Gandarias

We had an amazing meal at Gandarias. It is essential to book as they are always full. The pintxos in the bar are also amazing and might make for a nice appetizer. We enjoyed the spider crab as well as the bread but the octopus was the best we have had anywhere in Spain. The main courses were also great, lamb and beef fillet . Service was fantastic, as was the wine list, also by the glass a great selection.

We tried a variety of pintxos at Gandarias and especially enjoyed the T-bone steak and sirloin — both cooked to perfection. The atmosphere is vibrant and authentic, but be prepared: it gets very busy and can be difficult to find a spot to eat. That said, it’s absolutely worth it for the quality of the food. Definitely recommend stopping by if you’re in San Sebastián!

One of the best meals in my life!!! All the lint is were amazing and you can also order other things from the menu and have a seat. They also have a restaurant area with a different menu but advance rsvp is recommended! PS. Don’t sleep on the sweets here!

Simple but delicious cooking, you can really taste the quality of the ingredients. The scallops starter and the suckling pig leg in particular were the stand out dishes. The deserts were also both tasty and a good end to the meal. What was really surprising is that we were probably the last cover of the evening (around 22.45 on a Tuesday) after a long day of travelling but everything was still just as nice as if it had been the first.

Very good steak and well salted but too chewy for me. Would have preferred if they cut the kebab steak into smaller pieces. We also got sea urchin cream and another pintxos, but we’ve had better elsewhere!! still decent though.

We had dinner here and had a very nice dinner. The scallops were so delicious and the tenderloin was cooked perfectly. The service was a little slow but that seems to be common in Spain everyone seems to want to linger for hours. Once engaged the staff was lovely.

Really solid pick for txuleta and turbot! Service was excellent. We opted for their dine-in menu. The scallops were tasty and the turbot was cooked perfectly. Service very much steak house like. Just a heads up for dine-in they require you order at least one starter and a main course per person.

An absolute must - great food, great service and a lively atmosphere. Yes it’s very busy and there is a wait to be served, hot food takes longer, but well worth the wait. Outside tables but generally stand to eat. The ham/cheese pintxo were fresh and tasty, the brocheta gambas was delicious but the mini steak burger was the best dish we have had so far. Would definitely return for this every day.

Our first tapas/pinxtos stop in San Sebastián. This place was highly recommended (on multiple "recommended lists" in the various guide books and by our hotel manager). It did not disappoint. At 6 pm, half of the restaurants on 31 Agosto (the well known tapas/pinxtos walk) are closed. Luckily, Gandarias was open. It was already four deep at the bar, where the pinxtos are displayed. Huge blackboards are on the left wall that list the available pinxtos and prices, written in Spanish, English, French and Basque (?). To the right of the bar, is a blackboard listing their wines by the glass. If you know what you want, just tell the server what you want and how many and they will assemble your plate/s efficiently and get your drinks. We got two glasses of different Riojas (reds), two duck breast pinxtos (on a thin slice of cooked peach and caramelized red onions), fried cod on roasted padron pepper, poached shrimp on Russian salad and grilled goat cheese on sun dried tomato. Yum. We will be back at least one more time, so will add more photos and update this review

I still daydream about this meal to this day! I'd love to transport back there and destroy this steak and entree

This was one of my favorite pintxo places in Donosti. The staff was really friendly and attentive, even though the place was packed every time I went. They have a large pintxo menu posted on the wall in four languages, so you can pick what you want. I got a T-bone steak and a lamb chop pintxo the first time. I loved the steak one, the lamb one was just OK. Many people around me were getting the fried squid and it looked great. The second time, I got their sirloin and t-bone. Excellent choices.. The prices were reasonable and the quality of the food was outstanding. They also have a sit down restaurant for those who want to have waiter service and a more varied menu.

This was our very last stop on our last night and it did not disappoint! 11pm and the most flavorful mushrooms warm and aromatic! Always be prepared to stand and embrace the experience!

