A three-course set menu, normally offered at a reduced price, a ‘menu del día’ is a great way to get value for money when eating out for lunch in Bilbao.
What is a ‘menu del día’?
Menus del día consist of three dishes, with restaurants usually offering a variety of choices for each course.
- Primer plato: this is normally a salad, a pasta dish, a rice dish, bean stew or lentil stew.
- Segundo plato: this dish would typically be meat based, for example steak or chicken with chips. In the Basque Country, a lot of restaurants will also offer a traditional Basque fish-based dish like cod with pil pil sauce.
- Dessert: It depends on the restaurants, but in Bilbao the restaurants will offer something like Basque cheesecake, pantxineta, rice puddings, tiramisu, yoghurts, ice creams, and sometimes some fresh fruit.
What’s more, these menus always come with bread and a drink included. In some cases, if you’re a group and you all order wine, they might just give you a bottle or two.
The tradition of restaurants serving a menu del día dates back to the 1960s, with the Franco dictatorship obliging establishments to offer these cheaper set-menus in the belief that it would encourage tourists to dine out during the day. It was only in 2010 that the law was repealed, but nevertheless, the meal became a favourite across all of Spain, especially for hungry workers unable to get home for lunch.
Menus del día became particularly popular in the Basque Country and they’re a great way to experience traditional Basque dishes. Although they aren’t as cheap as they once were, most restaurants in Bilbao still offer midweek ‘menus’ at a discounted price, typically ranging from €18 to €35 depending on the restaurant.
When looking at what’s available make sure to differentiate between the ‘menu’ (three-course meals) and ‘la carta’ (individual dishes available on what would be called a menu in English).
In no particular order, here are some fantastic places where you can get a great value ‘menu del día’ in Bilbao:
La Pizarra
A popular restaurant/bar in the city centre, La Pizarra’s midweek menu costs €24.95. Inspired by Bilbao’s historic mining industry, their dishes are centred around “coal as the essential element, combining tradition and timelessness to create a characteristic flavour”.
Their brioche torrija with vanilla ice cream is delicious and definitely worth trying for dessert.
Website: lapizarrabilbao.com
Location: Calle Juan de Ajuriaguerra, 16
Instagram: @lapizarrabrasaybarra
Clandestino
A fast-emerging favourite on the Bilbao food scene, Clandestino opened about in 2023. Our advice is to get there now before it becomes too popular. A place on the Michelin-guide is just a matter of time.
Clandestino took over from ‘Merson Lersundi’, a legendary Bilbao restaurant, famous for its extremely cheap menus del día, which only cost €10.
Lersundi was cheap and cheerful, but this new establishment is on a different level.
If you’re looking to get something not on the menu del dia, we recommend trying the ‘beef niguris’. These are little cylinders crackers filled with veal marrow cream and covered in a tender beef slice. To be eaten in one bite, it’s sensational.
Their midweek menus del dia are served from Monday to Thursday and cost €25, while they have different options for Friday and the weekend.
Website: clandestinotaproom.es
Location: Calle Lertxundi 6-8
Instagram: @clandestinotaproom
Metxxa
A sleek, modern bar/restaurant in Bilbao’s Indautxu neighbourhood, Metxxa look to “merge interesting cuisine, atmosphere, music and good service”.
At just €17.50 for a menu del dia, Metxxa is one Bilbao’s best in terms of quality for price.
Website: mettxa.com/en/
Location: Simón Bolívar Kalea, 17
Instagram: mettxa
Zaka Restaurante
A popular, spacious restaurant in the neigbourhood of Indautxu, Zaka offer a great menu del día which costs €22.90.
This is also a brilliant dinner spot, they have a ‘night-time menu’ with a variety of reasonably-priced small plates like calamari, patatas bravas, anchovies, mussels, salads, lasagna and much more.
Website: zakarestaurante.com
Location: Calle Simón Bolívar, 11.
Instagram: @zaka_restaurante_bilbao
El Txoko Berria
Located in the heart of Bilbao’s Casco Viejo (Old Town), El Txoko Berria specialise in traditional Basque dishes, their aim being to “give customer the opportunity to enjoy the finest Basque cuisine in the best environment”.
Their midweek menu costs €15.95 (going up to €23.95 at the weekends). The offers varies, but there is always a choice between five first plates, five second plates, and four desserts.
Website: eltxokoberria.com
Location: Calle Bidebarrieta 14
Instagram: @eltxokoberria
Las Cepas
With two prime locations in Bilbao city centre, Las Cepas are slick, modern restaurants serving up delicious traditional Basque food. They’re also really great options for vegetarians or vegans.
Their menus del dia offer diners a wide variety of choice. For the first dish, you can choose between appetizers, a pasta dish or rice dish, while the second plates are based around meat, fish, eggs or vegan options.
They change their offerings quite regularly, but if it’s available, this is a great place to try ‘cod in pil pil sauce’, a typical Basque dish that’s particularly popular in Bilbao.
Instagram: @lascepasdeajuriaguerra
Location: (Estraunza) Gran Vía, 63 (on map below) // Calle Juan de Ajuriaguerra, 22
Grand Prix
One of the most unassuming, undervalued and unknown spots in the city, the petite Grand Prix is one of Bilbao’s hidden.
A tiny space with at most five or six tables, plus a couple more on the small curbside terrace, Grand Prix has an instragram account but no website. If you want to eat here, you’ll need to ring up or walk past to book a reservation.
Their menus del dia cost just €18 and there’s a big focus on traditional Basque cuisine. They typically serve bean stews and pastas for first plates and meatballs or cod for seconds. What they’re serving for the menu del dia is normally put up on a whiteboard outside on the restaurant door.
Instagram: @grand_prix_bilbao
Location: Lersundi Kalea, 3
*Prices can vary depending on what the place has decided to offer as part of their ‘menu’ on any given day.
