Soft lighting, complex cocktails and timeless elegance: Handshake Speakeasy, the Mexico City bar, reclaims the top spot in North American mixology after last year’s win. Just moments ago, on the stage of the JW Marriott Parq in Vancouver, the North America’s 50 Best Bars ceremony welcomed the bar’s four founders from Colonia Juárez. This first-place finish—already achieved in 2024—honours their technical mastery, elevated hospitality and the ability to turn each cocktail into a visionary narrative.
Handshake Speakeasy Tops the North America’s 50 Best Bars
Behind the bar, Eric Van Beek conducts a symphony of flavours through contemporary serves, crafted in the lab hidden on the lower floor—where batches can take up to 48 hours to prepare. Marcos Di Battista draws on deep entrepreneurial and mixology experience to shape the direction of this high-level project, while Rodrigo Urraca handles communication and PR with deft precision. Alongside Joseph Kuri, they form the quartet behind Handshake’s success. In true speakeasy spirit, the bar recently unveiled a new lounge on the ground floor of the NH Hotel, just across from the tiny space where it all began. The move hasn’t diluted its essence: the venue has once again been named the Best Bar in Mexico.
A Shifting Map of Taste
The second spot goes to Superbueno, a refined New York enclave that retains its place from last year thanks to a contemporary, deeply personal take on Latin culture. In third, another Mexico City gem: Tlecān, a bar that further strengthens the capital’s creative grip on cocktail culture.
Among the highest new entries is Sip & Guzzle (No.5), also in New York, while Clemente Bar (No.11), equally NYC-based, wins the Best New Opening award, blending cutting-edge cocktails with the plant-based cuisine of Eleven Madison Park. From Chicago, Lemon is this year’s One to Watch, while Phoenix’s Carry On draws attention with an immersive, aviation-inspired design. Jewel of the South, from New Orleans, lands confidently at No.4.
A Scene of Refined Selection
With 26 bars from the U.S., 14 from Mexico, 8 from Canada and 2 from the Caribbean, the 2025 list of North America’s 50 Best Bars charts a constantly evolving landscape. From Guadalajara to Tulum, San Francisco to Toronto, with stops in Oaxaca, Miami and Montréal, each venue represents a distinct mix of research and aesthetic. There are notable returns, like Yacht Club (Denver), and enduring icons such as Licorería Limantour, Dante and Katana Kitten. And then there are the newer voices—from Tulum, Oaxaca, San Miguel de Allende—expanding the boundaries of mixology while remaining rooted in place.
North America’s 50 Best Bars 2025, the Full Ranking
- Handshake Speakeasy – Mexico City
- Superbueno – New York
- Tlecān – Mexico City
- Jewel of the South – New Orleans
- Sip & Guzzle – New York
- Overstory – New York
- Bar Pompette – Toronto
- El Gallo Altanero – Guadalajara
- Licorería Limantour – Mexico City
- Kumiko – Chicago
- Clemente Bar – New York
- Mírate – Los Angeles
- Café La Trova – Miami
- Bar Mauro – Mexico City
- Martiny’s – New York
- Pacific Cocktail Haven – San Francisco
- True Laurel – San Francisco
- Employees Only – New York
- Double Chicken Please – New York
- Baltra Bar – Mexico City
- Civil Liberties – Toronto
- Aruba Day Drink – Tijuana
- Service Bar – Washington DC
- Thunderbolt – Los Angeles
- Best Intentions – Chicago
- Botanist Bar – Vancouver
- Arca – Tulum
- The Keefer Bar – Vancouver
- Selva – Oaxaca
- Library by the Sea – Grand Cayman
- Cloakroom – Montréal
- La Factoría – San Juan
- Maison Premiere – New York
- Bijou Drinkery Room – Mexico City
- Hanky Panky – Mexico City
- Atwater Cocktail Club – Montréal
- Bar Mordecai – Toronto
- Meadowlark – Chicago
- Bisous – Chicago
- Kaito del Valle – Mexico City
- Yacht Club – Denver
- Katana Kitten – New York
- Angel’s Share – New York
- Mother – Toronto
- Allegory – Washington DC
- Dante – New York
- Café de Nadie – Mexico City
- Silver Lyan – Washington DC
- Bekeb – San Miguel de Allende
- Cure – New Orleans
Images courtesy of 50 Best Bars
