LA Cocktail Specialist The Walker Inn Lands a World’s 50 Best Bars Nod

Great news for cocktail aficionados in Los Angeles, as The Walker Inn has just been named one of the World’s 50 Best Bars.

As Bloomberg points out, tackling the issue of which bars in the world are truly at the top of their game is no easy task. In short, a cabal of 476 drinkers and historians scour the planet to find the best, ultimately casting votes for hundreds of potential winners. From there, the top 50 is assigned and ranked, much like the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list (where Italy’s Osteria Francescana tops the list).

The full cocktail bar reveal actually shows a wide assortment of American bars, including the #1 spot which went to The Dead Rabbit in Manhattan, but only one spot in Los Angeles: The Walker Inn. The omakase drinking experience at the Hotel Normandie in Koreatown has long been considered at the top of its class within the city and domestically at large, but lands here at #37.

While that’s a strong showing considering the competition, it’s a shame that Los Angeles’s stunning cocktail scene hasn’t gotten more of the recognition it deserves. Things should only keep improving though, as the list-makers look more and more to booming L.A. and its dining and drinking culture — and as concepts from elsewhere continue to invade. Case in point: The Broken Shaker, a Miami-based bar that ranks #16 globally and will be expanding into Downtown in no time at all.

Don’t feel like ponying up for the pricey cocktails that certainly reign on this list? Don’t worry, Los Angeles is home to an absolutely incredible collection of dive bars, too.