Bars

Bar pages by bar owners

In previous years, we've racked up air miles and bar bills in a quest to visit and review bars in cities around the world. Even pre-Covid travel restrictions, the rapid development of the world's bar scene made our reviewing even the best of the best an impossible quest. However, I still want to give bars exposure on Difford's Guide and ensure great bars receive the recognition they deserve.

Hence, we're working on a new bar area that will allow bar owners to control their own pages on Difford's Guide and promote their drinks, food, and entertainment offerings directly to the 1 million discerning drinkers who visit this website each month. We will give control directly to bar owners (who may then decide to pass on permission to their managers and/or PRs) to maintain and build their presence on Difford's Guide.

I invite and encourage all bar owners to register their interest by:
1. If not already a member, join our community (click Join/sign in) at the top of this page.
2. Check "I am a bar owner" below, and we'll send you further information close to launch in autumn/fall 2024.

Cheers
Simon Difford

Swift image

Swift

Swift occupies the sight of what was a Soho drinkers' institution, LAB bar. Thanks to the experience and dedication of owners Mia Johansson and Bobby Hiddleston,

Boadas image

Boadas

Lying just off the bustling Rambla, this tiny, triangular place is Barcelona's oldest bar and if you can only visit one bar while in the city then it should

Sips 'drinkery house' image

Sips 'drinkery house'

Sips was destined to be not only one of Barcelona's, but the world's best bars even before it opened in 2021 due to Simone Caporale and Marc Alvarez, the

The Connaught Bar image

The Connaught Bar

I remember the former American Bar, the bar that occupied this space at the back left corner of The Connaught before the original wooden panelling was

American Bar at The Savoy image

American Bar at The Savoy

Perhaps the most famous hotel in the world, The Savoy reopened in 2010 after a three-year, £100m+ refurbishment. While the rest of the hotel now sparkles

Epernay image

Epernay

Épernay in Northeast France is one of the two towns of Champagne, so it is perhaps not surprising to find that this eponymously named bar specialises

Murder Inc. image

Murder Inc.

A dingy narrow backstreet traversing the corner between Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road is a fittingly seedy setting for a bar which celebrates

Tayer + Elementary image

Tayer + Elementary

At first glance, this is yet another brutalist Shoreditch/Hoxton/Old Street bar with bare concrete, exposed aircon ducking and raw steel trunking. But

Tio's Cerveceria image

Tio's Cerveceria

Whatever your drinking dilemma, it's likely Surry Hills' Tio's Cerveceria has the remedy. Cheap cocktails in the sun? Grab a seat at a new outdoor table

Maybe Sammy image

Maybe Sammy

Maybe Sammy feels like a bar that's been cut straight out of a London hotel and set adrift to land on Sydney's shore. It's got the jacketed bartenders

Ramblin Rascal Tavern image

Ramblin Rascal Tavern

There's only one place in Sydney where you'll find a horse head mask, an inflatable sex doll, a lucha libra mask and an Aboriginal flag all in one room,

Byrdi image

Byrdi

Byrdi is a bar unlike any other, pulling the concepts of seasonality and locality together with culinary techniques, in a venue that is both day and night,

Lobo image

Lobo

Julio Lobo was a plantation owner, sugar broker and the sugar king of Havana until Castro took over the show: even today in Cuba, his name is synonymous

Palmer & Co image

Palmer & Co

Equipped with that rare and beautiful thing, a 4am license, this offering from Justin Hemmes' Merivale group takes speakeasy style to the absolute max

Bar Totti's image

Bar Totti's

Merivale's famed Italian joint has made the transition from Bondi to the CBD – fronting the Ivy Precinct on George Street with its wood-fired oven and

Eileen's Bar - Four Pillars image

Eileen's Bar - Four Pillars

Branded bars are tricky to pull off, without a diverse enough catalogue the drinking can get monotonous, the branding can be too in your face and they

LOW 302 image

LOW 302

With its scavenged furnishings, Victorian mahogany panelling, sanded brickworks, piano and dramatic red velvet curtains, this converted Greek restaurant

Hemmesphere image

Hemmesphere

A long player, long stayer on the Sydney cocktail bar scene, Hemmesphere's impact on the city was not dissimilar to Oliver Peyton's opening of the Atlantic

Eau-De-Vie image

Eau-De-Vie

Sven Almenning and other members of the Behind Bars promotional crew opened this temple to the cocktail and its creators, past and present, in January

The Wild Rover image

The Wild Rover

Enter through the big wooden door with the red light on Campbell St in Sydney's Surry Hills and you will discover a world of fun and whiskey. Living

Shady Pines Saloon image

Shady Pines Saloon

Now, any set of notes which begin This is a fucking great bar! would normally be followed by a couple of pages of hieroglyphics and some rather, erm, soft

PS40 image

PS40

Double Deuce Lounge image

Double Deuce Lounge

Scarfes Bar Rosewood Hotel image

Scarfes Bar Rosewood Hotel

Scarfes Bar sits to the right as you walk under the arch into the courtyard entrance to the Rosewood hotel and is the hotel's main bar. It's been decorated

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