Sydney’s bar game is strong with three making the top 50 list.
Although this past voting season has seen some obstacles get in the way of judging, the world’s foremost drinks writers and cocktail specialists, as well as renowned bartenders and consultants, have managed to travel near and far to get their votes in for their favourite bars around the world. (Featured image: maybe_sammy_sydney)
Every year, Australia gets a mention or two inside the top 50 best bars in the world. And for the past twelve years, Melbourne’s Black Pearl has managed to show the rest of Australia up by consecutively landing a spot in the top 50.
But this year is different with the Black Pearl sliding way down the standings and Sydney raising the stakes by not only claiming three spots in the top 50, but also claiming the Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award. In other words, the world’s most welcoming bar.
And that bar is…
Maybe Sammy, #11
Since opening last year, Maybe Sammy has made a name for itself which is clear when you realise that it has jumped from #43 on the list to #11 in the space of twelve months, just missing out on the highest climber award.
But that’s fine because the boys in white double-breasted blazers making your cocktails to jazz tunes and lounge ballads from a bygone era are so joyous and friendly in what they do that they’ve been crowned as the world’s most welcoming bar.
When inside Maybe Sammy, you know that this is a place you’re going to linger for a minute rather than knock one back and move on. The 50 Best say of Maybe Sammy: ”think of the place as a hotel bar, without the hotel attached: it shows the attention to detail, the warm, inviting service and the knowhow of a bar with 10 times the resources.”
One of the things that makes Maybe Sammy stand out, because there are many, are the toys. Yes, the toys.
Speaking to 50 Best, Martin Hudak, one of the three co-owners of Maybe Sammy answered that ”bars become so obsessed with things that aren’t important and can become like a church or a very restrictive space. Some lose the element of enjoyment and relaxation. We use these toys to break barriers between us and guests. Our bar is full of marble, very sleek and polished – the toys help to disarm and make people relax.”
The other two Sydney bars that managed to crack the top 50 list were Cantina OK!, which came in at #28, and Bulletin Place that slid in at #39.
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Maybe Sammy
Fri/Sat
4:30 - 1am