Where to Eat in Reykjavík City Guide & Map of the Best Restaurants

Iceland is a small country with a mighty food scene. The capital, Reykjavík, is home to approximately 130,000 people, but given its position halfway between the U.S. and Europe, it’s an extremely popular tourist destination. Whether you only have a quick layover in Iceland and you’re looking for some good places to eat, or whether you’re off on an adventure to explore all of the island’s volcanoes, lagoons, glaciers, and hot springs, we’ve got your food itinerary covered!

In this guide, we have gathered all our Reykjavík favorites as well as the best restaurants around the island, in Akureyri, Egilsstaðir, and the Westman Islands. You’ll find everything from ambitious fine dining restaurants to specialty coffee shops to natural wine bars, and, of course, the city’s best hot dog. Navigate the map easily either by scrolling through the list on the right or by clicking the points on the map. Places are listed in a geographical order.

Dill is Iceland’s most famous restaurant, and the first of its kind in the country. It was first opened in 2009 by chef Gunnar Karl Gíslason, and it received a Michelin star in 2017. Dill’s inspiration is to highlight Icelandic food culture and bring it into the spotlight, to preserve time-old traditions that otherwise might disappear. Come with an open mind: you’ll try some dried and fermented foods you might not have tasted before, such as dung-smoked trout (an ingredient that sounds intimidating but actually is quite tasty). Sustainability is a big focus of the restaurant, so the chefs try to use every part of the animal when possible. The wine pairing is all natural, and their non-alcoholic pairing is made of locally produced kombuchas. Dill is a must-visit when in Reykjavík.

Restaurant ÓX is a small, speakeasy-style restaurant from chef Thrainn Freyr Vigfusson, tucked away in the back of a cocktail bar. The interior at ÓX is no bigger than the seventeen-seat counter it houses. The space instantly makes you feel at home – that’s because the kitchen is originally from Vigfusson’s grandfather’s old farmhouse. Now, the rustic cabinets and appliances have been transplanted into this fine dining restaurant; the setting serves as a fun juxtaposition to the stunning presentations of the tasting menu. ÓX only has one seating per night, with a total of three chefs preparing and serving 20 dishes showcasing local Icelandic ingredients. It’s dinner and a show – the chefs love interacting with the guests and are eager to go into detail about any ingredient or technique. ÓX received its first Michelin star in 2022.

Iceland’s most renowned coffee chain is Reykjavík Roasters, which was founded in 2008 and now has four locations around the capital. Our favorite café is the original location, a cozy spot right next to Hallgrímskirkja, the iconic church at the top of the city. The interior is filled with an eclectic mix of vintage furniture, and the coffee is served in equally charming kettles. We tried a few different pour-overs during our time in Iceland, including their Brazilian coffee, which has notes of molasses and plums, and their natural Ethiopian coffee, which is more light and floral in flavor.

Our favorite restaurant in Reykjavík first opened in 2017 in the least likely location: inside a food hall at a bus stop. After seven years, Skál moved to a permanent venue. The food at the new location is still very much in the same style as before, but slightly more elevated and refined. Of course, there is still a focus on Icelandic produce, and you’ll find some of Skál's classic dishes on the menu, but in a new form. You can now choose a tasting menu in addition to the à la carte options. (Skál is growing up!) We especially love the raw Icelandic scallops with a red currant granita, horseradish cream, dill oil, and hazelnut oil, and the salt-baked beets with house-made mascarpone and lemon thyme oil. This is modern Scandinavian comfort food, in a fun, rambunctious setting; it’s a chef’s hangout, a place where the industry goes on their day off to get their grub on and guzzle natural wine. Nighttime is when the party takes place, but also drop by for lunch to try the flæskesteg (pork belly) sandwich.

Sümac is the casual Middle Eastern restaurant from chef Thrainn Freyr Vigfusson. The open grill is the beating heart of the restaurant, with most of the dishes touching the fire before hitting your table. Menu highlights include the flatbread with za’atar and hummus; grilled oyster mushrooms; carrots with whipped feta, honey, and cumin; the grilled shrimp skewer with chili and preserved lemon; and the beef short rib with onion, fennel, and hazelnut dukkah. The creative cocktail program highlights Middle Eastern flavors like rose, arak, turmeric, and sumac.

