By Lilit Marcus, CNN

(CNN) — No one knows for sure how many bars exist on Earth, but there are likely millions of spots around the world where patrons can get a glass of wine or a bottle of beer.

No one knows for sure how many bars exist on Earth, but there are likely millions of spots around the world where patrons can get a glass of wine or a bottle of beer.

But within that number, how many offer cocktails that are served inside giant balloons, made from foraged ingredients, or topped with pastel-colored edible foam? And of all these wide and diverse alcohol-vending establishments, which ones are worth traveling for?

That’s a question that the World’s 50 Best group tries every year to answer. The UK-based organization puts together an annual ranking of the world’s best bars and reveals the winners in October.

For 2025, the No. 1 answer to that question is Hong Kong’s Bar Leone. This Italian spot in the fashionable Sheung Wan area is helmed by Rome native Lorenzo Antinori, who said he wanted the bar to feel “like my grandmother’s living room.”

It is the first-ever bar in Asia to win the No. 1 spot.

“Grazie mille!” he said as the bar’s name was called.

“Our idea was try to be a neighborhood bar as much as possible,” Antinori said at a press conference after the ceremony.

“We are living in times where consumers are seeking for comfort. There’s no smoke and mirrors. What you see on the menu is what you’re going to get.”

The world’s best bars list was announced at a splashy, cocktail-attire-please event in Hong Kong, where the hometown crowd seemed firmly on Bar Leone’s cheering squad.

Second place went to Handshake Speakeasy, a Prohibition-inspired cocktail spot in Mexico City. It won the World’s Best Bar title last year. Sips in Barcelona earned the No. 3 ranking.

One way to spot potential future honorees is to look at the list of the 51st-100th best bars, which was released on September 24. New entries to the list include New York City’s Schmuck (“effortlessly cool”), São Paulo’s Exímia (“a taste of Brazil in a glass”), and Taichung’s Vender (“disguised as one of Taiwan’s many vending machines”).

The World’s 50 Best began as a restaurant ranking in 2002, then expanded to bars and hotels.

There are also prizes for sustainable practices and for standout bartenders.

The world’s 50 best bars for 2025

  • Bar Leone, Hong Kong
  • Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
  • Sips, Barcelona
  • Paradiso, Barcelona
  • Tayer & Elementary, London
  • Connaught Bar, London
  • Moebius Milano, Milan
  • Line, Athens
  • Jigger & Pony, Singapore
  • Tres Monos, Buenos Aires
  • Alquimico, Cartagena
  • Superbueno, New York City
  • Lady Bee, Lima
  • Himkok, Oslo
  • Bar Us, Bangkok
  • Zest, Seoul
  • Bar Nouveau, Paris
  • Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
  • Caretaker’s Cottage, Melbourne
  • The Cambridge Public House, Paris
  • Satan’s Whiskers, London
  • Locale Firenze, Florence
  • Tlecan, Mexico City
  • Tan Tan, São Paulo
  • Mirror Bar, Bratislava
  • CoChinChina, Buenos Aires
  • Baba au Rhum, Athens
  • Nouvelle Vague, Tirana
  • Hope & Sesame, Guangzhou
  • Danico, Paris
  • Scarfes Bar, London
  • Svanen, Oslo
  • Sastreria Martinez, Lima
  • Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
  • Roda Huset, Stockholm
  • Mimi Kakushi, Dubai
  • Salmon Guru, Madrid
  • Coa, Hong Kong
  • Sip & Guzzle, New York
  • Drink Kong, Rome
  • Double Chicken Please, New York
  • Maybe Sammy, Sydney
  • 1930, Milan
  • Jewel of the South, New Orleans
  • Virtu, Tokyo
  • Overstory, New York
  • The Bar in Front of the Bar, Athens
  • The Bellwood, Tokyo
  • BKK Social Club, Bangkok
  • Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.