Bar pages by bar owners
In previous years I'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 explosion in the number of bars led to my pretty much abandoning trying to review bars. 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 take control of their own pages on this website to promote their drinks, food, and entertainment offerings directly to the 1 million discerning drinkers a month who visit Difford's Guide. We will give control directly to bar owners (who may then decide to pass on permission to their managers) to maintain and build their presence on Difford's Guide. We invite and encourage all bar owners to register your interest below and we'll send you further information.
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
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'
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
With its scavenged furnishings, Victorian mahogany panelling, sanded brickworks, piano and dramatic red velvet curtains, this converted Greek restaurant
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
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
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
