San Sebastián, or Donostia in Basque, is a small city with an unusually high concentration of great food, and the way you eat there is different to almost anywhere else. You do not book a table and stay for three hours. You stand at a bar, order one or two things, drink a small glass of txakoli, and move on.
That is a pintxos crawl, and it is the reason the Old Town works the way it does. Each bar has one or two things it does better than anyone else, so the skill is knowing what to order where rather than picking the single best restaurant.
This guide covers the best places to eat in San Sebastián Old Town and Gros, and what to order at each.
The first place we hit, straight after getting off the bus from Bilbao. Buzzy, loud and busy, it was a high energy first foray into pinxto culture, and couldn’t have been a better start.
The hardest thing about San Sebastián is pacing yourself. It’s so easy to get carried away and fill yourself up in one place, but aim for 2-3 dishes in each bar and hopefully you’ll last long into the evening.
One of the more hectic bars we went to, but the staff manage to remain calm (if a little shouty). No frills, just super tasty dishes being knocked out of an unfeasibly tiny kitchen.
The ‘Kebab’ which is actually a pork rib, and the rich and indulgent Risotto are both a must.
This relatively new pintxos bar has a 5* Google rating from over 1,500 reviews, and you can believe the hype. The place is tiny but bizarrely quiet when we visited (on Halloween), so we easily managed to sit at the bar. Result.
Stunning food and incredibly good value.
A true San Sebastián institution
One of places recommend most to me, and I can totally understand why. Standing room only, hot, busy, it fit perfectly with my preconceptions of San Sebastian. There’s a very strong menu of dishes, available in different sizes to match your appetite and budget.
If you’re lucky, you might get a seat. If not, just stand at the bar and order a couple of hot pintxos. I really enjoyed the simple but expertly cooked chipirones a la plancha but the foie gras, stacked high and served with apple compote and Maldon salt was UN-BE-LIEVABLE… One of the absolute must-try dishes in San Sebastian old town.
One of the more modern bars, Atari Gastroleku is comfy and takes reservations. Here you’ll find the banging caramelised french toast, and slow cooked egg dish that featured on Travel Man.
A great option if you want the luxury of sitting down whilst eating delicious things.
Another modern option, serving up some of the best things we ate all weekend. Kapadokia is a comfortable and modern bar, which is much less hectic than the more famous places that you’ll find on most lists.
In particular, the Squid Spaghetti w/ Bolognese was both clever and absolutely delicious. The sangria here is also great, and massive.
Ganbara is the fanciest and priciest place we went to, and I’d certainly recommend a visit if you can get a seat at the bar (we arrived 5mins before evening service and were seated straightaway).
The dishes are classic and simple but pretty flawless in their execution. Think tomato salad, grilled local squid, wild mushrooms served with an egg yolk. Lovely stuff, and the cold pintxos were also absolutely top drawer.
Old school tavern, showcasing anchovy based snacks & sandwiches. The menu is full of made-to-order marinated anchovies with a variety of toppings.
Legendary Basque burnt cheesecake
The go-to place for basque cheesecake. Head here to finish off your evening’s pintxo crawl and experience a basque cheesecake that manages to be indulgent, rich and light all at the same time with a perfect consistency.
Beautiful, sandy, shell-shaped beach
Finally, don’t forget to take breaks from all that eating and spend some time on the beautiful La Concha beach with its clear, warm water, and soft sand.
Forget everything you know about booking a table. In San Sebastián you stand, you order one or two things, you drink, you leave. Cold pintxos sit out on the counter but the really good stuff, the hot pintxos, come off a menu board or straight from the barman, so always ask what’s coming out of the kitchen. That’s where you’ll find every bar’s best dish.
Don’t settle in. One or two dishes and a drink, then move on. The whole point is that you eat the one thing each bar does better than anyone else.
Fancy something closer to home instead? How about a weekend in Hastings & St Leonards, or the best Chinese restaurants in Brighton & Hove.
A pintxo is a small Basque bar snack, usually one or two bites, often served on a slice of bread with a cocktail stick through it. Pintxo means “spike” and they’re the northern Spanish cousin of tapas, but bigger in ambition. Many are proper miniature dishes cooked to order rather than something sat under glass.
The Gilda is the original Basque pintxo, invented in the late 1940s at Bar Casa Vallés in San Sebastián. It combines a green olive, a salted anchovy, and a pickled green guindilla pepper on a single toothpick and it’s one of my absolute faves.
Four or five is a good evening. Order one or two dishes per bar, have a drink, then move on. That’s how locals do it and it stops you filling up in the first place you walk into but however many you visit, save space for a slice of burnt basque cheesecake from La Viña to end the night.
Cheaper than you’d think for a city with this many Michelin stars. Most pintxos land between €3 and €5, with the premium seafood ones running higher. A small pour of txakoli is a couple of Euros. Budget €35–45 a head for a proper evening across four or five bars and you’ll eat extremely well. It’s one of the best value world-class food cities in Europe.
The expensive bit isn’t the food, it’s the accommodation. Hotels in the Old Town (Parte Vieja) can get silly in August, so book early or stay in Gros and walk over the river.
The Parte Vieja (Old Town) is the heart of it. La Cuchara de San Telmo, Borda Berri, Ganbara, Bar Txepetxa and La Viña are all within a few minutes’ walk of each other. Gros, across the Urumea river, is quieter and more local if the Old Town gets too much.
Late September through November is the sweet spot — mushrooms, game, Tolosa beans, and a city that’s given itself back to locals after the summer. Spring brings fresh Cantabrian anchovies, which will ruin the tinned ones for you forever.
Summer is glorious but rammed. Semana Grande in mid-August puts fireworks over the bay every night and puts every bar three deep. If you want the city at its most Basque, go on 20 January for the Tamborrada, when the entire place drums for 24 hours straight dressed as chefs and soldiers.
Bilbao is the most practical airport from the UK. The PESA bus runs from right outside the terminal to San Sebastián’s bus station in around 75 minutes for €17.10, roughly hourly from 07:45 to 23:45. People say you don’t need to book but I would advisee it if you’re visiting at a peak time.
Biarritz is closer as the crow flies but has fewer UK routes. Once you’re in town you won’t need transport. Nearly every bar in this guide sits within a ten-minute walk of the others in the Old Town, and the beautiful La Concha beach is right there when you need to lie down for an hour!
Not for pintxo bars. Almost none take reservations anyway, and you simply squeeze in at the counter. Atari Gastroleku is a rare exception. You do need to book far ahead for the Michelin-starred restaurants like Arzak, Mugaritz or Akelarre, often months in advance.
Later than in the UK. Bars start filling from around 8pm and the crawl runs to 11pm or midnight, with lunch around 2pm. Go early, at 7pm, if you want space at the counter and first pick of the hot pintxos before the kitchen starts running out.
Txakoli, the local slightly sparkling Basque white, poured from height to give it some fizz. Sidra (Basque cider) is the other classic, especially in cider house season from February to April. A small beer, a zurito, is the low-commitment option when you’re pacing yourself across five bars.
It’s improving but still challenging. Pintxo counters lean heavily on seafood, jamón and slow-cooked meat, and the standout dish at most bars is rarely the vegetarian one. Tortilla, padrón peppers, mushroom pintxos and grilled vegetables are reliable, and the more modern bars tend to have more to offer.
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