The best places to eat in Bilbao: 16 restaurants and pintxos bars you shouldn’t miss

When it comes to exploring Bilbao’s food scene, where do you start? From a rib-eye worth crossing the city for to oysters, anchovies and the lamb skewers at Café Iruña, these are the restaurants and pintxos bars you shouldn’t miss in this gastronomic powerhouse of a city, with addresses, opening days and what to order.

I hate to make broad-brush statements, but you simply cannot come to Bilbao without paying homage to the city’s thriving culinary scene.

Basque Country cuisine has taken the world by storm: fresh flavours combined with centuries of practice. What’s not to love?

I’d heard rumours that when it came to food, other Spanish cities bowed in the face of Bilbao’s unquestionable dominance. Madrid who? Barcelona what?

Bilbao is the destination to which serious foodies come to play.

That’s why I put eating my way around the city front and centre on my list of things to do during my trip in September. The Mercado de la Ribera was the very first thing I did: touch down, check in, stuff myself with pintxos and tinto de verano.

Looking to do the same? These are the restaurants, pintxos bars and markets that you shouldn’t miss, from century-old cafés and family-run steakhouses to two of the city’s Michelin-starred tables. Tips for eating like a local are at the end.

The best places to eat in Bilbao

Order the rib-eye at Casa Rufo

There’s only one reason you should make your way to Casa Rufo and that reason begins with an S and ends with a K. Yes, I’m talking about steak.

While Bilbao has many steakhouses, this one is totally insane.

Let’s start with what Casa Rufo is not. It’s not super trendy, it’s not fussy, and the main restaurant is round the back of what looks like a delicatessen, but you won’t care because… steak.

That delicatessen is where it all began: the family opened Casa Rufo as a grocery shop in 1955 and added the small, rustic dining rooms in the 1990s. If it keeps serving meals like this, it will be around for at least a couple of hundred more years.

I guess the premise is simple enough: you get some incredible quality beef (I recommend the rib-eye), cook it just right over the coals and then serve it up on a huge platter along with a bottle of incredible Douro wine.

Winning.

The menu does extend beyond steak, with Basque classics such as cod kokotxas and fried hake (though if you’re a steak-lover, I would strongly recommend opting for the rib-eye, known here as txuleta), and it’s followed up by a stomach-busting range of local desserts that are, in short, the gastronome’s dream.

The flan (pictured) might not look like much, but memories of the balance of caramelised sugar (with the faintest bitterness to keep it from being too sweet) against the slippery, soothing custard still keep me awake at night.

This place is (deservedly) popular, so you will need to book ahead to be sure to grab a table, especially at weekends. You can book online or by phone, and the restaurant may ask for card details to hold the table. It’s on Hurtado de Amezaga, a few minutes’ walk from Abando station, and opens for lunch and dinner (lunch only on Sundays).

Graze the stalls at the Mercado de la Ribera

Bilbao’s best-known food market is a bastion of gastronomy in a city that takes eating very seriously.

There has been a market on this bend of the river since the Middle Ages, and the current Art Deco building, designed by local architect Pedro Ispizua, opened in 1929. Unlike so many traditional European markets that have fallen into disrepair, Bilbao’s mercado showcases Basque Country cuisine at its very best. Look up as you go in: the stained-glass windows survived a major renovation between 2009 and 2012.

Downstairs, the gastro area is lined with pintxos bars, and from late morning until last thing at night, the vendors serve out some of the best pintxos in the city. I was so excited by the rumours of pintxos beyond my wildest imagination (when it comes to food, rest assured my imagination is very, very wild) that I’m not ashamed to admit it was the first place I headed for.

Sure, it’s great to go on a little txikiteo (foodie bar crawl) across the city, but you should spend at least a couple of hours eating your way between the different stalls inside this beautiful old market. There are so many stalls and so many pintxos that your biggest challenge is working out what to have.

The fresh food market upstairs is open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 2.30pm and is at its liveliest mid-morning, when the fish stalls are in full swing. The gastro area opens daily from 11am until late (around 11pm, later on Fridays and Saturdays).

