Explaining This Year's 50 Best Bars Ranking

Sleight has worked at 50 Best since 2023

After digesting the 2026 rankings of North America's 50 Best Bars, I still found it hard to believe that two new entries from New York, Bar Snack and Schmuck landed No. 3 and No. 4 respectively. What happened to climbing up the ranks?

I had to ask Emma Sleight, head of content for 50 Best Bars and Hotels at the after party, an afternoon session at The Botanist in the Fairmont Pacific Rim.

Sitting in the private room of the restaurant with three other PR representatives sitting in, Sleight at first said there are always new entries in every list they do.

The awards were held on Wednesday night

But is 15 considered high?

She didn't exactly give a clear answer. 

"It's about the same. It's quite a lot. I would say it's quite high, but it's not outrageously high. It's the nature of the game. The bars industry is so dynamic and it moves so quickly that new openings happen so frequently. And we always encourage people to think about the awards. It's a snapshot of that particular time where people are traveling, what people are identifying with and the way the voting works," Sleight says.

The voting. According to the 50 Best website, 300 voters are "trusted and well-traveled experts" who are bartenders, bar aficionados and drinks media.

"You can never predict the list. It is really just where those people are finding their very best cocktail experiences. Makes it exciting," she says.

But that still doesn't explain Bar Snack and Schmuck's literal meteoric rise out of nowhere.

Circled in red are Vancouver bars

"There's no one thing that we can ever say that would explain why a bar has moved because everyone loves to think that they know who our voters are, and they don't. Voters are completely anonymous," Sleight adds.

Really? The academy chairs are listed on the 50 Best website. If an academy chair walks into a bar with a group of people, surely some of them are voters... and if someone makes a reservation, they will be researched to see who they are. In today's intensive social media landscape and the internet, there are ways to figure out who people are.

However Sleight begs to differ.

"Often if people are saying they're voters, they're not. And I appreciate that sounds like a trite response, but the thing we do is always encourage any bars where anyone has ever said they are a voter. We ask them to tell us, and we check and we do independent investigations, and we frequently contact that voter and we say, 'Hey, you're no longer a voter, and you never will be ever again, because you've reached your anonymity.'" 

She later added that 25 percent of the voting academy are "refreshed", and apparently "historic voters" are changed as well. "It's never a guarantee that you're a voter, which also helps disrupt that people knowing people are voters, we're trying to do everything we can."

At this point I should have asked if bars have ever called out so-called voters, and how about imposing term limits on academy chairs? They seem to keep these positions for years and years.

Sleight is a cocktail aficionado

Nevertheless, there seems to be a pattern of how bars get on the list, or better yet, leapfrog up the rankings, even though Sleight says there's no recipe, and that bars should just focus on giving customers the best experience.

By appearances it looks like a popularity contest, to which she said "possibly". 

Social media is a big way to get exposure, as well as collaborations with other bars in different cities and countries. The Keefer Bar owners Keenan Hood and Amber Bruce hinted this when they said they traveled a lot this year and would do so again this year, and give their staff more opportunities to travel as well. Perhaps that partially explains their massive jump from No. 28 to No. 7 to be Canada's Best Bar?

For the record Sleight went to The Keefer Bar last year and this year.

In 2025 she also went to Laowai, June on Cambie (it had just opened), Botanist Bar and Prophecy.

This year Sleight visited Lala (basement of June on Cambie), Meo, Bao Bei.

She doesn't have a vote, but there are people following her on Instagram, seeing where she's traveling, and what she's eating and drinking...

Vancouver to Extend Drinking Hours

Vancouver bars and nightclubs can extend serving drinks 

Vancouver city council has approved extending business hours of bars and pubs to as late as 4am. It is not just limited to the downtown core, but to the City of Vancouver, and business owners are elated.

These businesses can apply to extend its hours; not all bars and pubs need to do this, only if they think they can make more money from it. There are 209 licensed bars and nightclubs in Vancouver.

"This is changing the perception of 'liquor primary license" to 'vibrant gathering places' for communities to meet in real life," said Cameron Bogue, owner-operator of Mount Pleasant Vintage and Provisions, a cocktail bar disguised as a thrift shop.

Will there be an uptick in alcohol sales?

"I've opened one of the most successful restaurants in the city, with staggering year-over-year growth, because we're providing [what] the community wants -- a place to socialise, rub elbows, simply stand with a drink and dance where they can meet people in an engaging high-volume cocktail bar."

Not everyone is for longer hours for drinking, like Mark Lysyshyn, medical health officer, Vancouver Coastal Health.

