, New York
47. Tlecān, Mexico City
48. Virtù, Tokyo
49. Bar Snack, New York
50. Angelita, Madrid

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