Awards

The World's 50 Best Bars: Bar Leone wins, the Italian spirit in Hong Kong (and beyond)

2025 ranking unveiled: success for Italian barmen in the world. First Italian bar is Moebius in Milan, which rises from 31st to seventh place

by Emiliano Sgambato

9 October 2025

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The best bar in the world is in Hong Kong, but its creator, Lorenzo Antinori, is from Rome. Bar Leone has in fact been awarded 'World's 50 Best Bars 2025' by the prestigious The World's 50 Best Bars (on the model of restaurants, whose last edition took place for the first time in Italy, in Turin). In addition to first place, to be recorded (once again) a good affirmation for Italian bartenders.

Bar Leone opened just three years ago and by the following year it was already ranked number one among Asian bars, while in 2024 it came second in the 50Best. It is the brainchild of Lorenzo Antinori, whose CV includes some of Europe's and Asia's best-loved hotel bars, including the American Bar at The Savoy and the (now closed) Dandelyan in London.

"Based on the philosophy of "popular cocktails"," reads the motivation for the award, "Bar Leone pays homage to Rome's neighbourhood bars, where locals would gather for a coffee, an aperitif and an informal chat. The interior is a declaration of love to the city of the 1980s and 1990s and is designed to be cosy, unpretentious and deeply rooted in Italian culture and hospitality.

Roman by birth, Antinori's aim is to eliminate the complexity of modern mixology and return to simple, high-quality drinks, served with warmth and precision. The cocktail menu takes the form of a rotating Google Docs file, updated monthly and including the full recipe and preparation method to ensure that each drink is accessible to all.

No doubt the first place will lead to an increase in customers queuing outside the bar, but Antinori does not foresee any big changes for the venue: 'Conviviality, sharing of tables, food and drinks. What you read on the menu is what you get. Bar Leone is a very digestible experience. It is very comfortable,' he said. 'Tonight we will celebrate with some tequila.

"This is the first instance of an Asian bar taking the top spot," said Emma Sleight, Head of Content for The World's 50 Best Bars during the Hong Kong ceremony. "But it is also a striking testimony to the commitment of Lorenzo and the entire Bar Leone team to redefining hospitality excellence.

Last year's winner, Mexico City's Handshake Speakeasy, fell to second place in the ranking. The Sips and Barcelona's Paradiso came in third and fourth place respectively, again with more than a touch of the Italian colours: in the two Catalan bars behind the bar are Antonello Caporale (co-founder of Sips, winner of the Roku Industry Icon Award) and Giacomo Giannotti (first in 2022) while Agostino Perrone and Giorgio Bargiani of London's famous Connaught, this year in sixth place.

Among the Italian bars, the first place is Moebius Milano, which jumped from 31st to seventh place, thus earning the Nikka Highest Climber Award. Then we have to go down to 22nd place, where there is Locale Firenze, a landmark in the Tuscan capital, and to 40th where Patrick Pistolesi's Drink Kong in Rome is located. The 1930 in Milano, for the seventh year in the ranking, is in 43rd place.

Among the 23 European bars, London continues to boast the highest concentration of cocktail masters with four venues: Tayēr + Elementary at No. 5, Connaught Bar at No. 6, Satan's Whiskers at No. 21 and Scarfes Bar at No. 31.

Here is the complete ranking:

1. Bar Leone Hong Kong

2. Handshake Speakeasy Mexico City

3. Sips Barcelona

4. Paradiso Barcelona

5. Tayēr + Elementary London

6. Connaught Bar London

7. Moebius Milan

8. Line Athens

9. Jigger & Pony Singapore

10. Tres Monos Buenos Aires

11. Alquímico Cartagena

12. Superbueno New York

13. Lady Bee Lima

14. Himkok Oslo

15. Bar Us Bangkok

16. Zest Seoul

17. Bar Nouveau Paris

18. Bar Benfiddich Tokyo

19. Caretaker's Cottage Melbourne

20. The Cambridge Public House Paris

21. Satan's Whiskers London

22. Local Florence

23. Tlecān Mexico City

24. Tan Tan São Paulo

25. Mirror Bar Bratislava

26. CoChinChina Buenos Aires

27. Baba au Rum Athens

28. New Wave Tirana

29. Hope & Sesame Guangzhou

30. Danico Paris

31. Scarfes Bar London

32. Svanen Oslo

33. Sastrería Martinez Lima

34. Panda & Sons Edinburgh

35. Röda Huset Stockholm

36. Mimi Kakushi Dubai

37. Salmon Guru Madrid

38. Coa Hong Kong

39. Sip & Guzzle New York

40. Drink Kong Rome

41. Double Chicken Please New York

42. Maybe Sammy Sydney

43. 1930 Milan

44. Jewel of the South New Orleans

45. Virtues Tokyo

46. Overstory New York

47. The Bar in Front of the Bar Athens

48. The Bellwood Tokyo

49. BKK Social Club Bangkok

50. Nutmeg & Clove Singapore

According to the organiser, the list - now in its 17th year and sponsored by Perrier - was compiled with the contribution of more than 800 industry experts from 29 countries, including bartenders, writers and cocktail experts. Each voter had to indicate the eight best cocktail experiences of the past 18 months, with the final ranking 'guaranteed' by Deloitte.

Emiliano SgambatoResponsabile Food24
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Luogo: Milano
Lingue parlate: Inglese
Argomenti: Agroalimentare, mercato immobiliare, arredo-design
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