Attaboy is a tiny bar discreetly tucked away on New York City’s Lower East Side. The narrow 500-square-foot space occupies the former home of Milk & Honey, a speakeasy started by the late Sasha Petraske that sparked the current cocktail renaissance. Like that legendary bar, Attaboy works with minimalist flair — there’s no menu and the number of ingredients in each drink is purposely limited.
Until last night, you could argue that it’s the best bar on the continent. And now, that claim is official: Attaboy was crowned “The Best Bar in North America” at the inaugural North America’s 50 Best Bars Awards, held Tuesday night at Capitale in NYC. The awards, organized by The World’s 50 Best Bars, honored the best drinks establishments in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean.
According to The World’s Best Bars organization, the 50 best bars results are based on the votes of more than 220 gender-balanced voters, made up of anonymous North American bar industry experts (including bartenders, bar owners, drinks media and cocktail connoisseurs). Bars cannot apply to be on the list.
Some other highlights from the award ceremony:
- Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy came in No. 2 and won The Best Bar in Mexico title.
- Civil Liberties in Toronto landed at No. 10 and was named The Best Bar in Canada
- La Factoría in Puerto Rico (No. 12) was hailed as The Best Bar in the Caribbean
- The list featured 29 bars from the USA, 11 based in Mexico, eight from Canada, and two from the Caribbean
New York dominated the awards, racking up 11 of the top 50 spots. Besides Attaboy, winners included Katana Kitten (No. 4, with bartender Masahiro Urushido winning the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award), Dante (8), Double Chicken Please (17), Amor y Amargo (23), Dear Irving (26), Overstory (27, plus the Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award), Employees Only (30), The Dead Rabbit (31), Mace (35, plus the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu) and Clover Club (43).
“We commend all of the bars on the inaugural list of North America’s 50 Best Bars that are doing a stellar job invigorating the continent’s drinks scene as we emerge from what has been a very challenging time,” as Mark Sansom, Content Director for North America’s 50 Best Bars, noted in a statement. “Hospitality is an incredibly important engine of economic recovery and these bars’ creativity and determination demonstrate the best of our industry in North America.”
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