NYC Restaurants: 'Best Bars' Honors + Mice Defend Lauren Sanchez?

NEW YORK CITY — Talk about raising the bar.

New York City has the second-best bar in North America, according to a new ranking.

Indeed, Big Apple watering holes consistently hit a high bar in the list, which capped a rather dramatic week of food news.

Check out the latest from Patch, and come back next week for more.

Twelve New York City bars are among the top 50 "Best Bars" in North America, according a ranking released this week by 50 Best.

The ranking found Superbueno — a barely year-old East Village establishment — is the runner-up for best on the continent, behind Mexico City's Handshake Speakeasy.

"There's no hotter seat in town right now than at Superbueno," the ranking states.

But, despite falling short on the absolute best, New York City bars fared well on the list.

Here are the Big Apple establishments that made the list, along with their rankings:

• No. 2 — Superbueno
  
• No. 3 — Overstory
  
• No. 4 — Martiny's
  
• No. 7 — Double Chicken Please
  
• No. 12 — Katana Kitten
  
• No. 15 — Employees Only
  
• No. 20 — Dante
  
• No. 31 — Attaboy
  
• No. 33 — The Dead Rabbit
  
• No. 41 — Maison Premiere
  
• No. 43 — Angel's Share
  
• No. 44 — Milady's

Another New York City scurried into public notice this past week, but not for an honor.

A bar patron released mice inside Balthazar in what the SoHo restaurant's controversial, outspoken owner Keith McNally viewed as revenge for him calling Lauren Sanchez, the fiancée of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, "revolting."

McNally revealed the mousecapade in an Instagram post, in which he wrote a man seated at the bar released six white mice and ran from the restaurant. He noted a woman minutes later posted that Balthazar is "Absolutely 'Revolting'" because of the mice, along with an accusation that McNally cyberbullied Sanchez.

"I wonder if (this woman) orchestrated this vile stunt or was at least a party to it?" McNally wrote.

The Balthazar restarateur is no stranger to controversy.

McNally in 2022 got into a high-profile spat with former "The Late Late Show" host James Corden, whom he called a "tiny cretin" and the "most abusive" customer the restaurant had seen.

As far as the mice incident, McNally said they're the real victims.

"The worst thing about this attempted frame-up in my eyes is the exploitation of the six domesticated white mice," he wrote.

Speaking of mice, other restaurants had deeper troubles with them.

Health inspectors closed restaurants last week in every borough but The Bronx because of violations, including mice.

• NYC Restaurants Ordered Closed April 19 - 26