Greek cocktail culture claims historic continental double
ATHENS, Greece — July 2026.
Line, an experimental bar located in Athens, has been named the best bar in Europe in the inaugural edition of Europe’s 50 Best Bars, placing the Greek capital at the forefront of the continent’s rapidly evolving cocktail culture. The ranking was unveiled during a live awards ceremony in Amsterdam following votes submitted by more than 300 beverage specialists, bartenders, writers and hospitality experts from across the region. Athens achieved an extraordinary double victory as The Bar in Front of the Bar secured second place, while Barcelona’s Sips completed the leading trio in third position. The result established Greece as the dominant country at the top of the first European ranking created by the organization behind the internationally recognized World’s 50 Best Bars list.
Line operates from a converted art gallery in the residential district of Kato Petralona, away from the concentration of cocktail venues in central Athens. Opened in 2022 by Dimitris Dafopoulos, Vasilis Kyritsis and Nikos Bakoulis, the establishment combines elements of a cocktail bar, winery, brewery, café and restaurant within an open industrial-style space. Its central concept is based on fermentation, local production and a closed-loop operating model in which fruit, bread, herbs and other ingredients are transformed into wines, beers, vinegars, syrups, cocktails and food. The bar’s team produces many components on site and repeatedly uses leftovers and byproducts, reducing waste while creating drinks that differ significantly from conventional cocktail formulas.
Among Line’s most recognizable creations are its Why-Ins, fruit-based fermented drinks produced with ingredients other than grapes and designed to challenge conventional definitions of wine. The bar also serves the Delusional Margarita, an unconventional interpretation made with tequila and ingredients associated with food preparation, including mustard, ketchup, potato water and spices. Its menu connects drinks with house-made bread and dishes developed from the same production processes, allowing ingredients to move between the kitchen, fermentation laboratory and bar. This approach has positioned Line within the farm-to-glass movement, which emphasizes local sourcing, internal production, reduced waste and a closer relationship between food, agriculture and beverage development.
The result marked a broader triumph for Athens, which placed five establishments within the ranking’s first 30 positions. The Bar in Front of the Bar finished second with a dual-format concept that combines an informal outdoor drinking space with a more refined interior lounge, offering frequently changing cocktails developed with local farmers and producers. Barro Negro ranked thirteenth, Baba au Rum followed in fourteenth place and The Clumsies reached number 30, while Gorilla in Thessaloniki secured the thirty-third position. Greece’s performance demonstrated the growing international recognition of a cocktail scene shaped by Mediterranean ingredients, outdoor social traditions, technical experimentation and a generation of bartenders increasingly influential beyond the country’s borders.
Despite Athens taking the two highest positions, London placed more establishments in the complete ranking than any other city, with seven bars included among Europe’s best. Barcelona followed with six, while Paris contributed five, illustrating the continuing strength of established hospitality capitals alongside emerging destinations in southern and eastern Europe. The top ten also included Himkok in Oslo at number four, Bar Nouveau in Paris at five, Moebius Milano at six, The Cambridge Public House in Paris at seven, Mirror Bar in Bratislava at eight, Paradiso in Barcelona at nine and Connaught Bar in London at ten. The geographic distribution reflected a European bar industry in which luxury hotel venues, informal neighborhood bars, experimental laboratories, traditional pubs and sustainability-focused projects now compete within the same professional landscape.
Line’s victory also represents a rapid progression for a venue created during the difficult period that followed the COVID-19 pandemic. The bar had already achieved significant international recognition, reaching sixth place in the 2024 global ranking and eighth place among the world’s best bars in 2025 before earning Europe’s first continental title. Its founders described the award as the realization of an ambition built through collaboration, fermentation research and a determination to create an identity rooted in Athens rather than reproduce models established in London, New York or other major hospitality markets. Their success reinforces the position of the Greek capital as an international destination for contemporary drinking culture while demonstrating how sustainability, local production and creative independence can become central elements of a globally recognized hospitality experience.
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