RFK Cuisine · Seafood · San Sebastián
Best Seafood Restaurants in San Sebastián 2026
Seafood · San Sebastián · 6 spots ranked · Updated June 2026
Reviewed by Daniel Whitford · Visited Q2 2026 · Senior Editor, Restaurants for Kings
San Sebastián's seafood lives in two places, and neither is a white-tablecloth fish restaurant. Half an hour west, in the fishing port of Getaria, Elkano grills whole turbot over coals so faithfully that chefs fly in from five continents to study it. In the city's Old Town, seafood is eaten standing up, one pintxo at a time, at counters that have been salting anchovies and skewering gildas since before the war. This is not a city for the grand seafood palace; it is a city for fire-grilled fish at lunch and a seafood bar crawl at night. Six addresses — the Getaria grills and the Old Town counters worth planning a day around — ranked on the cooking, the room and the value, with the order at each.
1.Elkano
The world's temple of grilled turbot; book Getaria for the whole rodaballo over coals — a pilgrimage worth the drive.
Elkano, at Herrerieta 2 in the fishing town of Getaria about thirty minutes west of San Sebastián, holds one Michelin star and ranked No.24 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 — extraordinary for a fish grill. Aitor Arregi runs the family restaurant his father Pedro built, and the signature is the whole turbot, rodaballo, grilled skin-on over coals and served filleted at the table, the prized gelatinous trimmings around the head set apart from the loin. The cooking is near-invisible: the boats land the fish, the fire does the rest. The dining room is plain and the focus total. Choose it for the single greatest seafood lunch in the Basque Country. Book weeks ahead, especially in summer, and reserve the turbot so a good one is set aside.
Book weeks out and reserve the whole turbot; share it for two, head end included, with txakoli.
2.Kokotxa
The Old Town's starred seafood kitchen; book Calle Campanario for a market-led tasting and the dish it's named for.
Kokotxa, tucked into Calle Campanario in San Sebastián's Old Town, holds one Michelin star under chef Daniel López and is the city's most serious sit-down seafood restaurant inside the walls. The name says everything: kokotxa, the prized gelatinous cheek of the hake, which López serves in the classic emulsified pil-pil and in modern guises across his market-driven tasting menus. The cooking follows the day's catch from the nearby ports, refined but rooted in Basque tradition. The dining room is small, calm and contemporary, a contrast to the standing bars outside. Choose it for a proper seafood dinner with a star when you want a table rather than a counter. Book a few days to a week ahead and take a tasting menu.
Book a week out; the hake-cheek pil-pil, then let the market tasting lead from there.
3.Bar Txepetxa
The Old Town's anchovy temple since 1947; walk in for the anchoa pintxos in their dizzying array of dressings.
Bar Txepetxa, on Calle Pescadería in the Old Town, has been the city's anchovy specialist since 1947 and is the single best reason to argue seafood pintxos are an art form. The counter offers cured anchovies — anchoas — laid over bread in around eight dressings, from the classic onion, olive oil and paprika to sea-urchin, spider crab and a famous blueberry jam that should not work and entirely does. It also pours one of the best gildas in town. The room is tiny, tiled and packed; you order at the bar and eat standing. Choose it for the best seafood pintxos counter in San Sebastián. There are no reservations — go early evening before the Old Town fills, and order several dressings to compare.
Walk in early evening; order three or four anchovy dressings and a gilda, with a glass of txakoli.
4.Borda Berri
The Old Town's best hot pintxos; squeeze in on Calle Fermín Calbetón for hake-cheek pil-pil cooked to order.
Borda Berri, on Calle Fermín Calbetón in the heart of the Old Town's bar run, is the counter serious eaters head to for hot, made-to-order pintxos rather than the trays sitting on the bar. Its seafood signature is the kokotxa in pil-pil, hake cheeks bound in a glossy garlic-and-oil emulsion that arrives bubbling, alongside its famous melting veal cheek for the table that wants both land and sea. Everything is cooked when you order it, so there is a short wait and a crush at the bar. The room is loud, narrow and brilliant. Choose it for the best cooked-to-order pintxo in the city. No reservations — arrive early, order at the counter and hold your ground.
Walk in early; the kokotxa pil-pil cooked to order, then whatever the chalkboard is pushing.
5.Bar Gandarias
The reliable Old Town classic; walk in on Calle 31 de Agosto for grilled prawns, salt cod and a perfect gilda.
Bar Gandarias, on Calle 31 de Agosto in the Old Town, is the dependable, polished classic of the San Sebastián pintxos circuit — busy from open to close and consistent in a scene that can be hit-or-miss. The seafood to order runs to grilled prawns, salt cod (bacalao) done several ways, and one of the most balanced gildas in town, the anchovy-olive-guindilla skewer that defines Basque bar snacking. It also does a famously good solomillo for anyone who needs a break from the sea. The room is roomier and more comfortable than the tiny specialists. Choose it as the steady anchor of a pintxos crawl. No reservations for the bar; you can book the small upstairs dining room for a sit-down meal.
Walk in any time; grilled prawns, salt cod and a gilda at the bar, then move on.
