SG Group Sister Establishment, Japan-Originated Bar Culture Crowned North America's Best! New York's "Sip & Guzzle" Wins 1st Place at North America’s 50 Best Bars

SG Group (Representative: Shingo Gokan), which operates bars both domestically and internationally, announces that "Sip & Guzzle (New York)," a sister establishment to its group's "The SG Club," has been selected as the 1st place winner at North America’s 50 Best Bars 2026 (organized by William Reed, UK). The birth of the No. 1 bar in North America from New York, a world-class competitive market, in approximately two years since its opening, is a major achievement in the global bar industry and a symbolic event where Japan-originated bar culture has been highly recognized internationally.

Sip & Guzzle inherits the story and worldview of The SG Club in Shibuya, Tokyo, and can be described as the next chapter born from it. The SG Club was conceived with the imagination of what if the samurai of the Man'en Gan'nen Embassy to the United States, who first visited America in 1860, opened a bar in Tokyo after their return. Sip & Guzzle is born from the idea of what if those samurai, carrying the experiences and techniques they gained there, returned to New York, the starting point of their story. It is an existence that has sublimated the spirit nurtured at The SG Club in Tokyo into a new form in modern New York.

Sip & Guzzle, which opened in January 2024, is led by Shingo Gokan and Steve Schneider, who also teamed up at SG Group's Shanghai establishment, The Odd Couple. It is developed as a project that directly inherits the philosophy of The SG Club, from brand ideology, store design, menu development, to guest experience. It is operated by SG Group and Shingo Gokan's US partners.

New York is a city that can be called the origin of Shingo Gokan's career. In 2006, he moved to this city as his first challenge overseas, competed as the US representative in 2012, and won the world championship as a bartender. After that, he successively succeeded in projects in Shanghai, Tokyo, and Okinawa, and in 2026, he led Sip & Guzzle to become the No. 1 in North America by leading a bar himself. This award, which came to fruition in New York after 20 years, is an extremely symbolic achievement for Gokan personally.

The award ceremony was held on April 22, 2026, in Vancouver, Canada, as a splendid ceremony where top bar industry professionals, media, sponsors, and bartenders from across North America gathered. The ranking was announced live from 50th place, and when the name Sip & Guzzle was finally read out as the 1st place winner, the venue was filled with great cheers and applause.

This award is a historic event where the story originating from Tokyo, which began with The SG Club, received the highest recognition in New York. SG Group will continue to disseminate new hospitality culture from Japan to the world.

## North America’s 50 Best Bars

This is the industry's highest award, established with the aim of promoting the excellent bar culture of the North American region to the world. It targets the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean region, and the ranking is determined by anonymous voting by bar owners, bartenders, journalists, and industry experts. The evaluation criteria are diverse, not only the quality of drinks but also hospitality, spatial experience, originality, and impact on the industry, and it attracts great attention as an international indicator showing "the bar most worth visiting that year."

[Official Website] https://www.theworlds50best.com/bars/northamerica/

## Shingo Gokan

Representative of SG Group. One of the most talked-about bartenders in the world today.
Started his career as a bartender in 2001. After moving to NY alone in 2006, he honed his skills at a prestigious bar in NY, and in 2012, he competed as the US representative in the world's largest cocktail competition, Bacardi Legacy, and won the world championship. In 2014, he opened Speak Low in Shanghai. Since then, he has successively developed bars and restaurants with different concepts and has received the highest number of awards in The World’s / Asia’s / North America’s 50 Best Bars.
In 2017, he received the "International Bartender of the Year" at Tales of the Cocktail. In Asia’s 50 Best Bars, he was a bartender in 2019.