Lugar especial con solera y tradición siempre que voy a Bilbao voy a tomar algo buenos pinchos se puede comer tienen menú súper bueno buen precio recomendable visitar aunque solo sea por ver la belleza y tradición

Tolga Kucukonder

I went to Café Iruña based on your recommendation, and I’m really glad I did. From the moment I walked in, I was welcomed with warm and genuine attention, which immediately put me in a good mood. I had come to Bilbao almost purely for food. For some reason, I’ve always felt a strong connection to this region—I truly like it here. I think the fact that two of the world’s top 10 restaurants are located nearby adds to the significance and appeal of the area. Café Iruña more than made up for it. With its historic character, Andalusian-inspired décor, and a sense of timelessness, the place has a comforting and relaxing atmosphere. The food is honest and full of character—no unnecessary show, just well-prepared dishes done right. The service is balanced and sincere, attentive without being intrusive. All in all, it was a short but very pleasant stay and dining experience. Café Iruña is not just a restaurant for those visiting Bilbao; it feels like a doorway into the city’s memory and soul.

Ioannis Tavantzis

Very nice atmosphere and excellent service at the restaurant! The food was delicious and the lamb was especially outstanding !!

Tomáš Kabát

Beautiful environment, good service, nice wine, tasty food. I am happy that I came back and I will come again. Card payment is possible.

Peter Teh

Ordered their set lunch. Overall food was really good. The ribs was the highlight and carrot cake was superb. The menu comes with free drinks including alcohol. A previous post from another patron mention it was free flow but it actually wasn't. They started us with a bottle of wine then after we are done, we ask for another 2 glass each and was charged for it (refer to the menu). Best ask the waiter in advance how their drinks works. Overall super good value for money considering the portion and taste

+3

CanQing Chen (Simon)

This place is an absolute treat for anyone who loves pinchos. The atmosphere is welcoming. Each pincho is beautifully crafted, with creative flavor combinations that still stay true to Basque traditions.

Aleks D. Pavlovic

Café Iruña in Bilbao impresses with its beautiful vintage atmosphere – a place full of history and charm, perfect for a relaxing break while soaking up the city’s character. The pintxos are delicious, freshly prepared, and varied. The absolute highlight: the Pincho Moruno, a tender lamb skewer, perfectly seasoned and grilled – a must-try!

Anna N

My partner ate the pintxos here and said it was spectacular. I didn’t have any as they didn’t have any gluten free options. Coffee was amazing though and the interior is super beautiful.

+1

simon boddaert

The 48€ menu is a discovery of Basque Country food, vegetables, fish, meat and dessert A bit crowded but a typical ambiance there Reservation is recommended

+1

Spence

👍🏽👍🏽 Practically perfect in every way. The dining room is stunning, pre fixe lunch may be the best deal in Spain (€21.50 for 3 LARGE courses + unlimited drinks, including 🍷wine or 🍺beer), and the service is attentive (+ speedy if you need it to be). The front room is standing only to order small bites or drinks (it’s crowded at lunch time). Go to the dining room for the pre fixe menu. Good for singles or groups up to six without reservation for lunch (you may have to wait, but it’s well worth it!) ✅🍆Vegetarian options on pre fixe too. ✅♿️ fully wheelchair accessible entrance, dining, and bathroom. Good lighting. Not too loud. 🍅 🐟 🍰 Gazpacho was delish, as was the fish & the pork knuckle (hearty portions too!), but the highlight was dessert. The arroz con leche was the smoothest I’ve ever tasted (as we live in Mexico, birthplace of the rice pudding!) and the red berry tart was pillowy marscapone cheese topped with fresh jam—what’s not to love! I want to return to try the bruled pineapple carpaccio 🍍😋. The pre fixe menu includes the drink of your choice and that drink is unlimited (I don’t believe you can switch drinks, so choose wisely). 🍷 Rioja wine was inoffensive and paired well with the meal — waiter left me the entire bottle and I had 3 glasses, all included in the €21.50 pre fixe lunch. My wife got the beer, which was superb—so refreshing! They also offer a white wine and bottled water. Pro Tip: 🍰For pre fixe lunch menu, desserts are large enough to share and you’ll want to try them all, so if you’re here with a group, order one of each and everyone else can swap dessert for an espresso at the same price ☕️ Note to Management: your staff is superb. Helpful, polite, and speedy. Thank you 👏🏽👏🏽

