Eats

The best cocktail bar in the UK is officially in Manchester as Top 50 named

It's the first time we've ever had first place.

Daisy Jackson - 6th February 2024

The Top 50 Cocktail Bars in the UK have been named this evening – and in a stunning turn of events, Manchester has taken the top spot.

Schofield’s Bar on Little Quay Street has stormed into first place, beating out the biggest names in the drinks industry.

Last year’s winner, Satan’s Whiskers in Bethnal Green in London, fell into second place.

And it was a fantastic result for the rest of the north too, with cocktail bars across Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield shining in the Top 50.

Also featuring in the Top 50 Cocktail Bars list in Manchester is Blinker, a Spring Gardens bar that has a dedicated martini menu, which swooped into the top 10 and placed sixth.

Speak In Code on Jackson’s Row took 12th place (a slight drop from last year’s eighth place but still a phenomenal showing).

And Project Halcyon, the brilliant bar hidden down in the Bonded Warehouse, made it into the 21st spot in the Top 50 Cocktail Bars list.

Manchester’s shiny new LGBTQ+ cocktail bar Red Light, tucked down on pretty Little David Street at Kampus, was named One To Watch.

But back to Schofield’s Bar, officially the best cocktail bar in the entire UK.

The judges said that this drinking spot, created by Bury-born brothers Joe and Daniel Schofield, is ‘impressive’ and noted that it’s the first Manchester bar to ever take the number one spot.

They wrote: “Together, they had a vision to return home to Manchester to open their now impressive venue, which sits on the corner of the iconic Sunlight House, an art deco masterpiece by architect Joseph Sunlight.”

The Top 50 Cocktail Bars list then detailed that the menu ‘consists of classic cocktails as well as crafted in-house stylings created by the Schofield’s, along with beers, wines, Champagne and also some food’.

Many of the drinks inside are inspired by the brothers’ favourite books, and you can borrow a book off the shelf to read with your paired cocktail – like a Vesper Martini with Casino Royale, a Singapore Sling with Cocktail, and a mojito with The Old Man and the Sea.

The Top 50 Cocktail Bars in the UK in full

1. Schofield’s Bar – Manchester
2. Satan’s Whiskers – Bethnal Green
3. Passing Fancies – Digbeth, Birmingham
4. Couch – Stirchley, West Midlands
5. Hey Palu – Edinburgh, Midlothian
6. Blinker – Manchester
7. Swift Soho – London
8. Amaro Bar – Kensington, London
9. Panda and Sons – Edinburgh
10. Tayēr + Elementary – Shoreditch, London
11. Kwãnt – Mayfair, London
12. Speak in Code – Manchester
13. Three Sheets – Dalston, London
14. 🔶🟥🔵 – Hackney, London
15. Murder Inc – Soho, London
16. Tabula Rasa – Leeds
17. Lab 22 – Cardiff
18. Filthy XIII – Bristol
19. Crossroads – Newington Green
20. The Connaught Bar – Mayfair, London
21. Project Halcyon – Manchester
22. SOMA – Soho, London
23. Eve Bar – Covent Garden
24. Side Hustle – Covent Garden
25. The Hideout – Bath
26. Little Mercies – Crouch End, London
27. Below Stairs – Leeds
28. Silverleaf – Spitalfields, London
29. Bar Termini – Soho, London
30. Seed Library – Shoreditch, London
31. Charlie Brown’s – Glasgow
32. Bramble Bar & Lounge – Edinburgh
33. Scarfes Bar – Holborn, London
34. Happiness Forgets – Hoxton, London
35. The Absent Ear – Glasgow
36. 69 Colebrooke Row – Islington, London
37. Artesian – Fitzrovia, London
38. Callooh Callay – Shoreditch, London
39. Fox and Chance – Birmingham
40. The Milk Thistle – Bristol
41. Nauticus – Edinburgh
42. Public – Sheffield
43. The Gate – Glasgow
44. Nightjar – Shoreditch, London
45. Ojo Rojo – Bournemouth
46. The Wildcat – Edinburgh
47. Lyaness – South Bank, London
48. Pennyroyal – Cardiff
49. Bench – Sheffield
50. The American Bar – Auchterarder

Featured image: The Manc Group