Meet Bar Leone, the World's Best Bar Inspired by a Grandmother's Living Room

Built on a simple idea its team calls “Cocktail Popolari,” this Hong Kong bar has once again outshone spots from Milan to Bangkok. Its heartfelt reaction says it all.

For the second year in a row, Hong Kong’s Bar Leone has been named the “world’s best bar” by the UK-based media company The 50.

The cozy Italian bar, which Lorenzo Antinori opened in 2023, is located in the Sheung Wan neighborhood. His goal then was to make the place feel “like my grandmother’s living room.”

This is why, upon entering the bar, guests will find a plain dark wood counter, framed photos of everyone from Al Pacino to the pope, and a relaxed, mid-century “dolce vita” feel. Drinks on the menu include martinis and olive oil sours.

Bar Leone sums up its philosophy as “Cocktail Popolari,” a belief in simple, accessible hospitality.

On holding the best bar title for the second year in a row, the bar wrote on Instagram, “Humbled. Speechless. And deeply grateful,” adding, “Holding this title again is surreal, but the real prize will always be the daily privilege of doing what we love most alongside the best team in the world.”

Other bars that made it to the top five of The 50 list are Moebius Milano in Milan, Alquímico in Cartagena, Colombia, Bar Us in Bangkok, and Line in Athens.

As for Bar Leone, it’s sharing the win with its family, regulars, and neighbors in Hong Kong. “This one is for the people,” it wrote.