Best Proposal Restaurants in San Sebastian: 2026 Guide

Three Michelin stars and the most photographed cliff terrace in Spain — Pedro Subijana's fifty-five-year kitchen above the Atlantic. Worth the flight.

Akelarre sits on the western flank of Monte Igeldo, six kilometres from central San Sebastián, on a cliff that drops 150 metres to the Atlantic. Pedro Subijana opened it in 1970 and earned his first Michelin star in 1978, the second in 1983, and the third in 2007 — a journey of thirty-seven years. The dining room and the adjoining Akelarre Hotel were rebuilt in 2017 to a design by Mendaro Arquitectos: floor-to-ceiling glass on three sides, an unobstructed view westward toward the sunset.

Subijana, now in his late seventies, still hosts service most evenings. The tasting menus — Aranori (€330), Bekarki (€345), and Klasiko (€345, the canon menu of dishes Subijana made his name with) — each run eleven to thirteen courses. Signatures to look for: the egg yolk on a 'forest floor' of seeds and herbs, the pigeon with toasted hazelnut praline, the lemon soufflé that has been on the menu since 1985. For a proposal, request the window two-top at the eight o'clock sunset seating in summer or six o'clock in winter. Book ninety days ahead through Tock; the kitchen will hold the dessert until you signal.

Three Michelin stars in the same building since 1897, run by Juan Mari and Elena Arzak as a true family kitchen. Reserve weeks ahead.

The Arzak family has owned the building since 1942; Juan Mari Arzak earned the first Michelin star in 1974, the second in 1977, and the third in 1989. His daughter Elena Arzak has worked the kitchen alongside him since 2000 and now runs day-to-day operations. The dining room is intimate — about forty covers across two adjacent rooms — and the family's research kitchen on the upper floor develops 60 new dishes per year, of which roughly eight reach the menu.

Recent signatures to order by name: the egg in a glass tube cooked at the table, the langostino with banana and curry oil, the lamb with smoked pepper miso. For a proposal, request the front-room two-top by the window onto Alto de Miracruz. The tasting menu runs €280; wine pairing €130. Book six to eight weeks ahead through Tock or by phone. The family will be in the kitchen, and the maître d' has run proposals for four decades — it will be handled with absolute discretion.

Three Michelin stars under one of Spain's most decorated chefs — twelve stars across all his projects worldwide. Worth the flight.

Martín Berasategui's flagship sits in Lasarte-Oria, a small town ten kilometres south of central San Sebastián, in a converted nineteenth-century farmhouse. The kitchen has held three stars since 2001. Berasategui himself, now sixty-five, currently holds twelve Michelin stars across his international projects (a Spanish record) and still works this dining room four to five nights a week.

The dining room is set in three small rooms across the converted farmhouse, with garden tables in warm weather. Signature dishes to look for: the millefeuille of smoked eel, foie gras, apple, and green onion (created in 1995, still on the menu); the lobster carpaccio with seaweed sauce; the pigeon with smoked pepper. For a proposal, the garden table in late spring through early autumn is the request. €330 tasting menu, €170 pairing. Book six to eight weeks ahead. The location requires a fifteen-minute taxi from San Sebastián — arrange both directions in advance.

One Michelin star on a hilltop overlooking the entire bay of La Concha — Rubén Trincado's kitchen and arguably the best view in the city.

Mirador de Ulia sits on the eastern hill of Monte Ulia, twenty minutes by taxi from central San Sebastián, with a panoramic view across the bay of La Concha that the city centre cannot match. Rubén Trincado runs the kitchen and has held the Michelin star since 2010. The cooking is technically ambitious without being theatrical: a sea-urchin egg with seaweed dashi, hake kokotxas in pil-pil sauce, suckling pig cooked at low temperature with smoked apple.

For a proposal, the terrace table in the warmer months (May through October) is the highest-leverage option in San Sebastián for a view-based moment — the entire bay, La Concha beach, Monte Igeldo with Akelarre on its flank, all visible from the table. €145 tasting menu, €85 pairing. Book three to four weeks ahead. Sunset varies from 8:45pm in midsummer to 6:00pm in midwinter — time the booking accordingly.

Two Michelin stars and the most ambitious newer kitchen in the city — Paulo Airaudo's eighteen-seat dining room behind a discreet door in Parte Vieja.

Argentine chef Paulo Airaudo opened the first Amelia in 2017 and earned his first Michelin star within twelve months and his second in 2021. The current location, behind a discreet entrance on Calle Prim in the Old Town, seats eighteen across two intimate rooms. The cooking is contemporary Basque with Italian inflections — Airaudo trained in Italy — and pulls from local producers with unusual selectivity: line-caught fish from a single boat in Hondarribia, beef from a single farm in Aralar.

Recent signatures: the carabinero shrimp with consommé of its shells, the kokotxas of hake in beurre blanc, the lamb saddle with anchovy butter. For a proposal, the chef's table at the kitchen pass is the most theatrical option — six seats facing the open kitchen, with Airaudo himself plating each course. €245 tasting menu; pairing €130. Book four weeks ahead through Tock.

One Michelin star in a quiet Parte Vieja street — Daniel López and Estela Velasco's intimate dining room, the most romantic Old Town table.

Kokotxa, named after the gelatinous throat of the hake (a Basque delicacy), is run by husband-wife chef-owners Daniel López and Estela Velasco. They earned their first Michelin star in 2007 and have held it for nineteen consecutive editions. The dining room is small — twelve tables — on Calle Campanario, a narrow Old Town street with no street traffic and no view to compete with the food.

The cooking is precise modern Basque without theatre: the kokotxas of hake in pil-pil are the dish to order by name (the restaurant is named for them), the squab pigeon with quince is a winter signature, the lemon-and-thyme soufflé is the right dessert. €105 tasting menu, €60 pairing. Book three weeks ahead. For a proposal, this is the most affordable Michelin option on the list and arguably the most genuinely intimate.

Martín Berasategui's second project in San Sebastián, one Michelin star, hidden in a stone farmhouse on the Igeldo road. Pencil it in.

eMe Be Garrote opened in 2018 as Martín Berasategui's second restaurant in Gipuzkoa — a casual-luxe sister venue to the three-star flagship in Lasarte-Oria. It sits in a stone farmhouse (caserío) on the Igeldo road, about fifteen minutes from central San Sebastián, with terrace seating in summer and a wood-fired hearth in the dining room for winter. The Michelin star arrived in 2020.

Berasategui designs the menu; executive chef Dani López runs the daily service. The format is more flexible than the Lasarte flagship — order à la carte or a shorter tasting menu — and the prices are notably gentler. The grilled txuleta steak from aged Galician oxen is the dish that earned the room its reputation; the seafood arroz with carabineros is the second standout. €110-€160 per person depending on format. Book two weeks ahead.