+18

Kersti Klami

Delicious pintxos, with a great selection of meat and seafood/fish options. Great value for money too: our 4 pintxos and 2 Vermouths came to €15. Recommend it!!

Margarita Zobnina

Generous menu del dia, presenting also local specialties and cider. Menú del día starts at 13:00 which is quite rare in Bilbao (usually lunch starts at 14:00 in most places) . Two parts: bar, where you can have snacks - pintxos and coffee/wine/cider and quite spacious dining hall with impressive ceilings and elaborate tiles. For lunch no reservation was needed (visited in Aug & Sept 2025)

H Guo

Original thought it’s a total tourist trap similar to Cafe de Flore in Paris, but still went for it just because of the interior. We were amazingly surprised by the service and food quality. We had the weekend special menu and didn’t need to wait for a table at all, the restaurant started getting busier from 2pm on, so if you want to skip the queue, come early. We enjoyed the whole experience very much. There are two halls of the restaurant, we ate at the restaurant side with proper seating, if you are up for bites, the other hall offers pintxos and assume the price is even more friendly. Same good vibe and admirable interior. It is located beside a very cute park as well. Highly recommend.

+5

Chanya Colevas

The food here is amazing but you need to be patient with the service as there are many customers and the workers could be occupied. If you order the steak, do specify how cooked you want it otherwise it could be too raw. But everything we ordered tasted amazing!!

+7

Sitio precioso, situado al lado del juzgado, bastante centrico. Adornado a la antigua, pero renovado, gozaras de una gran variedad de pintxos deliciosos. Por lo que pude ver, hamburguesitas, brioches de ternera, langostino, jamon, croissant rellenos...nosotros probamos el triple de vegetal, estaba muy rico. En el otro lado del bar habia mas mesas y otra barra grande, bar espacioso. Recomendable si buscas comer algun pintxo bueno y estar tranquilo, si llevan tantos años, por algo sera.

Fui al medio día para probar el menú del día que incluye primer y segundo plato junto con el postre y la bebida por 21.90€. Tardaron varios minutos en sentarnos pero nada más pedir sirvieron el primer plato, que en este caso fue un canelón de pollo, un plato muy contundente y bueno de sabor. El segundo plato fue una porción muy generosa de chuleta acompañada de patatas sazonadas y pimientos. En general, los platos tenían un buen sabor. La ratio de calidad-cantidad-precio es bastante buena. El trato de los camareros fue excelente, especialmente el de los camareros jóvenes. El restaurante tiene un diseño clásico que le da un encanto añadido.

He venido por el menú mediodía de 21.90€, no está mal, es sabroso y a pesar de estar lleno la atención es rápida. Los camareros son de todo menos amables, atienden rápido pero la atención al cliente y modales básicos parecen no conocerlos, una lástima. El lugar es un típico bar antiguo muy lindo.

El bar es muy bonito, muy mítico ... mucha gente, una amplia gama de pintxos. El pintxo de calabacín, queso de cabra y jamón muy bueno pero se hace difícil de comer de pie. Le pongo 4 estrellas porque el camarero que nos atendió (Pablo), se ve que lleva ahí muchos años y llevaría muchas horas trabajando y la verdad, no tuvo mucha simpatía en su trato. Los camareros jóvenes parecen más agradables. Quise visitarlo porque vi el vídeo del camarero con la niña Taiwanesa que habla genial español que me pareció muy agradable.

