Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.06.2013, Síða 20

1919 (Radisson)
Pósthússtræti 2
This elegant hotel bar boasts
classic black Chesterfield armchairs
and a scattering of chic cowhide
footstools, but the best reason to
visit is the fact that they serve Stella
Artois on tap. The staff are warm
and welcoming and bring your
drinks on a tray. For the first time in
an Icelandic bar, I felt special.

1000

1200

1150
Oh-so-cool and aloof Bossa nova.

Older (40+).

Older tourists with money, men
in their late 20s and 30s who buy
their clothes at (new Icelandic
designer label) JÖR.
Free peanuts and waiters who
actually seem happy to have you.
Come here if you want to be treated
like you're rich and famous. – PÞ
Austur
Austurstræti 7

Austur is the jock mecca of
Reykjavík. You will find more
sweaty muscles there than at the
gym after Christmas. That said
the place doesn't really try to be
anything else and what it does it
does fairly well. The atmosphere
is trashy and slick like something
you would find in a high production
porno. The drink selection is great
and for the right amount of money
you can treat yourself to a private
lounge filled with your heart’s
desires.

1000

1500 1250
Euro Trash.
Young (20-30s).

Buffed up dudes, women with lots
of makeup.
One of the few bars that will
provide you with a VIP lounge.
It's sterile and shiny like a LA porn
set. – RJH
B5
Bankastræti 5
B5 is a modern/minimalistic lounge
bar in a hall-like space lined with
comfortable high benches and lit
by two epic lampshades. It's quiet
by day, but packed out the door by
night with the dress code (smart-
casual) creating a see-and-be-seen
vibe. Add pumping pop music and
a "magic carpet ride" energy-drink
cocktail for 1000 ISK, and you’ve
got yourself a haven for Reykjavík's
yuppies and those who want to
hang out with Reykjavík’s yuppies.

900

800

900

Commercial pop, R&B, house,
chart music, disco.
Young (20s-30s).
Suits, body builders, dancing
queens, orange girls, older
business types, townies, startup
guys.
B5 is a hangout for a species
closely resembling regular
Icelanders. The younger males
often exhibit broader shoulders
and thicker limbs than their human
counterparts, almost bursting out
of their shirts due to their swollen
size. The older males are perhaps
their overlords: finely dressed,
and showing particular interest in
the young females of the species,
who must spend extended periods
on sunbeds in order to survive,
rendering them bright orange in
colour. This also appears to make
them invulnerable to the Northern
climes, and they cavort freely in
the arctic wind.
This is a popular hangout for the
city's young professionals. – JR
Bar 7
Frakkastígur 7
Over the last year, Bar 7 has
become a pretty solid place for
people who just want to sit in a
hole and drink. This is a dive, and
that's not faux-dive for people who
think it's charming. But it actually
is charming too, and remarkably
clean. Don't bother getting mixers
or wine here though; you're safer
sticking to basics (beer).

550

1000

1000
Usually the bartender's iPod
playlist, which is often really
great indie rock oriented music
(Band of Horses, Interpol, The
Antlers). Music is never too
loud to hold a conversation and
if asked nicely, they'll usually
change it if you hate the song, or
crank it up.
Older (50+)
The tired, the poor, the huddled
masses yearning to drink for
(almost) free—every age group is
found here, ranging from 18 to 80.
A gigantic collection of
matchbooks from various bars,
hotels, clubs, sports arenas and
other places, all framed, covering
every wall. It's actually kind of
amazing, and it's really fun to
look until you find one from some
random place you've been to in
another country.
Come happy, leave depressed;
come depressed, leave comforted.
– RL
Bar 11
Hverfisgata 18
Bar 11 is one of the few places in
Reykjavík where a rockabilly hipster
can truly feel at home. It caters to the
small percentage of people who do
not like the standard club theme of
electro and house and prefer a more
rocked out haze fuelled by shots and
beers. At the time of visit, the place
was like a zoo filled with various
young animals shaking their feathers
at the watering hole to the beat of
classic rock anthems. If you have at
least one sailor tattoo, or just want an
alternative to the more mainstream
club music, this is the place for you.

800

1200

1150
Rockabilly and classic rock.
Young (under 20).
Tattooed rockers, young kids
All their glasses are made of
plastic.
Booze and tattoos. – RJH
Bjarni Fel
Austurstræti 20
Named after one of Iceland's most
famous sports commentators,
Bjarni Fel is an adequately equipped
sports bar conveniently located at
the bottom of Austurstræti. The bar
offers multiple strategically placed
flat screen TVs that feature a wide
variety of sports events daily. The
bar itself though is lacking a bit
in character and the selection of
booze is mediocre. But if all other
bars have filled up during important
matches, Bjarni Fel is a sure bet
for getting a nice seat with a good
view.