The city’s best natural wine bar is located on Laugavegur, the main walking street in Reykjavík. Step downstairs into a cozy basement and you’ll find lots of crowded tables filled with thirsty customers, and lots of wine bottles on the shelves. The offerings change frequently, but on our visit we spotted wine from Le Coste, Gut Oggau, Claus Preisinger, Vej, Meinklang, and Christian Tschida on the 200+ bottle list. There are also simple tapas, sandwiches, veggie dishes, and cheese plates if you’re feeling snacky!

Located in a charming cottage smack in the center of the city, Baka Baka serves pastries by day and pizza by night. Naturally, we went twice so we could try both! The pastries are some of the best in town – we feasted on cardamom buns, doughnuts, ham and cheese croissants, and triple chocolate "klatti" (cookies). The pizza was as impressive as the pastry selection, with a fluffy dough and seasonal toppings. We ordered the Bianca II, with oyster mushrooms, truffle dust, garlic, onions, and a delicious white sauce. Added bonus? There’s a nice selection of natural wine to go with your pie. Baka Baka also has an outpost at Keflavík Airport called Bakad.

Welcome to the Jungle! There are fun party vibes at Jungle, but we were most impressed by the high level of drinks at this high-volume cocktail bar. The friendly bartenders shook us up a Pisco Pogo, one of their signature cocktails with pisco, passionfruit, orange, and green apple. We also tried the Baby Zombie, their spin on the classic Tiki serve, with a bunch of different rums, pineapple, orange, and spices. Jungle also has a few pre-batched taptails, including the Rumaway (rum, elderflower, lime leaves, and tonic) and the Gina (gin, Aperol, lime, and grapefruit lemonade).

Coffee shop Kaffi Ó-le might be newer to the Reykjavík specialty coffee scene, but, boy, did they start off with a bang! This is some truly excellent coffee. Kaffi Ó-le gets their beans from local roaster and wholesaler Kaffibrugghúsið, located just up the street. We tried two Ethiopian coffees, one natural (with notes of honey and orange), and one washed (with notes of flowers and coconut), as well as a honey-processed coffee from El Salvador. All of the coffees were exceptionally brewed by friendly baristas. On the food side, they have a small selection of pastries from Baka Baka.

The former head chef of Dill, Ragnar Eiríksson, leads the kitchen at Brút, where seafood is the star. Alongside him as co-owner is sommelier and restauranteur Ólafur Örn Ólafsson. (The pair also owns the wine bar Vínstúkan, so you know that wine is a big passion of theirs!) The wine offerings at Brút come in a small book rather than a list, with chapters dividing the different sections based on your interests. Whether you’re in the mood for some “funky shit” or something “plump and reliable,” they’ve got a bottle for you. On this occasion, we enjoyed a bottle of Theodora from Gut Oggau, but we were also tempted by some favorites from Gabrio Bini in Italy. On the food side, Brút delivers high-quality casual comfort food with fish as a focus. We adored the Parisian-style gnocchi with mushrooms and parmesan, the Icelandic scallops with tomato and lemon juice, the skate with brown butter and capers, and the lemon sole with beurre blanc. Save room for the dessert trolley!

For a quick bite on-the-go, head to Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (The City’s Best Hot Dogs) for, well, just that! This hot dog stand has been open since 1937, and has served thousands of hungry locals and tourists alike (including Bill Clinton!). You’re going to want to order it with everything: crispy onions and fresh onions on the bottom, and their special brown mustard, remoulade, and ketchup drizzled on top. The best part? It’s open until one in the morning, so it’s perfect for when those late-night cravings hit.

For a luxury, upscale hotel experience, we recommend The Reykjavík EDITION, the city’s only five-star hotel. With a stunning location on the water, the rooms have views of the old harbor as well as the Harpa Concert Hall. The interior design is plush and swanky while still retaining a strong Nordic identity, with lots of velvet and fur accents. The hotel has a state-of-the-art gym as well as a hammam spa, complete with a sauna, steam room, and thermal plunge pool. There is an à la carte breakfast served in the restaurant, a coffee shop and in-house bakery, a lobby cocktail bar, a speakeasy, a nightclub, and a rooftop with the best view of the city.

