North America’s cocktail community has a new kingpin: Double Chicken Please in New York City. Leading the charge with its gastronomic-inspired cocktails and indomitable hospitality, read about the newly crowned champion of the continent, revealed at North America’s 50 Best Bars 2023 ceremony
New York has retained its crown as the continent’s cocktail capital in the second outing of North America’s 50 Best Bars, sponsored by Perrier. The 2023 ranking, which was revealed at a live ceremony in Hacienda Los Picachos in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, on 4th May 2023, saw Double Chicken Please rise 16 places from its previous position to be named The Best Bar in North America, sponsored by Perrier.
“I truly don’t know how to feel. We really weren’t expecting this,” says GN Chan, one of Double Chicken Please’s two Taiwanese co-founders. “We didn’t prepare for this moment,” says Faye Chen – DCP’s other founder – in tears, overwhelmed by emotion. “We’re still so new to the New York bar scene and we’re finding our feet, so to be awarded this is such an honour,” she adds.
Set in New York City’s Lower East Side, the bar has been on a meteoric rise to cocktail fame since opening in 2020. After debuting at No.17 in the inaugural North America’s 50 Best Bars 2022 ranking after only a year post-launch, it quickly made its mark on The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022 ranking, landing at No.6 and earning itself the Disaronno Highest New Entry Award as a result.
The French Toast (vodka, toasted barley brioche, coconut, milk, maple syrup and egg) is one of Double Chicken Please's many savoury-inspired libations
“It might look like an overnight success, but this has been a project nine years in the making,” says Chan. An industrial designer by trade and former street magician, Chan had always dreamed of opening his own bar that pooled inspiration from all of his interests. When he joined forces with Chen, a bartending veteran of over a decade via Shanghai’s Speak Low, their future was defined.
But it was no fairytale: “After years searching, we found a space,” says Chan. However, a deal fell through and the two were jobless and lost. Unwilling to give up on their dream, Chan and Chen took to the road in a 1977 vibrant yellow VW campervan, converted into a mobile bar, to tour the US and bring their cocktails to the continent. Hopping from pop-up to pop-up, and clocking up over 10,000 miles with over 12,000 cocktails created in the process, it was clear they had stumbled on a winning formula.
When they finally found their new permanent home in November 2020 in New York City, the challenges continued for the pair. “The bar was totally empty for six months,” Chan admits. With indoor dining restrictions decimating hospitality, Chan and Chen’s quest felt futile. “We almost gave up,” Chan says, “but we kept fighting day-by-day to make the bar what it is today.”
Step into the bar under its metal-casted chicken that hangs above its door, and the vision that has powered the duo in the years prior is manifest. This is a meticulously designed bar, where no detail regardless of size is beyond consideration.
Within its main front room, cocktails served on draught flow en masse. Creations like its pancontinental concoction of mezcal, vermouth, Italian orange bitters and masala chai are designed to be poured quickly and savoured slowly.
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North America's cocktail community gathered in San Miguel de Allende for an unforgettable night of celebration
However, step into its backroom to see Chan and Chen’s magic at work. Here, its front-facing volume-bar concept is flipped into a moodily-lit, exclusive and intimate speakeasy setting. It’s also where the bar taps into its creative side for its drinks, fusing together the worlds of gastronomy and mixology to create mind-bending savoury inspired concoctions, such as the Mango Sticky Rice (rum, mango, sticky rice pu’er tea, wakame, cold brew and coconut) and the Cold Pizza (tequila, Parmigiano Reggiano, burnt toast, tomato, basil, honey and egg whites). True to its name, it also serves one of the city’s best chicken sandwiches.
Inspiration for its unique gastronomic cocktail came from years prior, when Chan, who was working behind a bar, found himself serving customer drinking alone. “I spoke to her and she said that the next day she was visiting the doctor to find out if she had cancer,” he says. To lift her mood, Chan entered conversation with guest about her favourite food. "Beet salad," she responded. As a result, he created her a liquified version of the dish that pulled on her heartstrings. It was his first foray into savoury libations, and both Chan and Chen’s creativity has been on an upwards spiral since.
Within its short lifespan, Double Chicken Please has built a truly unique and lauded offering amidst serious competition in one of the cocktail capitals of the world. As voted for by the Voting Academy of over 260 industry experts, it is deservingly named The Best Bar in North America 2023.
The 2023 ranking featured bars from 22 cities across the continent, including 16 new entries. Grabbing the No.2 spot and The Best Bar in Mexico title is Handshake Speakeasy, followed by New York City’s Katana Kitten, which has moved up one place from its previous year’s ranking to earn the No.3 spot.
A host of other special awards were also handed out over the night, including the Roku Industry Icon Award, Julio Cabrera; Disaronno Highest Climber, Overstory; and Nikka Highest New Entry, Bar Pompette.
Miss the ceremony? Catch up here:
North America’s 50 Best Bars 2023, sponsored by Perrier, was announced at a live awards ceremony in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, on Thursday 4th May 2023. Browse the website to browse the full ranking and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube to stay up to date with all the news and announcements.