Eat the pintxos morunos at Café Iruña

The age-old interior is the first clue to Café Iruña’s long and illustrious heritage. This is one of Bilbao’s most renowned and popular pintxos bars, and has been since Severo Unzué opened it in 1903, on the corner of the Jardines de Albia. Its tiled, neo-Mudéjar rooms, with painted ceilings and a horseshoe bar, look much as they must have done a century ago.

Plump for the Moorish kebabs, the pintxos morunos (spiced lamb skewers grilled to order at the end of the bar). Delicately spiced and nicely fatty, they literally melt in your mouth. Moorish-style? Moreish-style, more like.

That said, there is a whole world of pintxos to explore (as you will see in the picture above), each dish prepared to traditional recipes. Grab a perch, order some food, and tuck in. Iruña opens from breakfast until late, and the early evening, from about 6pm, is a good time to catch the skewers hot off the grill.

Go classic at La Viña del Ensanche

La Viña del Ensanche is, without a doubt, one of the best-known restaurants in Bilbao.

An age-old family institution, founded in 1927 and now run by the third generation of the family who founded it, it never goes out of fashion. It’s a welcome old friend in a city that’s seen more than its fair share of transformation in the past few decades, and the bar and dining room on Calle Diputación have barely changed.

I hate to go for the obvious thing, but there’s a reason that La Viña del Ensanche is renowned for its jamón ibérico: it really is that good. The house favourite is the sizzling pan of fried egg, potatoes, jamón and foie, which is a meal in itself.

Try to make a reservation. Even if you don’t, the friendly staff will do their very best to squeeze you in at a spot by the bar at the very least.

Slurp oysters at El Puertito

Oysters might not be the first food that you think of when you think of Bilbao, which is a shame really, because the Basque people really know their way around a piece of seafood.

Luckily for all of us, El Puertito is addressing that wrong, serving up a stellar range of plump and juicy oysters (usually up to eight varieties, from Galicia, France and beyond) alongside a curated list of local wines, txakoli, albariño and champagne.

It’s chic, crowded and buzzy, so you need to grab a spot as soon as you see one. Oysters are priced individually, so it’s easy to try a few varieties side by side without spending much. You’ll find it on Licenciado Poza in the Indautxu neighbourhood, open daily from late morning.

Drink natural wine at Cork

If you care about what’s in your glass, Cork is the place to go in Bilbao. This small wine bar on Licenciado Poza, the same street as El Puertito, has been run by sommelier Jonathan Hernando since it opened more than a decade ago, and his list leans towards natural and low-intervention wines from small producers.

Expect around 80 wines by the glass and more than 300 by the bottle, with sherry, the Jura, the Loire and Champagne alongside new-wave Spanish winemakers. The by-the-glass list changes all the time, so ask what’s open and let the staff steer you. There are pintxos and small plates to go with it, from smoked sardines to beef tartare and Basque cheesecake.

I stopped in on my April trip, and it’s an easy pairing with oysters at El Puertito down the road. You’ll find it at Licenciado Poza 45 in Indautxu. Opening hours change, so call ahead (+34 944 42 50 05) before you make a special trip.

Prop up the bar at Victor Montes

Perched in a small corner of the Plaza Nueva, Victor Montes is another classic when it comes to serving up the best pintxos in Bilbao’s old town. Its frontage has barely changed since 1849.

You can see why it’s so popular: there’s something so charming about this tiny, bit-hectic restaurant, which crops up on many a list of the best restaurants in the Casco Viejo.

Expect a counter stacked to brimming with super-fresh pintxos and tables packed with all manner of locals and visitors come to get their daily fix. Upstairs, the dining room serves Basque classics such as bacalao al pil-pil and txuleta, and it’s worth booking if you want a table rather than a spot at the bar.

Find bargain pintxos at Artxanda Jatetxea

I stumbled across Artxanda Jatetxea after popping off the nearby funicular a bit wobbly-kneed and jelly-legged (the views at the top are incredible, the journey… not so much).

What a happy coincidence, because I can hand on heart say that the pintxos I had in this small bar-come-restaurant were some of the best that I had during my time in Bilbao.

