Pintxos are more than just a delicious nibble. They are a culture. Discover the world of Spain’s Basque country pintxos, from the ingredients to the people behind them, in this article by Edward Placidi. 

Save this article about Pintxos in Basque Country to Pinterest to keep it handy. Photos by Edward Placidi. Graphic by RealFoodTraveler.com.

Bar hopping for drinks and tapas is one of the joys of traveling in Spain.  In Spain’s Basque Country, pintxos ‒ the Basque spin on tapas ‒ are all the rage.

The first time I patronized a pintxos (pronounced peen-chos) bar, I asked the proprietor what the difference is between tapas and pintxos. The answer I got left me scratching my head: “Pintxos are like a pinch on the arm, a surprise, because of the strong flavor when you bite into one.”

The next several pintxos places I went to I asked if the description had any merit. I got nothing but smirks, laughter and heads shaking “no,” one barman told me I was the butt of a joke. It was Miguel, the larger-than-life barman at Fermín Calbetón Bar in San Sebastian, who put pintxos in perspective for me. Radiating Basque pride and joy, carefully enunciating and conjugating his well-practiced English, he explained: “Back when people traveled by horse, families would open their houses to passing travelers making money by providing drink and food. They served mostly wine and small portions ‒ such as olives, chunks of cheese, pieces of ham ‒ served on the little sticks we call pintxos. This evolved into our pintxos culture of today.”

The smiling face of Miguel of Fermin Calbetón Bar and some of the pintxos he sells.

And what it has evolved into is an explosion of creativity and colorful, tasty abundance ‒ always-changing culinary constructions employing an array of ingredients from Iberico ham and Basque cheeses to olives and anchovies, displayed on the counters of bars packed with people drinking and delighting in the tasty treats. Walking into a pintxos establishment is an immediate “wow” moment as your eyes feast on all the different concoctions and your mouth is instantly watering.

Pintxos employ typical Basque ingredients and are creative, colorful and tasty.

Arguably the biggest change since the early days of pintxos, and probably what sets them most apart from tapas, is they are almost always assembled atop a slice of a baguette-like bread. “There was no bread back in the beginning,” emphasized Miguel, “because bread was only for the rich at that time.” The bread typically is dressed with four or five ingredients, in many combinations.

The pintxos themselves, the little sticks or spikes, actually are not as prominent today. Some bars don’t use them at all, others sparingly. Occasionally, you’ll find an old-school establishment where all the pintxos are still skewered with a large toothpick; they provide a plate, you self-choose the ones you want, all the concoctions are the same price, and when you are finished, they count your toothpicks and charge accordingly.

Typically today, however, a barman does it for you: point to the pintxos you want and he plates them (if they are supposed to be served warm, he’ll pop them in a microwave), pours your drinks, then passes it all over the bar to you along with utensils and napkins. Juggling everything, you are usually on your own to find a table.

Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

Pintxos bar hopping in Bilbao, the Basque Country’s largest city and home to the inimitable Guggenheim Museum, began with a song. Maneuvering our way through the crowds spilling out into the streets from the bars with wine and beer glasses in hand, we found our first stop, Vectes Bar. We’d gotten our order and sat down, when suddenly we heard the melodic voices: Some dozen men in matching neck bandanas were crooning traditional Basque tunes on a side street. The bar almost emptied, crashing out the side door, to sing along and clap afterwards.

Basque Singers at Vectes Bar in Bilbao.

Back inside, we dived into the delicious and masterfully presented pintxos, for a complete Basque experience at Vectes Bar: deviled egg with anchovy bits topped with a shrimp and a green picholine olive; smoked salmon with arugula and cream cheese on flat bread; a mushroom cap filled with goat cheese on Iberico ham on a baguette; a tiny, seeded bun with marinated peppers, lettuce and nutty Idiazabal sheep’s milk cheese. A local dark-blond lager, the malty and full-bodied 18/70 La Rubia, was a refreshing accompaniment.

Pintxos at Vectes Bar in Bilbao.

