In a town where pintxos run rampant, it's hard to differentiate between the standard and superb. El Globo is one place I am sure deserves a special nod. If I visited the Land of Oz and could ask for one thing before coming here, I would beg for a larger stomach to fit in all the amazing bites. They have everything ranging from common tortilla to inventive banana wrapped in bacon and tempura-fried stuffed artichoke hearts. Trust me, this is a bar you want to take your time at. Mainly because they constantly bring out new platters full of things you cannot help but want to try. From the outside, it make look intimidatingly crowded but once inside, you quickly realize these people have their work down to a tee and will get you your food and drink in no time. So embrace the chaos because out of it comes something delicous! read more

Such a great experience! We are only 2 year spanish students, and basque country's spanish is a bit different... but the whole service team was kind and patient, teaching us how the system worked, and offering pistos suggestions. House wine was 1.50€ and each snack was 2.5€. House fois gras bruleed on toast was absolutely perfection, and the mollusk/anchovies/seaweed salad pisto was bright and fresh. We tried about 10 snacks and enjoyed them all! It's a tight space, to wedge your way in to the bar to place a drink/snack order, and get ready to move around a lot-- meet new people, and have some fun. When in bilbao, do as they do! and enjoy:) read more

Best pinchos, tapas, and raciones in Bilbao. Located in a busy commercial area and the place can get busy, but what do you expect with one of the most popular pinchi and tapas bar in the world! The place is filled with business men, turists, locals, hipsters, small families,world travelers, and everything in between. This is a must stop destination if you are inthe area. Nothing fancy, walk up to the bar ask for one or point to what you want and it will be served to you quickly. They have seafood, cheese, meat, and veggie selections and a full bar. This is Spain try a few, get a few drinks, and off for more fun. Just make sure to stop here. read more

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This bar is right off the metro stop at Moyua so it's hard to miss! Great selection of Pintxos and drinks! It's nice because there is seating inside as well as lots of places to sit outside when enjoying drinks with friends. I highly recommend this place- it also has fewer tourists than the bars near the Guggenheim or in Casco Viejo read more

I'm glad I waited to write this review. We are in San Sebastián now, the place everyone talked about as having the best food. We went to four different restaurants in the old quarter for pintxos - supposedly the best, and none compared with El Globo. The freshness of ingredients and taste combinations made each piece exceptional. We we're especially taken by the mushrooms with cheese, anything with blue cheese, and the queso with pate. I got a second one and took it apart, the pate was to die for, and in this case took a back seat to the cheese. The wines were good and then thoroughly enjoyed the sangria although many may object to its lack of purity. We ate and drank for well over a hour and our bill was under 40 Euros. Highly recommend. read more

El Globo - Quest with pate. Be still my heart. - Basque Near Me - Bilbao, BI

Delicious food - best place we ate in Bilbao. Pintxos were phenomenal. The staff were really friendly and welcoming too.

This was my first pintxos bar experience (though I've had lots of tapas while in Spain) and it was fantastic. Very busy, so you've gotta be bolder than Americans are used to to get service, but the waitresses are fast and kind even when rushing around. I loved the artichoke tempura and avocado toast. read more

Fantastic ! Packed, lively & super tasty. Politely, steadily but assuredly make your way thru the crowd to the tapas bar and order away. Iberican jamon con blended tomatoes in an olive oil. Bien ! Foie gras on toasted bread with olive oil and spices, subliminal. Cannot leave. Cannot stop. Must bring to Sacramento... read more

El Globo - Basque Near Me - Bilbao, BI

Great Pintxos. Decided to dine here while running around Bilbao. Just left San Sebastian so maybe my review isn't so fair on account everything is s delicious in San Sebastian. I ordered the Confit de Pato (Duck Confit) con Patatitas asadas y Cebolla Confitadas and it was good but wasn't blown away. It's worth a go-to while in Bilbao. read more