The pinchos culture has reached a level of sophistication difficult to match else where in the world. Donosti is the world's food capital, and Gabdarias is Donosti's gastronomía people's palace. This is a must while in Donosti. Don't get a table, the fun is in standing around the bar, both inside and outdoors and not leave until you taste all the pinchos. Classic things, like the croquets or the ensaladilla rusa pincho, are close to perfection -tells a lot of the standards being high here-. Unique options like the erizos. Overall, amazing, with a slight tendency to the beschamel trapo and a bit of bread dependency. Not the most creative or sophisticated pincho bar in Donosti in terms of gastronomic refinement, but definitively the one you want to experience.

Ok. Been in Pasai a week, cooking 10 eggs a day and eating a baguette to leave, you know I needed something authentic. This was fun fresh and fancy, The vibe was suprisingly uplifting considering the busy busy downtown and interior, and we found ourselves mad comfy. The food was excellent. We both from the east coast and this fish was unlike anything I've ever had before. I highly recommend the crystal fish. Our waiter was kind and chill and understood why we aren't getting wine and desert. A cool 68 euro for an app, and 2 entrees, and a seemingly extreme authentico basque must visit. Going to remember my time here for a long time Me and adelyn

We went to many of the Tapa bars in San sabastian. This was one of our favorite that we went to several times. Don't mind the unfriendly employees it's how most people we came across in spain were. It's the food that really matters and they had both cold and hot that were great. Definitely suggest this as a must stop in

This was the final stop of a food and wine tour of San Sebastián! This was delicious. We were given skewer of steak on top of a bed of crispy French fries, it was so good. This was also paired with a glass of red wine! It's busy so I recommend finding a table outside after ordering.

Great place for a pintxos stop. This place gets really crowded, so be prepared to wait and approach the bar to place your order. Good sea urchins pintxos. Definitely recommended

Stumbled upon this place as it was open at 5pm (I had skipped lunch.) Asked the people behind the counter to recommend... had the foie, the duck, the artichoke, carrillera and chipirones. 2 glasses of nice wine followed by coffee and cheesecake! 100% satisfied!

No service because you speak English. Do not go to this bar. Many good choices down the street. Such as Txakolina.

An enjoyable experience in the restaurant section of this popular pintxos bar. We ate early (5.30 pm) by special arrangement before it became busy and enjoyed the quiet ambiance. It was a Sunday and few restaurants were open. After countless seafood days and nights we all went with meat dishes of either suckling lamp or pig. It was pretty good and we had two excellent wines. Our party was 7. Service was attentive and efficient throughout. It is a highly regarded establishment and I concur. The Pintxos looked really good and two of my party enjoyed some earlier in the day.

the hot pintxos at this place was really good. bit of a wait for food to come from the kitchen but well worth it because the carilleras were delicious.

Walked the st James trail and stopped by here. Staff wasn't welcoming, told us several times we need to hurry. The older waitress was short and unhelpful to my pregnant wife when she was asking about an item on the menu. Overall food is ok, staff is terrible, prices are high.

4.5 stars With an entire menu and display case of pintxos and raciones, Gandarias is the perfect place to belly up to the bar and just point to what you want! There was the impressive looking jamon slice stacked with three whole button mushrooms; the baby eels with red pepper (one of the most unique ingredients I've ever eaten); and the slice of duck paired with peach (of all things). But my favorite pintxos were the thick slice of goat cheese paired with a vinegar reduction, pistachios, and walnuts; and the crab tart, made of a creamy puree of crab in a flaky pastry shell. This place can certainly get busy for dinner service, but there's nothing like ready-made pintxos for a quick bite to eat!

So delicious and in style. We loved it. Popular place. Old town San Sebastián. Recommended.

You want Pintxos. They got Pintxos. Gets busy. Solomillo is great. Erizo uni is great. Risotto is good. Mini burgers, ok, patty needed to cook a little longer. Tried the Sidra here, ok. (Written by husband)

Good, but average compared to other restaurants in the area. This was the "we're hungry, let's just eat" spot that we realized was just fine the more we ate elsewhere. Baked sea urchin was ::shrug:: beef wasn't the most flavorful, tomato and cheese was wonderful. Caramelized foie gras was memorable! If something stands out then get it! But we liked other spots a bit better. Bar Sport was our fave.

