The best restaurants in San Sebastián
The roaring fun of pintxo hopping, dazzling Michelin stars, the aroma of flames and fresh seafood wafting from the grill – San Sebastián is one of the world’s best places to eat. Despite being a speck on the map of Spain, this coastal beauty is a perfect storm of fresh-from-the-ground local produce, top chefs and intense local devotion to good eating.
A well-balanced diet in San Sebastián definitely includes creamy Idiazabal cheese risotto pintxos and charred T-bone steak scattered with a snowfall of flaky salt. But shifting demographics have created a growing coterie of smallish restaurants and bistros opened by ambitious chefs, fresh out of starred kitchens, hungry to make something new and serving up everything from genre-pushing locavore dishes to micro-artisan wines, charcuterie, and cheeses.
From hallowed haunts to the minuscule bar where you’ll find top chefs on their days off, our list of the best restaurants in San Sebastián is a cross-section of the dining scene’s finest.
.jpg)
Anton BriansoMuka
Muka means “ashes” in the northern dialect of the Basque language, and fire here serves as the special sauce, lending a smokey flavour to nearly all the dishes. Mugaritz-trained chefs Juan Vargas and Elena Ortiz put immense energy into sourcing micro-seasonal ingredients and presenting them in pared-back dishes that allow flavour to shine. The wine list is varied, with many special natural options. The terrace of Muka gets some of the best afternoon sun in the city, making it a perfect place for a late afternoon snack. Marti Buckley
Address: Zurriola Hiribidea, 1, 20002 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Website: muka.eusPortuetxe
The smell of grilled meat is the first hint you are approaching this squat farmhouse in the neighbourhood of Igara, on the outskirts of San Sebastián. Portuetxe is a fantastic example of that Basque institution, the erretegia, or grillhouse. The steak comes perfectly charred on the outside and juicy on the inside, and should be ordered as the locals do, with a side of sweet red Piquillo peppers, green salad, and fried potatoes. The menu changes throughout the year – if you’re lucky enough to visit during mushroom season, do not miss the grilled porcini served with a single sunny egg yolk. Marti Buckley
Address: Igara Bidea, 71, 20018 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Website: portuetxe.com
Bell’s Bar
Tourists are wont to queue at Bar Nestor for the famous tortilla española, but truth be told, the Spanish omelette at Bell’s Bar is even better and doesn’t require a reservation. One of the few recently opened pintxo bars in the old town, Bell’s Bar injects both Latin and English sensibilities into the traditional pintxo offerings, thanks to its owners, Lancelot and Sara. This fusion takes the form of dishes like creamy croquetas with a sancocho stew stuffing and crumpets topped with San Sebastián-style spider crab. The midday tortilla comes out around 1:30 and sells quickly, so don’t miss it. Marti Buckley
Address: C/San Vicente, 9, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain 20003
Website: instagram.comAstelena
Chef Ander González is something of a local celebrity, thanks to his cooking shows on Basque television, but also thanks to the fact that his parents were pintxo royalty during the second half of the 20th century. His restaurant, Astelena, is named after their former pintxo bar, and from the kitchen he serves up traditional Basque dishes elevated by impeccable technique. This is a great spot to get seasonal vegetables you can’t find elsewhere, from artichokes to peas to cardoons. Start with the hake pate, a mousse-like family recipe that is a legend around these parts. Marti Buckley
Address: Euskal Herria Kalea, 3, 20003 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Website: restauranteastelena.com
Veniamin GarhinZelai Txiki
Zelai Txiki could skirt by on its superficial charm, located on the skirts of Mount Ulia, with an impossibly beautiful terrace and views. Chef Juan Carlos Caro, however, is not one to settle for easy – he plants and maintains the garden that supplies the kitchen and bakes bread daily from a sourdough starter that’s nearing a decade of life. One of the best seats in town. Be sure to order their signature, wood-fired suckling pig ahead of time.