El Globo, and especially Patty, made our last night in Bilbao one to remember. We decided to check it out based on the other excellent Yelp reviews. When we showed up it was very lively which was good. We found a relatively quiet spot at the end of the bar and were fortunate to have Patty help us. We got duck confit and anchovies and Txakoli. The duck confit was a large portion and fantastic. Anchovies also great. We saw another pinxtos flying off the bar and asked Patty about it. It was the spider crab which she said was a specialty. Got a couple of those and some more txakoli. Yum. Had with a couple desserts with some Pedro Ximenez and finished with some shots that were also a specialty. We just loved El Globo. We felt very welcome. Better food and cooler atmosphere than the bars we had been to in the old town. Patty was superb - friendly, fun, and quick to notice if we needed something even though she was serving the bar and the tables. She loved us as soon as she found out we were from Boston. :-) Hoping to get back to Bilbao and El Globo someday. read more

Great spot with great Pintxos. Nice selection of wine and everything else. This should be your first stop to judge all other Pintxos bars. Thanos approved and enjoy a Gin & Tonic or whatever ETOH you prefer! read more

El Globo - Thanos shall conquer this huge Gin & Tonic with the help of lesser known drinking gem!! - Basque Near Me - Bilbao, BI

Came here on our first day... because of good reviews. Glad we came. Fun place for tapas and bacalao! Lovely outdoor ambiance. Friendly service. A must to visit in Bilbao! read more

Great place for lunch. The pinxtos were great, and it's fun to people watch here. Really enjoyable. read more

El Globo - Basque Near Me - Bilbao, BI

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This place has some great pintxos. They had numerous seafood options that were delicious. This place gets busy and it's pretty obvious why. Great tapas at a fair price read more

This was one of the best pinxto bars we visited on our trip to the Basque region. The staff were fast, cheerful and friendly despite a busy afternoon. The sardine over egg salad and gazpacho were my favorites. read more

Wow! this restaurant was jammed when we arrived. The location is very centric, (calle peatonal) this means no cars can drive on the street in this specific area. The corner is full of life, full of joy. Many people drinking and eating on the street bc there are not enough tables for everybody. We were lucky we got a table outside in the terraza, but be aware, if you sit outside in the terraza you have to deal with the damn cigaret smoke from everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY. Here they smoke like there is no tomorrow. Don't even try to complaint, just deal with it, or don't go in the terraza. Let's review the food. Pinchos, Tapas, raciones were excellent! The way this work is: you go inside you pick the food you want (all food is ready to pick from the bar) you tell the lady in the bar what you want and what table you are sitting at and then another waitress will bring the food to you. This place is centric and mixed with local and tourists, a combination of both. I would have given 5 stars to EL Globo, but bc i had to deal with so much smoke my experience wasn't pleasantly the best. But the food was super delicious! Also our waitress was super awesome! read more

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Delicious fish, barrata, salad, and croquettes. Our server was wonderful too - definitely recommend

Well they say good things come in small packages and with El Globo, excellent Pintxos comes in a small package. After viewing the Guggenheim Bilboa, we strolled the short distance to El Globo on the Yelp recommendations. Wow! The husband and wife who have run El Globo for more than 20 years could not be more warm and friendly. Not knowing what to select, we were brought their best Pintxos. Amazing. We ultimately tried 6 different Pintxos. The Bacalao Gratinado was to me on a level of its own. The Gratinado was so light and creamy but with the perfect level of Bacalao. Thank you for such a wonderful afternoon. read more

I don't get this place. The pintxos are lukewarm at best. Maybe that's how they're supposed to be served? The best pintxo was their goat cheese con tomate. Either way not a fan and you have to spend at least 10 euros here before they will take a credit card payment. read more

You should visit if you want to taste good pintxos in bilbao. such a great place! spider crab dish is the best! read more

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How do they make the pintxos so darn good? Crab with cheese, peppers, squid, all elevated to art. Lots of tourists, but that makes the staff work their English. I wish I lived close enough to visit often. read more

Very nice! Stopped by for a late lunch, and experienced the best croquettes in Spain. Almost perfect. For the Spanish challenged, several staff spoke English and were quite helpful in choosing what to order. Highly recommended. read more

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Pretty darn tasty pinchos. Foie a la plancha was fantastic - had 2- order it up. Salchichon wasn't shabby either. Stake out your place at the bar and order from the same waiter- makes life much easier. read more

