How to enter your bar's menu in the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award 2026.
The cocktail menu game has never been stronger. Where historically menus operated exclusively as functional lists of available drinks to patrons, today they act as new pathways for bar teams to further showcase their bar's creativity, identity and innovative spirit.
For the past nine years, the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award has put a global spotlight on the craft of the drinks menu. In 2026, the accolade returns, offering bars of any style across the planet a chance to have their drinks list named the world's finest.
To apply for the award, bars must submit a digital copy of their menu alongside a 500-word written statement, images and any relevant supporting media. There is no fee to enter and no previous association with 50 Best is required. Historical menus, or those created specifically for pop-ups and special events, are not eligible for submission. 
The Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award is free to enter for bars of any style across the world
Submitted menus will be reviewed by senior representatives from 50 Best before being passed onto our 29 Academy Chairs to judge. Individually and confidentially, they will grade each menu on the following core criteria: design and layout, storytelling, innovation, range of drinks and communication of the bar's identity.
The highest-performing menu from the tallied Academy Chairs' scores will earn the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award, revealed at the live ceremony of The World's 50 Best Bars 2026.
The winners for the editions of North America's 50 Best Bars, Asia's 50 Best Bars and inaugural Europe's 50 Best Bars will also be determined from the same pool of entries, with the regional recipients eligible to win the overall global accolade if their menu is the highest scoring entry globally.
Applications for the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award 2026 closed on Monday 2 February at 09:00 UTC.
Inspiration from 2025's winners
For the last edition of North America's 50 Best Bars, Civil Works – the younger sibling of accomplished Civil Liberties – took home the prize for its boundary pushing drinks list steeped in local history. Taking inspiration from the bar's surroundings inside the former Toronto Waterworks building, Civil Works' playful debut menu, titled A Manual for Laying Pipe, impressed judges with its extensive yet accessible offering. 
Civil Works' double entendre-laden menu turned heads and quench thirsts
Cocktails took cues from the building's history, such as the Overhead Tonnage (white chocolate, saffron, orange blossom), a ramos gin fizz-adjacent drink inspired by the factory's lofty cranes. Its one-of-a-kind 'Works Water' programme that remineralised local water with a hospital-level reverse osmosis machine to emulate the aqua from other locations across the world from Speyside to Kentucky.
In Malaysia, it was The Backdoor Bodega Guide to Penang that took home the accolade for Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025 alongside the ultimate prize as worldwide winner for The World's 50 Best Bars. 
Backdoor Bodega's travel guide-style menu was crowned the 2025 winner
The extensive menu turned heads on the back of its brilliant showcase of unique Malaysian flavours while doubling as a travel guide to the island. Across each page, eye-catching photography, stories and tips for visitors to Penang provide context for each drink imbued with local flavours.
Other notable menus that made the 2025 shortlist ranged from patriotic poitín showcases in the heart of Dublin to nostalgic video game-inspired interfaces in Seoul. Read more about them here.
The Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award is open for entries until 09:00 UTC on Monday 2 February.
