EBG Rating: 8.2/10

Choice/Quality of Drinks:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Compact selection of wines take precedence over a spartan beer selection and vermouths/sherries. Reasonably good quality overall.

Style/Décor:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
The absolute highlight of Bilbao’s bar scene visually, a stunning venue comprised of two rooms, one a lush magnificent bar with painted tails from floor to ceiling, the other a palatial grand cafe with Andalusian influences.

Atmosphere/Character:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Famous, a city institution with all that involves, however outside of peak tourist season the customers are just as often likely to be residents and local. A permanent sense of grandeur and occasion, with some excitement to it.

Amenities/Events:
❤️❤️❤️
Food, snacks, outdoor seating

Value For Money:
❤️❤️❤️
Considering the venue, relatively fair and affordable.

Description:
Among the grandest cafés in Europe, let alone Spain, the visual spectacle on offer at Iruña is in itself reason to visit.

Quite obviously, being a famous city centre institution comes accompanied with a few hazards, and this is why the reviews are mixed rather than stellar.

Visiting Bilbao out of season however is still an experience where locals take back the city from tourists. Visiting even in late autumn you can find this stunning bar filled with Bilbao residents.

Established in 1903 and comprised of two rooms, a tiled bar with gorgeous, sumptuous painted murals around a horseshow bar, then a grand café area with high ceilings, stunning polychrome designs which are apparently in Mudejar style, more commonly associated with Andalusia. Put simply, it’s an incredible space to come, and you can pop by anywhere between 9am and midnight, making it a versatile venue.

This is Bilbao so pintxos is a big feature of the bar, and their headliner, Pintxo Moruno (lamb skewers grilled on coals) are worth dropping by for between 6-7pm on the evenings, though the remaining selection is broad for most tastes.

There is a fairly compact selection of simple wines to choose from and the typically spartan beer selection, though they are equipped for alternatives, it makes more sense to have the busy staff prepare something simple.

There’s always a slight trepidation visiting these places as to whether you’re going to have a tourist trap experience which spoils the surroundings.

While it is clear at times the service might be grumpy and the pintxos variable in quality, It certainly came nowhere near to being a trap, even being fairly reasonably priced, all things considered.

Bilbao’s touchstone bar, for nightlife this is its Guggenheim, even if the extravagance hails from a long, long time ago.

Beautiful and unmissable.

(Added November 2025)