Raise your glass, Chicago: four local bars just landed on the 2025 North America 50 Best Bars list—and a fifth is already being hailed as the next big thing.
The newly announced ranking celebrates cocktail excellence across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, with Chicago’s Kumiko leading the city’s showing at number 10 and earning the title of Best Bar in the Midwest USA, sponsored by Tia Maria.
But Kumiko isn’t just a bar—it’s a meditative escape in the West Loop. Created by Julia Momosé and the team behind Oriole, it’s a place where welcome tea replaces party shots. The bar’s serene, wood-accented omakase counter boasts just eight seats, where diners taste a progression of Japanese-influenced bites like seaweed-slicked uni, wagyu glazed in black garlic molasses and milk toast crowned with fermented honey ice cream, paired with imaginative sake and shochu cocktails. If mindfulness could be distilled and served in a glass, it might taste like Kumiko.
Joining Kumiko are three more Chicago favorites: Best Intentions (number 25), a “five-star dive” in Logan Square where the drinks are every bit as good as the vibe is laid-back; Meadowlark (number 38), a cozy, cerebral Humboldt Park bar where drinks are named after birds; and Bisous (number 39), a newer arrival that’s all elegance and ease, with a French-inspired flair.
And then there’s Lemon, which hasn’t even cracked the top 50—yet. The cocktail spot was named the Campari One To Watch, an award given to a standout bar poised to make the list in the near future.
At the top of this year’s ranking? Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City, which held onto its number 1 spot for the second year in a row.
The 50 best bars in North America in 2025, according to 50 Best Bars:
1. Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City
2. Superbueno in New York
3. Tlecān in Mexico City
4. Jewel of the South in New Orleans
5. Sip & Guzzle in New York
6. Overstory in New York
7. Bar Pompette in Toronto
8. El Gallo Altanero in Guadalajara
9. Licorería Limantour in Mexico City
10. Kumiko in Chicago
11. Clemente Bar in New York
12. Mírate in Los Angeles
13. Café La Trova in Miami
14. Bar Mauro in Mexico City
15. Martiny’s in New York
16. Pacific Cocktail Haven in San Francisco
17. True Laurel in San Francisco
18. Employees Only in New York
19. Double Chicken Please in New York
20. Baltra Bar in Mexico City
21. Civil Liberties in Toronto
22. Aruba Day Drink in Tijuana
23. Service Bar in Washington DC
24. Thunderbolt in Los Angeles
25. Best Intentions in Chicago
26. Botanist Bar in Vancouver
27. Arca in Tulum
28. The Keefer Bar in Vancouver
29. Selva in Oaxaca
30. Library by the Sea in Grand Cayman
31. Cloakroom in Montreal
32. La Factoría in San Juan
33. Maison Premiere in New York
34. Bijou Drinkery Room in Mexico City
35. Hanky Panky in Mexico City
36. Atwater Cocktail Club in Montreal
37. Bar Mordecai in Toronto
38. Meadowlark in Chicago
39. Bisous in Chicago
40. Kaito del Valle in Mexico City
41. Yacht Club in Denver
42. Katana Kitten in New York
43. Angel’s Share in New York
44. Mother in Toronto
45. Allegory in Washington DC
46. Dante in New York
47. Café de Nadie in Mexico City
48. Silver Lyan in Washington DC
49. Bekeb in San Miguel de Allende
50. Cure in New Orleans