Haizea

Dropped by for breakfast - as one might expect, no pintxos at this time of day. But the bocadillos were fabulous, particularly the one with the tortilla with prawn and garlic. Bread was crispy and freshly toasted, the sweetness of the prawns running through the omelette was such a special treat for a breakfast. Coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice were great as well.

We arrived at 13:30 to this tiny 400 square foot tapas bar. There are three tables inside and about 10 bar stools but most folks are just whipping in and having a beer. My partner was not in the mood to deal with ordering so I bellied up to the bar. Our total order cost 33.8€ and included 4 glasses of house red wine. What a screaming deal! We had a scallop and prawn brochette, the brick of bacalao, prawn & langostino fritters, meatballs with potatoes, a bit of duck loin served on a garlic toast, and scallops gratin. It was all a taste sensation! The brochette had two prawns encircling a scallop and put on a grill. The simplicity was perfection! My partner wanted to order two bricks of bacalao but I said no. I was wrong! This was a bit of salted cod wrapped like a present in phyllo type dough. The ribbon was green onions. It was baked and came out crispy but so creamy. The fritters, called buñuelos, were very eggy, light and full of shrimp flavor with a crisp crust. The albondigas were my least favorite but they were delicious, tender, and swimming in a delicious mild brown sauce. They were accentuated by small slices of fried potatoes that were sprinkled with salt. The sirloin of duck was a tiny piece of grilled duck served on a delicious garlic toast surrounded by deep fried potato chips and drizzled with a blackberry sauce. Oh, my little pony! So good! Finally, one of the daily specials was a scallop gratinee. Two shells arrived with a small scallop on each covered in a cheddar cheese sauce. It wasn’t my favorite as I’m not a fan of cheese sauce but it was still beautiful and tasty. During our almost two hours of eating, I knocked over two chairs and my partner knocked over his wine glass onto the marble table. Although we tried to wreck the place (not really!) people were still so nice to us. It should be noted that in this city, people don’t speak Spanish. They speak to you in Basque and I reply in Spanish. Again, folks are so accommodating to us. Love this place!

The gratin scallops / zamburiñas gratinadas are a must here! 🤤. This month I’m finally back in San Sebastián and I can’t wait to have them again, though it is hard to beat the first time I had them a few years ago in 2022. 😊🙏🏼 Eskerrik Asko / Thank you team Haizea!

We stopped in with a small tour with a local guide. We had so many different pintxos from scallops to mushrooms. The flavor presentation and service = a perfect representation of the area. Can’t wait to come back.

Popped in here late one rainy evening and tried the pig cheek with mashed potatoes - fabulous for €5. It’s small and cozy - definitely one for the locals than tourists but the staff are v pleasant.

We were looking for breakfast and lucked in with this little bar near the market. In appalling Spanglish I selected the most delicious pintos and brotexta. Stuffed leek, artichoke and mushroom and eggs on toast with crab mousse and prawn. The cortado and americano also charged us up for the morning. Wonderful start to the day.

One of the great bars of the old town, it has a nice mix of locals and tourists and always has a welcoming atmosphere. There is clearly a very talented chef in the kitchen so you can't go wrong with anything on the board. The Carrilleras was delicious.

Amazing hot pintxos - the langoustines, brick de bacalao and foie with apple were amazing. Place isn’t too crowded and the service was attentive and extremely nice too, a must visit!

Best pintxos in all of San Sebastián- trust me. Great place. Must have the shrimp fried in pork fat! Whoop!

Gayle and I spent a nice part of a recent day in Donastia on a Pintxos crawl, let by Gartxot, our intrepid tour guide and all around great guy. Gartxot informed us that this modest restaurant is reportedly the oldest pintxos bar in San Sebastian and was on of Anthony Bourdain's favorites. The 3 of us sat against the wall opposite the bar and enjoyed the following delicious pintxos. Sorry, I forgot to take any food pictures. -Cod Brick -Grilled Scallop and Prawns - Individual glasses of the local wine (Txakoli) As a bonus, Gartxot gave us a small tutorial in Basque culture, mentioned his love for watching the NBA over La Liga, and describing his travels, including visiting the Center for Basque Studies at University of Nevada (Reno), where his ran into a couple mutual friends. Great Food, Wine, Culture, Travel, and Lively Conversation in an Iconic Pintxos Bar! What could be better?