Address: Rodil Kalea, 79, 20013 Donostia, Gipuzkoa
Website: restaurantezelaitxiki.comMaun
Tucked in between greengrocers at the San Martín Market, Maun defies expectations. What started as a pop-up is now a must-visit for produce-obsessed eaters. Chef Mateus Mendes and Unai Paulis source the best of the best produce from the providers around them, grilling up everything from flawless langoustines and meaty mushrooms with a light hand and serving them after hours in the aisles of the local food market. Their paella-like rice dish, with its perfectly crispy edges, could very well be the best in Basque Country. Visit with a group so you can sample the entire menu, which is short but droolworthy. Marti Buckley
Address: Urbieta Kalea, 9, 20006 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Website: maungrillbar.com
Zazpi
Not all great cooking happens in a hushed room with linen tablecloths and servers in waistcoats. Zazpi is proof: this restaurant sits in the avant-garde wing of the Museo San Telmo, and the food by new-generation chef Paul Arrillaga is stunning. Paul started Zazpi serving upscale pintxos in the centre, some of which are still on the menu at his new location: rice with kokotxas and salsa verde, or a surf-and-turf pintxo of hake served on porrusalda, a Basque potato-leek soup, with shreds of confit heritage pig. Now diners dig into full-size servings of Paul’s technically perfect versions of classic Basque dishes, each with his signature modern touches.
Address: Zazpi, Plaza Zuloaga, 1, 20003 Donostia, Gipuzkoa
Website: zazpistm.com
.jpg)
Kofradia Itsas Etxea
This gleaming pavilion on the harbourside is a laudable project serving sustainably caught and lesser-known fish species. The “brotherhood” behind it also runs net-repairing workshops, local fishermen-led tastings, and guided fishing port tours.
Address: Kofradia Itsas Etxea Donostia, Kaimingaintxo Plaza, 1, 20003 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Website: kofradia.eus
Mugaritz
Andoni Luis Aduriz’s great restaurant is not for the faint-hearted or those opposed to challenging avant-garde food. The building is a pitched-roofed farmhouse in a bucolic setting, but the rustic simplicity ends there. The tasting menu is a 20-course extravaganza, rich with theatre and jeux d’esprit: you might be presented with eggs that look like pebbles, a ‘macaroon’ made with pig’s blood and almonds, or sautéed sea slugs with ‘vegetable charcoal’ and salad sprouts. Texture almost seems more important than taste. At times the chef’s experiments may be a challenge too far. One thing’s certain: a meal at Mugaritz isn’t easily forgotten.
Address: Mugaritz, Aldura Gunea Aldea, 20, 20100 Errenteria, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Website: mugaritz.comTxepetxa
A fresh anchovy, butterflied, left in a secret marinade until it turns a beautiful silvery white, served on warm toast. Visitors flock from all over the globe to family-run Txepetxa for this exquisite pintxo, crowned with one of a dozen different toppings, like the pepper-onion vinaigrette (the jardinera) or spider-crab cream (the centollo).
Address: Arrandegi Kalea, 5, 20003 Donostia, Gipuzkoa
Website: bartxepetxa.es
Jose Manuel BielsaRekondo
This place has several aces up its sleeve. One is the setting, in a former farmhouse on the way up to Mount Igeldo with views of La Concha Bay. Another is the wine cellar, long recognised as San Sebastián’s finest, overseen by world-class sommelier Alejando Hernandez and featuring one of the world’s great collections of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild. A third is Iñaki Arrieta, a chef whose talents are discreetly taking Rekondo’s dyed-in-the-wool Basque cooking to a higher plane. Nowadays, you might find scallops a la plancha with a coriander cream, or carpaccio of carabinero prawns with pistachio vinaigrette, alongside the classic txuleta – a slab of ox grilled over wood embers.
Address: Rekondo, Igeldo Pasealekua, 57, 20008 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Website: rekondo.comCasa 887
Chef Antonio Belotti’s position as the local culinary wunderkind, with a degree from the prestigious Basque Culinary Centre and a track record in the city’s best kitchens, doesn’t stop him from colouring outside San Sebastián’s culinary lines. At Casa 887, where hip hop plays softly in the background, excellent local produce gets a light-hearted treatment – spider crab goes into crispy, tender dumplings, and bao buns are coloured with squid ink. His rice dishes are a must, with broth so rich it coats the back of the spoon.
Address: Gran Vía, 9, 20002 Donostia-San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa
Website: grupo887.com
AlamyGanbara
With more than 100 pintxo bars in the Parte Vieja, choosing which to head for can be challenging. Here’s one worth remembering as a dead cert. Ganbara, run with passion by Amaia Ortuzar and her family, is where San Sebastian’s gastro-aristocracy goes on its day off for a crab tartlet, a stuffed croissant, or a sit-down lunch of roast hake or char-grilled txuleta. It’s also a pilgrimage site for lovers of wild mushrooms: the plate of fresh boletus a la plancha with free-range egg yolk is a fast-track route to foodie ecstasy. Consider ordering a craft beer – Ganbara serves the deliciously hoppy amber ale Arraun from Hernani-based brewers Basqueland.
