Nominations for the Boothby Best Bars NSW awards are open now

It’s time to kick off the NSW portion of the Boothby Best Bars awards program for 2025.

This is the third year for the Boothby Best Bars NSW awards — you can look at last year’s awards here — and we’re looking forward to seeing who you think is making NSW a great place to drink in 2025.

The Boothby Best Bars awards program is all about what makes the drinking great in each state. Great bars speak to a time and place, and the big idea with the Boothby Best Bars program is to get a better view of how we drink right now.
But the Boothby Best Bars awards are also about throwing a great big hospo party to celebrate the industry, too.

So we’ll be doing just that, as we count down the Boothby Best Bars NSW Top 50 on Monday 14 July at The Trocadero Room in Enmore — stay tuned for invites.

And as we countdown the Top 50, we’ll also hand out seven major awards along the way: the NSW All Time Great presented by Club Suntory; Person of the Year NSW presented by Brown-Forman; the Best New Bar in NSW presented by Angel’s Envy; Best Hospitality Team NSW presented by Perrier; Best Cocktail Bar in NSW presented by Ilegal Mezcal; and the Best Bar in NSW presented by Never Never Distilling Co.

We’ve also added a new award to the slate in 2025, one that recognises the need for many bars to offer not just great drinks, but great food as well: the Best Bar Eats in NSW presented by Estrella makes its debut this year.

Nominations are open now in the form below, and close at midnight on Monday 16 June 2025. It takes just one nomination to be considered in the next round of voting, and personal nominations are encouraged. Learn more about how it works below.

How does it work?

1. Nominations open on Monday 2 June 2025. We’re after nominations for the best bars in NSW (in the form below), with an emphasis on nominees from regional cities and towns. We also want you to tell us who should be named Person of the Year.
2. After nominations close at 11:59pm on Monday 16 June, the NSW Boothby advisory panel — consisting of bartenders, bar owners and other industry figures — will cast their votes based on the nominations, which will need to include at least two venues from outside their own city.
3. On Tuesday 1 July, invites to attend the Boothby Best Bars NSW event will be sent out to representatives of the bars on the list.
4. On Monday 14 July, we’ll gather at The Trocadero Room in Sydey to celebrate the best bars in NSW, countdown the Top 50 all the way to the number one, and hand out the major awards. It’ll be a blast!