American Bar at The Savoy

Opened in 1893 inside The Savoy hotel on the Strand, the American Bar is the longest-surviving cocktail bar in London and one of the most storied in the world — the name was a Victorian-era statement that this was a room built to serve cocktails. It was home to Ada 'Coley' Coleman, an early celebrity bartender who created the Hanky Panky, and later to Harry Craddock, whose 1930 'Savoy Cocktail Book' remains a canonical text of the craft. The bar has been a near-permanent fixture on the World's 50 Best Bars list, and under then-head bartender Erik Lorincz it was named the World's Best Bar in 2017.

The room is classic Art Deco: marble pillars, leather chairs, geometric grey-and-yellow carpeting, black-and-white photographs of old film stars along the walls, and a mirror-backed bar with just a few stools. A baby grand piano is played nightly, and the atmosphere leans to old-school Savoy glamour rather than modern minimalism.

The current drinks list, launched in early 2025, is the 'Liquid Moments' menu: 17 new cocktails that distil 135 years of the Savoy's history, curated by bar manager Andrea Di Chiara and head bartender Angelo Sparvoli, who returned to the bar after a four-year absence. Alongside the spirituous serves, the menu carries several genuine non-alcoholic cocktails built to the same standard — Sparvoli specifically names the King's Cobbler and Homecoming as zero-proof options. The offering is modest in number rather than a full dedicated no-alcohol book, but at a World's-best-calibre landmark hotel bar the presence of real, named non-alcoholic builds makes it a high-value stop for non-drinkers on the Strand. The bar is open daily from noon (to midnight Monday–Saturday, to 10pm Sunday); booking ahead is advised.