Opened by Magencio Trigueros in 1924, the bar and its history mirror that of the pintxo: It started as a humble watering hole, until Magencio began to offer simple snacks of preserved fish and cured pork. There is no kitchen, so the pile of bonito con divisa sandwiches sits out before service, waiting to fly off the shelves in 3-inch sections. The crusty baguette soaks up the olive oil from the cured tuna, and a strip of spicy red pepper lends just the right amount of heat and brightness.

This grand dame is stunning, decked in lively Andalusian tiles and ornate woodwork, and its tables have served as the setting for tertulias (social and literary gatherings) among prestigious writers and poets since it opened in 1903. Many come for the pintxo moruno, a lamb kebab heady with spices that gets a generous squirt of lemon.

Easily one of Bilbao’s best pintxo bars. Its sleek, modern décor is hardly visible among the throng of hungry people lined up at its counter and the plates and plates of pintxos that top the bar. Ivan Siles’s self-taught culinary skills are on full display, from the Idiazabal cheese soup to a fried calamari sandwich with its deep black squid-ink baguette. This is the mecca of the modern pintxo, so you can be forgiven for breaking the rule of “one bar, one pintxo” here.

Another legend in the Bilbao bar scene. Founded in 1940, its tiny interior is packed to the brim with wine bottles and a traditional pintxo offering that showcases some of Bilbao’s most famous bites. This is a great spot to try the grillo (skewer of potato, spring onion, lettuce, and olive), Bilbainito (boiled egg, shrimp, and mayonnaise), and the juicy Spanish omelet. There you have the holy trinity of Bilbao bar hopping. Be sure to save room for the Cantabrian anchovies.

The city’s traditional asadores (grill houses) remain the heart of its culinary identity – and it doesn’t get much more traditional than Asador Indusi’s dark-wood facade and curvy red Basque typography. And the goods match the label – traditional dishes, executed with a magic touch and perfect produce. This is where locals come for grilled turbot, hake kokotxas in salsa verde, tender oxtail stew, and harder-to-find dishes like lamb trotters.

A txakoli used to be an establishment in Bilbao and surroundings that served up its namesake wine and unfussy food in a boisterous social setting. Like all things, they evolved, and Txakoli Simon is one of the only remnants of this tradition, and makes a trip up Mount Artxanda so worth it. Wait for a sunny day and take the cable car up, sip from a cold bottle of the local white, and await sides galore with your sizzling txuleta steak, charred and crisp on the outside and dark red on the inside.

Rio-Oja is both pintxo bar and restaurant, yet in place of the perfectly constructed pintxos of its neighbors, the bar is filled with industrial aluminum pots filled with various stews and guisos. There is quite a selection, from snails in a slightly spicy tomato creation to meatballs just like a Spanish mother makes, dense yet delicate in flavor, in a rustic espagnole sauce. Ask for a plate of this and a bowl of that and share them, washed down with a chilled glass of Rioja wine.

Open since 1950, Bar Eme is much-loved for its legendary triangulos – sandwiches that are (uncharacteristically for local cuisine) stuffed and sloppy. The secret lies in their house-made white bread and the mysterious salsa rossini – a spicy red sauce so closely guarded that its recipe is reportedly locked in a safe. The generously sauced sandwiches are layered with thick-cut ham, tomatoes, mayo and lettuce from the counter.

Little satisfies like Irrintzi’s bartop, stacked with tray after tray of pintxos, from octopus cooked in red wine until tender to the famous duck confit with a kick of peanut. Pintxos like fragrant falafel with shitake mushroom make this a rare vegetarian-friendly stop, too. Where in some bars, paper signs explaining each pintxo are a red flag that you’ve stumbled upon a tourist trap, in Irrintzi they just save you time in understanding the always-changing, ever-elaborate creations.

Bilbao’s version of a down-home diner specializes in cazuelas, the local term used to refer to stews and amply sauced dishes. You’ll find the emblematic Basque dish salt cod al pil-pil, and a rotating list of traditional stars, from kokotxas with clams, snails in salsa Vizcaína of tomato and pepper, and tender squid served in an inky black sauce. This local spot is open only for lunch seatings during the week. Despite, or perhaps because of, this limited timetable, it’s best to call ahead.