Sips in Barcelona - that opened during the Covid-19 pandemic - is the world's best bar! 2023 list is out
Barcelona is the place to be!
Sips in the Spanish city of Barcelona has topped this year's bar ranking in the World’s 50 Best Bar list which was revealed at a ceremony on Tuesday. For Barcelona, this is the second year in a row that the city has bagged the top spot: Paradiso, also in Barcelona, was adjudged the best bar of 2022.
Located in the heart of Barcelona's L'Antiga Esquerra de l'Eixample district, Sips is the brainchild of Simone Caporale and Marc Álvarez. Drawing on the lessons of their already illustrious careers – Caporale was one half of the creative duo that led London's Artesian to The World's Best Bar title a record four times, whilst Álvarez spent almost a decade at Ferran and Albert Adrià's revolutionary elBarri restaurant group.
Sips started operations during the Covid-19 pandemic. In an interview with CNN, Caporale said: «Let’s call it a dream.”
With just 33 seats, Sips uses locally sourced ingredients to produce what Álvarez called “high couture cocktails.” The celebrated mixologist welcomed the Barcelona bar scene’s growing reputation, adding: “It’s a very nice spot — architecture, gastronomy, good weather. If we add on top of that nice drinks and good service, I think it’s (somewhere) that needs to be recognized.”
The awards, held at a decommissioned 1950s power plant in Singapore, marked the first time that the event was hosted outside Europe in its 14-year history. This year's list also saw a diverse mix, with Mexico City shining with four bars on the list — including Handshake Speakeasy at the 3rd spot — while Buenos Aires and host city Singapore are both home to three
