In the Basque country's food capital, dinner means a slow walk through the old town, one small plate and one glass of txakoli at a time.
The Parte Vieja crams dozens of pintxos bars into a few blocks, each with a counter piled high with skewered bites — anchovy and pepper, tortilla wedges, seared foie gras on bread. The etiquette is simple: order one or two pintxos and a glass, eat standing at the bar or on the street, then move on to the next place. Nobody stays for a full meal in one spot.
Some bars are famous for a single dish, and it's worth crossing town for it: a gilda (the original pintxo, a skewer of anchovy, olive, and guindilla pepper), a mushroom pintxo grilled to order, a warm croqueta that shatters on the first bite. Keep a mental tally of your toothpicks — that's how the bill gets calculated at the end.
Go early evening to catch the first wave before it gets three-deep at the bar, and save one night for a sit-down meal at a sidrería in the hills above town, where cider is poured from height and the only choices are steak, cod omelette, and how much you can eat.
