From edgy to casual and earthy to old world, the Pinnacle Guide has revealed a new class of cocktail bars as some of the best in the world.
The Pinnacle Guide, a recognition system of the global bar scene, expanded its reach and invited applicants from France, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy and Switzerland, in addition to the already eligible countries — the U.K., the U.S., Mexico, Dubai, Spain, Singapore and Australia.
“It’s never an exhausted list,” Hannah Sharman-Cox, one of the three Pinnacle Guide founders, told FOX Business. “That’s kind of the point of this guide. It just evolves and grows. It will never be complete.”
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Sharman-Cox is a food and beverage industry expert with 25 years of experience.
The guide, which includes a rigorous application process and a series of in-person anonymous reviews that ends in a tiered ranking system, delivers one, two or three pins to excellent, outstanding and exceptional cocktail bars, respectively.
This year closed the third round of formal processes with fresh honors in Paris, parts of Italy and North America. The cultural powerhouses were highlighted as global epicenters of acclaimed bar culture.
“What’s been really nice in Paris is that the bar community in Paris is actually really small,” Sharman-Cox said. “As a matter of fact, they’re all friends. It’s a very close-knit kind of community.”
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Bar 1802, Little Red Door and The Cambridge Public House, all distinctly unique Parisian spaces, were recognized as “outstanding” and pulled in two pins apiece.
Located inside the 4-star Hotel Monte Cristo, Bar 1802 crafts its cocktail repertoire for six months at a time.
Little Red Door sources produce directly from France and has a “farm to glass” model, according to the site.
The Cambridge Public House offers a relaxed atmosphere with a fluid menu of cocktail creations and serves traditional French pub food, including meat pie and sausage rolls.
Paris’ Candelaria, offering a bold menu of agave-specific beverages, and Le Mary Celeste, a trendy neighborhood hotspot, each received one pin.
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Unmasked by the aromas of Italian citrus and herbs are six newly accredited cocktail bars, including Cinquanta Spirito Italiano in Pagani, Sentaku Izakaya located in Bologna, and, nestled in Milan, Moebius, Dry Milano, Backdoor 43 and Ceresio 7.
“I just got back from Italy and hand-delivered some of the plaques,” Sharman-Cox said.
Tucked into a room the size of a small walk-in closet fitted for one mixologist is Backdoor 43, a hideaway touted as the “smallest cocktail bar in the world” at just 13 square feet.
Dry Milano, a trendy experience offering a pizza restaurant in the back and a late-night bar in the front, sits in the heart of the fashion capital of the world.
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“It’s brilliant,” Sharman-Cox said of Dry Milano.
The seven-story Old War Office Building overlooks the Royal Horse Guards near Buckingham Palace and is the most pinned building in the world.
The former meeting place for spies and military personnel turned luxury hotel is adorned with three lounges.
“It’s a beautiful building steeped in British history,” Sharman-Cox told FOX Business. “There is a sake bar on the ground floor. It’s very traditional.”
Kioku Sake Bar, a new accredited addition with seating for 28, merited two pins this round.
“In the basement, there is a spy bar,” Sharman-Cox said. “No phones. No cameras. There is not a secret knock, but you kind of have to know where you’re going to find it.”
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The Spy Bar at Raffles, an OWO speakeasy found in rooms once used by MI5, collected two pins last year.
“There is half of an Aston Martin in the wall,” she added. “How they got it down there, I don’t even want to think about it.”
The Guards Bar and Lounge at Raffles, also on the ground floor of OWO, features a liquid tasting menu of eight mini drinks and already boasts one pin.
As for the prevailing concept, Japanese culture triumphed as four newly pinned bars cited the heritage as inspiration.
“We have one in London but one in Bologna, Italy,” Sharman-Cox said of Japanese lifestyle bars. “I think Japanese culture is cool, No. 1. Everybody wants to go to Japan.”
Sharman-Cox and co-founders Dan Dove and Siobhan Payne have already closed the next phase of applications, which includes Canada.
In 2026, the Pinnacle Guide will again expand its global reach to include India and South Africa.
Among the newly pinned bars in North America are Service Bar in Washington, D.C.; Sexy Fish in Miami, Florida; Tiger Bar in Nashville; and Shinji’s and Thyme Bar located in New York City.
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Full list of newly pinned 2025 bars:
2 PIN Bars
- Bar 1802, Paris, France
- Kaito del Valle, Mexico City, Mexico
- Kioku Sake Bar, London, UK
- Little Red Door, Paris, France
- The Bar In Front Of The Bar, Athens, Greece
- The Cambridge Public House, Paris, France
1 PIN Bars
- Aster Bar, Sydney, Australia
- Baba Au Rum, Athens, Greece
- Backdoor43, Milan, Italy
- Candelaria, Paris, France
- Cat Bite Club, Singapore
- Ceresio 7, Milan, Italy
- Cinquanta – Spirito Italiano, Pagani, Italy
- Copper Spoon, Fort Wayne, USA
- Dr. Zhivago Bar, Zurich, Switzerland
- Dry Milano, Milan, Italy
- Equal Parts, London, UK
- Hanky Panky, Mexico City, Mexico
- Le Mary Celeste, Paris, France
- Manhattan, Singapore
- Moebius, Milan, Italy
- Sentaku Izakaya, Bologna, Italy
- Service Bar, Washington DC, USA
- Sexy Fish, Miami, USA
- Shinji’s, New York, USA
- The Bar Below, London, UK
- The Diplomat, Hong Kong
- The K Bar, London, UK
- The Milk Thistle, Bristol, UK
- Thyme Bar, New York, USA
- Tiger Bar, Nashville, USA
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