890

1100

1090
Music is not a priority and during
games and events you will hear
live commentary.
Young (20s-30s).
Sports hungry Icelanders of all
ages, the occasional lost tourist.
They have an excellent covered
patio that makes for one of the
best semi-indoor smoking areas
in the city when the weather gets
bad.
The ball hits the net on a television
set. – RJH
Boston
Laugavegur 28b
Boston is the heir to many of the
late Sirkus regulars (that bar closed
in 2008). The décor is more grown-
up—sort of dark, trashy, gothic
chic—and the guests aren't exactly
kittens anymore. At times, the
atmosphere can feel a bit sketchy
due to overwhelming drunkenness
and other sorts of intoxication.

900

1300

900
The music depends on the DJ.
Most of them are of the electronic/
house variety. They rock DJs
like KGB and DJ Kári stops
through every now and again on
weekends.
Young (20s-30s).
Washed-up artists, friendly drug
dealers, fashionistas, bohemians,
writers, grungy rock types, party
animals, aging party animals,
people with drinking problems.
Boston has a really nice
backdoor patio and an expensive
homoerotic photograph framed in
bulletproof glass and is allegedly
owned by Björk.
The right kind of sketchy. – AB
Bunk Bar
Laugavegur 28
It’s like a cheap version of KEX with
a more Patrick Bateman-y vibe. As
it is attached to a hostel, the overtly
patriotic touch is understandable.
It’s a bit cramped and noisy and
it’s hard to get to the bathrooms.
The staff is nice though—friendly,
efficient and courteous.

900

1000

900
Music is neither here nor there.
There's nothing distinct and
obtrusive about it. It's probably
an iPod playlist with some
mainstream '80s music and
dickish saxophone music.
Young (20s-30s).
Yuppies with expensive beanie
caps and fancy shirts, sporty
looking tourists, general "cool"
types.
It has a nice selection of bottled
After having loads of fun
making a Bar Guide for the
past two years (we really
love drinking), we decided
once again to review and
rate every single bar in 101
Reykjavík (yes, we really
love drinking). And our
research reveals that there
are around sixty bars in
town this year.
Perhaps you’re thinking that we could
have simply updated last year’s
guide. Well, first of all, that wouldn’t
have been as much fun (less drinking),
and a lot has changed in the last year.
A bunch of bars have closed, and then
opened under a new name, and then
perhaps returned to their old name. A
bar or two may even have opened or
closed by the time this issue goes to
print. That's the nature of the game.
So we ganged together a bunch of
fun-and-drink-loving writers, divided
the bars between them, and sent
them off to work. Of course you may
not agree with everything we’ve writ-
ten as our tastes may differ greatly
from yours or we may just be wrong
(you can write us an angry letter
about that), but ultimately this guide
is for entertainment and information-
al purposes, and it is meant to incite
discourse more than anything. And if
it helps you find a new bar you love,
then that’s all the better.
There was at least some method
to our madness, which you can read
below.
THE GRAPEVINE'S BIG-ASS BAR GUIDE 2013
REVIEWER
INSTRUCTIONS:
These are the instructions we gave to
our reviewers before they embarked
upon their mission.
DEFINE: BAR
A bar is an establishment that has
‘the sale and consumption of alco-
hol’ as its main purpose and goal. It
can sell food, but emphasis must be
placed on, again, the sale and con-
sumption of alcoholic beverages.
METHOD
Each reviewer was instructed to
drink one beer at each bar reviewed.
To ensure that all bars were reviewed
under similar circumstances, they
were asked to go there between the
hours of 23:00 and 1:00 on a djamm
(“party”) night. These are typically
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
At the bar, they were instructed
to take notes in their fancy notebook,
which they did not forget to bring
(because forgetting that would be
horrible). They noted the following:

Prices
The cheapest price of a beer, glass of
wine, and 'single + mixer'.
Music
Type (DJ, playlist, live music) plus
genre?
Clientele
Who hangs out there?

BEER

SINGLE + MIXER

WINE

Music / Genre
Age
Clientele
Special feature
Troubadour Alert
Special features
What does this bar have that sepa-
rates it from the bunch, if anything?
In a nutshell
One brief sentence to sum up the bar.
Rating
On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the high-
est.
Our Review Team:
Rebecca Louder, Parker Yama-
saki, Ragnar Egilsson, Ragnar Jón
Hrólfsson, Shea Sweeney, Alfrún
Gísladóttir, Helgi Þór Harðarson,
Patricia Þormar, John Rogers, Atli
Bollason, Sigurður Kjartan Kristins-
son, Óli Dóri, Tómas Gabríel Benja-
min, Amy Silbergeld
20The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 7 — 2013