Baker Markús Ingi Guðnason grew up in the States, where he developed a passion for doughnuts, bagels, and burgers. So, when he moved to Iceland, he eventually decided to give the people what they deserved – good bagels, doughnuts, and burgers! We’re so glad he did, because these are the best doughnuts we’ve found in the Nordics. The vanilla cruller is our all-time favorite here (the cinnamon is a close second), and we also love the cream-filled creme brûlée doughnut. Deig also makes bagels and bagel sandwiches – try the everything bagel with cream cheese!

Three cooks (kocks) with a fine dining background opened a high-quality street food restaurant. You guessed it, Le Kock is owned by the same people who own Deig (and it’s located literally next door). This is, by far, our favorite cheeseburger in Iceland. The buttery buns are made in-house at their bakery, and topped with everything bagel seasoning. Inside the toasted bun, there is a medium rare beef patty, cheddar cheese, Kock sauce (chili mayo), pickles, red onions, and lettuce. On the side, they serve delicious roasted potatoes in lieu of fries, topped with various sauces.

Reykjavík’s premier chocolatier, Omnom, is the first and only bean-to-bar producer in Iceland. They source single-origin cacao beans of the highest quality to make their small-batch chocolate bars, which come in a variety of fun flavors – from sea salted almonds to licorice raspberry to cookies and cream. The bars are cleverly designed to break apart in geometrical shards instead of the traditional squares, and are wrapped in colorful packaging with eye-catching graphic designs. At their chocolate shop, you can also try their ice cream sundaes, with flavors based on their candy bars. All are based on vanilla soft serve, and are drizzled with caramel, served with candied nuts, or topped with a torched marshmallow.

Hipstur is located in a food hall in the reception area of The Greenhouse Hotel, about a 40-minute drive from Reykjavík. The menu is limited and primarily features seafood – although the ribeye is also a signature dish here. Aside from the beef, they serve fish soup, fish and chips, and tiger prawns on bread or in a salad. There’s also a "fish of the month," which on our visit was pan-fried ling with creamy lemon sauce, couscous, croutons, apples, radish, baked onions, pickled beets, and brown butter, served with a slice of focaccia. Hipstur serves tasty, well-cooked food; this is a good lunch option if you’re in the area.

Head chef Gísli Matthías Auðunsson opened Slippurinn in his hometown on the Westman Islands in 2012. The name refers to the restaurant's location, in an old boat slip, where boats were repaired and restored. Slippurinn started as a simpler restaurant, but today it is easily one of the top restaurants in Iceland, proudly serving food of the island, as local as they can source it. Gísli is a firm believer that pure luxury is getting something you can’t get anywhere else and wants people to really feel like they’re on the Westman Islands through his food. But this is not a fine dining restaurant; it's a casual, family-friendly place. You can go à la carte, you can pick the three-course menu of the day, or, if you're a super-interested foodie, you can go for the eight-course menu. No matter what you choose, your meal will likely include lots of fresh seafood, seaweed, locally foraged herbs, seabirds, and Icelandic lamb. Slippurinn is only open seasonally, for four months a year in the summer.

Næs is the sister restaurant of Slippurinn, also from chef Gísli Matthías Auðunsson. The name literally means "nice" but is spelled with Icelandic letters. The venue is really cozy, with a cute, eye-catching design. The menu here is more European-inspired; they allow themselves to use ingredients from all over Europe, like parmesan and basil. Næs serves mostly small plates, natural wine, and simple, easy-drinking cocktails. You can go à la carte or opt for the seven-course tasting menu. Our favorite dish was the "kluski" pasta, a.k.a. Polish potato dumplings served with oyster mushrooms, mushroom sauce, and parmesan.

The Slippurinn SeaFood Truck is the perfect place to grab lunch on the Westman Islands. The food truck is open in the harbor during the summer for three months, serving the best local seafood. Always on the menu are Slippurinn’s signature spicy cod wings and chips (a must-order!) and fish and chips. They also have some rotating items, like a fried cod sandwich with tartar sauce and fish soup.

