Iceland does not have a traditional street food scene in the sense that Bangkok or Mexico City does. There are no hawker markets, no cart culture evolved over centuries of dense urban life. What Iceland has instead is something more particular: a small number of food traditions so deeply embedded in Icelandic identity that they have remained relatively unchanged through decades of modernisation, globalisation, and tourism.
The Pylsur: Iceland’s Most Democratic Food
The Icelandic hot dog - pylsur - is not an imported American concept applied to local ingredients. It is its own thing, with its own logic and its own cultural weight.
The sausage itself is a lamb-pork-beef blend, with lamb as the primary meat. Icelandic lamb is free-range, grass-fed on highland pastures, and noticeably more flavourful than commercially farmed varieties. The lamb base gives the sausage a slightly sweeter, more mineral character than a standard beef frankfurter.
The bun is steamed rather than toasted. This matters: steaming produces a softer, moister result that doesn’t compete with the fillings for texture. The condiments are specific and non-negotiable for the traditional version: remoulade (a mayonnaise-based sauce with capers and dill), raw onion, crispy fried onion, ketchup, and pylsusinnep (Icelandic mustard - a sweet, dark brown variety very different from yellow American mustard or French Dijon). To order everything, you say “ein með öllu” - one with everything.
Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur on Tryggvagata at the Reykjavík harbour has operated continuously since 1937. The name means “the best hot dog in town” - a claim made without apparent irony at the time of founding that has proved difficult to challenge. The stand is small, slightly battered, and has served hot dogs to Bill Clinton (2004), James Hetfield of Metallica, and approximately every Icelander alive. The photograph of Clinton eating his pylsur (reportedly without raw onion, which is noted in Icelandic culture as a mild deviation from orthodoxy) is on the wall inside.
There are now multiple Bæjarins Beztu locations, including at Hlemmur. The original harbour stand retains the institutional quality: smaller, colder in winter, usually with a queue, and open until 1am on weekends. A hot dog costs approximately ISK 650 as of 2026 - unchanged in relative terms from what it cost fifty years ago, when Icelanders on modest wages could afford to eat well.
The pylsur’s cultural function is partly democratic. Reykjavík is an expensive city. A well-made hot dog at ISK 650 is the one thing a construction worker, a tourist on a tight budget, and a prime minister can eat standing at the same kerbside without anyone adjusting the experience for their demographic.
Bakeries and the Snúður Tradition
Iceland has a strong bakery culture that developed partly from necessity - bread was one of the few carbohydrate sources available in a treeless country with no domestic grain production. Rye was imported; wheat was imported; but the skill of working with both became deeply embedded.
The snúður is Iceland’s contribution to Nordic pastry: a spiral-shaped cinnamon bun, larger and more densely filled than a Swedish kanelbullar, with a thick layer of glaze over the top. It is found in every Icelandic bakery, eaten at breakfast and mid-morning, and has experienced something of a global resurgence through Reykjavík’s newer bakeries posting them on social media.
Brauð & Co (Frakkastígur 16, with further locations at Grandi and elsewhere) became the focal point of Reykjavík’s artisan bakery revival after opening in 2015. The queue on weekend mornings is internationally known. What distinguishes the product is a genuine commitment to laminated dough - slow, cold-fermented, butter-rich croissants and pastries whose layers shatter rather than collapse. The sourdough bread uses long fermentation. Neither technique is traditional Icelandic, but the application of craft bakery standards to local ingredients (Icelandic wheat is now being grown in small quantities; local dairy is exceptional) represents a thread connecting modern production to Icelandic raw material quality.
The snúður at Brauð & Co sells out by mid-morning on weekends. From approximately ISK 500–900 each as of 2026.
Hlemmur Mathöll: The Modernisation of Casual Eating
Hlemmur was Reykjavík’s central bus terminal from 1947 until 2014, when the city’s bus network was restructured and the building was left without a primary purpose. Its conversion into Hlemmur Mathöll (Hlemmur Food Hall) opened in 2017 and was one of the more significant cultural shifts in Reykjavík’s eating landscape in recent years.
The concept - multiple independent food vendors sharing communal seating under one roof - was not invented in Reykjavík. Borough Market, Torvehallerne, and various European food hall models preceded it. What made Hlemmur significant locally was the timing: it arrived as Reykjavík was absorbing a large increase in tourism and as a generation of young Icelanders who had trained abroad were returning to open food businesses. The food hall format gave those businesses a lower-overhead entry point than a standalone restaurant.