Haizea is a hidden local spot in plain view. Just on the other side of La Bretxa in Parte vieja, Haizea is a great place to grab a drink and a bite. Not to be missed is the Brick de Bacalao.

Small and cozy bar that serves pintxos. Friendly staff, good food, good prices. Our favorite pintxo was the brocheta de vieira y langostinos (scallop and prawn skewer)!

Reportedly one of the oldest pintxos bar in San Sebastián. We came to this low key, unpretentious restaurant like most after watching Anthony Bourdain's TV show and after hearing that it's one of Juan Mari Arzak's favorite spots. Luckily this restaurant didn't suffer from that unsolicited fame and it's a bit separated from the more touristy area of the old town so it's not as crowded. I asked the lady at the counter what the house specialty was and she said they're known for their hot pintxos so that's what we went for. We tried the buñuelos de bacalao which are delicious cod fritters, soft on the inside and not too oily. We also had the langostino con crema de mariscos, a nicely cooked langostine with a creamy seafood sauce on top. Lastly we tried the libia, which is a creamy crab paste served with bread. All were good but the fritters and the langostine were the winners.

Pinchos or "Pintxos" as the Basque say it... Impressive variety of hors d'oeuvres - prepared and on display at the bar for immediate consumption at a very reasonable price. As opposed to usual bar Tapas that are randomly brought out with alcoholic beverages ... Pintxos are gourmet style items with beautiful presentation and average 20 different varieties on display at the same time. If various exquisite foods would add joy to your trip, then you should definitely stop by here. These people are also regatta Participants in fans and that also is the decor theme on the walls with their team action photos during different competitions.

Anthony Bourdain, we solute you!! Sadly wife and I stopped by here a day before the tragic news of his untimely death. As seen on "No Reservation" this was our first stop arriving in San Sebastián. Articles on the wall described this as a favorite hangout for local and well know chefs. The bar is just as depicted, small and rustic. We arrived just as they were brining out the pintxos and the perfect way to introduce to basque pintxos. Wife and I tried variety of colorful and delicious items as well as their signature fried cod. The bartender poured us local txakoli in the traditional high arc style and pleasant and friendly, and despite having frequently served top chefs, super humble. Compare to rest of the places in old town and Gros area, at $1.90. Haizea served the cheapest the pintxos that's as good if not better. We ended up returning 2 days later and the only regret is that we will never to able to find a similar place serving such incredible food w humble atmosphere.

Anthony Bourdain's visit put this pinxto place on the map, and after striking out two nights before to stop here, we made it. Most pintxo places we had visited before this had a lot of English menus and English speaking staff, but Haizea was the first place we went to where there wasn't much Spanish being spoken and Basque was the preferred means of communication. We opted for the bocadillos - I opted for the one with shrimp and egg. These sandwiches are GIANT but oh so delicious. After a long day of traveling around Basque Country and being insanely hungry, this was perfect. Service was a little surly as we tried to order from the crabby ladies from behind the counter. Definitely be ready to provide your order if you're not picking something off the counter.

Another stop on my pintxos crawl, I was looking forward to trying their popular brick of cod and langostine with seafood cream. The brick of cod was even better than I hoped. First of all, it's amazing how nice the presentation is for such a seemingly simple bar, as the sauce was carefully plated and the cod was wrapped in that crispy onion "bow tie." And the crispy onion was deliciously crispy. The phyllo dough coating around the cod was also amazing, since it was shatteringly crispy and light. And the creamy cod filling was great. The langostine topped with seafood cream was great, as well. The langostine is a nice size for the price. This bar is definitely worth visiting on your pintxos route in San Sebastian. That brick of cod is probably one of the city's essential pintxos.

food was fresh. server was friendly. menu all in spanish. we tried our best ordering with the help of the server