As a former long timeNYC Restaurant owner I usually forgive kitchen errors and hate to post bad reviews but this was so outrageously bad I must: Worst meal I had in Spain. The roasted lamb was deep fried fat. I Love lamb and have had lamb all over the world and this was garbage. We had 5 people for dinner and I explained that the other food was just ok but the lamb was just gross. No apology no explanation and it was still on the bill. I would happily pay to never have to eat here again.

This is my favorite pintxos place in town. Ema is a wonderful server. The foie is very good as are the picante dishes. If you want a full meal reservations are a must, more than a day out. The ambiance is your typical upbeat pintxos bar.

Best place in San Sebastián! Delicious food, you must get the steak pintxo! Little gem, we will be back.

This place was amazing. The server/bartender was incredibly helpful, and conscientious of my dietary concerns. They have a gluten free pintxos menu, and everything on it is amazing. The croquetas are great, the duck breast was a highlight, but you can't go wrong with almost anything on the menu. Classic atmosphere around 9 pm, you'll need to work to get the bartenders attention, and squeeze in next to other patrons to find enough bar space to eat, but isn't that what pintxos culture is all about?

As good as they say. This is on every list of must-try pintxo places. It's a long list. One way to deal with it is to take a food tour at lunch or dinner, hit 5 or 6 places, have one item and a drink. Then go back to the hotel plastered and stuffed. If you have more time and are willing to do a little research, both online and in person, on where to go and what to order, then you can spread the joy over a few stops a day over a few days. Those signature items are rarely the cold dishes on the bar, rather the hot pintxos caliente listed on the wall. That's how I ended up ordering the two items in the photo here: foie gras and risotto. Both were excellent. A little foie goes a long way for me, so I spread it out over a couple of slices from the perfect baguette they served. Risotto is almost as filling, and their portion was spot on. With "aqua del grifo" (tap water, which is fine in Spain) it came in at 5.45 euros. PS - if a place refuses to serve aqua del grifo, it's a tourist trap, get back in the truck. it's rare but not unheard of PPS - the couple next to me shared a very tempting larger grilled squid and fish plate, which was pretty tempting, but not on a pintxo crawl

I think this was the best steak I've ever had. We walked around old town on our first night in San Sebastián and it was already pretty late, so when we dropped into Bar Nestor and tried to order a steak, they said they were already closed. Instead, we found Gandarias on yelp and I'm so glad we did! Their txuleton was amazing in every way and it definitely hit the spot, while also being more spacious than other joints. We initially tried ordering the big steak but ended up getting a pinxto of steak on bread, with a little green tomatillo topping (solomillo?). We corrected our order once we learned that it was called txuleton, but even that small steak pinxto was so yummy, it had us excited to eat the real deal. Our big steak was cooked to perfection, so juicy and flavorful, and the fries it was served with helped to balance the saltiness. Amazing meal here and the service was friendly. They also helped us choose a wine to pair with our steak and it was delicious as well!

We couldn't get last minute reservations at our first choice restaurant so went here right at 8 on a Saturday night. They seated us immediately. We had the crab salad to share, the filet mignon and the roast lamb. 1 Coke and 2 glasses of wine and a large water. We got a dessert at the recommendation of the waiter. It was good, the traditional Basque cake and should have gotten the chef's choice cheesecake instead. Looked better going by. Total for all this deliciousness was 95 euro. Lots of seafood choices on the menu. Will try fish next time.

These reviews are not lying, Gandarias is one of the best pintxo bars in San Sebastian. It was located in a prime spot and busy almost all hours of operation. They are open on Sundays and Mondays, which is a huge plus given most Spanish cities rest on these days. The way it works is pretty simple: order a drink at the bar, ask for a plate, and start taking down some of the best bites of your life. You eat what's on display. The food is fresh and prepared daily. Some items are meant to be heated and someone behind the bar will assist you with this. There's also an actual food menu, which includes things like steak and risotto.

In a city full of fantastic restaurants , this has become my go-to destination for drinks , tapas or dinner. Tapas becomes crowded during the early evening and recommend dinner reservations .

We made reservations at the restaurant because we wanted a special meal for our last dinner in San Sebastian. Unfortunately, it was closed even though we had received a confirmation email. Moreover, the email said we would be charge €15 per person if we didn't cancel within 24 hours. Very disappointing way to spend her last night in this beautiful city.

