Double Chicken Please Is the Best Bar in North America

Charlie Hobbs
·5 min read

New York City has the best bars. That's what the second annual North America’s 50 Best Bars Awards confirmed last night by including 12 of the Big Apple’s finest watering holes on their list. Among them was the first place awardee, Double Chicken Please on the Lower East Side.

The winner, which began as a pop-up in 2017 and moved to a permanent space in 2020, made an impressive leap from No. 17 on last year's list to the top spot (though it did place No. 6 in last fall’s World’s 50 Best Bars ranking). The bar’s founders, GN Chan and Faye Chen, create drinks inspired by food dishes—cocktail, not food, menu items include the Waldorf Salad and the Cold Pizza (where tequila, parmigiano reggiano, tomato, and burnt toast, among other things, come together in a glass). These concoctions are served in both a back room, where reservations are hard to come by, or a first-come, first-served front room for walk-ins.

Double Chicken Please's cocktails are food in beverage form—French Toast, for example, combines vodka with roasted barley, brioche, coconut, and maple syrup.
Double Chicken Please's cocktails are food in beverage form—French Toast, for example, combines vodka with roasted barley, brioche, coconut, and maple syrup.
Emmanuel Rosario/Double Chicken Please

New York City's impressive overall showing on the list comes as little surprise—the city is the unofficial capital of the craft cocktail movement, with a litany of bars known for their inventive drinks and slinky settings. In addition to the top spot, the city is represented by Katana Kitten (No.3), Dante (No.6), Overstory (which jumped 27 spots to No.7. this year), Attaboy, (last year’s No. 1, now at No.13), Employees Only (No.14), Mace (No.18), Martiny’s (No. 29), Maison Premiere (No.39), The Dead Rabbit (No.44), Clover Club (No.46) and Milady’s (No.50). Martiny’s and Milady’s both ranked for the first time this year; and a 13th contender, Manhatta, did not place but was named the Campari One to Watch, meaning the team expects it may make the list in the future.

That’s not to say that other parts of the continent don’t have just as much to be proud of.  New York’s biggest competition is Mexico City, which accounts for 8 of Mexico’s 14 places on the list—the top four spots on the list are passed between the two cities like a hot potato. Handshake Speakeasy takes No. 2 for the second year in a row, making it the Best Bar in Mexico, while Licorería Limantour comes in at No. 4. Outside of the nation’s capital, the next highest ranking bar in Mexico is Zapote Bar (No. 11) in Playa del Carmen.

Including the New York City entries, the United States counts 28 total bars on the list. New Orleans’ Jewel of the South is, at No. 5, the highest ranking U.S. bar outside of New York. Kumiko in Chicago is the Best Bar in the Midwest USA at No. 8, while Los Angeles takes No. 10 with Thunderbird.

Miami’s Café La Trova (No. 9) got special recognition in the form of the Roku Industry Icon award, given to founder Julio Cabrera in celebration of his work bringing the Cuban cantinero style stateside.

In Miami, a Revered Cuban Bartending Tradition Lives On

Julio Cabrera's Café La Trova is a bastion of the island's bartending tradition.

Civil Liberties (No. 13) in Toronto is the Best Bar in Canada two years running. The Great White North has seven spots on the list this year, including three new entries—Bar Pompette (No.15), also in Toronto, Botanist Bar (No.19) in Vancouver, and Atwater Cocktail Club (No.32) in Montreal. As the sole spot in the Caribbean on the list, La Factoría (No. 24) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, takes the crown for the region’s Best Bar.

Read the full list of best bars in North America below:

1. Double Chicken Please, New York City

2. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City

3. Katana Kitten, New York City

4. Licorería Limantour, Mexico City

5. Jewel of the South, New Orleans

6. Dante, New York City

7. Overstory, New York City

8. Kumiko, Chicago

9. Café La Trova, Miami

Thunderbolt in Los Angeles was the city's highest ranking bar at No. 10 on the list.
Thunderbolt in Los Angeles was the city's highest ranking bar at No. 10 on the list.
Thunderbolt

10. Thunderbolt, Los Angeles

11. Zapote Bar, Playa del Carmen

12. Civil Liberties, Toronto

13. Attaboy, New York City

14. Employees Only, New York City

15. Bar Pompette, Toronto

16. Baltra Bar, Mexico City

17. Rayo, Mexico City

18. Mace, New York City

19. Botanist Bar, Vancouver

Hanky Panky (No. 20) was one of many Mexico City winners.
Hanky Panky (No. 20) was one of many Mexico City winners.
Hanky Panky

20. Hanky Panky, Mexico City

21. El Gallo Altanero, Guadalajara

22. Sabina Sabe, Oaxaca

23. Arca, Tulum

24. La Factorìa, San Juan

25. Café de Nadie, Mexico City

26. Kaito del Valle, Mexico City

27, Herbs & Rye, Las Vegas

28. Pacific Cocktail Haven, San Francisco

Joining the New York City domination, Martiny's ranked for the first time.
Joining the New York City domination, Martiny's ranked for the first time.
Martiny's

29. Martiny's, New York City

30. Death & Co, Los Angeles

31. Selva, Oaxaca

32. Atwater Cocktail Club, Montreal

33. Service Bar, Washington, D.C.

34. Sweet Liberty, Miami

35. Cloakroom, Montreal

36. Cure, New Orleans

37. Mother, Toronto

38. Milk Room, Chicago

39 . Maison Premiere, New York City

40. Aruba Day Drink, Tijuana

Honolulu's Bar Leather Apron mixes show-stopping cocktails.
Honolulu's Bar Leather Apron mixes show-stopping cocktails.
Bar Leather Apron

41. Bar Leather Apron, Honolulu

42. Yacht Club, Denver

43. Bar Mordecai, Toronto

44. The Dead Rabbit, New York City

45. Allegory, Washington, D.C.

46. Clover Club, New York City

47. Brujas, Mexico City

48. Platform 18, Phoenix

49. Youngblood, San Diego

50. Milady's, New York City

Originally Appeared on Condé Nast Traveler