Bar Santamaría is a tapas bar in Casco Viejo, Bilbao. Rated 4.6 stars from 1995 Google reviews. Known for grilled pintxos cooked to order and foie that stops conversation. Best for groups and quick pintxos and a beer. Features a terrace. Price range: €10-20.
Bar Santamaría is rated 4.6★ on Google (1,995 reviews) and 4.5★ on TripAdvisor (250 reviews) — a consistent rating across both platforms.
Rankings updated
Bar Santamaría
Across 1,830 rated reviews, 92% gave four or five stars.
| Rating | 4.6★ |
| Reviews | 1,995 |
| 1-star share | 2.3% |
| Best for | Lunch |
In Their Own Words
Review highlights surfaced by Google — shown in English, with the original beneath
“Delicious pintxos – we tried the cod and the 'secreto' and they were absolutely delicious.”
“Deliciosos pintxos, hemos probado el bacalao y el secreto y muy muy buenos.”
“A lovely atmosphere; the grilled tapas are delicious.”
“Ambiente agradable, muy ricos los pinchos a la brasa.”
“A skewer of sirloin, chorizo and black pudding... all absolutely delicious and highly recommended.”
“Brocheta de solomillo, chorizo, morcilla....todo super rico y muy recomendable.”
Consistently rated across Google and TripAdvisor
2,245 reviews across two platforms
Quick Verdict
Grilled pintxos cooked to order, prices that don't sting, and staff who keep the bar moving even when it's packed—the reason locals return on every trip to Bilbao.
You want grilled pintxos cooked to order, eaten standing at a bar that moves fast and stays friendly under pressure.
About Bar Santamaría
Everything here comes off the grill to order — that is the point of Bar Santamaría, and in Casco Viejo, where reheated pintxos are easier to find than people admit, it matters. The foie, the secreto ibérico, the sepia and the pulpo are the ones reviewers keep coming back for, cooked on the brasa and handed over hot. The bacalao draws its own following too, a generous portion at a price that still surprises people. The bar is busy and informal — you stand, you order, the beer is well pulled — and the staff, Montse, Isa, Natalia, Paco, Mónica among them, handle the perpetual crowd with a warmth that turns first-timers into regulars. Some people make a point of stopping in every time they visit Bilbao.
In the last 90 days, Bar Santamaría has drawn 37 substantial written reviews (50+ characters of genuine feedback) — recent momentum that is one of the signals behind its place on the hot list.
What Stands Out
Grilled pintxos cooked to order
Recent reviews emphasize 'todo a la brasa recien hecho' and 'pintos a la brasa hechos al momento'—bacalao, foie, solomillo, chorizo, morcilla, sepia, pulpo all mentioned as 'buenísimos'.
Foie that stops conversation
The foie pintxo appears 77 times in Google review topics and reviewers call it 'espectacular' and praise 'molt bona carn i foie'.
Price-to-portion ratio
Bacalao at €3.80 with 'big portion and perfectly cooked'; reviewers note 'precio muy apañado' and 'calidad-precio inmejorable'.
Practical Information
Opening Hours
Contact
Andra Maria Kalea, 18, Ibaiondo, 48005 Bilbao, Biscay, España
☀️Outdoor
Frequently Asked Questions about Bar Santamaría
Bar Santamaría cooks every pintxo to order—bacalao, foie, solomillo, chorizo, morcilla, sepia, pulpo all arrive hot from the grill. Recent reviewers emphasize 'todo a la brasa recien hecho' and 'hechos al momento', and nothing sits under a heat lamp.
Bar Santamaría's foie pintxo is the most-mentioned dish in reviews, called 'espectacular' by locals. It appears in Google's top review topics at 77 mentions and reviewers praise 'molt bona carn i foie'.
Bar Santamaría, in Casco Viejo Bilbao, is popular for solo dining at the bar. The setup—standing room, quick service, pintxos ordered one or two at a time—makes it natural to eat alone and watch the kitchen work.
Bar Santamaría prices pintxos at €10–20 per person. The bacalao, for example, costs €3.80 with a big portion. Reviewers call the value 'precio muy apañado' and 'calidad-precio inmejorable'.
Bar Santamaría in Casco Viejo draws university students, local groups, and tourists, so it's perpetually crowded. Service stays fast and friendly even when the bar is packed, and reviewers note 'vale mucha la pena la espera'.
Bar Santamaría's grilled pintxos—bacalao, foie, solomillo, chorizo, morcilla, sepia, pulpo, churrasco—are all mentioned in recent reviews as 'buenísimos'. The foie is called 'espectacular' and the bacalao 'amazing for the price'.
Also in Casco Viejo
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How We Rank Venues
Rankings are recalculated monthly from live Google Business Profile data. Our Hot Score weighs review velocity (new text reviews), baseline rating, and Google Business Profile completeness. No editorial picks, no paid placements — just what the data says this month.
Hot Score: 59/100 · ranked October 2026
The written profile on this page is generated from real Google reviews and reviewed monthly. Quotes are verbatim and belong to the people who wrote them — not to us.
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