It’s unlikely that you’ll see many other tourists: this is a fair and square neighbourhood haunt, a few paces from the funicular’s lower station, serving freshly prepared dishes and ridiculously good value wine (as in €1.40 a glass good value when I visited).

Take a seat at the bar if you are only having a quick bite to eat, or settle into one of the larger tables for a more formal meal. Either way, get ready for some tasty eats. It’s open Monday to Saturday from breakfast until late, and closed on Sundays.

Refuel at the Bistró Guggenheim

The Guggenheim is, without a doubt, Bilbao’s biggest attraction, so it makes sense that it would have a pretty banging restaurant to add to the mix.

Housed in a gorgeous and airy space that was designed by Frank Gehry, the Bistró Guggenheim Bilbao is the perfect place to refuel after you’ve worn your little legs out walking around the expansive museum. The menu is built on Basque dishes made to traditional recipes with local produce, in a more relaxed setting than the museum’s fine-dining restaurant, Nerua (below).

It doesn’t hurt that it boasts some of the best views in Bilbao either. It keeps the museum’s hours (10am to 7pm, Tuesday to Sunday), so check the museum’s website before you go, especially out of season.

Book a Michelin-starred lunch at Nerua

When I visited, my fine-dining pick was Zortziko, where Daniel García’s traditional Basque cooking with a few international touches was so good that I’d have considered hopping on a flight and taking a cheeky trip just to have the pleasure of eating there again. Sadly, that’s no longer an option: García retired in 2024 and Zortziko closed after 35 years, taking its long-held Michelin star with it.

For a special-occasion meal in the city today, Nerua is the place to start. Chef Josean Alija’s restaurant sits inside the Guggenheim, with its own entrance on the river side, and has held a Michelin star for years (it keeps it in the 2026 guide). The cooking is creative and vegetable-led, built around Basque produce and the seasons, with an à la carte menu and a tasting menu called Muina, plus wine pairings.

It’s open for lunch Tuesday to Sunday and for dinner Thursday to Saturday (closed Mondays), and you book directly with the restaurant. The city’s other starred tables include Zarate (seafood), Ola Martín Berasategui, Mina (below) and Islares, new in the 2026 guide, while three-starred Azurmendi is about 20 minutes’ drive away in Larrabetzu.

Try the txangurro at El Globo

Right next door to La Viña del Ensanche on Calle Diputación, El Globo is one of the city’s most celebrated pintxos bars, and the one to head for if you want to try its signature: txangurro gratinado, spider crab baked under a golden, bubbling crust.

Skip the cold pintxos on the counter and ask for the hot dishes chalked up on the blackboard, which are cooked to order. It’s small and gets packed between about 8.30pm and 10pm, so go earlier or later if you want elbow room. It’s open every day.

Taste your way through the anchovies at Antxoa Taberna

Antxoa Taberna might be small, but the bright blue sign and umbrellas outside on the Plaza Nueva are eye-catching enough to draw your attention. And thank the lord they brought me in, because WOW.

Anchovy (antxoa in Basque) is the star of the show here, also reflected in the kitschy naval decor adorning the walls inside. It might be a little bit much for some people, but I absolutely loved it. It’s, without a doubt, the best restaurant Bilbao boasts for seafood.

Opt for the tasting plate of anchovies to really understand why this spot is so celebrated by locals, or try them in a gilda, the Basque pintxo of anchovy, olive and pickled chilli on a stick. Washed down with a glass of Spanish red, of course.

Order hot pintxos at Gure Toki

Wondering where to eat in Bilbao? Wonder no more. Located on the Plaza Nueva, Gure Toki makes a bold claim that its dishes are “haute cuisine in miniature” and, to be quite honest, they’ve got a point.

It may be a small, family-owned bar, but it’s been around since the early 1980s and has made quite the impression ever since, first famed for its legendary portions of patatas bravas.

Today its offerings are a little more gourmet: heartier hot pintxos, cooked to order and served on either the terrace or tucked away in the bar. I recommend heading to the terrace and grabbing a plate or three of the crab tempura. Delish. Regulars also rave about the mushroom pintxo and the cheesecake. Note that it’s closed on Wednesdays.

