Our editors have spent years arguing about which cities deserve more attention from serious drinkers, and the list keeps growing. The most underrated bar cities in the world share a common profile: genuine localised bar cultures that owe nothing to the global cocktail circuit, prices that reward staying for another round, and bar teams that still have time to talk to you. Here are the cities that keep proving the case — and if you are ready to go further north, our Reykjavik bar guide makes a compelling argument for inclusion on any future edition of this list.
Porto: Europe's Best-Kept Drinking Secret
Porto's bar scene sits in the shadow of Lisbon's reputation, which is extraordinary given the quality on offer. The city's natural wine bars and emerging cocktail programme draw on local produce — Vinho Verde, tawny port, artisanal aguardente — in ways that feel original rather than tourist-facing. Prices are a third of what London charges for equivalent quality, and the city is compact enough to cross three neighbourhoods in a single evening on foot.
01
Mesa d'Onze
Miragaia
$$
Natural Wine / Intimate
A narrow bar on one of Porto's most atmospheric riverside streets, with a natural wine list that changes weekly and a kitchen sending out small plates designed to sit alongside whatever you are drinking. The approach to Douro Valley producers here is more rigorous than anything in Lisbon. The crowd is a genuine mix of locals and visitors who did their research before arriving. The back room fills by 9pm — arrive earlier.
Order: Ask the bartender what Douro white they have open but not yet on the written list — there is always one
02
Vinologia
Cedofeita
$$
Port / Old School
The best place in Porto to drink port as it is supposed to be drunk — at the source, with context, not as an afterthought at the end of a tourist dinner. The tasting flights cover aged tawnies and colheitas from producers most visitors have never heard of, and the bar team explains each glass without condescension. Go on a Tuesday evening when it is quieter and plan for two hours.
Order: The aged tawny flight, starting from the 10-year and working up
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Tbilisi: The Wine Capital the World Keeps Missing
Georgia invented wine. The country's qvevri clay-pot fermentation method predates French winemaking by thousands of years, and Tbilisi's bar scene has built itself around this inheritance in ways only now reaching international attention. The city's natural wine bars and its accomplished cocktail programme — built on Chacha, the local grape marc spirit — make it one of the most important underrated bar cities in the world for serious drinkers.
03
Mtkvarze
Old Town
$
Wine / Terrace
Perched above the Mtkvari River with views across the sulphur bath district of Old Tbilisi, this bar rewards the climb to reach it. The wine list is exclusively Georgian, with an emphasis on skin-contact amber wines from Kakheti that are difficult to find outside the country. The terrace at dusk, with those views and a glass of Rkatsiteli, is one of the genuinely great bar moments available anywhere in Europe.
Order: A Rkatsiteli amber wine from the house selection alongside whatever mezze the kitchen is running that day
04
Bar Barbar
Fabrika, Chugureti
$
Craft / Creative
Inside Tbilisi's repurposed Soviet sewing factory, Bar Barbar makes cocktails around Chacha alongside a serious Georgian craft beer selection. The cocktail programme is more ambitious than anything else in the Caucasus, and the industrial courtyard fills with locals from mid-evening. A round of four cocktails costs what a single drink costs in London, and the quality is not far behind the city's best bars.
Order: A Chacha sour with local botanicals, or the Georgian craft lager on draft
Medellín: South America's Sharpest Drinking City
Medellín has reinvented itself more completely than almost any other city over the past two decades, and its bar scene reflects that transformation directly. El Poblado and Laureles have developed accomplished cocktail programmes built on Colombian rum, aguardiente, and tropical fruit that feel original rather than derivative. The prices, by any international standard, are extraordinary in the best sense.
05
El Social
Laureles
$
Neighbourhood / Loud
The bar that best captures what Medellín's drinking culture looks like when it is not performing for tourists. A neighbourhood cantina in Laureles where Colombian craft beer sits alongside aguardiente-forward cocktails at prices that make visiting drinkers check the bill twice. The crowd is local, the music is loud, and nobody is photographing their drinks. This is where to start before anywhere else in the city.
Order: A round of aguardiente shots followed by a Colombian craft lager — the accepted local sequence
06
Pergamino Café Bar
El Poblado
$$
Coffee / Evening
Medellín sits in Colombia's coffee heartland, and Pergamino has turned that proximity into a cocktail programme using espresso in ways most coffee bars have not attempted. The menu runs from breakfast to 2am, with a transition around 6pm where espresso drinks give way to cocktails centred on coffee as a primary ingredient. The cold brew Old Fashioned built on Colombian rum is the best reason to stay past midnight.
Order: The cold brew Old Fashioned with Colombian rum — available from 6pm onwards
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New Orleans and Budapest: Underrated in Plain Sight
Some cities are technically famous but remain underrated because most visitors go to the wrong places. New Orleans holds more original cocktail history than any other US city, yet most visitors spend their time on Bourbon Street rather than in the Marigny or on Freret. Budapest remains one of Europe's cheapest serious drinking cities, and its second-generation cocktail bars — grown from the ruin bar scene — remain largely unknown to international visitors.
07
Cure
Freret, New Orleans
$$
Cocktail / Neighbourhood
The bar that has done most to establish New Orleans as a serious cocktail city rather than merely a party city with good history. Neal Bodenheimer's Freret Street bar opened in 2009 and has been one of the most consistently excellent in the US since. The cocktail list balances New Orleans classics — Sazerac, Vieux Carré — with original work that treats Louisiana ingredients with the same seriousness Tokyo brings to Japanese ones.
Order: A Sazerac made correctly, then whatever seasonal cocktail is leading the current menu
08
Tuk Tuk Bar
District V, Budapest
$
Ruin / Creative
What started as a ruin bar curiosity in Budapest's fifth district has matured into a genuine cocktail programme using Hungarian Pálinka and Tokaji wine in ways that deserve international recognition. A round of four accomplished cocktails costs what a single drink costs in London. Our editors have taken more than one detour through Budapest specifically to return here, which is the clearest recommendation we can give any bar.
Order: The Pálinka sour built on apricot brandy, or a Tokaji Aszú cocktail if the kitchen is running the dessert pairing
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Our Verdict
The most underrated bar cities share a consistent profile: strong local drinks traditions, prices that reward multiple rounds, and bar teams that have not yet been overwhelmed by international tourism. Porto and Tbilisi are the most urgent European recommendations. Medellín is the best value proposition in South America. New Orleans and Budapest reward visitors who get off the tourist trail.
Browse our full global city directory to plan your next underrated drinking trip, and check the companion piece on the most overrated bar cities for context on what to avoid.
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