Best Pintxos in Bilbao, Spain

🫒 What are pintxos

Traditional pintxos are ready-to-eat snacks that are often served on a piece of bread and skewered. You'll find these delicious small bites displayed on top of restaurant counters and bars throughout Basque Country.

A relatively new food concept, pintxos were created in the 1940s to help encourage more restaurant and bar patrons and socializing among locals. The word pintxos comes from the Spanish word pinchar, which means "to pierce." This refers to the skewers or the cocktail stick that pierces the different pintxos.

🍢 Bilbao Pintxos

At most pintxos bars, you can find the most popular pintxos. Sometimes each bar or restaurant offers a different twist. For example, you can usually find some of these traditional pintxos at almost any bar or restaurant:

• Gilda (Anchovy, Olive, and Pickled Pepper Skewer)
• Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish Omelette)
• Txangurro (Spider Crab)
• Txuleta (Beef Steak)

Here are three pintxos bars we visited on our pintxos bar crawl as part of our tour with the Basque Country Tourism Board. And, one pintxos bar that Alain and I visited on our own.

🥩 Berton

As guests of Basque Country Tourism Board, we did a pintxo tour on our last night in Bilbao. First stop: Berton pintxos bar.

Berton is located in the vibrant area of Casco Viejo, Bilbao's Old Town, known for its lively atmosphere and rich cultural heritage. Berton is renowned for its high-quality ingredients and traditional Basque flavors.

Here, we enjoyed Bacalao al Pil-Pil (Cod in Pil-Pil Sauce). Salted cod prepared in a traditional Basque pil-pil sauce made with garlic, olive oil, and chili.

We also noshed on Wagyu beef sliders topped with peppers. The beef was so tender, and the peppers were flavorful - not spicy.

Each pintxo costs between €2.00 and €5.00.

Address: Calle Jardines, 11, 48005 Bilbao, Spain

Hours:
Monday to Thursday: 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM
Friday and Saturday: 9:00 AM to 12:00 AM
Sunday: 12:00 PM to 11:00 PM

For the most up-to-date information, please visit the Berton website.

🦀 Toma Y Daka

Our next stop on our pintxos bar crawl was to Toma Y Daka, located in Old Town's historic Plaza Nueva. This square is surrounded by a series of narrow, lively streets and traditional Basque architecture.

Like many pintxos bars, there are several options for seating. Sometimes you need to walk further into a restaurant to find additional seating, but it's there! There are outdoor tall tables that you can stand at and enjoy your pintxos. There's seating at and around the bar area, and then there is more restaurant seating downstairs.

At Toma Y Daka, we enjoyed a pintxos that was a smaller version of albondigas, the classic Spanish meatball dish. This was served with a few French fries. Then we enjoyed a tuna fish pintxos.

Each pintxo costs between €2.00 and €5.00.

Address: Calle Jardines, 11, 48005 Bilbao, Spain

Hours:
Monday to Thursday: 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM
Friday and Saturday: 11:00 AM to 12:00 AM
Sunday: 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM

For more information or to make reservations, please visit tomaydaka.com.

🍖 La Olla de la plaza nueva

From Toma Y Daka, we walked right next door to La Olla de la Plaza Nueva. This pintxos bar and restaurant has won numberous prizes over the years for its innovative pintxos. Their "KIRIKIÑU" sea urchin pintxo was one of the finalists of the Bizkaia Pintxos Championship recently.

Here, we enjoyed a pork belly pintxo with a teriyaki glaze, pico de gallo, fried onions, an aioli, topped with patron peppers. They also have an interesting sweet and savory pintxos with salmon and mango coulis, served in a dish shaped like an egg.

Hours:
Monday to Thursday: 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM
Friday and Saturday: 8:00 AM to 12:00 AM
Sunday: 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM

For the most up-to-date information, please visit the La Olla restaurant website.

🍡 Abando Bar & Restaurant

On our last day in Bilbao, Alain and I visited Abando Bar & Restaurant.

Located in the Abando district of Bilbao, Abando is a bustling pintxos bar and restaurant that caters to the business crowd as well as tourists.

This is an upscale and central neighborhood known for its blend of modern and historical elements.

The area is bustling with shops, businesses, cultural sites, and is close to major attractions like the Guggenheim Museum and Plaza Moyúa.

Here, you can enjoy pintxos at the bar. They serve some of the city's best Pulpo a la Gallega (Galician Style Octopus), Bacalao a la Vizcaína (Cod in Vizcaina Sauce), and Rabas (Fried Calamari).

We enjoyed Gambas a la Plancha (Grilled Prawns). These are fresh prawns grilled with olive oil, garlic, and parsley, served on a small piece of toasted bread.

We also ordered a couple of Mini Beef Burger with Caramelized Onions pintxos. A small beef patty is topped with caramelized onions, melted cheese, and a touch of mustard, served on a mini bun.

Most pintxos at Abando are between €3.00 and €6.00 each.

Address: Alameda Urquijo, 13, 48008 Bilbao, Spain

Hours:
Monday to Thursday: 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM
Friday: 8:00 AM to 12:00 AM
Saturday: 9:00 AM to 12:00 AM
Sunday: 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM

For more information or to make reservations, please visit the restaurant website.