Join the locals at Café Bar Bilbao

On the opposite side of the Plaza Nueva, Café Bar Bilbao has been pouring coffee and lining its counter with pintxos since 1911, and it still has the look of an old-fashioned café, with a long bar and a terrace out on the square.

It’s a good all-rounder: come in the morning for a coffee and a slice of tortilla, or in the evening for a glass of txakoli and a couple of pintxos before moving on round the square. It opens daily from early morning (until mid-afternoon on Sundays).

Finish with Basque cheesecake at Bassk Cheesecakers

Basque cheesecake, the burnt-topped, creamy-centred tarta de queso made famous by La Viña in San Sebastián, is everywhere in Bilbao now, and Bassk Cheesecakers is one of the easiest places in the old town to pick up a slice.

It’s a small shop on Calle Posta in the Casco Viejo, a couple of minutes’ walk from the Arriaga theatre, selling cheesecake by the slice to take away, whole cakes boxed up to carry home, and coffee. I found it on my April trip, and it makes an easy sweet stop between pintxos in the old town. It opens daily from 10am.

Watch the open kitchen at Mina

Álvaro Garrido’s Mina made its name on the riverfront in Bilbao La Vieja, and it has since moved to a larger home on Calle Ercilla in Indautxu, a short walk from El Puertito. It holds a Michelin star in the 2026 guide.

The open kitchen is still the centrepiece, so a seat at the counter lets you watch the team at work. The cooking is creative and seasonal, with fusion touches, built on Cantabrian fish, game and mushrooms from local suppliers. It’s open Wednesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner (closed Mondays and Tuesdays), and booking ahead is essential.

Tips before you tuck in

Now for the nitty gritty: a few pointers on how and when to eat before you head out.

Pintxos, not tapas

Forget what you know about Spanish food: up here in the Basque Country (Euskadi), tapas is out and pintxos (pronounced pin-chos) is in. Pintxos are the best-known part of Basque Country cuisine and you’ll find them pretty much everywhere across the city.

The name isn’t the only difference either: pintxos tend to be more substantial than tapas and almost always come atop a thick slice of bread. You usually help yourself to the cold ones on the counter (or point), order the hot ones from the board, and pay at the end.

Make like a local and do a txikiteo

Nice as it is to sit down for a full meal, I’d recommend spending at least one afternoon or evening doing a txikiteo, a pintxos bar crawl. Put on some comfortable walking shoes and get ready to taste the best of Basque Country cuisine through a series of small bites. The Plaza Nueva and the streets of the Casco Viejo around it make the easiest starting point.

Locals eat late: lunch runs from about 1.30pm to 3.30pm and dinner rarely starts before 8.30pm, so the bars are busiest from around 7pm.

Decide if you want to bother with an organised pintxos tour

There are plenty of organised pintxos tours in Bilbao (like this one) for you to book onto, and whether you want to book onto one is completely up to you.

I know that some people hate, hate, hate the very idea of an organised tour, but you can’t beat them for finding out all about the history and Basque Country culture that has shaped the food you’re eating.

Beware of the Spanish free pour

To put it bluntly, pintxos might be small but Spanish pours are not.

I hate to sound like a voice of reason, but if you’re a wine drinker, beware of the rather generous pours.

Hear me out before you get all “I know how to handle my drink” huffy, because believe me, you’ll know about it once you’ve visited a couple of pintxos bars and had a glass of wine to wash it down at each of them.

In other words, there’s a good chance you could end up a bit wasted and that just spoils some of the fun (or not, depending on how you look at it). Ask for a zurito (a small beer) or a txikito (a small glass of wine) to pace yourself.

Where to stay for the food

Personally, I’d recommend staying in the Casco Viejo, as it’s a gorgeous neighbourhood with lots of cool restaurants and sights. You’re also a stone’s throw from the Mercado de la Ribera and the bars of the Plaza Nueva. For hotels and apartments in every neighbourhood, see my guide to where to stay in Bilbao.

Map

Read next

• The best things to do in Bilbao
• Where to stay in Bilbao: the best areas and accommodation
• A handy interactive map of the city’s coolest attractions
• The best things to do in San Sebastián
• Logroño: a guide to La Rioja’s charming capital

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