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    La Cepa

    4.1 (43 reviews)
    InexpensiveBasque, Spanish, Tapas Bars
    Closed Closed

    La Cepa Photos

    LA CEPA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Loud
    Casual
    Good for groups
    Good for kids

    Recommended Reviews - La Cepa

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    Aaron A.

    Whoa. Just whoa. Overwhelming when you walk in- cramped and super busy (standing room only on the weekend). Gets packed around 2100. Don't go in If you're a vegetarian. There are ham legs hanging from the ceiling. But the food and drinks are best around otherwise- I am a fish person and the seafood was wonderful. Everyone around me was getting the "jamon" plates and enjoying them. Lots of places in these packed streets. This one is worth your time

    Jamon iberico y idiazabal
    David H.

    Ended up stopping in here twice during our visit - Cepa was solid. The cheese and jamon iberico here were delicious, and we had the best calamari of our trip here. Long thin slices of squid, lightly battered. The sangria was decent, as was the cheesecake. The anchovies in oil were also delicious.

    Tortilla y anchovy toasts
    Gabrielle M.

    La Cepa was the first of MANY pintxos bars in San Sebastian. I enjoyed the anchovy toasts- both with ham and smoked salmon. The Spanish omelette (tortilla) wasn't my favorite, as this version had green bell peppers in it, which is unusual (only onions are typical). We also had a crabmeat and smoked salmon toast that was delicious. The warm goat cheese with pistachio and honey drizzle was also DIVINE! Cute little spot with both locals and tourists alike - you won't be disappointed.

    Light and fluffy cheesecake
    Nikki M.

    Delightful Pintxos at this hip and happening spot. They're famous for their anchovies with red and green peppers + chopped onions as well as the gavilla (ham and cheese). We finished up with a slice of cheesecake. More traditional than that of La Vina but also quite delicious. Bonus points for such friendly staff.

    Kim N.

    It's funny even though I dated someone Catholic for a long time, I still forgot how said Catholicism affected my ability to get food in Spain on Sunday nights. Well Bar La Cepa to the rescue. Not only that, amazing food to the rescue. Our original choice was obviously closed and I happened to remember this during my research. We arrived and it was crowded even at 1030pm. we took a spot at the bar closest to the kitchen which turned out to be a blessing. This is definitely one of the must do's in the old town central. Things you must know: -Their cured meats are awesome. They are known for their Jabugo and sausages. Take a good gander at what is hanging from the ceiling. -Their seafood on the plancha is also excellent. Hake and squid especially. Watch the chef do his magic if you're at the bar -They have some of the best bread I've ever had period. This includes all the Michelin star places in Spain and all over the world. There's a guy that makes it right behind the bar in this toaster oven-ish area. I could not get over how awesome that stuff was. you could fill up on that alone. Super nice people to boot. Definitely a gem in the area, but the locals all already know this. 4.5 stars

    Mixed salad & octopus.

    We chose this restaurant from a list of "top" sit down restaurants and it was actually a very average, old-fashioned tapas place. They definitely use canned and pre-prepared vegetables and the seafood was NOT the best quality for the price, compared to other meals we enjoyed during our four day stay.

    Jamon Iberico!
    Hugh S.

    Great jamon. Easy stop while walking the streets if San Sebastien. Stop in for a board of Jamon and stay for a glass if txakolina. Right between the two churches.

    Great pintxos.  Self serve.  Good wines & beer.
    Denny B.

    Countless varieties of pinxto are presented for patrons to glide by and put on their plates. Cost between 1-3€ per item, so one can get full on some extraordinary and tasty treats. We were able to get hard cider (sidra) and Txakoli (Basque white wine) here. Both of these traditional drinks are just as important as the pinxtos. Fast waiter service. Friendly bartenders. This is fast food done right.

    Candy glass tables was fun
    Eve K.

    Roomy pinxtos spot with a large menu and a fun take on the ham croquette. Food: 4, Service: 4, Atmosphere: 4 Cost to worth it rating: 3 Return worthiness: maybe Eve award: best use of ham in a croquette Highlights: - Fried Ham and cheese: instead of the standard croquette where little bits of ham is mixed with cheese, this has a large rectangular piece of thick ham on the middle and is served on a stick. They also don't have any pre-made but you ask for them so they are freshly fried for you. 5 stars. - Jamon and emmentaler bocadillo: liked the choice of cheese on this little thin sandwich. They also had a roquefort version it wouldn't been fun to try. 4 stars - Octopus: a version on a slice of bread (3 stars) or a full plate of slices pieces you order special (4 stars) - Open 11am (most wait til noon) - Tables to sit at and roomier than other smaller spots and an extra long and wide bar filled with plates. - Candy table: our table had a bunch of different candies under the glass which I thought was fun. - Staff: more helpful than other places we went to - Has desserts: I haven't seen many with that offering - Free wifi: for the traveller this is helpful Midlights: - Tortilla: eggs cooked the way I like more on the soft side but bit too oniony in this version. 3 stars - Fried milk: loved the concept but the outside was a little soggy. 3 stars - Calamari: big plate but not much flavor and the lemon wasn't ripe yet so we couldn't squeeze much juice out. 3 stars Lowlights - A lot on anchovy items if you're not an anchovy fan Our last stop gave us the fill we needed before heading out of town.