The next stop was the elegant, wood-paneled Bilau Picoteo Bar where we indulged on a baguette slice topped with sautéed zucchini and rounds of goat cheese with berry jam on tap (jam and cheese is a popular combination here, and delicious together); and a mini glazed poppy and sesame seed bun stuffed with strips of rare steak, mesclun lettuces, tomato, basil leaves and aioli. The wine we chose was a favorite pairing with pintxos here, Txakoli, a low-alcohol, very dry white aperitif wine that encourages the flavors of the pintxos to pop.

At Plaza Gran Via Bar, we mixed it up and had a sangria with our pintxos ‒ a real sangria made-to-order: start with a large goblet with ice, add vermouth, brandy, Cointreau, red wine, slices of lemon and lime, then mix with a long spoon while topping with tonic drizzled down the spoon. The bold, multi-layered flavor of the sangria went well with mushroom carpaccio with pork loin pate and cherry jam, and a vegetable compote topped with cod, both on a baguette slice.

San Sebastian’s old town.

Hungry for more? Read Ed’s article about the key ingredients in Sicilian cuisine.

San Sebastian, some 65 miles north of Bilbao, also on the Atlantic coast, is the tourism mecca of the Basque Country. The Old Town, with its elaborate casement windows and wrought-iron streetlamps and balconies, is dense with pintxos bars. The pintxos were especially creative and tasty here, and you have to elbow your way into the more popular ones. Because everything looked so delicious, we never made it more than a few steps down the road, or even just right next door, before we stopped again to order.

At Beti Ai Bar, we sipped Txakoli while munching on a mouth-watering pie-crust cup filled with sautéed mushrooms and cream cheese with crispy bacon on top. At Restaurante Zumeltzegi, we bit into a mini hamburguesa with medium-rare roast beef, sheep’s-milk cheese, caramelized onion and tomato on a soft brioche, and smoked salmon on a baguette with queso fresco and anchovies.

Munto in Old Town San Sebastian serves delicious grilled octopus pintxos.

A Restaurante Munto highlight was grilled octopus on slices of baked potato dusted with paprika on bread. At Fermín Calbetón Bar, we enjoyed a mini egg-bread loaf filled with blue cheese and topped with strips of cooked ham and caramelized onion bits, and a unique one recommended by Miguel ‒ the only pintxos without a bread base as well as the only vegetarian one we came across: a tiny mason jar filled with a cold gazpacho-like vegetable soup with a toothpick balanced atop offering a green olive, a piece of roncal cheese and a chilied sun-dried tomato.

Gazpacho in mason jar with olive, cheese, and sundried tomato at Fermin Calbeton Bar in San Sebasian.

The dazzling displays of pintxos were often huge – up to a dozen varieties with as many as 10-15 of each on a serving plate lined up on the bar under a glass shelf.  The pintxos on offer are always changing, fluctuating with the creative urges of the bar staff on any given day. But they are always colorful, use favorite ingredients of the Basque Country and invariably are surprisingly unique and tasty. Maybe the barman who was supposedly putting me on by describing the Basque tidbits as being like a pinch on the arm ‒ a surprise every time you bite into one ‒ wasn’t joking after all.

10-15 of each Pintxos are displayed on plates at the Basque Country Bars.

To learn more, here is the official tourism board website of the Basque Country.

-Story and photos by Ed Placidi

Make plans to go to Spain using RealFoodTraveler’s Expedia.com, Booking.com, or Viator.com affiliate links to help plan your trip and activities. Affiliate links do not change your searching functionality, pricing, or any other details of your travel. But RealFoodTraveler.com may receive a small commission to aid in the running of this site.

Frequently-asked questions about Pintxos:

Q: What type of food is pintxos?
A: It’s a small portion of food, typically served on a slice of bread, and often available for purchase at local bars in the Basque region of Spain.

Q: What is a pinchos in Basque Country?
A: Also known as “Pintxos,” they are similar to tapas and are small portions of food typically served on bread.

Q: What are Basque tapas called?
A: They are called Pintxos and are pronounced “peen-chos.”

Q: What is the difference between tapas and pintxos?
A: Pintxos are almost always assembled atop a slice of a baguette-like bread.