Gandarias

This place is amazing. The food is excellent and perfectly prepared. The staff is very friendly. We had the filet and the bacalao pil-​pil. Both were excellent.

The staff speak English but always best to try your Spanish. This place is known for its grilled steak pintxos (solomillo) and it’s the most juicy, tasty bite of steak you’ll probably ever have.
A glass of local white costs 1,70 euros and food anywhere from 2 to 5.
You can sit for dinner but you have to stand for pintxos (normal here). Quite lively here from and early hour and also seems to stay open later than others.

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

Serving the best quality traditional Basque fish dishes you will find anywhere, with helpful friendly waitstaff that explains in excellent English foods that you likely will not find outside of San Sebastian. We tried hake kokotxas, a delicacy for the Basque but a bit «mushy» for American taste. Excellent flavors though. The wine list was extensive and included more local Basque wines (a pinot noir *red* txakoli!). Our bill seemed higher than that from many of their competitors, but perhaps it was just because we got carried away during our two meals there.
Gandarias was recommended both by our hotel and by a very friendly fishmonger at the Bretxa market as someplace that is «always open.» What this means is you can get a full meal any time between 11:00 and midnight.

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.

I got Gandarias multiple times on my trip to San Sebastian. I’m really itching to go back!

Friendly bartender, good food, good drink, what else can you asked for? Definitely recommend this place. They warm tapas in the toaster or something cause the bread & tart comes out warm & crispy. Worth the money.

Best steak in the world. Best tomato salad in the world. And their wine was also perfect

I was only in San Sebastian for 4 days, but managed to come for pinxos here 3 separate times. It’s pretty much always crowded, so squeeze your way to a spot at the bar and park it there until you’ve ordered everything your heart desires.
This place was 3 minutes from my guesthouse, and the first sampling of pinxos I got in San Sebastian. Definitely not disappointed.
Gandarias is not the place for the «fancy» pinxos with the frills. Here, you ask for solid, hearty (but still delicious) bites. Bacalao and foie gras are both solid options, but my favorites were the solomillo and the pimientos de padron. The solomillo would run out pretty early in the night — a clear indicator of its deliciousness. Padron peppers are not techincally pinxos as they’re a full plate, but still delicious.
Order at the bar, off the chalkboard. Always guaranteed to better than what’s sitting out.
Enjoy!

So dang good! We were there on a very busy Saturday afternoon, the day of the regatta during the Basque festival. My oh my was it awesome! We had to sit in Plaza de la Trindad across the street because it was so packed. I had to go in and grab each of our pintxos as they were ready.
The food was simply amazing… so well done, prepared with care, and clearly full of high quality fresh ingredients. The hot pintxos off the meny board were all super succulent. TRY THE BROCHETAS!

It was awful! Waiters mixed up all the dishes! Instead of lamb brought duck, instead of still and small water brought big sparkling bottle, tried to open another wine. But the steak was even worse. A cook made it as Shaurma. The same picture was at the next table.

I feel like Gandarias is overrated, the food is just not that great. As its one of the most popular pinxtos bars, it’s completely manic and not somewhere you want to visit if you’ve just arrived.

This is THE place for steak (solomillo) brochette.
Other grilled meat brochettes are pretty tasty too (lamb, duck, etc).
Avoid the fried shrimp — it’s 90% batter, 10% shrimp.

What a first meal in San Sebastian. Rolled in at 11:00 pm and was seated within 5 minutes. The service was average, she was a little rushed and annoyed with my rusty spanish but not too bad.
The Navarra asparagus and Tomato, Tuna, Onion salad were great. The star of the meal was the Iberica pork loin with cheese sauce and cous cous… wow. I don’t think I’ve ever had a better pork dish.

Gluten Free Pintxos Here!
Just do as they suggest and ask «firmly» for «sin gluten.» Don’t let the crowds scare you off.