    1/2 ración surtido ibérico, the pâte was amazing!
    Carla D.

    Came to this restaurant specifically to taste their Iberico ham. We got half a board of a mix of hams which included a small piece of pâté. The ham was delicious and the portion was perfect for two of us to get a taste of it and still left us with enough room to continue tasting pintxos at different places.

    Txakolí
    Janice L.

    One of the larger pintxos places in the Parte Vieja. Get one of many "cold" pintxos from the long bar, and order hot pintxos and txakoli at your table. After standing for every meal, it was nice to actually sit. Standouts: Mushrooms and runny egg: a friend recommended this, which a sleeper hit amongst all the jamon and choriso plates. Delicious! Foie gras: buttery, oily goodness Sardine/mackerel/salmon cold tapas: I had several -- all were really good!

    Dennis C.

    Had the tortilla bacalao (omelette with bacalao), and jamon con emmenal here. Both were decent but nothing mindblowing. Bartender was very nice.

    Our selections
    Christine P.

    This was a great first stop at a traditional pintxos bar to learn how it's done. Favorite pintxos were the peppers, olive, and sardine, the ham, sardine and brie, and the tortilla espanola - perfectly runny and hot out of the oven.

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    3 years ago

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    7 years ago

    The service was bad and both fish dishes were tasteless. It's also the same cost as much better restaurants nearby

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    7 years ago

    Great iberico ham and wonderful peppers.

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    8 years ago

    Five stars. Solomillo is as good as steak gets. Everything else was five stars too. Spend some time here.

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    8 years ago

    Wonderful food here. Ox tail and the wild boar were especially nice surprises, but the pintxos were also delicious.

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    Page 1 of 2

    La Cepa Reviews in Other Languages

    Review Highlights - La Cepa

    We tried lots of pintxos topped with little sardines, as seems to be their thing at La cepa.

    Mentioned in 12 reviews

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    Atari Gastroteka - Foie gras with sweet corn and white chocolate

    Atari Gastroteka

    4.5(156 reviews)
    0.1 km
    €€

    not too long to move from standing bar to a table. pintxos blood sausage and shrimp done so well…read more the texture and flavor is approachable for all palates. pork belly with amazing citrus hummus was unique, also the hake with pea emulsion was tasty, pulpo was a large portion and worth it, beef cheek and mashed potato perfect

    Service was good and restaurant was nice not too crowded and lots of options to choose from on the…read moremenu. They also had the menu in english which is helpful. We opted for a few pintxos for lunch while we were visiting town. We also had a couple of drinks my husband got whiskey with coke and I asked for a local cocktail since I'm not much of a wine drinker. I was handed a cup of pacharán which was a bit strong but was nice to try something different. The pintxos came out one at a time which was nice we were able to fully enjoy each on their own. The bao was the only one I didn't really like mostly the bun part. It didn't taste like it was cooked all the way and was a bit gummy and there was not a lot of meat filling. Next was the lamb which was really tender and flavorful. The couscous was ok nothing special and not much seasoning to it. Then the beef cheek and mashed potatoes came out which was the star of the pintxos that we had. It was also very tender and the mash was also cooked perfectly. All of this was shared between the two of us and was very filling. The waiter let us know that some of the pinxtos could also be ordered in a full size if we wanted. We enjoyed sampling the pinxtos and would definitely recommend coming here to get a taste of local cuisine.

    Photos
    Atari Gastroteka
    Atari Gastroteka
    Atari Gastroteka

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    Astelena - Sea bass special, scallops, and beef tenderloin were all good choices on our table

    Astelena

    4.5(14 reviews)
    0.1 km
    €€

    I wandered around old town for HOURS wth my pintxo guide in hand. Many places were either way too…read morecrowded to get to the bar, the food looked not great, or had a terrible atmosphere. Finally, exhausted and delirious I stumbled into this rezi. Thankfully so! The server was so friendly even though my Spanish sucks. I immediately ordered a red sangria (Delish!) to calm my pintxo nerves. I settled into the bar and finally ordered the classic jamón ibérico. I used to think the ibérico was the region of the country but as I learned at the market, it's the cut of ham. Ibérico is very popular but I find there are better less fatty cuts but many bars only carry this. I digress! It was good and came with fluffy fresh bread, plentiful at that! (See pic). Then on a recommendation I ordered the beef carpaccio off the regular non pintxo menu. It was the best dish of my trip so far. It had chopped beef, onion, pickles!, and I think some horseradish sauce. I would fly back to Spain just to have this again. Go here, and order this.

