2023 World’s 50 Best Bars: 51 to 100
David Klemt
Partner, KRG Hospitality Inc. | Bar, Beverage and Guest Experience Coach | IHI 2024 Global Top 100 Social Media Influencers in Hospitality | Host of Bar Hacks, IHI 2024 Global Top 40 Hospitality Podcasts
Check out the back half of the 2023 World’s 50 Best Bars list ahead of the one through 50 reveal taking place in Singapore on October 17.
In terms of single-country performance, the United States of America claims the most spots on this list with six. Unsurprisingly, four of these bars in New York. Rounding out the six American venues are one in Chicago and one in California.
However, in combination with Mexico and Canada, North America earns 11 places. Unfortunately, Canada earns just one spot with a bar in Toronto. Mexico City, however, is home to two of the best bars in North America (and the world).
It’s Europe as a whole, though, that boasts the most positions, with 17 bars on the list. Five of the 17 are in England.
Asia comes in second as a continent with 14 venues on the back half of the 2023 World’s 50 Best Bars. It should come as no surprise that Singapore claims five spots.
Congratulations to the bar teams below!
To review the 2022 51 to 100 list, click here.
The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023: 100 to 51
It’s only a matter of time until a number of these incredible venues break through to the top half of this list.
Head to KRGHospitality.com to continue reading.
Brand Love: BrandVue’s 2023 Rankings
As we near the end of the year, Savanta has revealed their BrandVue’s Most Loved Eating Out Brands 2023 report, ranking 100 restaurant brands in America.
The B2B and B2C market consultancy has been publishing this report since 2019. Their fifth-annual report includes 16 categories, including ranking consumer opinion of third-party delivery services.
As a category, Burger boasts the greatest presence with 17 loved restaurant brands. In second is Italian or Pizza with 13 brands. With ten brands, Specialty comes in third as a category. Tied for fourth are Mexican and Chicken, featuring eight brands each.
Top Restaurant in Each Category
Below you’ll find the gold medalist in each category, in alphabetical order by restaurant type.
Other Categories
There are a handful of other categories on the BrandVue list. Namely, Delivery, Sports Bar, and Meal-kit.
I’ve separated Delivery in particular because it doesn’t represent brick-and-mortar brands. Rather, these are third-party services.
For this year’s list, Savanta ranks five delivery services. Below, the top three:
However, it’s important to note that DoorDash bought their one-time rival Caviar back in 2019. So, it’s really as though DoorDash claims two spots among the top three.
Of course, UberEats owns Postmates, which is among the five Delivery brands on this list. So is Seamless, owned by Grubhub. However, Grubhub itself doesn’t appear on this list.
The other two categories, Sports Bar and Meal-kit, count just one brand each among them: Buffalo Wild Wings and Plated, respectively.
For the top 26 restaurant brands and more, continue reading on KRGHospitality.com.
Leisure and Hospitality Adds 96,000 Jobs
The latest report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that the outlook looks promising for hospitality.
Put together, leisure and hospitality added 96,000 jobs in September. However, hospitality certainly leads the way according to the most recent report.
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In particular, the news is wonderful for the restaurant and bar sector. Adding 61,000 jobs in September, “food services and drinking places” are back to February 2020 levels.
Put more simply, restaurants and bars are back to pre-pandemic employment numbers. It has taken more than three years, but we can finally breathe a collective (but cautious) sign of relief.
In fact, one in five jobs created in September was in a restaurant or bar. That’s incredible growth and welcome news.
But reaching this point hasn’t been easy. Operators, along with restaurant and bar workers, have clawed their way through the past several years.
The industry has changed, and operators need to avoid the temptation of regressing. Yes, employment levels are back to where they were before the pandemic. Worker and guest expectations will not return to where they were before February 2020. The changes are here to stay.
Lodging/Accommodation
Unfortunately, not every sector of hospitality is back to pre-pandemic employment levels.
First, the positive news. Lodging (or accommodation, if you prefer) did add jobs in September. Whereas restaurants and bars rose 61,000 jobs, lodging is up 16,000.
That’s good growth and reason to be optimistic regarding that sector. That’s where the good news ends when it comes to hard employment numbers.
On the negative side, lodging hasn’t yet returned to pre-pandemic employment levels. In fact, the sector is remains down by 217,000 jobs when compared to February 2020.
Should lodging/accommodation continue to add jobs at this pace, we could see a full recovery in Q4 2024.
However, the past few years have been an eyeopener for many lodging and accommodation operators. Many hotels, for example, have reduced the sizes of their teams.
It’s possible that as long as guest feedback remains positive, hotels and resorts will continue to operate with smaller teams. Indeed, technological innovations have made it simpler for mid- and large-scale properties to pare back labor.
Continue reading on KRGHospitality.com.
Taco Bell Racking Up Rewards Program Wins
Taco Bell, masters of the limited-time offer and loyalty program, continue to rack up wins with the return of a fan-favorite promotion, and more.
The fast-food giant operates more than 7,800 restaurants in the US alone. However, the company understands that sheer numbers aren’t enough to turn a profit.
Rather, Taco Bell continually proves they understand the power of promotions, loyalty, and LTOs.
The QSR routinely releases specialty items, then packs them away to generate buzz and traffic by making them available once again—for a limited time. Compellingly, Taco Bell also ties their LTOs to their loyalty program. Often times, the only way for guests to enjoy special perks and items is to be a Taco Bell Rewards member.
Not only does this help to engage existing members, this approach drives new program signups.
Case in point: the Taco Lover’s Pass.
National Taco Day Promotion
If you’re industry or a fan of Taco Bell, you should be aware of the Taco Lover’s Pass by now.
Tracing its genesis to 2021 in Arizona, the LTO pops up every now and then. In exchange for $10, those who grab a pass can get one free taco each day for 30 consecutive days.
Oh, and the pass is now only available via the Taco Bell app, and to members of the Taco Bell Rewards program. Again, this is an excellent way to boost engagement. Do guests want to take advantage of this LTO? Great—they’ll need to exchange their info and provide access to themselves to do so.
Normally, the Taco Lover’s Pass is available for purchase for just one day. However, this time around Taco Bell gave rewards members two days to snag one. This is likely due to a new menu item drop coming tomorrow.
For quite some time now, Taco Bell has been hinting that they’ll be making breakfast easier and better. And now we know how they plan to accomplish that goal.
Joining the Seasoned Beef Crunchy Taco, Seasoned Beef Crunchy Taco Supreme, Seasoned Beef Soft Taco, Seasoned Beef Soft Taco Supreme, Spicy Potato Soft Taco, Seasoned Beef Doritos? Locos Tacos, and Seasoned Beef Doritos? Locos Tacos Supreme on the Taco Lover’s Pass is the new Toasted Breakfast Taco.
Today, October 12 (a Taco Tuesday!), Taco Bell drops the Toasted Breakfast Taco, and holders of their coveted pass can grab one for free.
Clearly, Tuesdays are important to Taco Bell. Let’s not forget that they very publicly challenged the “Taco Tuesday” trademark, and very publicly celebrated its cancellation. So, launching an all-new item that will drive traffic to Taco Bell during the breakfast daypart makes perfect sense. The drop also further solidifies their branding and marketing.
Continue reading on KRGHospitality.com.