I still dream about this place!
Food was simple and good (solomillo and setas plates were my favorites).
Tip: go earlier than the regular lunch crowd (11AM when they open). Sure you’ll look extra touristy but you won’t have to elbow anyone to get food :)

Uno de los mejores para comer pintxos. De gran calidad y a buen precio. En especial el solomillo y rissoto.

After so many pinxto bar hopping, we finally decided to enjoy a nice sit down meal at Gandarias. This place is always super busy so highly recommend booking in advance as we tried to walk in quite early one evening and they were fully booked.
Among 4 girls, we ordered the ox foie gras, ox cheeks, and a chuleton — plus a bottle of red wine. Portions are HUGE so definitely recommend going with a group to share. They also bring over the uncooked chuleton which is about a kg. Everything was delicious and cooked perfectly. We were a bit overloaded with food in general by this meal but definitely the place to go for some good hearty food. Best part is — it came out to only € 27 pp!
Will definitely come back for the pinxtos!

Solomillo! That’s the name of the pintxo you should order here. It’s the most tender steak you will ever bite into atop a crusty piece of bread. So simple, so tasty, so inexpensive!

My favorite restaurant on earth, best steak I have ever had.
The also have live lobsters and a variety of fish and seafood, all with tables and chairs to sit. They also have a very busy (standing room only) tapas section, with excellent tapas (particularly the made-​to-​order items).
Excellent wine selection available by the bottle or glass.

Put our name down for table for two at 9 and had a table at 9:45. Not bad., comfortable almost fine dining area. We walked around and then come back to try a few pintxos.
— solomillo — slightly chewy and lean with excellent beef flavor. Definitely be back for this.
— broqueta gamba — mmmm, cooked well and tasty but nothing I would come back for.
— foie grad a la plancha — .5 cm slice of seared foie gras on a .5 cm baguette slice. A small dollop of something coulis on top. Very good and the best foie gras I’ve had in Spain definitely. (not the best ever but for 2.55 €…a must try)
Then onto dinner in the dining room.
We had a bottle of house rose, pretty good.
— Risotto with mushrooms — actual risotto (not orzo) over puréed mushrooms. Was over salted for me but oh soooo good. ⁸⁄₁₀
— grilled green Padron peppers — excellent! Blistered but not burnt, still vibrant green with just the right amount of salt and oil. However I felt it pricey at 6.5 €. 8.5÷10
— roasted suckling pork — a baby hoof with crackling good skin came with french fries.
Was very good. ⁸⁄₁₀.
— roasted duck breast — large breast (2.5 «x 7») cooked medium rare with three slices of super salty potatoes. So-​so duck. 6.5÷10
Dinner bill came to 59 €.
Oh and the bread is so darned good. I rarely like crust but this bread roll was crunchy without being dry or hard. The center was dense yet fluffy at the same time. I want more of that bread!
Returned on Monday since the other places we wanted to try are closed today. (Zeruko and La Vina)
Tried the beef cheeks today, it was very different from the other chunks of beef cheek we’ve tried. This was sliced and in a gravy like sauce, almost tasted like beef tongue to me. ⁴⁄₁₀.

One of my faves in San Sebastian. The service was OK, but I enjoyed all the pintxos at Gandarias.
It was a bit of a struggle to make conversation because not many people spoke English. I did manage to get by with my three years of Spanish in high school.
Recommend this place as one of your stops on your San Sebastian pintxos crawl.
Don’t forget to mind your manners and throw that dirty paper napkin on the floor. Get the txakoli as well as this is the drink of choice in the region, although I did see more people drink reds here at the pintxos bar and beer.

Encontramos este restaurante buscando por internet. De todas formas es muy fácil moverte por los sitios recomendados, nosotros nos fijamos que algunos sitios estaban llenísimos y en otros sólo estaba el camarero y sus pobres montaditos. La verdad es que una que es sentimental se queda con las ganas de darle una oportunidad al bar de solitario, pero oye, haciendo caso al dicho nosotros fuimos donde va la gente.
De la experiencia del local no se puede destacar mucho porque básicamente es lo mismo de siempre: estar de pie, hacer cola para pedir, tomarte el pintxo como sardinas en lata y luego a la calle de nuevo en busca de mas.
De la comida destacar el pintxo de solomillo que estaba de muerte. Pedimos otro que no nos gustó demasiado. Nos quedamos con ganas de catar el de champis así que no tendremos más remedio que volver.