    Bar Astelena was the first stop on our pintxos crawl and I would've been happy to spend the whole…read morenight here. The pintxos were delicious and aesthetically pleasing, and the portions were generous compared to some of the other traditional bars. The space was modern, colorful, and inviting. The large platter of Jamon Iberico was pork perfection (16€). We could see them slicing the meat from the large pork leg. The foie a la plancha had a nice presentation with coarse sea salt and fruit reductions, such a great value at 4€. The house wines were 2€. This was one of the culinary highlights of my European trip... I'd definitely go back on my next trip.

    Photos
    Astelena - Plaza de la Constitution

    Plaza de la Constitution

    Astelena
    Astelena

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    Gorriti - Pintxos

    Gorriti

    4.6(17 reviews)
    0.2 km

    It was around 11 am and I was surprised this place was open and serving pintxos and coffee. Seems…read morelike my clock is just in line with Spain and this was my first name of the day. The coffee wasn't as good as I've had another places, and I asked for a Caliente pitxo, which is supposed to be made fresh. He however, folded from under the bar and it was barely lukewarm. Only good part was it had nice flavoring. It's a small space with standing room only, but has a WC.

    Simple, old-school, and delicious. This place excels at old-school pintxod. No elaborate…read moreMichelin-star touches. No 21st-century twists. Just beautiful peppers, amazing fresh bread, blood sausage, and other sausages. Made fresh in-house and served by a couple of older gentlemen who could not possibly have been sweeter to me and my wife. It's the sort of spot where, when you're finished with your pinchos, you toss the wrappers and napkins on the floor and head out. I absolutely loved the vibe in here. As low-key as it could possibly get. The pace is unhurried, but the food reaches you quickly, and you will be blown away by the quality of the sausages, the peppers, the olives, the cheeses, the anchovies and sardines, and all the other basics done so flawlessly that you'll want to come back again and again. A special request for blood sausage was happily honored despite it needing to be stuffed and cut fresh. A perfect place to begin your Donostia journey, because you'll get Basque food as it is, not a fusion or an elevated reinterpretation. Plenty of places in the Old Town do modern takes very well, but this is the fundamentals, executed with perfection.

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    Gorriti
    Gorriti
    Gorriti - Selection of pintxos.

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    Selection of pintxos.

    Bar Néstor - Spanish Tortilla de Patata

    Bar Néstor

    4.7(159 reviews)
    0.1 km
    €€

    One of the best steaks I've ever had! To get a reservation you must show up at a designated time…read morefor same day reservations. For lunch get there around 11am. I think the lunch reservations are 1,2,3pm. For dinner get there at 5:30 pm for 8,9,10 pm seatings. They don't come out until 6-6:15 to take your name. They only take about 20 people per seating. Fixed menu. Torta, tomatoes, peppers and steak. They bring out raw bone in ribeyes and let you choose your steak. The steak comes out seared and raw on the inside on a sizzling cast-iron skillet. You are able to cook it to your liking on the skillet as you eat this incredible steak. No frills not totally worth the experience.

    If you come to San Sebastián and don't stop at Bar Néstor, you've skipped one of the city's great…read moreculinary rituals. This tiny, high‑energy bar in the Parte Vieja is famous for doing just a few things -- and doing them with absolute conviction. The lineup is legendary: the txuleta steak, the tomato salad, the Padrón peppers, and of course, the tortilla that sells out instantly. They make only two tortillas a day, and getting your name on the list feels like joining a local rite of passage. Here's the twist: although the tortilla is the most famous item, it actually wasn't our favorite version in the city. It's still fun to chase, still a cool story to tell, but the real stars of the meal were the steak -- charred, juicy, perfectly salted -- and the tomatoes, which taste like they've been engineered for maximum summer. They only make 2 tortillas a day, so you have to stand in line before they open to get a reservation for a slice. Inside, it's tiny, loud, and joyful. The staff runs the place with precision and a wink, and even when it's packed shoulder‑to‑shoulder, it feels like you're exactly where you're supposed to be. Come early, come hungry, and come ready for a meal that feels like a Basque rite of passage -- tortilla hype and all.

    Photos
    Bar Néstor
    Bar Néstor - Fresh tomatoes with olive oil and salt

    Fresh tomatoes with olive oil and salt

    Bar Néstor - Outside Façade

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    Outside Façade

    La Cepa - basque - Updated May 2026

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