Cheers! College Street's very own, Bar Raval was named the best bar in Canada for the second year in a row.

The list, compiled by Canada's 100 Best, ranked 50 of the best places to get a drink across the country. According to the magazine, the College and Palmerston hot spot won with a "wide margin of votes" from the judges.


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The restaurant, which opened four years ago, not only has an incredible drink menu (judges recommended the Jacques Fresco), its fantastical design makes it a true standout.

"Bar Raval truly is one of the leaders of the bar industry, not just in Canada but the world," noted a judge on this years' panel.

Being the best bar in the world was exactly what owners Grant van Gameren and Robin Goodfellow had in mind when they hired Toronto-based architectural firm Partisans to design the restaurant.

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"The client charged us with executing an ambitious task: "create an art piece" that would become an enduring culinary and civic institution. We interpreted the directive through two aesthetic lenses: Spanish design and the physicality of the three owners who became our muses," the designer explained in their portfolio.

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In 2018, Partisans partnered with van Gameren and Goodfellow once again to create the Mexican-inspired restaurant, Quetzal. Quetzal has its own reason to celebrate after it landed the 23rd spot on Canada's Best Restaurants list last month.

Bar Raval wasn't the only College St. bar to make this year's list. Birreria Volo and Lopan can in 39th and 40th respectively.

See the full list by rank here.

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