Home Arts & Leisure Attaboy tops list of North America’s 50 best bars

Attaboy tops list of North America’s 50 best bars

PHOTO FROM INSTAGRAM.COM/ATTABOY134/

NEW YORK’s Attaboy takes the top spot at the inaugural list of North America’s 50 Best Bars.

Attaboy has already earned its place among other lists by William Reed Business Media: last year, it was No. 34 on the World’s 50 Best Bars list. It has been around for about 10 years, a sort of a spinoff of Milk & Honey in New York. That bar, which opened in 1999, was credited with making speakeasies fashionable again. That bar has since closed; its founder, mixology pioneer Sasha Petraske passed away in 2015. Attaboy’s founders, Mr. Petraske, Sam Ross, and Michael McIlroy, themselves proteges of Mr. Petraske, opened Attaboy in 2012 at Milk & Honey’s former location at 143 Eldridge St., in the city’s Lower East Side.

The list’s notes about Attaboy describes its selection as “perfectly balanced variations of Prohibition-era cocktails.” While the list gives suggestions of various drinks on offer — there’s Ross’ Penicillin (scotch, lemon juice, ginger-honey syrup) and the Greenpoint (rye, green herbal liqueur, vermouth) —  its entry on North America’s 50 Best says, “Of course, none of these drinks can be found on the menu. In fact, there is no menu. Rather, each drink is custom tailored for the guest after a brief conversation.”

During a press conference streamed on the YouTube channel of 50 Best Bars last week, Attaboy General Manager Haley Traub said, “I still don’t believe it.”

“I think what’s most exciting about this is that we can show up and we can do the day-to-day and we can provide the best possible experiences to our guests, and then we can still clock out at the end of the night and you know, be silly bartenders, and have a wonderful time,” she said. “At the end of the day, we know that we’re providing the best possible experiences to our guests and to the people that come through our doors, is honestly all

 

North America’s 50 Best Bars

1. Attaboy, New York
2. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
3. Licorería Limantour, Mexico City
4. Katana Kitten, New York
5. Kumiko, Chicago
6. Café La Trova, Miami
7. Baltra Bar, Mexico City
8. Dante, New York
9. Thunderbolt, Los Angeles
10. Civil Liberties, Toronto
11. Zapote Bar, Playa del Carmen
12. La Factoría, San Juan
13. Kaito del Valle, Mexico City
14. Sweet Liberty, Miami
15. Café de Nadie, Mexico City
16. Hanky Panky, Mexico City
17. Double Chicken Please, New York
18. Service Bar, Washington, DC
19. Raised by Wolves, San Diego
20. Sabina Sabe, Oaxaca
21. El Gallo Altanero, Guadalajara
22. Selva, Oaxaca
23. Amor y Amargo, New York
24. Jewel of the South, New Orleans
25. The Keefer Bar, Vancouver
26. Dear Irving, New York
27. Overstory, New York
28. Herbs & Rye, Las Vegas
29. El Pequeño Bar, Montreal
30. Employees Only, New York
31. The Dead Rabbit, New York
32. Broken Shaker, Miami
33. Friends and Family, Oakland
34. Death & Co (Los Angeles), Los Angeles
35. Mace, New York
36. Death & Co (Denver), Denver
37. Arca, Tulum
38. Mother, Toronto
39. ABV, San Francisco
40. El Floridita, Havana
41. Bar Raval, Toronto
42. Bar Leather Apron, Honolulu
43. Clover Club, New York
44. Bitter & Twisted, Phoenix
45. Cloakroom Bar, Montreal
46. Julep, Houston
47. Bar Mordecai, Toronto
48. Teardrop Lounge, Portland
49. Bar Kismet, Halifax
50. Genever, Los Angeles

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