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San Sebastián has more good pintxos bars than you can get through in a week, and the trouble is that they all look the same from the door: a packed room, a counter covered in food, and a chalkboard you can't quite read. The difference is what each one does best, and that's what this guide is for.
These are the bars I'd send you to, split into two evenings: one in the Parte Vieja, the old town, and one across the river in Gros, where the locals eat. For each bar there's the one or two things to order. Order those, have a small drink, and move on.
The short answer:In the old town: anchovies at Txepetxa, mushrooms at Ganbara, beef cheeks at Borda Berri or La Cuchara de San Telmo, the shrimp skewer at Goiz Argi, and cheesecake at La Viña to finish. In Gros: the Indurain at Bodega Donostiarra, the txalupa at Bar Bergara, croquetas at Ricardo, and tortilla at Bar Zabaleta before it sells out. One or two things per bar, then move on.
Before you start
Three things make the difference between a great night and a confusing one. Order from the bartender rather than helping yourself; most San Sebastián bars want you to ask now. Check the board behind the bar for the hot pintxos, which are cooked to order and usually what the bar is famous for. And pay when you leave by telling them what you had. The whole system is explained in how pintxos work.
Timing matters too. The old town is at its most crowded between about 8:30 and 10:30 in the evening, in summer and at weekends. Start at 7 and you can still reach the counter. Lunch, roughly 1:30 to 3:30, is calmer, and the kitchens are in full swing.
Night one: the Parte Vieja
The old town packs dozens of bars into a few narrow streets, and most of the ones on this route are on three of them: Calle Fermín Calbetón, Calle 31 de Agosto and Calle Pescadería, with Ganbara one street over on San Jerónimo. You're never more than a couple of minutes from the next stop.
1. Bar Txepetxa
Start with the thing San Sebastián does better than anywhere: anchovies. Txepetxa built its reputation on them, served on bread with toppings that sound unlikely and work, from spider crab to blueberries. It's a good first stop because it tells you, in one bite, why people travel here to eat.
2. Ganbara
Ganbara has been going for more than three decades. Its signature is a plate of grilled wild mushrooms with an egg yolk on top that you break and stir through, and it's at its best in autumn. The spider crab tartlet is one of the most-ordered pintxos in the old town.
3. Goiz Argi
The thing everyone comes for here is grilled shrimp on a skewer, dressed in a sharp, vinegary sauce of tomato and pepper. Order it, eat it standing up, and keep going.
4. Borda Berri
The board is the menu here. The slow-cooked beef cheeks are the famous one. The risotto, made with orzo and Idiazabal, the smoked Basque sheep's cheese, has its own following, and it's the best thing in the old town if you don't eat meat.
5. La Cuchara de San Telmo
Another bar where the hot dishes are the point. The veal cheeks fall apart when you touch them with a fork. If you've already had cheeks at Borda Berri, go for the suckling pig instead.
6. Bar Martínez
One of the old-guard bars, and a good reminder of what they do better than the modern places. Order the red piquillo pepper filled with bonito, the local white tuna, in a creamy sauce. Bonito is a summer fish here, at its best from June into autumn.
7. La Viña
End where the cheesecake the world calls "burnt" was invented. The original has a deep golden top, not a black one, and it's soft enough in the middle to slump on the plate. The full story, and where locals go when La Viña is too busy, is in what makes a good Basque cheesecake.
If you have room for more
Bar Nestor (Calle Pescadería 11) makes its potato tortilla only twice a day, and you put your name down for a slice before it comes out. Get there before it opens. It also does one of the best txuleta, aged beef rib, in the city. Bar Gandarias on 31 de Agosto is the other place for txuleta. Bar Sport on Fermín Calbetón does a good gilda and baked spider crab. La Cepa on 31 de Agosto is the place for jamón.
Night two: Gros
Cross the river by the Kursaal and the crowds thin out. Gros is a residential neighborhood near the surfing beach, and its bars cook for people who live there. Most of the bars below are on or near Calle Peña y Goñi and Calle Zabaleta, a few minutes' walk apart.
1. Bodega Donostiarra
Open since 1928, and the reason locals cross the river. The Indurain is a bigger cousin of the gilda: tuna, guindilla peppers, olives and onion in good olive oil. The "completo" sandwich and the tortilla are the other two things to order.
2. Ramuntxo Berri
Across the street. The thing to order is the grilled baby squid, straight off the plancha.
3. Bar Bergara
One of the most famous bars in Gros. The txalupa, a boat-shaped pintxo topped with a gratin of mushrooms and prawns, is the bar's signature. If the gratin sounds too rich, the veal cheek is the other one people come for.
4. Bar Ricardo
Ricardo is known for its jamón croquetas: crisp outside, almost liquid within. The salt cod tortilla is the other thing to order.
5. Bar Zabaleta
Finish with a slice of potato tortilla at Zabaleta, which is famous for it and sells out quickly. If it's gone, that's your sign to come back at lunchtime.
Two more in Gros if you're still going: Bar Urkabe for chicken croquetas, and Bar Ezkurra on Calle Miracruz for ensaladilla rusa, the Spanish potato salad.
Where the gilda was born
One more stop, in the Centro, a short walk from the old town: Casa Vallés, opened in 1942, where the gilda was invented. An olive, an anchovy and a pickled guindilla pepper on a toothpick, named after Rita Hayworth's film. It's the original pintxo, and the place to have one at least once.
Not sure where to start?
If you'd rather have someone walk you through the first night, a guided tour does the old town properly: the right bars, the right orders, and the etiquette explained as you go. This is the one I send people to. Five stops, eight pintxos and four drinks, a group of no more than nine, and it's rated 4.9 on more than 1,300 reviews.
See the Old Town Pintxos & Wine tour, from €103
Price checked 23 October 2026, per person. Every tour compared in the best pintxos tours in San Sebastián.
Bars change hours and close for holidays, especially in winter, and plenty close one day a week. If you're crossing town for a particular bar, check before you go.
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More on San Sebastián: what to eat in San Sebastián, dish by dish; how pintxos work; and Rioja wine tours from San Sebastián. The full city guide is on the San Sebastián page.