Pintxos are the Basque counter ritual taken on by Barcelona's pintxos rooms: small bites pinned to a slice of bread with a toothpick, paid by counting the picks at the end.

The pintxos format arrived from the Basque country to Barcelona in the 1990s with Sagardi and Euskal Etxea. The Basque ritual: bar staff bring out plates of pintxos in waves, customers grab what they want and stack the toothpicks on their plate. At the end the bartender counts the toothpicks and tells you the bill. Each pintxo is typically 2 to 3 euros, and the trick is to keep pace with the new plates as they arrive. Barcelona's two best Basque rooms are Sagardi on Carrer de l'Argenteria and Euskal Etxea on the Plaçeta de Montcada, both running the canonical toothpick counter from 19:00 every weeknight.

3 editor picks for Pintxos at the counter in Barcelona, ranked by editorial score. All Barcelona signature dishes · Pintxos at the counter across every city.