In the Parte Vieja, there are tons of Pintxos bars. So many of them that it's advisable to do the Txikito and hit as many as possible. However when Juan Mari and Elena Arzak show their preference for one, you best listen. Not only are they culinary geniuses, they are food lovers and super down to earth people. So I had to make my way here. I wish I had found it earlier but it was the last stop of the night. Even though the normal display had been ravaged, in my broken Spanish I was assured the kitchen was open for whatever I wanted. Txorizo, anchovies, pimientos, crab, bocadillos, etc. Stuff yourself or find just a few bites. It's up to you. The people were super nice and this is a totally low key almost off the beaten path kind of place. Just outside the busy part of old town to avoid the crush. Definitely worth checking if you're on a pIntxos run. 4.3 stars

I still dream of this place. It was everything I wanted it to be, can't give it the full start because I didn't try enough here. A friendly guy greeting my American self ready to engorge on an absolute feast of the sense. As usual, for pintxos, there is a decadent, inviting selection at the bar. The warm pintxos are listed on the wall and the racciones are of course a bigger portion of pintxos. For the price and the claim to Anthony Bourdain fame the place was incredible. My favourites were the Bacalao Brick and the pintxo with eggplant, jamon and some kind of delicious cheese. In San Sebastian, amazing food is Everything and everywhere. The Basque people know how to eat, even when it's cold and pissing down, people can still enjoy a Rioja and delicious Pintxo. I'd love to live in the city for a year and try every place in Parte Vieja and fulfill my Arzak dream. And I enjoyed this place the morning after La Tamborrada, the city's festival day with people banging away (on drums) for a full 24 hours hours getting soaked in the Basque rain. That evening, there wasn't a seat to be had in Bar Haizea but the next morning my boyfriend and I had this lovely, lovely pintxo bar to ourselves. I recommend San Sebastian on any serious foodies radar but honestly everything here was superb and the service was bar none. Just remember what you ordered at Bar Haizea you pay for everything at the end of your meal! Pictures to come, a definite must go!!

This place was one of my favorites for pintxos; granted we only got 3 dishes here that they are most famous for, but they were all delicious and reasonably priced. No fighting to get a space at the bar or a place to eat, and no wait to order. We did get here on the earlier side on a Thursday night, but this place seemed more of a local spot a little more off the main drag, and seems rather unassuming from the outside and when you step in. They have a few pre-made pintxos out on the bar, but they seem to have 3 specialities that you order at the counter and are made freshly when you order. I'd recommend these three: Brick of Bacalo - This is a piece of cod wrapped in a phyllo pastry dough, deep fried, and wrapped with a twine made of leek, served over a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Delicious, and the fish is flaky and melts in your mouth. Highly recommend this. Foie gras with apple - Decadent, and the salty-sweet is a great combination. I really liked this dish a lot, and it was served with a grilled apple, on top of some apple butter or jam. Grilled langostino with crema de mariscos - This is a large grilled shrimp, butterflied open and grilled, with a delicious seafood cream sauce. The sauce is also great with the bread. Overall, great experience here - I think we paid 12 or 13 euros for the 3 dishes. We really enjoyed this place and would come here again and eat all 3 of these dishes again. Worth a stop if you're in San Sebastian!

This little restaurant is full of surprises, and really excellent surprises. We started here our pintxos tour for the night. Yes, apparently locals go and visit different pintxos restaurants in one night to treat themselves with different styles of cooking. Of course, you would have some beer or wine at each different place and let the night carry you away since you walk there everywhere. Back to the food, the craftsmanship and presentation of the pintxos are incredible, they take so much pride in their food that you can definitely taste the difference with other restaurants around town. We tried the vegetable pintxo and some sort of cod croquet. It is very hard to describe the flavors coming out of those two pintxos. The vegetable skewers were just outstanding, cooked to perfection and crafted into something not only appealing to the eyes, but your tastebuds. The other pintxo made with cod, was like anything I have tried before. It was like having a cod croquet, very nicely done, wrapped with a very thin layer of dough and quickly deep fried and served over a bed of a drizzled balsamic vinegar reduction. Again, the detail oriented to the preparation of each of this pintxos was perfect. The service was outstanding as well and very friendly. Once I mentioned it was my first time in Dan Sebastián, I was invited to return and let them provide me a sample of different pintxos I should try before leaving. That was actually very nice, and definitely will go back before leaving this beautiful city.

