On Calle Bidebarrieta, the handsome street that runs up from the Arenal into the heart of the Siete Calles, El Txoko Berria is the kind of neighbourhood bar bilbaínos defend with conviction. The counter is dense with carefully built pintxos, the staff move fast, and the clientele is local rather than touring. This is the old town eating the way it actually eats.
Location
Casco Viejo, Bilbao
Map
Insider Intel
The made-up hot pintxos behind the counter — ask what just came out of the kitchen. The mushroom and the cod preparations are reliably good.
Friday and Saturday evenings when Bidebarrieta and the surrounding Siete Calles hum with the txikiteo. Weekday lunch is quieter and easier.
On Calle Bidebarrieta in the Casco Viejo, the street climbing from the Arenal into the old town — solidly local despite the central address. Pair it with the nearby Plaza Nueva and Santa María bars for a proper old-town pintxo crawl.