What The 30 Best Bars List Tells Us About The Future Of Bars In India

This year's list of 30 Best Bars of the country is a varied one. A mix of multiple vibes, price brackets and ratio of restaurants to dedicated bars. Returning champions such as New Delhi’s Home, Mumbai’s Americano, and Native Cocktail Room in Jaipur. And the freshman class of 2025, bars that came in hard and strong on their first entry, most notably, Bar Outrigger and Boilermaker (both Goa) at number 4, Dali & Gala (Bangalore) at number 9, and Nutcase Etc. (Kolkata) at number 15.

But to any keen observer of nightlife and alcohol trends for the last decade, it becomes clear that this list isn't just a market of quality and standard; it’s an unspoken breakdown of what’s working and what isn’t.

And this year’s list, through its careful curation, points out five trends that will govern the way people drink socially in 2026.

Intimate Spaces > Large Venues

Most of the bars on this year’s list have one thing in common – they’re some version of cosy.

The small, underground space at PCO Delhi, the nooks and corners of Dali & Gala Bengaluru, the impossible-to-get-into teentsy 12-seater Papa’s Bombay… There’s not a single bar on this list that is a 200-cover brewery, or an enormous nightclub because that’s not what the discerning drinker of 2026 is after. Almost every bar, however, creates an intimacy with the diners and drinkers that frequent it, creating spaces that foster conversation and comfort.

Community Counts

For a long time, bars have been ranked and rated basis an elusive standard for excellence–and very often, that inadvertently becomes synonymous with luxury. But the 2025 round-up has several entries (Bar Cold Drinks in Goa, or Sidecar in Delhi) which have long since had a community at their heart. What this essentially means is that, outside of just markers of quality, several bars on the list are also just neighbourhood bars that are doing a really fantastic job. These bars make a good cocktail, sure but they also have regulars, and a vibe you can count on. You can walk into Boilermaker and watch the staff and customers dancing together on the floor to ‘Maria Pitache’, just as you will inadvertently see at least ten people you know if you walk into Lair on a Saturday night in New Delhi.

Small, Sharp Cocktail Menus

Gone are the days when the better the bar, the more cocktail options you had. Bars that do well today know that they key is to focus on a small, thoughtful menu of signature cocktails that play to their strengths. Soka, Bangalore (ranked number 2) and Bandra Born in Mumbai (ranked number 17) a cocktail-first bar–each 15 original cocktails, and doesn’t go beyond with variations. Conversation Room, Kolkata (ranked number 26) has 9, while Native Cocktail Room, Jaipur (ranked number 25) has 12. And each cocktail is well-edited and proud.

Standalone Bars Reign Supreme

Yes, the occasional hotel bar is on the list; stalwarts like Copitas at the Four Seasons Hotel, Bangalore, for instance, that place every year. But overall, it’s bars that are unique, standalone establishments–ones that don’t have several franchises or inter-city presence–that have made the cut. From Bar Spirit Forward in Bengaluru to Papa’s in Mumbai, these establishments are the attraction–not part of one. The iconic Bombay Canteen has stayed iconic because it has stayed true to its name, and refused to open up in any other cities. Hoots, Delhi, has placed on the list consistently since it opened doors in 2021–and it remains the one and only of its brand. And that’s what people want, because it’s a guarantor of quality and singularity that simply does not exist when a beloved bar begins to breed.

Bar Food Isn’t An Afterthought

There are, of course, straight-up restaurants on this list that have a notable bar menu aside from the food that makes them famous–Mumbai’s Americano, Papa’s Bombay and The Bombay Canteen, Goa’s Slow Tide and Gurgaon’s Japonico. But even spots that have alcohol menus at their heart understand that bar food has the potential to be interesting and original in itself–and takes that seriously. Boilermaker’s (Goa) Beef Tataki Sandwich and Guava Cheese Melt, Bar Kin-Rü’s (Hyderabad) Patthar Ka Gosht and Edamame & Spinach Shamis, the Coorg-Style Pork Rry and Pear And Belper Knolle Salad at Cobbler & Crew (Pune); all bar bites that don’t you to be tipsy to hold up.

Zero Proof Menus Are Gaining Traction

The fact there has been a category for Best Non-Alcoholic Bar Menu (taken home this year by Burma Burma, Mumbai) since 2023–and that only more bars have added to the category in the last three years–proves exactly how much a zero-ABV menu matters. A 2023 survey by Gallup found that the percentage of adults under age 35 who say they ever drink dropped ten percentage points in two decades, to 62% in 2021-2023 from 72% in 2001-2003. Bars can no longer exclude that key piece of intel in how they plan their drink menus–and it shows.