"Increasing alcohol consumption into the late night or early morning hours is particularly risky, and the risk increases as you get later in the evening," he said.

"It's not so much that more people drink into the evening -- it's just the type of drinking that's done in that timeframe is more risky, it's more likely to result in problems," he said, referring to a risk of injuries, violence and the potential for harm to others compared to allowing earlier opening hours.

It seems counterintuitive to the trends of alcohol consumption and partying habits these days. Gen Z are drinking much less alcohol than previous generations, and people in their 30s and 40s would prefer to party during the day (again with less alcohol) than at night. 

Perhaps bar and pub owners are hoping longer hours will lead to more business? It's probably marginal. 

It'll be interesting to see how many bars actually apply and report back the increase in alcohol sales, and how many more incidents the Vancouver Police report in the wee hours...

Instagram Eats First

Instagrammers focused on getting cool shots at the bar preview

The other night I attended a media preview of a bar opening in the basement of the Rosewood Hotel Georgia in downtown Vancouver.

The bar is cryptically called Prophecy, opened by some guys at At Home Hospitality. When they got this space, they immediately decided they wanted it to be sophisticated like New York and Chicago, so they went there to do their research... as if it was a prophecy... get it?

Inside it's a bit on the dark side, but the space is classy, not pretentious, and comfortable. It's nice to know there's live music in the evenings too -- and in our case we were treated to some jazz.

Three of the people seated with me were Instagrammers. They brought a lot of equipment with them, in particular hand-held lights to ensure they took good pictures and videos of the cocktails and food. They spent a lot of time doing this, so a guy seated at our table and I had to patiently wait until they were done before we could sip our libations and tuck into the dishes (some good, some were disappointing like the wagyu sando where they scrimped on the wagyu).

But I am grateful we had to wait because that guy and I struck a fun conversation and he was pleased to meet another writer and talk about what stories we've written, what we like to read; I even encouraged him speak to his editor if he didn't like how she edited his pieces.

As I don't go to these press events often, it made me realise how tedious they can be with Instagrammers, as they aren't critical about anything and are more focused on getting cool shots just for likes from their followers...

Hong Kong's Nightlife Perks Up

People visiting bars and nightclubs no longer need RAT tests

Hong Kong's re-opening continues with bars and nightclubs thrilled at the news that its patrons no longer need to show a negative rapid antigen test to enter, or at cinemas, museums, amusement parks and performance venues. 

While the cap on banquets at 240 people has been lifted (how did they even come up with that number?), the rules that a maximum of 12 per table and wearing masks in public still remain.

Lee will visit Beijing on Wednesday

It seems the Hong Kong government doesn't seem to care how the lifting of social-distancing measures has had on the healthcare system, with over 14,500 new infections, 4,105 need to be hospitalised. That said there are 41 patients in ICU.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu warned the number of people receiving hospital treatment surged to over 4,000 -- four times the figure of when arrivals to Hong Kong underwent "0+3".

"The consideration is that we have to gradually open up while putting the risk under control," he said during a press conference announcing he would travel to Beijing on Wednesday until Saturday.

On the agenda? Talks to reopen the border with China, and ask about the progress for Beijing for its interpretation of the national security law on whether overseas counsel were allowed to take part in relevant cases, and in this case Jimmy Lai Chee-ying.

But back to the lifting of Covid-19 rules -- people can finally freely patronise bars and nightclubs, and restaurants and hotels are doing brisk business, why is it that people can't gather to watch fireworks still?

The government released a notice saying the 2023 Lunar New Year fireworks display would be cancelled. 

Yet another lunar new year without fireworks

"While there have been adjustments to the anti-epidemic measures recently, allowing the staging of more large-scale activities in society, this year's Lunar New Year Fireworks Display could not be organised in time, as it normally takes two to three months to arrange," it said.

Seems like the government was either caught completely off guard by the recent developments or it's a cost-saving measure. Either way it has sucked out the fun of the upcoming Year of the Rabbit already.

Quote of the Day: "One-Way Ticket to Hell"

Health secretary Lo (left) and Lee at press conference yesterday

Soon after Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced the end of hotel quarantine -- but three days of self-monitoring, which actually means seven days of rapid antigen tests and four PCR tests, no restaurants or crowded areas -- he faced the media who had some accountability questions.

Cable TV asked: "Have we now chosen to 'live with the virus'? Does this go against the central government? We have also heard 'living with the virus' is a one-way ticket to hell."

Zunzi cartoon with "going to hell together" at back

Lee's response: "We want to reduce the number of infections. Same as the mainland."

But...

"The Hong Kong SAR government has considered all factors," he continued. 

