Drinks International has honored three San Francisco bars in it’s list, “World’s 50 Best Bars 2011“. Although having three bars among the top 50 leaves SF in a tie with Paris and Barcelona, and only behind London and New York, the big takeaway is more of a confirmation to what we already knew, our bars are world class.

The poll was conducted by World’s 50 Best Bars editor Lucy Britner and US drinks writer Camper English. The pair canvassed around 100 bar professionals including the Playboy Club’s Salvatore Calabrese, King Cocktail Dale DeGroff, Esquire US’s David Wondrich and diamond ice-carver Hidetsugu Ueno. We believe this is the first time that the top names in the industry have come together to vote for their favourite bars – making it our most authoritative list to date.

The bars cited were Smuggler’s Cove, Tommy’s, and Bar Agricole. Congrats to each establishment. I used to like the drinks at the Orbit Room back in the day, but best in the world…hmmm… I’m not sure. Do you think another San Francisco bar should have been selected to the list? Tell us!

This list has to be taken with a grain of salt, as Drinks International is based just south of London. And of course, London was the most represented city on the list. And not being an insider at every watering hole and mixology hut, there’s no way the list is accurate or complete in any way. But they’ve been around since 1969, covering trends in the drinks industry, so it’s obvious they know a thing or two about what a great bar looks like.