Café Bar Bilbao

A Bilbao institution with a lot of history. And their standards are still decently high. Not the best pinchos in the Basque Country but far from the worst we had. The grilled prawns were lovely also. Plenty of seating, and good service.

With a local vibe and food that doesn’t look too fancy this is a great place for a quick bite and drink. The prawn and clam pinto didn’t disappoint although it wasn’t anything to write home about. The jamon and mushroom pinto was basic but unpretentiously tasty.

Best value Pintxos bar. Stayed in Bilbao 2 nights, we ate there twice. No ambiance, soft lightings, background music, etc. Only good food and prompt service. See my pic, there is finesse in their Pintxos, not pieces of stuff put together.

My #1 dining spot in Bilbao. The food is delicious especially the cod pintxos and the black pudding with cheese. Service was excellent and great Vermont. I will be back for more.

Incredible taste! Amazing service and pintxos. We loved the txuleta and the foie with apple & marmelade in particular!

Very good house wine, both the white and red. Great selection of pinchos, can get very busy but the staff are fantastic.

I visited this cafe to try the traditional Bilbao breakfast, and it did not disappoint! The food was fresh and flavorful, with a perfect balance of local ingredients. The atmosphere was cozy and welcoming, making it an ideal spot to start the day. The staff were friendly and attentive, adding to the overall great experience. If you're in Bilbao, I highly recommend stopping by for a true taste of the local culture!

We were waiting for a table outside for awhile and a group of locals who just arrived spoke to a waiter and was instantly given the table we were waiting for and wasn’t acknowledged at all. We ordered a portion of calamari which was very fresh.

We saw this place as we were walking around town and one of my friends said he heard about it from somewhere so we decided to try it out. The place was pretty busy and we waited for a little bit before we got a seat. You have to just wait until somebody leaves and then you snag the table. We ordered the pintxos, the calamari, and the special platter. I had never heard of Pintxos but they were delicious. It's just small bites of different items and they were all good. The calamari was cooked perfect and with some good seasonings. The service is different but good. You sit down and a waiter will come to your table with a menu. The drinks were good too. I tried a local beer (La Salve) which was tasty. The restaurant is in a plaza area along with other restaurants. If you are in the area you have to come check this place out.

Fantastic pinxtoe! service was topic notch as were the drinks. A classic cafe on the square With great ambiance.

It was tasty! They squeezed us in at the last minute, without a reservation, and had a pleasant lunch. Yeah it's crowded, you feel a bit rushed, but overall, the dishes were flavorful.

I've heard good things about Café Bilbao, and I wanted to see it for myself. I arrived just when rush hour (14:00) was dying down, and I managed to get a table next to the colorful blue-and-white tiles. Seriously, come for the interior architecture itself: very photo-worthy! The food was to die for. In fact, I loved it so much that I had two rounds of it! Serving both pintxos and tapas, Café Bilbao serves high-quality, bite-sized dishes that's sure to live in your dreams for the rest of your life. I highly recommend the codfish with Hollandaise sauce on bread, along with goat cheese and jam on bread. Paired with a glass of wine, and you've got yourself an incredible tasting experience. Not to miss while in Bilbao!

Fun place. Very busy and for good reasons. Located in a beautiful courtyard away from traffic.

Ive tried spanish tortilla at various places. I enjoyed it very much along with the gracious customer service. They offered to make me something special from the kitchen since vegetarian options were few.

A life saver in the morning. They open before 7 am for the crowd that is still drunk or for the folks who have to leave town early. All the food here was much better than average and the breakfast choices were excellent.

Charming decor but so-so food. I had high expectations but was disappointed in the tapas. It's in the big square with a dozen other spots, worth stopping in on a tasting cruise, just for the scenery and decor.

One of the best little places to grab a bite to eat. Located in the Plaza Nueva with lots of little restraints and a cute courtyard surrounded by a beautiful building. It tends to be busy so prepare to wait for a place to sit. Highly recommend!

I was very underwhelmed by the food here. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I found most of the Pinxtos I had to be pretty mediocre, forgettable. The duck confit was good, and the duck larange would have been perfect if it wasn't coated with so much sauce. The atmosphere is fine, and the wine is good, but it was easily the worst pinxtos I had all day.

A charming little pintxos bar in the heart of the old city, Cafe Bar Bilbao is well worth stopping in. One of my favourite things about Bilbao was hopping between pintxos bars sampling little bites and drinking far too much wine, but whereas I have no dietary restrictions and was happy to grab nibbles at will (even if I might not know their contents) my travelling partner was pescatarian and needed a place that was a bit more english friendly to navigate the food on offer. Cafe Bilbao proved to be a happy medium - though no one seemed to speak a lick of english, they were charmingly and hilariously good natured in dealing with our broken Spanish - even while facing down a throng of customers - and we happily tucked into wine and some of the best pintxos of our trip after a simple exchange. It's one of the oldest bars in the square and though the tiles inside are worth gawking at, but we preferred to sit outside and people watch while we gushed over the goat cheese pintxos and planned our next culinary attempts. If we had been staying in the old city for the remainder of our trip, I would daresay this place would become a safe staple in our evenings.

If there is one place in Bilbao which simply must be visited, it is the Café Bar Bilbao. This attractive, small bar is covered in hand painted tiles and is just brilliant to look at, both inside and out. You should graduate from simply gawping at it, however, since the huge range of tapas available inside is just great. The bar is full of people wandering around looking at all of the freshly made tapas on offer, deciding what to try next, and it is great fun deciding, comparing your choices with your friends and taking a piece of each of theirs to see if you made the right decision! This place is such an institution that it is the only place in our travels through Cantabria and the Pais Vasco that we met some fellow English! Its location, on the northern edge of the Casco Viejo (Old City) and on the south side of the Plaza Nueva, is perfect for beginning an evening tapas crawl through the winding alleys and passages of the Casco Viejo and around the Siete Calle. Just make sure this is where you kick your evening off though, the Café Bar closes ridiculously early, around 2200 most nights.

One of my favorite pincho bars in Bilbao. The mussels were out of this world. They go fast when they are out. Relaxed atmosphere and friendly service. Fantastic location to plan your next stop. 10 out of 10.

Charming place, service was good and good variety of tapas. Tables outside are limited so be prepared to wait.

Nice people, tasty pintxos but nothing faa cy out of this world. Did not try the raciones