Updated: SEPTEMBER 2021
The fact that San Sebastian is home to two of the top 50 restaurants in the world and boasts more Michelin stars per capita than any other city is an indication of the Donostiarra passion for food.
That many residential complexes come fitted with state of the art community kitchens in lieu of gyms or swimming pools is even more telling. As are the numerous sociedad gastronómica (also known as Txoko): male only gourmet clubs where members get together to socialize and discuss, yes, food! Membership is hereditary.
Interestingly, the companies of drummers in the annual La Tamborada festival are entirely made up of representatives of these societies. They usually dress up as soldiers and cooks.
Our expert local for the evening, Jon Galdos of Basque Tours, showed us around the premises of the club he belongs to while providng fascinating insights into its origin and the honour system they follow in its use and maintenance. Members take turns cooking gourmet meals for family and friends on weekends and on special occasions.
Hardly surprising, therefore, that almost every taberna in town dishes up the freshest, most ingenious pintxos that would not be out of place in the top restaurants of the world.
The culture of miniature tapas arrived in San Sebastian with the influx of Spanish aristocrats in the 1930’s. Along the way, the tapas tradition morphed into something intrinsically homegrown.
The anchoring slice of baguette was swapped for a fine stick (pintxo) pierced through quintessential Basque ingredients in place of the ubiquitous ham and cheese. Another distinction is that while Spanish tapas originated as a complimentary snack served with drinks, pintxos were always freshly prepared and never free.
The ambience in the pintxo bars, although fun, is far from refined. It is self service only. Plates are sometimes chipped. The floor traditionally littered with crumpled paper napkins.
But the food is haute cuisine. Everyday gourmet at a fraction of the price.
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Best Pintxo Bars In San Sebastian & The Pintxos To Order in Each
Taberna Gandarias (31 de Agosto Kalea, 23)
A traditional bar cum restaurant very popular with locals and tourists alike. This was the very first pintxo bar we visited on our own and I relied on sign language and luck to order a crostini type pintxo of goat cheese and pistachios, roasted red peppers with a sweet balsamic dressing, and fried guindilla peppers dusted with rock salt (My perception of myself as a picky non vegetarian hadn’t yet been shattered). R had a ham and cheese tart with soft cooked eggs and we shared a hot shrimp tart in bechamel sauce, washed down with txakoli. All delicious.
But the key, we realise, is NOT to point and choose from the array on the counter but ask for freshly prepared especialidad de la casa from their chalkboards. And the house special here, we learn later, is pigs nose! Their foie comes highly recommended as well and they have a mean selection of wines.
Borda Berri (Fermin Calbeton Kalea, 12)
This experimental bar was the first stop on our pintxo tour with Jon. The pulpo en vinagreta ahumado (smoked octopus in pimentón vinaigrette, with chunks of membrillo), was pure heaven. And I don’t even like octopus! It was cooked to perfection…melt in the mouth tender with just the right amount of spice and tartness. Paired with a light Txakoli.
Bar Zeruko: (Arrandegi Kalea, 10)
A hip bar that attempts molecular gastronomy techniques and as you can see, suitably elaborate presentations. We tried two of their specialidad de la casas:
La Hoguera (bonfire): a thin slice of skewered fresh bacalao (codfish) on a mini grate to be seared to preference on each side then placed on the accompanying bread and parsley cream before popping in the mouth. Followed immediately by the test tube shot of ‘salad’ essence!
The less complicated ‘Rosa de Bogavante‘ was a piping hot butter, garlic sautéed lobster ‘rose’, topped with light mayonnaise and attached to a crisp green cracker ‘leaf’ sticking out of a container of rose infused liquid (not drinkable!) with dramatic white vapour wafting out of it! It wasn’t all spectacle though. The flavours exploded in our mouths. I could easily have eaten a dozen.
Atari Gastroteka (Calle Mayor 18)
This very popular bar has the most enviable corner location, with a terrace facing the Basilica of Santa Maria. We had written this off as too touristy that morning but the beautifully grilled merluzo (hake) served over a red spicy sauce, and the little bowls of grilled mushrooms topped with soft cooked, runny yoked eggs (no photo, but possibly my favourite of the evening) were both delicately balanced and full of flavour.
Bar Astelehena (Plaza de la Constitución 15)
This is a small, atmospheric bar on a corner of the arcaded bull ring turned Constitution Square, with enough crumpled napkins on the floor to certify its popularity. The hot specialities were astelana rabo de buey (the most tender oxtail) and txipirón plancha (grilled squid).
La Vina – (Calle del Treinta y Uno de Agosto, 3)
Another lovely, buzzing bar famed for its tarta de queso (baked cheesecake). While La Vina’s stellar dessert steals the show, their pintxos stand on their own. Our four fun companions freaked out on some fabulous boquerones (Mediterranean white anchovies marinated in olive oil, roasted garlic, parsley & vinegar).
That cheesecake was all it was feted to be. Even some New Yorkers sharing pavement space with us couldn’t stop raving about it. Be warned, portions are huge. We shared three between the six of us, and it was way much.
La Cuchara de San Telmo – (Calle del Treinta y Uno de Agosto, 28)
We returned on our own to this simple little bar on everyone’s must visit list that does not do pre-made pintxos at all. One orders from the specialidads listed on the chalkboard. Our Euskara was a few words stronger by then but it helped that the young man behind the counter could speak fluent English.