Un clásico entre los bares de pintxos de Donostia. La cocina está abierta todo el día y además de los pintxos y las raciones, también se pueden comer platos clásicos, pescados del día o buenos chuletones.

One of many Pintxos Bars in the area, the concierge at the Hotel Maria Christina recommended I stop in and get the gambas (shrimp). I ordered one order of the gambas and the chorizo wrapped in bacon. The latter was excellent, but when I first bit into the gambas, they were so delicious that I looked up to the guy who took my order and told him I would need another order. The shrimp was cooked perfectly with a little bacon between each one and a salsa on top. I’ve never had a dish quite like it and it was amazing. Worth dropping in to have a couple of orders of the gambas with a beverage and move on to the next spot.

Nunca había estado en San Sebastián… Mis conocidos vascos me dijeron que tenía que conocer la «parte vieja» e ir por ahí de pinchos. Que maravilla de ciudad y de gente, me lo pasé bomba paseando por allí. Uno de los restaurantes que me llamaron la atención fue este, el Gandarias, repleto de gente hasta los topes aglomerada enfrente de la barra, pensé: «si está así por algo será». Así que entré y hice mis 10 minutos de cola, que merecieron la pena. Pedí una brocheta de langostinos que estaba para morirse… También el montadito de solomillo me pareció espectacular, se deshacía en la boca y con una sabor sublime. Como en la mayoría de los sitios, se ha de comer de pie, y hay una ambientazo que es demasiado. Además, justo ese día celebraban el 200 aniversario de la reconstrucción de la ciudad después de que Napoleón la destruyera, y fue increíble ver la gente danzando, música típica, gigantes… No me quiero ir!!!

We were in Spain for 14 days and felt this was one of the best places for tapas. We strolled around and while we had a few ideas from travel books, and this place was also featured, there were so many people speaking Spanish, throwing napkins on the floor, that we knew this place would be good.
Service was great, we were able to ask questions and navigate the language barrier together. Food was outstanding. If you are trying to navigate the overwhelming amount of food options in San Sebastian, this is a great place to checkout.

Casa Gandarias,
Es un excelente lugar donde premia la calidad de su genero, segun entras a mano derecha una barra repleta de excelentes pintxos y al fondo el asador donde las brasas hacen su trabajo junto a la mano experimentada de los cocineros, mi recomendación una de jamon, la ensalada gandarias que esta hecha con base de txangurro y un rape a la brasa… ahisss mis glandulas salivares estan empezando a despertarse jeje
Por cierto cuentan con una amplia carta de vinos, perfectamente climatizados.

Hier soll es die besten Tapas überhaupt geben — zumindest die Besten, die eine Spanienkennerin kennt.
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Típico lugar de poteo en la parte vieja Donostiarra. El local no es muy grande. Tiene la zona de la barra para el txiquiteo y un restaurante el fondo.
El pintxo que más me gusta de este bar es el llamado ‘Duo’ que consite en una pelotita de queso de cabra envuelto en bacon. Es muy pequeñito (apenas 2 bocados) pero muy bueno (si os gusta el queso de cabra, claro). Creo que vale unos 2 euros. La gente come aquí unos champis que hacen como en brocheta que tampoco están mal pero que para mi gusto son más normales. De todas formas en la barra tienen montones de pintxos distintos donde elegir. Y también hay pizarras donde te ponen más pintxos que los expuestos. Algo que me agrada mucho de este local es que el vino te lo ponen en una gran copa y a mí me sabe mejor que en los típicos vasitos de vino que utilizan en la mayoría de los bares de Donosti.