The World’s 50 Best Bars 2026 is coming to Milan – and for the first time in the awards’ 18-year history, Italy will host the global bar industry’s most watched annual countdown.
Announced on May 11, 2026, the ceremony will take place in the Italian city in early October, bringing together bartenders, bar owners, and industry figures from across the world for a red-carpet celebration of cocktail culture. The event is sponsored by Perrier, which also backs the marquee title of The World’s Best Bar.
Why Milan
Rikki Tidball, Managing Director of Events for The World’s 50 Best Bars, framed the choice of venue clearly: “Milan provides a fitting backdrop for The World’s 50 Best Bars 2026, a city renowned for its rich cocktail heritage and thriving bar scene. Home to some of the industry’s most respected and innovative talent, it sets the stage to bring together the international bars community to celebrate creativity, excellence and the achievements of the world’s finest bars and bartenders, while inspiring discovery among cocktail enthusiasts worldwide.”
Milan’s Negroni-soaked aperitivo tradition and its growing roster of boundary-pushing cocktail bars make it a credible, and long-overdue, host for an awards body whose stated mission is to spotlight dynamic and inspirational destinations globally.
The List and How It’s Built
The ranked list of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2026 will be determined by the votes of a gender-balanced Academy of more than 800 industry professionals, journalists, and cocktail experts — each handpicked by 29 regional Academy Chairs for their depth of knowledge and active presence in the bar world. Professional services firm Deloitte independently oversees and verifies the results, providing a layer of credibility that has become central to the awards’ authority.
In the lead-up to the October ceremony, 50 Best will also release the extended list of bars ranked No.51 through No.100, giving the wider industry an early look at the full shape of this year’s rankings.
Special Awards on the Night
Beyond the ranked list, two peer-voted special awards will be announced ahead of the ceremony:
Michter’s Art of Hospitality – Academy members are each invited to nominate the single venue where they experienced the most outstanding display of hospitality during the voting period. It remains one of the most genuinely felt recognitions in the business, voted on by the people who drink out professionally for a living.
Altos Bartenders’ Bartender – Bars that appear on the ranked list nominate one fellow industry professional who, over the course of the past 18 months, has done the most to advance the art and practice of bartending. Peer recognition, full stop.
Two further awards – the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award and the Best Bar Design Award – were opened to self-submission earlier this year, welcoming entries from bars whether or not they appear in the ranked list. Winners of both will be revealed live at the Milan ceremony.
The 50 Best Bars Scholarship
Also announced at the ceremony will be the recipient of the 50 Best Bars Scholarship, an initiative aimed at the next generation of bar talent. The scholarship sends one standout young bartender on two back-to-back stages: at Line in Athens and Tres Monos in Buenos Aires – two venues that represent very different but equally serious approaches to contemporary bartending. Entries opened last week.
How to Watch
The live countdown of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2026 will be broadcast on the 50 Best YouTube channel, giving cocktail fans worldwide a seat at the table for the reveal.
