The glamorous, highly entertaining 1950s-inspired cocktail bar Maybe Sammy has been named Best Bar in Australasia at the World’s 50 Best Bars for the third year in a row.
The awards, which were held in London on Tuesday December 7, ranked the Sydney CBD bar at number 22 overall. It’s the highest ranking Australian bar in the list, followed by a few other hospo legends – Sydney’s Cantina OK!, the little mezcal bar in an inner-city laneway, came in at number 23.
Melbourne’s compact Above Board was named 44th best bar in the world, with pioneering new cocktail bar Re– in Sydney coming in at 46. Re–, which opened in Sydney in April 2021, also won the Sustainable Bar Award.
London’s Connaught Bar took the ultimate title of World’s Best Bar. However, Australia was called out by the organisers for having such a fun and vibrant bar scene.
“It’s very early morning here, but I had a cocktail to celebrate,” said Maybe Sammy co-founder Stefano Catino, who also noted how challenging it has been to manage and operate a bar in Australia during this time.
“We are really short of staff. The Australian border has been shut for two years. Everyone is looking for staff. We are working incredible hours. It’s a very hard time for hospitality. We are really missing the connection between the rest of the world,” says Catino.
“Making the list for the World’s 50 Best Bars for three years in a row is such an honour and a great achievement that we could never have imagined when we started,” says Cantino. “What Maybe Sammy is today has evolved from when we launched and is probably now a better bar than it ever was.”
The 2021 list features bars from 17 countries, with 18 new entries this year. Last week World’s 50 Best Bars unveiled its extended list, 51 to 100. There was only one Aussie bar: Melbourne CBD's Byrdi, coming in at number 56.