The chatty American lady next to me stood swooning over the last plate of pumpkin risotto. The vieira toro ennuelta tocino bellota (seared scallop wrapped in Iberico bacon), carillera de ternera al vino tinto y hummus de garbanzo (slow cooked veal cheeks with hummus), foie de las landas a la plancha con compote de manzana (seared foie with apple compote) and the ravioli de pato confitado, puerros y foie (duck confit, foie gras, and leek ravioli) were all spectacular.
Thank you for joining me on my Txiquiteo*. Are you checking fares to Donostia/San Sebastian already?
*Euskara for pub-crawl
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The Urge To Wander 
Oh my goodness, Madhu. Everything looks and sounds divine. I am glad I read this on a full stomach! With all those elaborate names you’ve reminded me just how rich but long-winded the Spanish language can be. The octopus was smoked (“ahumado”) and it sounds like the veal cheeks were served in red wine sauce with “chickpea hummus” – which strikes me as a little redundant! I loved the merluza in the Basque Country – I first had it ‘al pil-pil’ in Bilbao.
And I did not know the name “pintxos” came from the little stick! A note about the crumpled napkins on the floor: my Spanish friends almost swear by it. If a place is clean and empty they certainly wouldn’t think to step inside. Instead they are drawn to dingy tapas bars with lots of napkins and other detritus. There was one time a few friends took me to a place for calamari and bocadillos (Spanish bread sandwiches, cut lengthwise). One who didn’t want tomato in hers took it out and casually flung it to the floor! No one batted an eyelid.
No kidding! None of the places we went to had salad fixings on the flloor! 🙂 The hipper bars were missing any kind of detritus. But Astelana was just as I expected a pintxo bar to be. Sadly, the shot of the floor is blurred beyond redemption.
I am in love with the Spanish names. Everything sounds so much more exotic. Burma, put my Spain travelogue on the back burner, but I am enjoying reliving our experiences through this series. The best part of blogging. Thanks for your lovely comment James.
Your descriptions and photographs of each dish was like a Michelin Guide to the whose who of restaurants Madhu – each dish looks like a work of art. I like the casual atmosphere of these establishments too.
Aww, thank you for your kind words Mary. The pintxos were indeed works of art, and we too enjoyed the casual approach.
San Sebastian is sadly short of vegetarian food. I had an ok tortilla and chips, salad, at a bar on the seafront, but otherwise? They should really cater more for people who don’t eat meat and fish. But hey, this is spain.
I actually thought San Sebastian was better than the rest of Spain. There were certainly a lot of lovely vegetarian concoctions that I would have been happy with if I hadn’t gone on that crawl! 🙂 I couldn’t find anything vegetarian in the Prado or on the train into San Sebastian, and I was dying of hunger both times. I agree, its hard being vegetarian in Spain. Worse if it is for religious reasons.
Lovely to see you here Roughseas. Have a beautiful day!
I loved Bar Zeroko!
Hi Anisa, it was amazing wasn’t it? I have been trying to recreate the taste of that lobster in vain 🙂
What incredibly sophisticated food, you obviously loved it!
Oh yes, we did Gilly! San Sebastian’s reputation is well deserved. Thank you very much for the share 🙂
I am so enlightened! I did not know all this about the origins of pintxos, and it is fascinating. I am also so hungry. I have spent quite a bit of time in Spain; how have I never ventured into this part?! Great post!
James told me once how good the pintxos he had in the Basque Country were, and this post gives me a glimpse of those delicious delicacies he was raving about. They all look tantalizing, and oh my that smoked octopus! There are many cultures in the world where life revolves around food. But the Basque people are probably the most passionate of them all, not only food is central in their lives, but it also gives them inspiration to create great dishes from the best of produce.
Mouth-watering indeed! You write food so well, and this is a wonderful guide to a San Sebastián pintxo bar crawl!
Looks so yummy that I want to eat the photographs! Delightful.
This is my Visit here and how with the Foodie post in San Sabastian..Foodie always attracts Food 🙂 bookmarked this !!
I am so jealous…and maybe inspired…by your post on food (after just reading one by James, above). I tried doing that, but I think maybe I’m just not good at food photos. Or eating for that matter. I love this line: “Along the way, the tapas tradition morphed into something intrinsically homegrown.” You’ve written this with such an erudite tone. Makes a guy want to go to Spain.
I am glad that I already had dinner after devouring your post, just wanted to reach through the screen, especially now since I didn’t have dessert after my dinner. Your post is amazing and creative. Cheers to that with a glass of red.
What a terrific informative and thorough post. Yum! As a picky foodie I really enjoyed reading this even though it’s still too early for breakfast in this part of the world,as I read. Great descriptions and guide to a part of the world that takes its food seriously.
Oh you have described the various types of pintxos really well! How did you remember what did you eat and where, especially after a couple of tipples?? LOL…
Hola Madhu its great to be back to your beautiful and educative posts. Mouthwatering cuisine and excellent write-up. Adieus and Saludos! 🙂
Mouth salivating post, Madhu ji. I have read Spanish food is some of the best in the world.
Travelshoebum
Wow, I want to go on Madhu’s Txiquiteo!! Pronto! 🙂
This is just fantastic!!! San Sebastian is very much on the bucket list…We covered Barcelona,Madrid and Marabella last december…pity we could not club this too..will have to make another trip now…great post!!1
Oh that food looks so good! How did I miss this one before?