The world's two definitive awards for a brand-new bar both ran in 2025. The World's 50 Best Bars named its Three Cents Best New Opening in October, and Tales of the Cocktail handed out the Spirited Awards for Best New U.S. and Best New International Cocktail Bar in July. One bar swept the United States side of both. These are the openings that defined the year.
Sip & Guzzle, the two-floor New York collaboration between Steve Schneider and Shingo Gokan, won the World's 50 Best 'Best New Opening' at No. 39 (World's 50 Best Bars) and the Spirited Awards Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar (Bar & Restaurant). Gokan also opened Devil's Cut in Madrid, which took Best New International Cocktail Bar, the first Madrid bar to win the category (Actualgastro).
| Rank | Bar | City | Country | Opened |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Sip & Guzzle | New York | United States | 2024 |
| 02 | Devil's Cut | Madrid | Spain | 2024 |
| 03 | Schmuck | New York | United States | 2025 |
The three that defined the year
Sip & Guzzle, New York
Opened in 2024 at 29 Cornelia Street in the West Village, Sip & Guzzle splits in two. Upstairs, Guzzle is loud and social. Downstairs, Sip is a Japanese-inspired lounge for slower drinking. It is the only 2025 new-bar honoree to win on both the global and the U.S. circuit.
Devil's Cut, Madrid
Shingo Gokan's first European bar opened in 2024 in the Las Letras district, in a space the former Casa Pueblo vacated in February 2024. The list leans on sherry and Jerez, with drinks like the PX Highball, and won Best New International Cocktail Bar within a year of opening.
Schmuck, New York
Schmuck opened in early 2025 at 97 First Avenue in the East Village from Moe Aljaff and Juliette Larrouy. Its 22-drink list and unserious tone made it the year's most talked-about New York opening, and it entered the World's 50 Best Bars 51 to 100 list at No. 59 (The Spirits Business).
For context, the 2025 Spirited Awards Best New U.S. field also nominated Bar Snack, Double Chicken Please, Martiny's, Overstory and Superbueno. Several of those opened in 2022 and 2023, so we hold them out of the new-bar table above, which lists only verified 2024 and 2025 openings.
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Track the best openings in our cocktail bars category or find one tonight at cocktail bars near me. See the established greats in our Best Cocktail Bars in the World award, browse New York cocktail bars, and check prices in the Drinks Price Index.
Methodology
What this ranks. The bars that opened in 2024 or 2025 and won a major global new-bar award in the 2025 cycle: the World's 50 Best Bars Best New Opening, and the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards Best New U.S. and Best New International Cocktail Bar. Compiled June 2026.
Verification. Each bar's opening year and award are confirmed against at least three independent sources, including the awarding bodies and trade press, cited inline. The Spirited Awards Best New categories require a bar to have opened within the eligibility window, which is how we confirm a venue is genuinely new.
What we left out. Bars that earned a 2025 new-bar nomination but opened in 2022 or 2023 are noted in the text and kept out of the ranked table, so this list contains only verified recent openings.
