Asador Etxebarri
Fine dining restaurant · Biscay
San Juan Plaza, 1, 48291 Axpe, Bizkaia, Spain
"Placed No. 2 on the 2025 list, marking a second consecutive year in that position and earning recognition that included the restaurant’s sommelier being named World’s Best Sommelier." - Erin DeJesus
"Perched in the village of Axpe in the Basque Country, this 18th-century stone cottage restored by chef-owner Víctor Arguinzoniz is built around a philosophy of live-fire cooking and slow, nature-tuned rhythms. The restaurant—famous and notoriously difficult to book, requiring full prepayment for an almost $300 tasting menu and sometimes limited communication—changes roughly 40% of the menu daily and cooks everything over wood or charcoal, selecting different woods by season (on a winter visit holm oak was used for fish and vegetables) to achieve layered, smoky flavors. Dishes read simply but taste complex: examples cited include locally foraged mushrooms with a hint of smoke in a bright green sauce, a charred, salt-crusted steak with a crisp dressed salad, and preparations of angulas (baby eels). Service is unpretentious and intimate—only eight tables—staffed by a small, familial team (manager/sommelier Mohamed Benabdallah and the chef’s wife among them) who balance professionalism with warmth; about 70% of guests are returning regulars. Despite global acclaim, the kitchen retains old rhythms—Arguinzoniz starts each day at 7 a.m. to tend the fire and make bread and buffalo cheese—producing meals that many visitors find genuinely deserving of the hype." - Yasmin Fahr
"A self-taught grill master transformed an 18th-century country house into a pilgrimage site for flame-grilled cooking, using custom-made grills to coax pure flavors from top ingredients like Palamós prawns and rib-eye. The chef’s 14-course tasting menu (about €280) emphasizes housemade chorizo and seasonal delicacies, offers no vegan or vegetarian options, and is served in a dining room that overlooks the village square. Despite humble roots, the restaurant has earned a Michelin star and consistent spots on the World’s 50 Best lists, reflecting decades of dedication to the art of fire." - Ksenia Prints
"Set in a rustic 18th‑century farmhouse in the Basque countryside, this reverent grill‑centric restaurant cooks virtually everything over custom‑fired grills using woods from old barrels, oak and grapevines, imparting a distinctive, smoky character to dishes from steak and homemade chorizo to red Palamós prawns and even a smoked milk ice cream dessert. The experience is intentionally elemental and earthy, focused on purity of fire and ingredient, and many diners describe it as emotionally powerful." - Nicholas DeRenzo
"A Basque Country restaurant that serves a 14-course tasting menu in which every dish employs live fire, emphasizing elemental, wood-fired techniques." - ByPervaiz Shallwani