El sitio habla por sí sólo, una especia de pequeño Marrakech en el centro de Bilbao. Hay que ir a verlo y tomarse algo. Los pinchos de tortilla normalitos, y el café bueno. Está justo al lado de la Calle Ledesma, perfecta para pintxos.

Ubicado en pleno corazón de Bilbao, a un paso del Ayuntamiento y del vibrante casco antiguo, se esconde un rincón de encanto que sorprende y enamora: el Café Iruña. Fundado en 1903, este emblemático establecimiento se alza como un verdadero testigo de la historia y la cultura de la ciudad, luciendo con orgullo su inigualable decoración de estilo mudéjar. Los techos policromados, los azulejos meticulosamente dispuestos y los murales restaurados invitan a un viaje al pasado, donde cada detalle narra una época de esplendor. El Café Iruña es mucho más que un espacio gastronómico; es un punto de encuentro social que ha sido escenario de numerosos eventos culturales y políticos a lo largo de los años. Su oferta culinaria incluye un menú excepcional. Para empezar, pedimos una ensalada de codillo de pollo y col con crujiente bacon y vinagreta de mostaza, seguida de uno de los platos más representativos de la ciudad: la purrusalda. A continuación, optamos por una corvina a la plancha y unos pimientos rellenos de verdura con salsa vizcaína, una auténtica delicia, todo ello acompañado de un vino crianza Rioja. Para finalizar, disfrutamos de los postres: un tronco de helado de cacahuete y caramelo, y una tarta de manzana que estaba fabulosa. La amabilidad del personal y la prontitud en la atención realzaron la experiencia. Galardonado con el “Premio Especial al Mejor Café de España” en el año 2000 y declarado “Monumento Singular” en 1980, este café tradicional se presenta como el lugar ideal para disfrutar de la auténtica tradición bilbaína en un entorno único y lleno de historia. Una visita, mejor si se reserva con antelación, promete una experiencia inolvidable que conjuga el arte, la cultura y la buena mesa en un ambiente insuperable.

Un local precioso, sobre todo el techo. Comimos un menú de reyes. De primero unos ibéricos, una ensalada de marisco y pimientos rellenos de boletus, todo muy bueno. De segundo bacalao y solomillo con setas, muy rico. De postre roscón de reyes. El servicio muy amable y atento.

Diana DDT

Great place and atmosphere, I really liked their interior shows you a glimpse of what old basque pintxos bars might look like. So there is a dining side and a pintxos bar on the otherside. Pretty awesome setup. Their pintxos and txakoli were good, they stick to more standard pintxos too. Do not expect service to be good though. Went here twice both times got only served after 10-15 minutes of waiting in the bar despite not having alot of people at around 4pm. And despite having a younger server who walked pass by me several times fixing plates and stuff and not noticing to get my order haha finally another server came in. Not sure they might be understaffed. Otherwise the lady staff was really nice to notice

S. Cannegieter

The ambiance of this place is what I did it for. Very nicely done, Basque style And I mint thee with french toast and ice cream. Many ppl were ordering the lamb skewers with bread

+1

Patricia U.

Beautiful pinxto bar. But also restaurant. Feels very hectic inside. It's worth having the lamb skewers, but the place is so busy it is not relaxing. Plus, some of the staff can be dismissive and a tad rude. Depends who you catch.

+2

Maciej Trojniar

One of the oldest and most atmospheric pintxos bars I have ever been to. There is another part of the place serving lunches, this review however applies only to the pintxos section. Most of the pintxos we tried were very good, however all the types I wanted to try already ran out. The crab salad in a pastry shell was interesting, The taste reminded me of Polish spicy mackerel salad. Mini burgers were also nice and succulent. The place is definitely worth a visit even if the main reason is to just soak in the atmosphere and marvel at the interior design.

