The World’s 50 Best is an online publication that reviews and ranks the best bars, restaurants, and hotels from around the world. In its 2025 edition, the annual list named a Houston bar among the 100 best bars in North America.
Coming in at No. 59 on the list is Houston’s own, Bandista. Opened in February 2022, Bandista is a speakeasy cocktail lounge hidden behind a bookcase inside the Four Seasons Hotel Houston at 1300 Lamar St.. The space – swanky and reminiscent of the 1920s – has a maximum capacity of 20 people.
Interested parties must make a reservation beforehand. Once the reservation is confirmed on-site, a hotel official leads guests upstairs to a password-protected bookcase that opens to the cocktail hideaway. Reservations are timed at 90 minutes a piece.
Bandista offers a sophisticated cocktail program, most known for its signature Dulce Far Niente tiramisu-inspired, mascarpone mousse-mixed cocktail and Writer’s Block 27, a gin-based cocktail spun with absinthe, pineapple, lime, and cucumber.
The venue is open from 5 pm to midnight Wednesday through Saturday. Once again, reservations are necessary.
The only other Texas bar to make the inaugural list of “North America’s 100 Best Bars” is the Austin-founded Nickel City. Ranked by the publication as No. 70, Nickel City originally opened in East Austin in July 2017. The “anytime bar” has since opened multiple locations in Texas including Fort Worth and more recently, Houston.
Beyond The World’s 50 Best recognition, the bar has accrued numerous awards and accolades over the years featuring on Esquire’s “Best Bars in America” list, “Best Bar in Austin” by Austin Monthly, and “Best American High Volume Cocktail Bar” finalist for the Spirited Awards.
Nickel City’s Houston venue is located at 2910 McKinney St Suite 500. Nickel City is open from noon to 2 am daily.