Restaurant in San Sebastián, Spain
Serious Basque cooking, no booking marathon.
A Michelin Plate Basque restaurant on the slopes of Mount Ulía with a panoramic terrace, on-site vegetable garden, and a strong à la carte of traditional Donostia cooking. At €€€ with a 4.6 Google rating from over 1,100 reviews, it offers serious value relative to San Sebastián's starred circuit and books easily by local standards.
Zelai Txiki is the right call for food-focused travellers who want serious Basque cooking without the booking marathon that comes with San Sebastián's three-star circuit. If you are visiting the city for the first time, want a panoramic terrace, and care about provenance on the plate, this is where to go. The €€€ price tier puts it comfortably below [Arzak (Modern Basque, Creative)](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/arzak-san-sebastin-restaurant) and [Akelaŕe (Basque Fine Dining)](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/akelae-san-sebastin-restaurant), and the booking window is forgiving by local standards.
Zelai Txiki sits on the slopes of Mount Ulía, which means the terrace view is the first thing you will notice and the thing you will remember longest. The dining room is oriented to make the most of that outlook, and the outdoor terrace is genuinely panoramic — not a side-of-building afterthought. The address on Rodil kalea puts you outside the old town, which gives the restaurant a quieter, more residential character than the pintxos-bar crush of the centre. For a long lunch with somewhere to actually hear the conversation, that matters. For the full guide to the city's options, see [our full San Sebastián restaurants guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/san-sebastian).
The kitchen works from a Basque-traditional foundation: hake in salsa verde with clams, spider crab served in the shell Donostia-style, hake cheeks in batter or with pil-pil sauce. These are not reinventions — they are careful, ingredient-led executions of dishes that define the region's cooking. The à la carte is extensive, and daily suggestions rotate on leading of it, so there is enough movement to reward repeat visits. The restaurant also runs an extensive tasting menu, which gives you the full arc of the kitchen's thinking in one sitting. Bread is baked in-house daily using organic flour, which signals the level of attention applied throughout. The on-site vegetable garden feeds directly into service, keeping sourcing local in a concrete rather than abstract way.
For explorers who want to compare this style of cooking across the broader Spanish scene, [Martin Berasategui in Lasarte - Oria](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/martin-berasategui-lasarte-oria-restaurant) and [Azurmendi in Larrabetzu](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/azurmendi-larrabetzu-restaurant) represent the high end of Basque tradition pushed further into technique. [Quique Dacosta in Dénia](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/quique-dacosta-dnia-restaurant), [Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/cocina-hermanos-torres-barcelona-restaurant), [El Celler de Can Roca in Girona](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/el-celler-de-can-roca-girona-restaurant), and [Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/aponiente-el-puerto-de-santa-mara-restaurant) extend the map for travellers building a longer Spanish itinerary.
Zelai Txiki holds a Michelin Plate for both 2024 and 2025, which means Michelin inspectors rate the cooking as good without elevating it to star level. The Google rating sits at 4.6 from 1,187 reviews, which is a strong signal of consistent delivery across a wide sample. For a €€€ restaurant outside the prestige tier, that combination is a reliable indicator of quality relative to price. Within San Sebastián, comparable traditional-leaning options include [Bodegón Alejandro](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/bodegn-alejandro-san-sebastin-restaurant), [Ikaitz](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/ikaitz-san-sebastin-restaurant), and [Tamboril](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/tamboril-san-sebastin-restaurant). For traditional cuisine benchmarks elsewhere in Spain, [Cave à Vin & à Manger - Maison Saint-Crescent in Narbonne](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/cave-vin-manger-maison-saint-crescent-narbonne-restaurant) and [Coto de Quevedo Evolución in Torre de Juan Abad](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/coto-de-quevedo-evolucin-torre-de-juan-abad-restaurant) offer useful points of comparison.
Booking difficulty is rated easy, which is meaningful in a city where the starred restaurants require weeks of advance planning. A reservation made a few days out should be achievable for most dates, though terrace tables in summer will go faster. The restaurant is on the slopes of Mount Ulía rather than in the city centre, so factor in travel time and consider whether you want to arrive by taxi rather than on foot. Hours and phone contact are not confirmed in the current record , check directly via the restaurant or a local booking platform before your trip. For broader city planning, see [our full San Sebastián hotels guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/hotels/san-sebastian), [our full San Sebastián bars guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/bars/san-sebastian), [our full San Sebastián wineries guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/wineries/san-sebastian), and [our full San Sebastián experiences guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/experiences/san-sebastian).
Both formats are available and both are worth considering on their own terms. The à la carte is extensive enough that you can build a meaningful meal around two or three Basque classics without committing to a full sequence. The tasting menu gives you more breadth and makes the kitchen's sourcing philosophy easier to track across courses. For a first visit, the tasting menu is the more revealing option. For a second visit or a shorter lunch, the à la carte offers more control.
Yes, with the right expectations. The panoramic terrace on Mount Ulía makes it a strong setting for a milestone lunch or dinner, and the €€€ price tier is accessible without feeling like a compromise. It is not a white-tablecloth occasion restaurant in the mould of [Arzak (Modern Basque, Creative)](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/arzak-san-sebastin-restaurant), but for a celebratory meal grounded in genuine Basque cooking with a serious view, it delivers.
It works for solo dining, particularly if you sit at the bar or on the terrace where the view does some of the work. The à la carte format means you can order at your own pace. San Sebastián's pintxos bars in the old town are a more natural solo option for a quick meal, but for a longer, more considered solo lunch outside the city bustle, Zelai Txiki is a reasonable choice at €€€.