Lighthouse Tai Chi

We managed to get a cosy table for lunch and the menu del dia. There is no à la carte at lunch, but that's fine. The service is very welcoming and professional and the atmosphere busy, touristy and pleasant. People had recommended here for the decor, which is more interesting in the bar than the restaurant but very art nouveau inspired by the East. The food was a bit disappointing and average. The best dish was lentils. Perhaps the pintxos at the bar are more exciting. We enjoyed our visit and would love to try the more refined evening menu next time. This is a pricy menu del dia but the venue is unique and the service excellent

+6

Alex Shi

Avoid this if you are a tourist!! This is place is clearly more local oriented. Even though some of the staffs are nice and helpful but English accessibility is very low. Especially one staff in the pic below, when I greeted him with “hi” and wanted to place an order he sneaked a Quick Look at me and then ignored me to pour water for other Spanish speaking customers. I waited there awkwardly for several minutes until another employee came to help. I can’t tell whether this is racism or it’s just him being purely ignorant and rude. Having this as your first impression out of the train station of bilbao is truly not a good start!

El pasado día 15 de febrero del 2026 estuve con dos personas más sobre las 17:00 horas, tomando unas consumiciones y nos sentamos en torno a una mesa pequeña que está junto a la barra circular. Pedí un café descafeinado (lo sirvió con leche templada y el sobre en en pequeño plato) cuando lo trajo a la mesa quién pidió las consumiciones me acerqué a la barra con el servicio y solicité que por favor calentara la leche; con muy poca educación y en tono ofendido dijo: "¡No ve que estoy ocupado atendiendo? .espere a que toque su turno. Dejé sobre el mostrador el café y volví a la mesa... vi después de un tiempo que lo llevaba hacía adentro y un rato después lo puso en la barra pero sin decir nada, lo volví a llevar a la mesa (donde las personas que me acompañaban y yo estábamos alucinando que por un simple servicio de un café se pueda pasar un momento tan desagradable por una persona que está en un sitio público y la amabilidad y la educación son imprescindibles. Así que como ahí no terminó este hecho volví a llevar el servicio a la barra de nuevo, este camarero lo retiró sin mediar una palabra, sin calentarlo, sin disculpas (por supuesto) y yo...sin tomar café. Publico esta reseña una semana después por dudar si escribirla pero lo pongo en conocimiento pues nadie tiene derecho a recibir un trato así. El el camarero que "nos atendió"...tenía en pelo muy corto, gafas y tatuajes en los brazos. Ya que el café Iruña es un referente Histórico y emblemático de Bilbao de toda la vida, este hecho lo han de conocer. Un saludo.

Pongo una estrella porque no puedo poner menos. El trato por parte del camarero (un señor con gafas) que nos ha atendido ha sido tan irrespetuoso que hemos decidido irnos sin tomar nada priorizando un buen ambiente. Aseguraros de quién atienda cara al público sepa tratarlo y mediar con él. No es normal que pida un vino blanco dulce y me digan que no tienen con mala cara. Además, al pedir un red bull nos ha dicho "qué haces pidiendo eso aquí que esto es una bar de viejos". Enfin....

Mister Morelight

Avoid at all costs, you will be disappointed. To make this restaurant work, you would need to fire all the staff that work there. Rude, unwelcoming, unpleasant, irritating, they basically hate their jobs and they will make you feel it. Absence of any welcome, confusion on seating area for no valid reason (ultra rigid reasoning), rushed ordering, unhelpful, impatient, we hated every minute spent in this restaurant which is surprising for such a beautiful dining room. The fish had no taste, no seasoning, the red peppers were awkward, they did not add anything to the dish. Lazy dish by a lazy chef. The steak was not better. Poor quality, very chewy, again the lazy red peppers just to throw a punch of red on the plate and cheap tasteless fried potatoes. Lazy chef. For 200€ for 4, we could have had much better in Bilbao. Don’t make our mistake, avoid. P.S.: if this review was useful to you, please leave a quick 👍, thank you 🙏

+4