Casa Urola — Restaurant in San Sebastián

This place was recommended to me (for clarity I speak Spanish so I spoke to lots of people). I arrived earlier and the downstairs looked busy and lively - was thinking to myself , this is fun and I can see the Pintxos looked delicious. Upstairs, where the restaurant is, was dead. The lady who was there was sorting receipts or papers at a table and then told me I can take that table. I patiently waited until she gathered the papers. Still weird she didn’t offer me another table when the place was empty.

Long story short: I ordered white asparagus from the specials menu - was great but I should say that I specified I didn’t want any sauce especially mayo. They decorated the plate with mayo (lol!) but in any case it was great. The fish soup was ok - nothing wow. Wine was lovely! The artichokes with clams was just weird, it was so hot I burnt my tongue. I’m 99% sure it wasn’t fresh and microwaved. The issue was the sauce and after burning my tongue and finding the whole thing off, the waitress asked me if there was anything wrong and I said the sauce is so weird. She was like well there is nothing wrong with it. Took the plate away and didn't offer anything. I assumed, as in any good restaurant, this dish will be taken out from the bill. It wasn’t 🤣 I said I’m surprised it’s in the bill given that I only tried a tiny bit, she said well there was nothing wrong with it. I honestly didn’t want to take this any further as it was useless.

Should also note that the table was close to some sort of kitchenette and there was constant beeping - microwave? I don’t know. I can definitely say that it really ruined my first night in San Sebastián and I can’t remember the last time when a barely touched dish was included in the bill and nothing was offered - I live in London so I’ve seen all kinds of shitty service. The restaurant itself can do with a facelift - needless to say the white tablecloth was not fresh, saw tiny stains from the service / night before.

Overall sloppy. Lots of foreigners overpaying for the food that is not worth it. I do not...

Incredibly disappointing experience. The food was fine -we had better elsewhere- but it was completely ruined by the exceptionally rude waiter.

My partner went to order some pintxos from the bar & I went to find a table to sit & eat. The table was occupied at one end by a friendly couple who were happy to share the space, and piled high with used dishes on the other, clearly from other people before me, at which end I sat. The waiter then came over and proceeded to shout at me in Spanish. I'm terribly sorry but try as I might I do not understand... He slams the 'reserved' sign on the table in front of me, says something to the effect of 'I speak English but you are in Spain, here we speak Spanish'... And continues to yell at me in Spanish.

I apologize -in spanish-, I did not see the reserved sign behind the napkins, and I'm not sure why he picked me to yell at when there were other people sitting at the same table, before me.

The entire time I sat there & ate my food, not a single person who had reserved the space appeared. There was absolutely no reason for that waiter to act in this manner, there was plenty of time for us to use the table before the next, and he greatly disturbed my evening. Not to mention the extremely lengthy period of time it took for anyone to acknowledge my partner at the bar to take his order.

If you do not want tourists entering your bar, put up a sign. I did not appreciate being treated in this manner and I encourage others to look elsewhere for better food and...

If you’re looking for a masterclass in how to ruin someone’s first evening in San Sebastián, this is the place to go.

Step one: serve us someone else’s food. Not exactly subtle, but we didn’t know and ate it because you put it on our table. Step two: instead of apologizing, scold us like naughty children and demand we pay for your mistake. My friend, trying to keep the peace, said fine.

But apparently, “fine” wasn’t fine enough. Suddenly we’re being billed for foie gras we never saw, and two tuna burgers when there was only one. When questioned, the manager actually picked up a pintxo skewer like Sherlock Holmes with a magnifying glass, insisting the evidence proved otherwise. We had five pintxos in total. They knew it.

And it keeps getting better. We ordered one glass of wine. Just one. Yet magically, the bill showed two. No second glass, no trace, nothing. , it seems anything goes on the check as long as you don’t notice.

Finally, as a parting insult, the man has the audacity to say, “Oh, I’ve seen you before.” Really? On our very first evening in San Sebastián? 😅 Thank you for spoiling it and for lying straight to our faces. Where are your manners? Where is your integrity?

We even paid for their mistake, but the arrogance, dishonesty, and gall here are unmatched. This is not hospitality. It’s a scam with pintxos on the side.

San Sebastián is filled with incredible pintxo bars where you’ll be welcomed warmly and treated with respect. This is not one of them. Do yourself a favor: go...