The result is a space with consistent variety: ramen, sushi, Mexican-inspired tacos, Nordic open sandwiches, vegan grain bowls, and döner kebab sit alongside each other in a building that still reads, architecturally, as a transit hub. Prices run approximately ISK 1,500–2,800 per dish as of 2026 - significantly less than a restaurant main course, more than a hot dog. The quality across most stalls is well above what the price implies.
Hlemmur is not a tourist attraction in itself, but it is where many Icelanders eat lunch on a weekday, which is the more meaningful endorsement.
Kolaportið and the Living Food Archive
Kolaportið - the flea market in the large grey corrugated building beside the harbour on Tryggvagata - operates on weekends only (Saturday and Sunday, approximately 11am–5pm, entry free). The main hall sells clothes, tools, toys, and the usual flea market contents. The back section sells food, and the food section is the most genuinely Icelandic eating experience in Reykjavík.
What you find at Kolaportið: harðfiskur sold loose from large trays, pickled herring in several preparations, kleinur (Icelandic fried doughnuts, twisted and slightly drier than the Dutch equivalent), skyr in the traditional form, Icelandic sweets, and prepared foods that home cooks bring to sell. The harðfiskur with butter from a Kolaportið stall - approximately ISK 400–700 for a paper bag of pieces - is closer to the original tradition than the vacuum-packed supermarket version.
Harðfiskur as a food category deserves more attention than it usually gets in travel writing. Air-dried cod or haddock - hung in frames in the cold north Atlantic wind until completely desiccated - was Iceland’s primary export commodity for centuries and the caloric backbone of the fishing community’s working day. The drying process is identical to stockfish methods still used in Norway, but Iceland developed its own tradition of eating it as a snack with salted butter rather than rehydrating it as a cooking ingredient. The flavour is intensely savoury and mineral. It requires sustained chewing, which is probably why it fell out of daily use as Iceland modernised, but it remains the most nutritionally efficient food in the country - protein-dense, shelf-stable, and requiring no preparation beyond butter.
Coffee Culture and the Rise of Specialty Roasters
Reykjavík has developed a creditable specialty coffee scene over the last decade, driven largely by Icelanders who trained as baristas in Scandinavia and returned to open small cafés. Kaffitár, originally established in 1990, was the first serious third-wave-adjacent roaster in the country. Reykjavík Roasters (two locations, including Brautarholt and Kárastígur) is now considered the most technically precise operation in the city. Stofan Café on Vesturgata has long been the neighbourhood coffee shop that functions as an informal community hub in the west end of 101 Reykjavík.
Coffee in Iceland is drunk throughout the day and evening - Icelanders are among the highest per-capita coffee consumers in the world, a fact often attributed to the need for stimulants during long dark winters. The café as a social space (kaffihús) has a longer history in Iceland than the restaurant; people meet for coffee rather than for drinks, and the quality of the coffee itself matters more than the surrounding service.
A flat white or filter coffee from a Reykjavík specialty café runs approximately ISK 700–1,000. The café culture is relaxed about lingering - sitting with one coffee for two hours is unremarkable.
The Supermarket as Street Food Alternative
Iceland’s supermarkets (Bonus and Krónan) function partly as street food infrastructure. The Bonus hot food counter does grilled chicken and lamb-based ready meals from approximately ISK 800–1,400. The Krónan deli section carries sushi rolls (approximately ISK 800–1,500 per pack), prepared salads, and sandwich options. Neither is artisan, but both represent how Icelanders actually eat - efficiently, cheaply, and without ceremony - when the alternative is paying restaurant prices three times a day.
The skyr section of any Icelandic supermarket is worth a long look. Small-format pots run approximately ISK 200–350. The flavoured versions (blueberry, vanilla, peach) are the tourist-facing range; the plain full-fat skyr is what Icelanders eat, and it is better.
Browse Reykjavík food tours - city walking tours, food experiences, and guided visits to Icelandic food producers.
Get travel insurance for Iceland - policies covering glacier hikes, F-road driving, and volcanic disruption.
Related Guides
- Icelandic cuisine culture - The history and traditions behind Iceland’s distinctive food culture
- Icelandic food guide - What Icelanders actually eat, and which traditional dishes are worth trying
- Reykjavík nightlife - Bars, live music, and the late-night scene after dinner
- Iceland budget guide - Full breakdown of costs for food, accommodation, transport, and activities
- Vegan Reykjavík - Plant-based eating options across the capital, from dedicated vegan restaurants to supermarket staples
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