"What if there's a new variant? We don't have a crystal ball. We are confident we can contain the infection numbers at a reasonable rate currently," he said. "We don't want to backtrack."

Well, neither do we.

Though other social-distancing restrictions are still in place, such as conducting RAT tests before entering bars, and for eating in restaurants in groups larger than eight, live performances and dancing still not allowed, and of course use the LeaveHomeSafe app to enter premises.

Still want to come to Hong Kong?

Carrie's Impromptu Press Conference

Lam gathers media to tell them she is transparent

The media in Hong Kong were alerted to the Chief Executive holding a press conference in 90 minutes.

What was she going to talk about?

When reporters assembled and waited for Lam to come out at 2.30pm, it was about Covid-19. 

"Since the daily positive confirmed cases have escalated to over 1,000, although I'm coming to the end of my term, I'm still shouldering the responsibilities to fight Covid-19," Lam said.

Farry shows squeezing his name on RAT

"So I chaired a high level, cross bureau meeting this morning together with the chief executive of the Hospital Authority, and in line with the spirit of transparency, I thought I should let you know the outcome of the discussion. So that's the purpose for holding this press conference." 

Really? That could have just merited a press release.

Meanwhile people are staying away from bars and nightclubs like the plague. That's because in order to enter these premises, patrons must conduct a rapid antigen test, some how scrawl their name and the date on it (within 24 hours), and take a photograph of it before showing it to the bar staff for entry.

Many are complaining about not having enough space to write their names on RATs which is totally understandable as no one thought of that beforehand.

When it came to schools, there are infections here and there, but not enough to merit a full school shut down.

Lam said that since schools had their holidays in the spring, they won't get another break this summer. Talk about students going to school endlessly. But perhaps it's better than learning online...

As many of the clusters are from large gatherings, she has cancelled the upcoming Legislative Council farewell lunch on June 21 -- did lawmakers want to eat with her anyway?! -- and has suggested that families not have large gatherings for the upcoming Father's Day.

Talk about putting a spoiler on weekend plans.

25th anniversary banquet supposedly going ahead

However -- when asked if the 25th anniversary banquet will go ahead, Lam seemed to indicate it would, which is why the government cannot ban multi-household gatherings without being hypocrites.

So she is not outright banning gatherings, but strongly suggesting people wear masks as soon as they finish eating, not participate in big gatherings, and remain vigilant.

She wants to look like she is concerned about the issue, and yet she cannot act too paranoid because a supposed banquet may happen in two weeks and so she can't ban large gatherings, like the one on July 1.

Neither did she indicate Beijing officials would not want to come to Hong Kong if the number of cases exceeded 1,000 when the zero-Covid strategy is taken literally.

What exactly is Lam trying to achieve here? Telling others to cut down on their gatherings so that she can have her big bash on July1? 

Definitely sounds like one city, two systems...

Hong Kong Changes Covid-19 Rules Again

Chan says they need to protect the elderly

Outgoing Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said over a week ago that Covid-19 social-distancing restrictions would not change until the change of leader on July 1.

But now with the rising number of cases that could hit 1,000, Lam's administration is saying that from Thursday, those people who patronise bars and clubs should test negative for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours before entering.

Patrons need negative test for bars, night clubs

There have been 350 infections since bars and clubs reopened last month.

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee told a daily pandemic briefing that this new measure needed to be taken because the number of cases are rising.

"It is important for us to not allow this spread to go wild," she explained. "Because of this spread goes wild, then there is always the possibility of going into our elderly community. And this is our priority group we have to protect, as we learn from the previous experience of the fifth wave."

How does people going to nightclubs and bars have any connection with elderly people?

And if the government wants to protect the elderly, perhaps it should get more of these seniors vaccinated, because only 27 percent of them are double jabbed. That is an appallingly low number. In Canada people 80 and over who have two doses is at 98.5 percent.

How are the authorities going to protect the elderly by getting bar and nightclub customers to present a negative Covid-19 test? Seems like a massive stretch to solve the issue.

It's so easy to fake a negative RAT result

Also -- has the government thought how bars and clubs would police this? How easy is it to present a picture of a negative rapid antigen test from days earlier -- or even someone else's photo of a RAT?

On Twitter people were sarcastically saying they could make a quick buck selling negative RATs, but it would be even easier to get a picture of a negative RAT result?

It's absolutely ridiculous and at the same time will make bars and clubs suffer even more when they are struggling to climb out of the red after months of being shut because of the pandemic. How is someone getting infected from a bar different from a restaurant, where eight people can sit at a table for hours until midnight?

It boggles the mind...