At €€€ with a Michelin Plate, a 4.6 Google rating from over 1,100 reviews, an on-site vegetable garden, and house-baked organic bread, the value case is solid. You are paying for ingredient quality and setting rather than technical fireworks. If you want maximum prestige per euro, the starred restaurants in the city offer more. If you want a grounded, produce-led Basque meal with a strong view and no booking headache, this is good value.
The confirmed dishes from the Michelin record point toward hake in salsa verde with clams, spider crab in the shell Donostia-style, and hake cheeks in batter or pil-pil sauce as the anchors. These are the dishes the kitchen is known for. Daily suggestions rotate, so ask your server what came in that morning. The tasting menu is the most efficient way to cover the kitchen's range in one visit.
It is not in the city centre , the Mount Ulía location means you need to get there intentionally, whether by taxi or car. Book a terrace table if the weather is cooperating. The cooking is traditional Basque rather than avant-garde, so arrive expecting craft and provenance over technical surprise. The tasting menu is the leading introduction. Booking is easy relative to the city's starred restaurants, so you do not need to plan weeks ahead.
For traditional Basque cooking at a similar price, [Bodegón Alejandro](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/bodegn-alejandro-san-sebastin-restaurant) and [Ikaitz](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/ikaitz-san-sebastin-restaurant) are the most direct comparisons. If budget allows a step up, [Arzak (Modern Basque, Creative)](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/arzak-san-sebastin-restaurant) at €€€€ gives you two Michelin stars and a more contemporary take. [Tamboril](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/tamboril-san-sebastin-restaurant) is another city-centre option worth considering for a more casual format.
If you are visiting once and want the full picture, yes. The extensive tasting menu is the most coherent way to experience a kitchen built around seasonal, locally sourced Basque ingredients. The à la carte gives you more flexibility, but the tasting menu is better for understanding what the restaurant is actually doing. Specific pricing is not confirmed in the current record, so verify before booking.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zelai Txiki | Traditional Cuisine | €€€ | Zelai Txiki boasts a superb location on the slopes of Mt Ulía (hence the impressive views from its panoramic terrace) and even its own vegetable garden. On the extensive à la carte, with its strong focus on dishes inspired by the traditions of Basque cuisine (hake in a salsa verde with clams, Donostia-style spider crab in its shell, hake cheeks in batter or with a pil-pil sauce, etc), you can easily appreciate the importance given to the use of fresh, locally sourced ingredients of the highest quality. You’ll also find interesting daily suggestions plus an extensive tasting menu. The restaurant also makes its own bread every day with organic flour.; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| Arzak | Modern Basque, Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Akelaŕe | Basque Fine Dining | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star | Unknown | — |
| Amelia by Paulo Airaudo | Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| iBAi by Paulo Airaudo | Basque | €€€€ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Kokotxa | Basque, Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in San Sebastián for this tier.
Yes, with the right expectations. The panoramic terrace on Mount Ulía gives it a setting that reads as celebratory without requiring a Michelin-starred price tag. At €€€, the tasting menu or a well-built à la carte meal works well for birthdays or anniversaries where the occasion matters but you'd rather not spend weeks competing for a reservation at Arzak or Akelarre.
The extensive à la carte format suits solo diners who want to order precisely what they want rather than committing to a full tasting menu. The terrace view is a draw regardless of party size. Solo travellers doing a food-focused San Sebastián trip will find Zelai Txiki a practical and rewarding option that doesn't require a dining companion to justify the visit.
At €€€, yes — particularly for the quality of sourcing on offer. The kitchen uses fresh, locally sourced ingredients and bakes its own bread daily with organic flour, which is a meaningful differentiator at this price point. Two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) confirm the cooking meets a credible standard. For the same spend in San Sebastián, you won't get the same combination of setting, sourcing quality, and booking ease.
The Michelin record specifically highlights hake in salsa verde with clams, Donostia-style spider crab served in the shell, and hake cheeks — either in batter or with a pil-pil sauce. These are the dishes that define the kitchen's Basque-traditional approach and represent the strongest case for what the restaurant does well. The daily suggestions are worth asking about, as they reflect whatever is freshest from the vegetable garden and local suppliers.
Zelai Txiki sits on the slopes of Mount Ulía on the eastern edge of San Sebastián — not in the city centre, so factor in travel time. The address is Rodil kalea, 79. Booking is rated easy by Pearl's standards, which matters in a city where starred restaurants fill weeks out. The format gives you a genuine choice between an extensive à la carte and a tasting menu, both anchored in Basque tradition and locally sourced ingredients.
Kokotxa is the closest comparison for traditional Basque cooking at a similar commitment level, but with a more central location. iBAi by Paulo Airaudo offers a more contemporary approach at a comparable price range and is easier to book than Paulo Airaudo's flagship Amelia. If budget is the primary concern, Zelai Txiki's €€€ positioning and easier reservations make it a more practical entry point than the three-Michelin-starred tier occupied by Arzak and Akelarre.
Worth considering if you want a structured overview of the kitchen's range, but the à la carte is extensive enough that it doesn't feel like a compromise. The strongest dishes — hake, spider crab, hake cheeks — are available à la carte, so you're not locked out of the best cooking if you skip the tasting menu. For a first visit, ordering à la carte around those anchor dishes is the lower-risk move at €€€.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