This was was a total zoo on a Saturday night - we were lucky to get a place to stand at the bar. But the food was well worth it. The foie on toast was perfectly cooked and their selection of riojas was great. The jamon iberico was perfect, and they also had some good seaweed dish. Try to get a table but it's not to be missed. read more

El Globo is classic. They expect you to know their dumb system. There are two separate bars with the same pintxos. Walk in point to some shit and get a beer. You will blend in. read more

By far my favorite in Spain, so delicious with a real bar ambiance. Drink some wine or sangria with your pintxos. Everything is good, I tired almost all. read more

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Great, typical, full of locals, tapas place. Ask for suggestions on warm tapas. Great service, a little too busy at times. Everyone knows them. read more

The pintxos here are great and very different than the other places I went to. The house wine was good too

The foie is so amazing! All the tapas here were cheap, creative and very very tasty. Similar to Bergara in San Sebastián with the variety and range of ingredients. Also very close to the Guggenheim. read more

The pintxos were fantastic. I had one with crab salad, one with salmon, a friend artichoke, a morcilla (my favourite), and a little sausage in a roll. These made for a very satisfying dinner, with two glasses of rose to wash it down. It was also very reasonably priced - all this came to about 13 Euro. They do accept cards, but not Amex. The older bartender spoke a little English and was very personable and friendly, although I have a sneaking suspicion that he was making fun of me with the ladies standing next to me. read more

Favorite pintxo bar in Bilbao by far. I highly recommend the Morcilla, which is covered nuts (strange but delish). The goat cheese with peppers is outstanding, Txangurro is fantastic as well,...you really can't go wrong here. read more

Don't skip this amazing place. Seafood is all the time my favorites. Salmon and king prawn was my choice this time. But try to have jamon plate. And they have proper wine as well read more

El Globo - Basque Near Me - Bilbao, BI

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A wonderful place to stand with friends over wine an pinchos. A bit crowded, because the locals love it too. The vegetarian pocket was amazing, and so was the goat cheese with onion marmelade. But mostly the atmosphere and friendly service. read more

This place is wonderful. The pintxos are all outstanding and inexpensive; the crowd is a nice mix of locals and tourists; and even with Good Friday crowds (in 2016), the bartenders had no trouble keeping up with everyone's orders and making sure that we heard them when our pintxos were ready. And they were so nice! Even with massive numbers of people to serve, they were smiling and patient. All of the pintxos in Bilbao were gorgeous, but these made me forget the rest existed. Just delicious. And the bar itself feels like it's out of a fairy tale, like a Pub from Lord of the Rings (minus the bad guys). I wish I could eat here every month. read more

We went to El Globo since it was the highest rated place in the area, but I was sorely disappointed. We got a table outside and it was evident them at there was not enough wait staff for the number of customers. We asked 2 questions about the menu and the waitress told us to hurry as she had other customers. That has never happened to me and frankly took me by surprise. After that, the service continued to be sub-par and the food average. Great online ratings but needs to take a look at it standard of service. Pinxtos were good. read more

What's the big fuss? Maybe it's so long to the neighborhood that reputation has become entrenched. (An octogenarian local literally hovered over tables for 15m waiting for his special corner seat!). That said, suggest making a meal of at least two helpings of hot prawns! Other stuff standard but at a fairly high level. No complaints. read more

Had some amazing pintxos here - the best I had in Bilbao so far. Busy place, but good atmosphere. :)

This was the perfect spot to start off a nice short visit to Bilbao. The ambiance was perfect (outdoors and relaxed). We had about 8 pintxos and all were fresh and tasty. Service was attentive and friendlier than my typical expectations for European restaurants. Overall I would highly recommend stopping by before or after the Guggenheim, or any other adventure that brings you to Bilbao. Thumbs up! read more

Very good selection of pintxos, friendly English speaking staff, enough room st the bar and at the tables, good location.

After traveling all over Spain, this is definitely on my list of places you must try. The food in Bilbao is excellent in general, but for the price, you won't find better than this. We actually ate here twice on a 3 day trip, once for a meal, and once for tapas. Amazing both times. read more