6.Casa Vallés
Where the gilda was born; walk in on Calle Reyes Católicos for the original anchovy skewer and old-school service.
Casa Vallés, on Calle Reyes Católicos just outside the Old Town, opened in 1942 and is widely credited as the birthplace of the gilda — the skewer of anchovy, green guindilla pepper and olive that became the first pintxo and the template for everything that followed. Ordering one here is a small act of culinary pilgrimage. Beyond it, the bar pours an excellent vermouth and serves classic Basque seafood snacks in a handsome, unmodernised room that has barely changed in decades. It draws locals more than tourists, which is its own recommendation. Choose it for the historical seafood pintxo and a glimpse of old San Sebastián. No reservations at the bar; go midday or early evening.
Walk in midday; order the original gilda and a vermouth, then a few seafood snacks.
How San Sebastián does seafood
The Basque seafood tradition splits cleanly in two. West of the city, the fishing ports of Getaria and Orio built a cult around grilling whole fish — turbot, hake, sea bream — over outdoor coals with almost no intervention, and Elkano turned it into a global pilgrimage. In San Sebastián itself, seafood is bar food: cured anchovies, hake cheeks, salt cod and the gilda, eaten standing at counters during a txikiteo, the Basque bar crawl, with a glass of cold txakoli poured from a height.
The practical reality is that the grills are destination lunches that need booking weeks ahead, while the pintxos bars take no reservations and reward timing — go early evening before the Old Town packs out, order one or two pintxos per bar, and keep moving. The ideal seafood day is a turbot lunch in Getaria and an Old Town crawl after dark. For the city's Michelin temples beyond seafood, see the San Sebastián dining guide; for the Cantonese counterpart, compare our best seafood in Hong Kong.
Where not to look for it
Skip these for serious seafood
The Parte Vieja bars with photos on the menu and trays sitting out all day. The Old Town has tourist counters that leave pintxos under lights for hours and chase the cruise crowd. The bars on this list cook to order or specialise in one thing done perfectly; if a counter is selling fifty identical, hours-old snacks to a queue of selfie sticks, walk one street over.
La Concha beachfront terraces charging a view tax. The promenade restaurants sell the bay more than the kitchen, with frozen seafood at a premium. For the real thing, the seafood is in the Old Town counters and the Getaria grills, not on a terrace facing the sand. Eat where the locals queue, not where the postcard points.
Frequently asked
What is the best seafood restaurant in San Sebastián?
Elkano, in the fishing town of Getaria about half an hour west of the city, is the answer most chefs give — a one-Michelin-starred grill where whole turbot is cooked over coals, ranked No.24 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025. In San Sebastian itself, Kokotxa in the Old Town holds a Michelin star for seafood-forward Basque cooking. For the casual side, the city's seafood lives at pintxos counters like Bar Txepetxa, whose anchovies are legendary. The best plan combines a Getaria grill lunch with an Old Town pintxos crawl.
Why is Getaria famous for grilled fish?
Getaria, a small fishing port west of San Sebastian, perfected cooking whole fish over outdoor wood and charcoal grills, and Elkano made the technique world-famous. The signature is rodaballo — whole turbot — grilled skin-on and basted, then served filleted at the table, with the gelatinous bits around the head prized above the loin. The town's grills cook the fish the boats land that morning, with almost no intervention beyond fire, salt and a vinaigrette. It is the purest expression of Basque seafood and a pilgrimage for chefs worldwide.
How much does seafood cost in San Sebastián?
A whole grilled turbot lunch at Elkano runs roughly €100 to €160 per person, market-priced by the size of the fish, before wine. Kokotxa's tasting menus land around €90 to €130. The pintxos bars are the value end entirely: a few seafood pintxos and a glass of txakoli at Txepetxa, Borda Berri, Gandarias or Casa Valles cost €15 to €30 a head, and you graze across several bars in a night. Budget for the grill as a destination lunch and the pintxos as the everyday meal.
Do you need to book seafood restaurants in San Sebastián?
Yes for the restaurants, no for the bars. Elkano books out weeks ahead, especially in summer, and the whole turbot is best reserved so the kitchen sets one aside; Kokotxa also needs a booking. The pintxos bars — Txepetxa, Borda Berri, Gandarias, Casa Valles — do not take reservations; you stand, order at the counter and move on, which is the whole point of a txikiteo, the Basque bar crawl. Go to the bars early evening before the Old Town fills, and book the grills well ahead.
What seafood pintxos should I order in San Sebastián?
Start with the gilda — the anchovy, olive and guindilla pepper skewer said to have been invented at Casa Valles — then work through the city's seafood classics. At Bar Txepetxa take the anchovy pintxos in their many dressings; at Borda Berri the kokotxa (hake cheeks) in pil-pil; at Bar Gandarias the grilled prawns and salt cod. Pair everything with a cold glass of txakoli, the slightly sparkling local white poured from a height. Order one or two pintxos per bar and keep moving.
More seafood, by city
More from RFK
Browse the full San Sebastián dining guide, compare the global picks in the best seafood worldwide, see the Cantonese counterpart in the best seafood in Hong Kong, plan a destination lunch at Elkano, line up a pintxos crawl through the Old Town, or open the full RFK cuisine index.
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