Food is great, service not so much. Of course being American we came in before the standard dinner rush, but they also did rush us to finish eating by a certain time. Also if you sit down for dinner you're expected to order a full entree per person (without option for takeaway). We were able to get away with three entrees and two starters: - shrimp and egg appetizer (7/10) - asparagus (9/10 - the sauce is amazing) - oxtail (9/10 hearty like beef stew) - seared tuna with tuna carpaccio (8/10 with seared tuna and crispy seaweed being the best part) - grilled monkfish (10/10 star of the show) The food was more than enough for five people and prices were high but fair. The surprising thing is that the wine is cheap as dirt!!! For an amazing local bottle of white wine, it was 10 euro, and most bottles were around the same price if not cheaper! As with many places, they give you bread without you asking, and will charge you for it. It was a filling and delicious first dinner in San Sebastián, but wish we had a better experience with the servers. I'd still come back to try more wine and food one day.

Known for their "skewer" pintxos, it's often crowded with tourists, but still worth visiting nonetheless because it truly is one of the best bars in the old town area. If possible, get a reservation for a sit down meal. If it's booked up, go during the hours between lunch and dinner (3-6pm) when they're open but other pintxo bars are closed. Also pop by next door to pick up high-quality gifts or souvenirs. Think mini bottles of olive oil, chocolates, or packages of jamon. Personally loved the jamon iberico de bellota from here! Highly recommend getting the lamb skewers and anything with seafood in it!

Come early especially on the weekend, this place was absolutely packed (especially if you don't speak Spanish). Pinxtos were decent - squid was excellent and vegetables with egg yolk were OK. We only tried a couple. They had gluten free accommodations and an east menu to read. Was the busiest pinxtos bar we went to.

I wish I could dock them for their service, but their pintxos are just too f-ing tasty. Best pintxos of our 5.5 day stay in Donostia. The solomillo and the magret de pato were amazing. I will be dreaming of the solomillo for years to come, so tender, so flavorful, nice and rare, yet perfectly seared and salted. The magret de pato was an extremely generous portion, and each piece of meat is balanced with a piece of duck fat that melts in your mouth. I plan to try the txuleta next time we visit.

Popular pinxtos restaurant with some different items and a large collection of wines by the glass. 4.5 stars Food: 4.5, Service: 3.5. Atmosphere: 4.5 Cost to worth it rating: 3 Return worthiness: yes Highlights: - Cod and blistered pepper: stellar unique offering with tender fish and the charred pepper. The piece of bread was almost not needed. 5 stars - Duck brochette: a lot of cubed meat pieces stacked and drizzled with nice sweet balsamic. A dish we didn't see many other places. 4.5 stars - Croquettes: had ham and codfish and both were great. 4 stars - Wines: lots in the back on display you can get by the glass - Atmosphere: very lively at night. Only con to that is finding a space to stand and eat. Midlights: - Omelette/tortilla: just ok. 3 stars. Lowlights: - Mystery fried item: one of the ones that was out we tried and it was soggy and not so tasty Love the pinxtos food culture and this was a great spot

One of the best steak and tuna grill we have in our life. The steak is juicy and the tuna is fresh.

We ate at Gandarias on a Friday night around 7:30pm (we had a reservation for 8pm, but they took us early.) It didn't appear we needed a reservation since there were many empty tables? This may have been due to the cold rainy weather. We were given the menu in English. We asked the waiter for recommendations on the appetizers and he had suggested the white asparagus and the octopus. We had said no to the asparagus, and yes to the octopus... but for some reason that got lost in translation and he brought us both? He seemed in a hurry and slightly irritated we didn't speak Spanish. The asparagus was good, the octopus left little to be desired. We are about half. We also asked for dinner entree recommendations, and he suggested the Monkfish and Turbato fish. Both were very good - we liked the Monkfish best. Was a little more flavorful. The waiter also recommended a bottle of white wine - very good. Only about 9 euros. They offered us bread during dinner and apparently they charge for this? But they don't tell you. It's 1 euro per piece of PAN. I also asked for butter, which they charged us 2 euros for????? Suggestion - don't eat the bread! If we would have only gotten the appetizer we ordered and if they didn't charge us for the bread and butter without telling us, and if the waiter would have been a little more understanding of the language barrier - we would have given 4 stars. Total for dinner was 100 euros.