Address: Ganbara, San Jeronimo Kalea, 19, 20003 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Website: ganbarajatetxea.comSukaldean
The Santamaria family are San Sebastián hospitality royalty, helping to write the story of the pintxo revolution in the 1980s. Aitor, the third generation, carries the mantle at Sukaldean, where classics like rich, brown fish soup and innovations like txuleta steak nigiri sit comfortably together on the menu.
Address: San Martin Kalea, 45, 20007 Donostia, Gipuzkoa
Website: sukaldeanaitorsantamaria.com
Antonio Bar
There’s more to pintxo-bar life here than the Parte Vieja: it turns out that San Sebastián’s downtown Centro area also has a lively scene, though the client base here is more office workers and business folk than tourists. A modest corner site with a few outside tables, Antonio punches above its weight due to chef Jose Ramón Ezcurdia’s intensely flavourful versions of langoustine ravioli, artichokes with baby broad beans and an arroz meloso (creamy rice) that’s worth crossing town for. Insider tip: the speakeasy-like downstairs room can be booked for private feasts amid boxes of wine and tins of olive oil.
Address: Antonio Bar, Bergara Kalea, 3, 20005 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Website: antoniobar.comBar Manojo
Bar Manojo isn’t somewhere you would stumble upon, tucked into the corner of San Sebastián’s laid-back neighbourhood of Gros. This tiny half-bar, half-restaurant spot feels like a real local’s secret. The dishes constantly change with the Cantabrian Sea and Basque forests’ micro-seasons, and most come in three sizes (pintxo, half ración, full ración) to be shared and paired with carefully selected natural wines.
Address: José Arana Kalea, 13, 20001 Donostia, Gipuzkoa
Website: instagram.com
Narru
For years ensconced in a basement behind La Concha beach, Narru has long been a go-to for delicious food that dares to be simple, natural, subtle, and luxurious. Now chef Iñigo Peña and his team have decamped to the new Hotel Arbaso, beside Buen Pastor Cathedral – but despite the move, Narru maintains its less-is-more philosophy. Quality ingredients are, as ever, the essence of Peña’s cooking: imagine a pan-fried hunk of mero (grouper) caught off the Cantabrian coast just a few hours earlier, served with nothing fancier than a slick of potato cream and a sofrito of onion in olive oil.
Address: Narru, San Martin Kalea, 22, 20005 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Website: hotelarbaso.comCasa Urola
The unassuming façade blends in with the throng of pintxo bars on busy calle Fermin Calbetón. However, for those in the know, this first-floor dining room is a cut above the rest. Urola excels at traditional Basque market cooking – hake in green sauce, char-grilled turbot, rice with clams – using peerless raw materials treated without fuss or pretension. The simplicity of Pablo Loureiro’s cooking is radical and brave. The menestra, a classic if ever there was one, is an assembly of spring vegetables tasting supremely of themselves. It’s worth remembering that, for all its excellence, this is food the whole family can enjoy.
Address: Casa Urola, Fermin Calbeton Kalea, 20, 20003 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Website: casaurolajatetxea.es
Bar Arenales
What was once a neighbourhood hangout on the boulevard is now a bistro that breaks new ground for traditionally minded San Sebastián with a modern take on plant-based cooking and natural wines.
Address: Bar Arenales, Boulevard Zumardia, 11, 20003 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Website: instagram.com
ZapiainZapiain
In Spain’s northern regions, the cider house rules – and nowhere more so than in the Basque Country, where the local apple crop makes a crisply refreshing draught, and the sagardotegia (cider house) is an institution. Part experience, part meal, diners line up the 15,000-litre chestnut wood barrels in Zapiain to taste the home-produced cider in between courses of salt-cod tortilla, chargrilled T-bone steak, and apple paste with sheep’s cheese and walnuts for pudding. This cider house, dating from 1542, is a local favourite out of the crowd in the suburb of Astigarraga, where there are over 20.
Address: Kale Nagusia, 96, 20115 Astigarraga, Gipuzkoa
Website: zapiain.eus