The gilda is San Sebastian's defining pintxo: a single toothpick skewer of anchovy from Cantabrico, a green pickled olive and one or two Ibarra guindilla peppers, briny and sharp, eaten in two bites.

The gilda was assembled in 1946 at Casa Vallés on Calle Reyes Catolicos by the Vallés family, who named the dish for Rita Hayworth's character in the 1946 Charles Vidor film of the same name, a femme fatale 'salty and slightly piquant' like the skewer itself. The first version stacked one anchovy, one olive and one guindilla pepper. Modern San Sebastian gildas now run to two anchovies and two olives, sometimes a third guindilla. The dish became the structural opener of the Basque pintxo crawl and the canonical first bite in any Donostian bar. Antonio Bar in the Centro and the gilda counters around the Old Town all build on the Valles 1946 template.

3 editor picks for Gilda in San Sebastián, ranked by editorial score. All San Sebastián signature dishes · Gilda across every city.