Casa Senra ★ 4.0
Why locals love it: Gros backstreet menu del dia room the visitors miss, where the Zurriola surf crowd lunch with locals.
Tip: Menu del dia under 16 euros. Closed Sundays.
Bideluze on Plaza Gipuzkoa in San Sebastian's Centro is one of the city's breakfast institutions, retro-tiled floors, sit-down service and a counter of working-day pintxos and tortilla.
Why locals love it: Plaza Gipuzkoa breakfast counter with retro tile floors that locals love and tourists walk past.
Tip: Mornings are calmer; the plaza terrace is the better seat than the back room.
Address: Plaza Gipuzkoa 14, 20004 Donostia-San Sebastian, San Sebastián
Why locals love it: Gros backstreet menu del dia room the visitors miss, where the Zurriola surf crowd lunch with locals.
Tip: Menu del dia under 16 euros. Closed Sundays.
Why locals love it: Across the river from the tourist Old Town with a working-locals' pintxo counter the cruise crowds skip.
Tip: Lunch counter is mostly locals; the callos y morros is the working-day plate.
Why locals love it: Centro neighbourhood counter the Old Town queues skip, with the city's best tortilla and a canonical gilda.
Tip: Tortilla finishes by 14:30; arrive earlier on weekends.
Why locals love it: Same family as Ganbara but a tighter, quieter counter on Plaza de la Constitucion that even guidebook regulars skip.
Tip: Two pintxos: the champinon and the gamba a la gabardina. Closed Tuesdays.
Why locals love it: End of Fermin Calbeton with a back-room brasa and a callos pintxo the guidebook crawls overlook; rebranded from Casa Tiburcio in 2022.
Tip: Brasa lights at 12:30 and 20:00.
Why locals love it: Gros stone-basement room of Brazilian chef Antonio Belotti with a 65-euro tasting that locals book midweek and tourists rarely find.
Tip: OpenTable bookings; the kitchen leans Asian-Basque. Lunch Wed to Sun, dinner Mon to Sat.