Best-of list · Spirits Guide
The best mezcal bars in the world, chosen by our editors. From Oaxacan-focused gems in New York to serious agave programs in London and Tokyo.
The short answer
10 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
The best mezcal bars in the world are not the places with the longest back-bar. They are the places where someone behind the counter actually knows what they are pouring — where a single-village Tobala from a producer you have never heard of arrives with context, not just ceremony. We have spent years hunting these bars, from East Village basements to rooftop terraces in Barcelona. This is the list that survived.
New York and Los Angeles have developed serious agave cultures over the past decade. These are the bars that pushed the category forward and continue to set the standard for how mezcal should be served and talked about.
How we picked
The best mezcal bars in the world share one quality: the people pouring the drinks understand what they are serving. Mezcal is a spirit with enormous variety and significant cultural weight — a bar that treats it seriously, prices it fairly, and explains it clearly is worth prioritising over anything shinier. If you are in London, Madre is your first stop. In New York, La Contenta. In Los Angeles, Las Perlas for value or Gracias Madre for atmosphere.
Marcus covers the West Coast, Latin America, and Pacific Rim bar scenes. He has been drinking mezcal seriously since 2012 and maintains strong opinions about which Oaxacan producers are worth the premium.
Last reviewed 2025-11-30 · The editors recheck hours and closures against current local coverage.