Solomillo for 2.5 euros is very good. They had king crab stuffed peppers, but this turned out to be more crab paste than actual king crab. Their sea urchin was also more of a mix/paste and lacked sea urchin flavor. This place seems a bit of a hit or miss for their pinxtos. It looked like they had scallops as a hot pinxtos tho, was tempted to order that. Staff were really friendly! Someone else has posted about the "ideal" meals in SS. I disagreed with some of his points, so I'll post my must goto places in SS: Borda Berri: Sheep Cheese Risotto (3 euro), Bacon and Shrimp Ravioli (4 euro). I hear the tuna steak, ribs, and veal cheek are also good, but I have not tried. Le Cuchara de San Telmo: Duck Ravioli, split a Foie Gras. Atari, Sirimiri, Gandarias, and some other "cold pinxtos" places to get your fill of (and eventually desensitize yourself from) the alluring variety of cold pinxtos. Atari/Gandarias' solomillo (mini steak) is worth trying. Bodega Donostierra: Completeo, tortilla Honestly, La Cepa and La Vina's deepfried milk ans cheesecake werent all that special for me. However, they arent bad, so if you really wanted to itch a sweet tooth, you can check those out. Havent tried the tortilla or the steak from Bar Nestor, so I can't comment here.

5.2017 The Perfect San Sebastián dinner: If you're in SB for other meals, explore the various Pinxtos (pronounced Peen CHoes) but the perfect dinner as described is more satisfying than any 3 Michelin Star meal I had on this trip. Appetizers/Small Bites: 1. Barnacles at Bernardo Etxea and/or 2. Black Rabas  (Fried Squid Ink) at A Fuego Negro. 3. Tortilla, Tomato Salad, Peppers at Bar Nestor. Main Course: Txuleta (comes with perfect Frites and bread) & 1 glass of local Spanish Tinto/Roja/Red wine at Gandarias. Dessert: Fried Milk at La Cepa then Cheesecake next door at La Vina. *All locations are within a 5 minute walk of each other. At Gandarias: Txuleta is perfect. Chips/Frites/Fries are perfect. Local inexpensive red wine is delicious. Service is just right.

Here is my personal ranking of San Sebastian pintxos bars: Casa Urola, Sirimiri, Gandarias, San Telmos, Goiz Argi, Sport, Ganbaras, Fuego Negro. I will write the reviews here since Gandarias is open daily, pretty much at all hours. Many popular ones are close on Sundays or Mondays, and are usually only open during certain hours. This will be a good intro to the SB pintxos scene, obviously there are others like Zeruko, La Vina and Borda Berri which I didn't try and thus can't comment. Definitely get the shrimp skewers and mushroom skewers at Gandarias if you are eating at the bar. There is a sit down section as well if you want a more traditional way of eating. Casa Urola is the best, you can order hot pintxos at the bar, which are all excellent. But I'd try to reserve a table upstairs if you can. Sirimiri is the sister restaurant to the more popular Atari at the corner. It's much smaller, but usually not as busy. The cold pintxos are good but the hot ones are even better. San Telmos is probably the most talked about place and everything is made to order. I am not rating it higher only because everything is rich and on the greasy side, but they are definitely good taste-wise. Show up early right when they open so you don't have to wait. Goiz Argi has the grilled items made to order. The kidney is simply divine. Gandarias' shrimp skewers are probably better though. Sport has a couple of unique seafood items but I don't think their items are better than others. However, their service was the best among all the places I tried. They try to actively engage you even when the place is mobbed, so I definitely appreciated that. Fuego Negro has the fried squid ink which is a must get. The kobe burgers are okay. Skip the fried chicken, for us Americans it probably will underwelm and the large portion will preclude you from eating at other bars.

Enjoyed a prefect dinner here and the best so far of my foodie San Sebastian trip with friendly attentive service and delcious food. Started with the famous sauteed wild mushrooms- 4 local kinds- and they delivered! Even though not on menu our server gave us perfectly dressed salad of very fresh lettuces, tomatoes and sliced onions. Our mains were the grilled monkfish and tuna necks with caramelized onions. Both were extremely fresh and perfectly cooked from the famed grill. The complimentary bread was a yummy whole wheat with EVO. For dessert we had the grilled peaches which again knocked it out of the park! Even though a small basement dining room the decor made it very comfortable. The service was fast and attentive. The staff spoke enough English but if you speak Spanish which I do you can get more details. At end they surprised us with homemade chocolate truffles!

