Best Michelin-Starred Restaurants in San Sebastián
This page lists the Michelin-starred restaurants in our San Sebastián guide: five restaurants and eight Michelin stars in total. Arzak is in Alto de Miracruz, Amelia by Paulo Airaudo is in La Concha, Kokotxa and iBAi by Paulo Airaudo are in Old Town, and Itzuli is in Monte Igueldo. Each carries a Michelin star for 2026.
Arzak holds three Michelin stars. Juan Mari and Elena Arzak run contemporary Basque cooking from Laboratorio Arzak, and the restaurant serves a tasting menu and a la carte, with a sommelier-led wine program. Amelia by Paulo Airaudo holds two Michelin stars, serves a tasting menu at a counter in Hotel Villa Favorita, and holds a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence. Kokotxa, iBAi by Paulo Airaudo, and Itzuli each hold one Michelin star.
How this list is chosen: Restaurants holding Michelin stars, listed alphabetically. Updated October 8, 2026.
Amelia by Paulo Airaudo
2 Michelin stars · Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
Amelia by Paulo Airaudo holds two Michelin stars and a La Liste score of 82 points (2026), operating from Hotel Villa Favorita on La Concha bay. The restaurant runs a single creative tasting menu Thursday through Saturday, with Saturday lunch as its only daytime service. Wine Director Mariana Tapia oversees a 2,900-bottle cellar rated number one by Star Wine List in both 2025 and 2026.
Arzak
3 Michelin stars
Arzak belongs to San Sebastián’s serious dining circuit: modern Basque cooking in a family mansion at Alto de Miracruz, led by Elena Arzak and backed by 2026 Guía Repsol 3 Soles and La Liste’s 99-point score. Its relevance is not nostalgia alone; it is how a city built on pintxos, sharing, and appetite for experimentation translates that social grammar into a formal tasting-menu room.
iBAi by Paulo Airaudo
1 Michelin star
A San Sebastián address with more than four decades of local history, iBAi has been reborn under Paulo Airaudo with a Michelin star and a basement dining room built around six table-and-cupboard alcoves. The format is tasting menus rooted in Basque classics: grilled Carabinero prawns, five preparations of hake cheek kokotxas, and a pintxos bar at the entrance for those arriving without a reservation.
Itzuli
1 Michelin star
Positioned at the summit of Mount Igueldo within the Luze San Sebastián boutique hotel, Itzuli brings Chef Íñigo Lavado's two-decade Basque career to a Belle Époque dining room with panoramic sea views. The restaurant operates dual tasting menus, one dedicated to mentor Luis Irizar, one more contemporary, alongside a selection drawing from both. The name translates as 'to return', and the format is built around exactly that promise.
Kokotxa
1 Michelin star · Deep wine list
A Michelin-starred address in San Sebastián's Parte Vieja, Kokotxa sits where Basque market tradition meets carefully applied global technique. Chef Dani López works with two structured menus, letting the day's catch anchor the kitchen while threading in influences from Japan, India, and Turkey with enough restraint to keep the dish firmly on Basque ground. Ranked 294th in Europe by Opinionated About Dining in 2025.
Planning Michelin-starred restaurants in San Sebastián
- How many Michelin-starred restaurants are on this list?
- This list has five Michelin-starred restaurants, and our San Sebastián guide counts eight Michelin stars in total. They are Arzak in Alto de Miracruz, Amelia by Paulo Airaudo in La Concha, Kokotxa and iBAi by Paulo Airaudo in Old Town, and Itzuli in Monte Igueldo. Each carries a Michelin star for 2026.
- Which restaurant on this list holds a Wine Spectator award?
- Amelia by Paulo Airaudo in La Concha is the restaurant on this list with a Wine Spectator award, the Best of Award of Excellence. Wine Director Mariana Tapia oversees a 2,900-bottle cellar. Star Wine List rated the cellar in 2025 and 2026. The list is extensive and sommelier-led.
- What formats do these restaurants serve?
- All five restaurants on this list serve a tasting menu. Arzak in Alto de Miracruz also serves a la carte. Amelia by Paulo Airaudo in La Concha serves the menu at a counter. Kokotxa in Old Town and iBAi by Paulo Airaudo in Old Town serve tasting menus. Itzuli in Monte Igueldo serves a tasting menu, small plates, and a la carte.
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