Pintxos Hopping in Bilbao, Spain

Visiting multiple pintxos bars is a must-do when visiting the Basque region of Spain. Pintxos are small bites served at bars around the city. These bites often include a piece of bread (but not always). The term "pintxos" refers to a "spike" (usually a toothpick), that is "speared" through the food to hold it together.

Most places already have plates of premade pintxos at the bar, displayed for people to see. At many places, getting those pintxos just involved moving your way through the crowd to the front where you fill up your plate with pintxos and then pay before bringing them back to your table.

In fact, the first thing we did after we arrived at our hotel was to visit a pintxos bar. We found one just around the corner that was delicious. In fact, most pintxos bars we visited were excellent. Bilbao people really know their food!

Plaza Nueva

Plaza Nueva is a beautiful square full of pintxos bars. It's definitely worth visiting (just to feel the vibe!) regardless of whether you want to eat or not. You could just come here alone and have the opportunity to sample plenty of places. We tried two places in the plaza for lunch: Cafe Bilbao and Charly.

Bar Charly

This pintxos bar has been around since 1973. We came here first and tried a jamon sandwich, a tortilla (Spanish omelette) topped with tuna/mayo salad, and a tuna + bread pintxo.

In retrospec, I kind of got mayo overload from what I ordered. I typically love tuna salad (tuna + mayo), and everything looked so good I couldn't help but just get all the tuna + mayo pintxos. They were pretty tasty, but it was a bit too repetitive (totally my fault, since we all choose our own pintxos, right?).

Cafe Bilbao

At Cafe Bilbao we tried to order a wider variety of bites, which worked out quite nicely. It's lovely to sit outdoors in the plaza while enjoying the pintxos.

El Globo

I had read really good reviews about El Globo, which was hailed as being a bit more international since they incorporated global flavors into their pinxtos (hence the name).

I came by here by myself during the weekday when Bryan was busy with his work stuff. It's always harder when I go alone, since I can't try as many pinxtos. Still, I concur that the pinxtos at El Globo are really tasty!

That Place Around the Corner from Our Hotel

Our first stop. Alas, I don't know the name of this place! A colleague of Bryan's had picked it out, and we were so hungry I didn't even pay attention and just started ordering!

All I can say is that it was only like a five minute walk from our hotel, Hotel Carlton, which is pretty much in the city center.

This restaurant was certainly very traditional and had a number of pinxtos at the bar. We went with favorite classics, such as jamon sanwiches, tortilla, croquetas, olives, and the like.

The pinxto pictured on the left is supposedly one of the most famous and popular pinxtos in Bilbao. Called "Gilda", is is named after a "strong and spicy" female character from a film with the same name. The pinxto consists of an olive, pickled chili pepper, and an anchovy.

All in all, you can't go too wrong at a pinxtos bar. You can order with you eyes (most pinxtos are made beforehand and already displayed). There's no pressure to get a lot of food, so go ahead and just order one or two pinxtos, and hop onto the next place!