One of my most memorable afternoons was spent eating pintxos with friends in San Sebastian, Spain. Often called Basque tapas, pintxos are, indeed, something to nibble on while having a drink, before moving on to dinner. The trouble is, they can be so delicious that it's easy to fill up on them instead of eating a "proper" meal.
The pintxos bars we visited took pride in their display of colourful, varied snacks. Some of them were very simple - a slice of jamon on crusty bread that had been rubbed with garlic and raw tomato. Some places specialised in seafood, others were more meat-oriented. One place we visited had pintxos made almost entirely of preserved products. But it wasn't your normal (and inexpensive) canned tuna fish, anchovies, olives or white asparagus spears - what they were serving was of very high quality, and absolutely delicious. Many of the pintxos took the form of open-faced or closed sandwiches, with the toppings stuck onto the bread with a skewer (" pintxo" means "skewer" in Basque).
Eating pintxos is a sociable experience, with the potential for drunkenness, if you don't take care to pace yourself with the accompanying drinks. If it's your first time at a particular pintxos bar, it would be a good idea to look around, to see what everyone else is eating, before placing your order. Try just a few of the snacks at a time - if the quality isn't that great, cut your losses early and move onto the next venue.