Incredible opening hours from 6:30 am to 11 pm. The Brick de Bacalao was excellent so was the Shrimp and Cod fritter. They don't make the fried bacalao wrapped in caramelized onion bow with reduced balsamic anymore, did not try the Fresh foie with Apple, looked enticing.

Ended up being one of my favorite pintxo bars. Run by a nice elderly couple and specializing in seafood pintxos. The shrimp/hard-boiled egg/mayo pintxo is delicious, nice and creamy. Brick de bacalao is also a must try as a hot pintxo. Essentially a piping hot egg roll stuffed with bacalao, the crunch on the skin is absolutely satisfying.

This place seemed to be your average run of the mill pinxtos bar in san sebastian - this isn't meant to be insulting or disparaging because the food quality in the city is amazing. There wasn't much that was memorable except for the service... The older gentleman running the bar was really nice.

This was the second time we stopped by in the last three days and miraculously it was open on a Mon night. We got the txorizos chorizos, and the stuffed prawn. They were both amazing so we augmented it with croque de Jamon and bunuelo de gambas y bacalao. The only thing that was a neg was the croque de Jamon, which was still cold inside but everything else was amazing. A gem. The chorizo is quality.

Every Pinxtos Bar in San Sebastian has their specialty items, here would be their Seared Foie Gras with apple chip & jelly, and their large grill langoustine served split in half with a nice sauce. The Foie Pinxtos was probably the best I had comparing to all the other bars we went to(over a dozen), it was perfectly seared and seasoned, the apple jelly and chip gave it a perfect balance to the richness and the apple chip adds a great texture to the dish. If you're a foie gras fan like myself you would love it, I did so much that I had to make another stop the next day just for that dish! I normally don't go back to places just for the same dish but this was a must as I was pretty much dreaming about it the night I had it. LOL FYI, this 5 stars rating is based on just those 2 dishes I had. In San Sebastian, you do what the locals do and pinxtos crawl, couple dish from each bar and move on =) no need to worry about just ordering 1 or 2 items! =)

Located just on the edge of Parte Vieja and on your way to the surfers' beach, Bar Haizea serves up traditional pinchos, bocadillos, and plates. At €1.70 per pincho and something like €2ish per bocadillo, you can fill yourself up nicely for €5 total. The food is decent though by no means star quality. Many of the items are heavy on the fillers ie carbs and/or mayo, but you can find a few items that aren't so filler-y. I had a nice cod and puff pastry sandwich and a spinach quiche/mousse that was quite tasty. The latter looks almost like a flan and comes in spinach, red pepper, or crab varieties - I'd recommend giving it a try if you find yourself at Haizea!

Went to Haizea on a pinxtos tour and have gone to others since but we found ourselves going back to that bar 3 more times before we left San Sebastian! And no it wasn't because it was on Anthony Bourdain, the food was just that good. The room temp pinxtos at the bar are tasty (crab flan) but you can't go wrong if you also order off the wall menu. Don't be shy, the lady at the bar was very nice even when our Euskera was dodgy. Highlights were the fois with apples, cod brick, and the egg-battered beef tongue sandwich. I still dream about that sandwich. What a gem, not to be missed!

Basically a local's bar, this place is small and filled with your normal pinxtos. Stay away from the mayo-based options and you'll be all set. Fun place. I do think the owners are not thrilled about the Bourdain effect, as they clearly whispered about non locals in their native tongue. For some places, exposure on no reservations is probably a great thing... But clearly for this place they would rather not have the attention or traffic... Because they don't seem to appreciate the business... Fair enough, though. Could be a fun stop, but not a necessary one.

Small pintxos bar. Great staff and lots of locals. Food is good. The man behind the bar spoke English.... So it's a good place to start as some of the other bars can be rather overwhelming if you have no idea what a pintxo is or what your eating or how it works. Ask for a plate and choose a few... Grab a drink and explore the culinary masterpieces. Once you get the hang of it try out a few. Some are way better than others... And this is one I will definitely return to.