I still think about the meal I had here almost a year ago...it's that good. Our meal of chuleta (steak), zetas (sautéed mushrooms) and pimientos (grilled red peppers) is one of the best steak meals I've had in my life. Everything was simply prepared but yet so fresh and delicious. The wait for a table was pretty long so we opted just to eat standing at the bar- wasn't the most comfortable dining experiences but the food more than made up for it. They will let you pick your piece of steak before they grill it to a perfection right in front of you. If you are in San Sebastián you cannot miss this place.

3.5 stars. This is a very popular and well-known pintxo bar. (There is also white cloth table service for menu (not pintxos) items.) It was jammed with people. Inside and out. The bartenders do their best, but many of your fellow patrons are pushy jerks. We had a bottle of K-naia wine (€10) and 5 pintxos: * Salmon * White fish. I really liked this one. * Jamon y queso. * 1/2 racion of chorizo. * and one that I cannot remember. - No chairs. You must stand. - Paper napkins €26.65 for pintxos and wine

This place was very busy and clearly very popular. It's not a relaxing sit down dinner type experience but the food was delicious and it was a cool place to visit while we were in San Sebastián.

This was the first place we had a pintxo, so it'll always have a place in my heart. The foie gras and risotto were both flawless. The wine selection here was the best we experienced in town. I'd highly recommend taking your food to the outdoor high tops, as its better than the atmosphere inside.

there is always a line out the door, I recommend making a reservation for sure. Once inside, whether you're at the bar for tapas or sitting down inside dinning - all the food is delicious!

Although this place is smacked in the middle of the old town and swamped with tourist is a great place to have some amazing pinchos at a great price. The staff is friendly and helpful. If you want to have more of a sit down experience make sure to make reservations. Overall a great spot in Donostia.

This restaurant is always packed. You definitely need to make a reservation a head. We got ours a day ahead and I don't know if we were lucky or thats how it is all the time. The food is great, more expensive than other restaurants in the area. It's because it is a white table cloth sit down restaurant. We ordered 1.5 kg T bone steak ( which in reality was not a T-Bone, there was no tenderloin attached ) and it was delicious. Just have it in mind that Medium here is medium-rare to rare. We also ordered the duck breast and it was served completely rare. I asked them to take it back and cook a little more and it came out perfect. Their selection of Whole fish looked amazing.

OMFG!!! I may have had the best meal of my life here. Most people were eating and drinking in the front area where you can have the Pintxos. We opted to have a sit down dinner and order off the menu. I asked our waitress her opinion on whether I should have lamb or pork and she directed me to the pig. OMFG! It ended up being a little piglet and it was literally the greatest thing I've ever eaten. So tender and just incredible flavor. Everyone else I was with enjoyed their meals as well, but DAMN...that little pig!!!

While cruising through the dozens of choices of pintxo bars in Donastia (San Sebastian), the one recommendation we got from every hotel employee, cab driver, relative and other business owner was Gandarias. It is located in the old section of town along the famous Calle 31 Augusto. Rather than do just the bar thing like most other places, we went to the restaurant area with the starched white tablecloths and had pintxos and raciones. We even decided to get dessert. We did this in the afternoon so that we could get back to the hotel for a nap. It was a great plan because we were able to go out later that night and act like the locals until the wee hours. A few of the dishes are worth noting. The risotto with championes was superb. The calimari rings were bigger than onion rings. The artichoke heart salad was divine. The tangerine and champagne ice for dessert was just right. There was a death by chocolate dessert as well. I will join with the voices of others - this is the best place in Donostia.

Loving this place at 11:30 PM on Sunday. While many places are closing down this place is cranking dishes. I was in mood to sit down and order cochinillo but there was a wait of an hour. So, hung at bar, bartenders helped in my carne cravings. For pintxos go with the Solotillo- it's perfect! And the wines... Very pleased. I expect to be back often over this next week.