The most notable restaurant in the east of Iceland is Nielsen, from Kari Thorsteinsson, the former head chef of Dill. Thorsteinsson opened Nielsen in 2019 in Egilsstaðir. The venue is quite charming – an old house that has been transformed into a two-story restaurant. The main dining room is upstairs, where cookbooks are scattered around the room and dried flowers hang from the ceiling. Guests can choose from a three-, five-, or seven-course tasting menu. The menu features seasonal ingredients from the east of Iceland, including beets, mushrooms, skyr, reindeer, and, of course, fish. We would easily rank Nielsen in the top five restaurants in all of Iceland; this was a wonderful meal, showcasing the best of regional and seasonal produce with creativity and flair.

In addition to Nielsen, chef Kari Thorsteinsson also runs a casual restaurant. Salt Café & Bistro was first opened in 2013, but Kari took over in 2023. This is a simple, family-friendly place with a huge menu – everything from pizzas to burgers to salads to dumplings. The pizza was our favorite thing on the menu, with fluffy dough and high-quality toppings. They have ten different pizzas on the menu; we tried one with mortadella, pistachio, ricotta (from the local dairy farm), and lemon zest. Salt is a great lunch option in Egilsstaðir.

Located just a thirty-minute drive from Egilsstaðir, Seyðisfjörður is a charming town and a must-visit in the east of Iceland. After you’re done chasing waterfalls, walk down the rainbow street to Norð Austur for sushi. The chefs get all their fish fresh from local fishermen. Our favorite dish was the “Vik Hot Rock,” salmon cooked on volcanic stone. The fish melted in our mouths! We also tried the chef’s choice sushi menu, with a variety of nigiri, maki, and sashimi. The seafood featured on our visit included uni, mackerel, lemon sole, Arctic char, shrimp, and mahogany clam. Wash it all down with a yuzu amaretto sour, and take in the sweeping waterfront views from the restaurant.

Chef Gunnar Karl Gíslason of the Michelin-starred restaurant Dill in Reykjavík proudly opened North in his hometown of Akureyri. The head chef is Rafn Svansson, who previously worked as a sous chef at Dill. The dining room is small and intimate, with one big table, a few small tables, and four stools at a chef's counter. North serves a tasting menu, focusing on only Icelandic ingredients sourced as locally as possible – often from a farm just down the road from the restaurant. From fresh seafood to playful takes on Icelandic classics like fish soup, beef bearnaise, and the kleina doughnut, this was a wonderfully creative meal, showcasing incredible Icelandic produce. In our opinion, North will be the next Michelin-starred restaurant in Iceland.

Hotel Akureyri (where North restaurant is located) is a super charming hotel, with an artsy, hipster style, not dissimilar to the Ace Hotel or Hoxton hotels. The recently renovated building was once Iceland’s first movie theater, and the reception reflects that classic cinema style. There's a laundromat, cocktail bar, and pool table in the swanky lobby. They also have a lovely breakfast buffet with local hams, cheeses, and Icelandic cakes. The rooms are spacious and artfully designed, with comfortable beds and a Dyson hairdryer. Ours even had an electric guitar!

A passionate couple decided during the pandemic that their hometown of Akureyri needed a nice wine bar, and that if no one else was going to open it, it might as well be them. So, they bought a cute yellow house, made the restaurant on the ground floor, and their home above it on the second floor. And Eyja was born! But this is so much more than a wine bar – it’s an amazing, bistro-style restaurant as well. If you just want a quick bite, there are small snacks and finger foods like hummus and flatbread, and beef carpaccio with arugula, parmesan, and garlic aioli, but you can also have a whole meal here. Our favorite dish was lightly grilled salmon with dill foam, dukkah, beets, and puffed capers. While the owners love natural wine, the cellar has bottles to please everyone, from the funky stuff to the more classic styles.

LYST is a beautiful café located in Akureyri’s botanical garden. It’s an absolutely gorgeous setting, a greenhouse-like space with glass windows so you can look out into the green garden. LYST is a piece of Reykjavík in the north, serving coffee from Reykjavík Roasters, sourdough bread from Braud & Co. in their toasts, and Omnom chocolate in their pastries. LYST has a full food menu with fish and vegetable dishes, and they also serve natural wine – we even spotted Gut Oggau on the shelves! The café is also sometimes home to concerts and chef pop-ups. Note: they don’t do any hand brews or pour-overs here, only espresso-based drinks and batch brew.