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Akelarre
Located at Hotel Akelarre, Akelarre is a three-Michelin star restaurant by Pedro Subijana serving innovative Basque cuisine with a focus on seafood. At Hotel Akelarre you will also find a cocktail bar by the renowned Patxi Troitino serving unbelievable cocktails,...
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Andra Mari
Andra Mari is a traditional Basque restaurant in every way, from the waitstaff uniforms to the distinct wooden architecture to the local ingredients. It sits in an outstanding location in the hills outside of Bilbao overlooking the Ibaizabal river valley....
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Arzak
The most famous of San Sebastián’s Michelin-starred establishments is Arzak, owned by renowned chef Juan Mari Arzak and his daughter Elena. The three-star restaurant, one of the area’s first to feature the experimental nouveau cuisine that made the Basque Country...
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Azurmendi
Azurmendi isn’t found in the shadows of the gleaming titanium-clad Guggenheim, but instead in a rather dull commercial district outside town. Don’t let this, or the somewhat institutional dining room, put you off, however, since Michelin-starred chef Eneko Atxa is...
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Café Iruña
Locals cherish the opulent neo-Moorish décor of this 1903 vintage café as much as the legendary pinchos morunos de carne de cordero, or grilled lamb brochettes, which are prepared at a special counter in the main dining room. Waiters in...
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Elkano
Tourists and locals alike make a pilgrimage to the one-Michelin star Elkano in Getaria—about 30 minutes from San Sebastián—for its world famous turbot, which is grilled and served simply with few ingredients. Chef Aitor Arregui inherited the restaurant (which is...
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Etxebarri
It’s well worth making a detour into the countryside between San Sebastián and Bilbao for the thrill of discovering chef Victor Arguinzoniz’s extraordinary avant-garde barbecuing at his restaurant, Etxebarri, in the tiny, pretty village of Axpe. Arguinzoniz is Spain’s wizard...
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Los Parajes
Los Parajes is located in a small boutique hotel in the center of the town of Laguardia. It makes for a lovely, casual lunch stop during a day of wine tasting. When you first arrive, you are whisked down to...
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Martin Berasategui
Martin Berasategui’s three-Michelin-starred table is also located outside San Sebastián, in an elegantly decorated contemporary house in Lasarte. Berasategui’s style displays the tutelage of French chefs Michel Guerard and Didier Oudil, with whom he worked at the beginning of his...
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Mugaritz
Mugaritz, on a hillside outside San Sebastián, is an insider foodie address, but chef Luis Aduriz’s minimalist, slightly monastic cooking style isn’t for everyone. Still, when he’s good, he’s brilliant: witness his Idiazábal cheese gnocchi in ham bouillon and his...
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Narru
Chef Iñigo Peña’s relaxed restaurant with a soothing almost Scandinavian décor of blonde wood and cement floors in the Hotel Niza is one of the hottest tickets in town. Why? Peña, who previously cooked at Arzak and Mugaritz, dazzles with...
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Restaurante Kokotxa
In a food-mad city, this is the under-the-radar Michelin-starred table you don’t want to miss. The name refers to a great Basque specialty, the gelatinous meat from the heads of certain fish, particularly hake and cod, that is usually cooked...
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Saltxipi
This beautiful rustic restaurant with big wood beams overhead and terra cotta tiles underfoot is run by the charming Ortega Añorga family. Talented chef Jon Ortega runs the kitchen, while his brother Gorka looks after the dining room. The house...
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Sebastian
This charming restaurant within the walled old city of Hondarribia serves traditional Basque cuisine and offers an excellent tasting menu.
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Xarma
Though the location on a busy avenue near a highway overpass may lack some charm, chefs Xabier Diez and Aizpea Oihaneder’s restaurant is a real insider’s address for some of the most exciting contemporary Basque cuisine in San Sebastián. The...
Spanish Basque Region

Courtesy Mugaritz
The Basque Country, divided between Spain and France, is one of the world’s great gastronomic destinations. Bordered by the sea on one side and the Ebro valley on the other, the region boasts a wealth of natural resources that that have long contributed to its elite culinary status. In the Spanish Basque Country, the pretty Belle Époque resort town near the French border called Donostia–San Sebastián has several Michelin-starred restaurants in its constellation of starred tables. There’s also superb eating in Bilbao, and in many smaller towns and villages in the region. San Sebastián now boasts a higher density of Michelin stars than Paris. Like in the rest of Spain, Basques dine at a late hour. Lunch generally starts around 2 p.m., and dinner won’t begin until 10 p.m.