Having lived in San Sebastian a number of years ago, my favourite memories are culinary. I’ve been back many times with family and friends, treating my role as tour guide with utmost importance.
On my most recent visit, I got the latest lie of the land; some of my old haunts didn’t survive the pandemic, whilst others remain strongholds of Basque culinary excellence. Here’s everything you need to know to perfect your pintxo hopping.
Pintxo (spelt “pincho” in Spanish) culture is one of my favourite things about San Sebastian. When you visit beautiful Donostia (the Basque name for the city), one thing that’s going to help you when ordering in bars is knowing that the Basque “tx” is pronounced as “ch.”
Secondly, it’s important to understand the difference between pintxos and tapas. There are many disputed definitions, but the most convincing for me is that whilst tapas are usually smaller versions of bigger dishes served alongside a drink for free (think a small plate of patatas bravas), a pintxo is paid for per dish, and is usually characterised by either delights sat on a piece of bread, or threaded together with a skewer or cocktail stick, and often both. To add further to the confusion, bars usually serve pintxo options, or “raciones”, which refers to sharing portions, and which are substantially bigger.
Thirdly, you’ll need to know that each bar specialises in a different pintxo.
In San Sebastian, bars very often have something on the counter that you can order at any time (these are cold), and when the kitchen opens, you can start to order hot stuff prepared in the moment.
Here is my ideal step-by-step pintxo tour, which I’ve ordered geographically, to minimise going back on yourself.
La Parte Vieja
La Parte Vieja is the oldest part of the city; it is NOISY, so when looking for accommodation, I’d avoid booking anywhere around here if you want a good night’s sleep. It’s beautiful though, and is home to some of most delicious pintxo bars in the whole city.
Goiz Argi
Goiz Argi is the place to go for their prawn skewer (brocheta de gambas).
Try these with a glass of Txakoli [CHAH-COH-LEE].
Txakoli is a slightly sparkling, very dry white wine with high acidity and low alcohol content, produced in the Spanish Basque Country, Cantabria and northern Burgos.
Borda Berri
Borda Berri is best known for a few cracking dishes, including pig’s ear (oreja de cerdo) and carillera de vaca (beef cheek).
It gets absolutely chock-a-block so prepare to fight to order!
Bar Txepetxa
Bar Txepetxa [CHEH-PEH-CHAH] is the go-to place for anchovies. They have plastic representations of their pintxos on the bar! Order anything that takes your fancy in here; the menu is small and it’s all anchovy-based.
La Cepa
For the best jamón ibérico, head to La Cepa.
At this point in your tour, you may want to slow down your drinking… Order a “caña”, which is a little less than half a pint of beer.
This small glass tradition is perfect for bar switching as well as to avoid ending up sipping on a lukewarm beer in hot weather.
La Cuchara de San Telmo
This isn’t one of my favourites but I wanted to put it on the list because it’s talked about a lot. It’s become a bit of a tourist magnet, and as such the prices have soared, both of which have thoroughly deterred the locals.
Gandarias
Gandarias is a bit of a tourist hot spot, making it rather chaotic, but it’s so worth going for any number of the dishes, including one of my favourites, the tiny sirloin steak pintxo (solomillo) and the T-bone steak skewer (brocheta de chuleta).
La Mejillonera
La Mejillonera is perhaps my favourite pintxo bar in the Old Part of the city. They do just a few dishes, and they have a rather unique system going, where when you order, they don’t write anything down, they just yell it at the kitchen. My favourite dish is the “mejillones tigres” (tiger mussels).
Fun facts: if you tip the wait staff, they ring a bell and everyone cheers! Also, don’t ask me why, but it’s customary to chuck whatever you want into the gutter below the bar…
La Viña
This is the spot for cheesecake.
It’s common for people to order it to go, especially towards the end of the night.
Don’t leave it too late; at 11pm you’ll be queuing and supplies run out quickly!
Gros
Gros is the neighbourhood on the East side of the river, situated in front of the Zurriola beach (the surf one). This is a far more local part of town and it’s definitely worth a visit, not only because you can get a more authentic experience amongst the Donostiarras (the citizens of San Sebastian), but also because the prices are more reasonable.
Bodega Donostiarra
Bodega Donostiarra is very local and the dishes are exquisite. I stopped off for just a few bites this time. The green chili pepper (a guindilla), anchovy and olive pintxo is called a “Gilda” (it’s got a kick!). You can get this in any bar; it was supposedly the first ever pintxo.
Ezkurra
If you want to completely escape the tourists and Basque it up, Eskurra is the place to go.
Try their Russian salad (ensaladilla rusa), croquettes (croquetas) and their foie gras pintxo, if that’s of your persuasion.
Pintxo pote in Gros
Ok this one isn’t a bar, it’s a bar crawl! Many of the different neighbourhoods in the city have Pintxo Pote night, where you can order a drink (a “pote”) and get a free pintxo with it. My favourite is the one in Gros, which happens on a Thursday night. It’s a really sociable event, that’s most enjoyable during the warmer months. You don’t need to plan where to go, just walk the streets and head where you see people spilling out from the bars.
The Centre
Bar Alex
Annoyingly I turned up to Bar Alex before the kitchen opened on my most recent trip to San Seb, meaning we settled for just a drink, and our busy schedule meant that we didn’t pass by again.
However, Bar Alex was one of favourite go-tos when I lived in the city. It’s really local and is in a very chilled area not far from Buen Pastor Cathedral.
Lanperna
Lanperna is quite a new bar, which was previously a very local haunt called San Marcial. Find it down a little alleyway. It’s on the pricier end of things compared to its predecessor, but if you just go for the odd pintxo, it’s manageable.
La Espiga
La Espiga is next door to Lanperna and it offers a wide range of dishes popular with the locals, and a more reasonable price than its new neighbour. You can get delicious seafood and innards alike! Try the clams.
Other pintxos to try
There are a number of other specialities that you will find in lots of places, including:
Squid: txipirones en su tinta (in their ink), txipirones a la plancha (grilled), txipirones a lo Pelayo (Pelayo style)
Padron Peppers: Pimientos de Padrón
Quince with cheese: queso con membrillo
And any other pintxo that takes your fancy!
Have you tried any of these places? Any favourites? If you fancy making your own pintxos, check out my San Sebastian tapas to impress: 8 show-stopping nibbles for your next drinks do post
The Talking Ticket 
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