Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.06.2013, Síða 26

26The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 7 — 2013
Reykjavík Beats
Hverfisgata 46
During its lifespan, this bar has
been a pool lounge, a gay bar, an
art gallery, a bum bar and now a
techno club. It always seems to
attract a similar crowd though
with the bro share of the clientele
coming for the pool tables. The
service is friendly and the prices are
fair, but the recent transition into a
techno club seems only half-done
and not a hint of dancing occurs
while the Grapevine reviewer came
to visit. The pool tables were all in
use though.

850

1300

850
Techno! Well, on the weekends at
least. Also host concerts on some
occations.
Young (20s-30s)
Poolsharks, gays, drinkers,
students, lost souls, recreational
drug-users
They have a great indoor smoking
area, decent pool tables and
a huge dance floor, which few
dancers seem to have found as of
yet.
A pool hall that wants to be a hard-
core techno club on weekends. – HH
SKY Bar & Lounge
Ingólfsstræti 1
This clean, nicely decorated,
and comfortable lounge is on
the top floor of the Centre Hotel
overlooking Harpa and the water.
The view is exceptional and there
is only the slightest suggestion of
calming music coming through
hidden speakers. Here you
won't dance, yell, or run into the
hopelessly young and beautiful
101 rats (though SKY Bar puts on a
little front with its hip bartenders).
Instead you'll sit back to enjoy a
symphony of European languages
and a palette of attire ranging
from just off the plane traveller to
business executive.

650

1500

1100
What music?
Older (40+)
Middle aged tourists, business
executives, people on a date with
their iPad, Pina Colada drinkers,
more middle aged tourists.
Features a stunning view of the
bay, and an outdoor seating area
and balcony for the few days when
Reykjavík warms up.
Half the cost is the view. – SS
Slippbarinn
Mýrargata 2
This is not your typical hotel bar.
Fancy cocktails are the place’s
claim to fame, but they also offer a
good selection of beers. The place
treads a thin line between being a
fancy and cool hotel bar. The place
has a nice buzz to it and is a perfect
starting point for your night on the
town as it closes early. It probably
has the best cocktails in town and
serves decent snacks as well.

900

1200

1000
The music is almost always in the
backround here although we hear
they have occasional live gigs.
Easy listening.
Older (40+)
Quasi-hipsters, bankers, Icelandair
staff, tourists, media and
marketing people.
Offers interesting design details,
and good booths for chatting.
Sausages hang from the bar.
A hotel bar with the benefits of a
fancy-yet-kinda-cool bar. – HH
Stofan
Aðalstræti 7
I'm particularly partial to drinking
at home (mine or a friends). Just
sitting on the sofa with some nice
tunes in the background and maybe
some funny memorabilia to trade
stories or make in jokes about, then
sifting through LPs and quickly
switching records on the hi-fi
dancing in socks on the rug. This
place is the closest one gets to that
outside of an actual home, except
you should probably keep your
shoes on.

950

1450

1100

A nice mix of whatever suits the
mood, usually picked by whoever's
on staff. Rainy day blues to sunny
day jams with a strong lean towards
guitar/piano driven music rather than
electro.
Young (20s-30s)

Bookworms, freelancers, artists
working on collaborations,
journalists, cool parents, low-key
rockstars, solo tourists Skyping
with their families
Antique furniture, rugs, knick-
knacks and old-timey books to
give it that Funky Grandma charm.
Meet me in our living room on
main street. – HH
Strawberries
Lækjargata 6a

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
"Not for women, not for women."
– PKY
Stúdentakjallarinn
Sæmundargata 4
About a fifteen minute walk
from the heat of Austurstræti,
Studentakjallarinn (“The Student’s
basement” at The University of
Iceland) takes pride in being the
little island of the bar scene. Lights
are down, voices are up, but the
space still fosters a healthy buzz
(by 'healthy' I mean conscious,
by 'buzz' I mean everybody can
still form sentences) that many
downtown establishments have
sweat out by midnight. With cheap
grub (served until 23:00), cheaper
beers, and Will Smith's "Wild, Wild
West" playing silently on repeat, it's
a great place to kick start the night.

750

990

690
A hotlist of guilty pleasures
and top 40s. The kind that one
despises by day, until they're
caught singing along to "lyrics
they didn't even know they knew!"
Young (20s-30s)
A STUDENT pub located on the
UNIVERSITY campus. Take a wild,
wild guess.
There’s a colourful lounge area
with exceptionally comfortable
chairs for watching Will Smith. A
projector that projects Will Smith
onto the wall. Will Smith.
A hub of students cheersing cheap beer
by day, a hub of students cheersing
cheap beer by night. – PKY
Thorvaldsen
Austurstræti 8
This is a club meets cocktail bar
more than your average Icelandic
dive bar. The place looks like a
hole-in-a-wall when you peek in
through the door but it's actually
surprisingly spacious. There are two
entrances—one from Austurvöllur
and one from Austurstræti. Both
lead to a curving lounge bar and
from there into a horse-shoe shaped
dance floor that gets nice and toasty
when people actually cut loose. And
supposedly this is one of the places
haunted by the rare and endangered
"dancing Icelander" (although it was
too early for that when we stop by).
They do decent cocktails and feature
(probably) the toughest female
bartenders in Iceland.

900

1400

1000
Disco, hip-hop, samba, house
music - seldom rock music.
Young (20s-30s)
Clubbers, tourists, business
types, people who like Capoeira
Night, Samba Night, and Angolan
National Day celebrations.
The semi-circular shape is quite
distinctive, and they have an
actual dance floor set aside for
dancing (although it's quite small).
Also, the bathrooms are clean.
A scrappy lounge bar with an eth-
nic sheen. – RE
Snaps
Þórsgata 1

Although primarily a restaurant
or bistro, Snaps offers a great
environment for a pre-"djamm"
drink. This place has great service,
the interior is cosy and the
atmosphere friendly. Needless to
say this place is usually packed
with people dining so getting a seat
might be a concern, especially on
weekends. Snaps has probably the
only bar in Reykjavík where you can
enjoy oysters or devilled eggs with
your drink.

950

1350

950
They play a mix of jazz and
Icelandic classics. There's no live
music.
Young (20s-30s)
101 rats, Artsy fartsy, business
people, journalists, tourists,
musicians, hipsters
The place has really cool design
and a great bar. You can watch the
cooks sweat in an open kitchen
while you chug an ice-cold Bríó
from the tap.
A cosy bistro/bar recommended for
warm-up drinks with snacks. – HH
Vegamót
Vegamótastígur 4
Unlike the loud, neon Lebowski Bar
sign or the cosmic tape-work that
marks Hemmi og Valdi, Vegamót's
exterior gives passers-by little hint
as to what's inside. This may be why
walking into its throbbing hip-hop
is such a pleasant surprise. The
rather large building is chopped and
screwed into separate rooms, each
with its own level of intimacy. The
only thing this bar lacks is a proper
dance floor; by about 1:30 it had
nearly cleared out as everybody's
necks were sore from dancing in
their seats.

1000

1200

900
The DJ at Vegamót was on fire,
spinning, scratching and flipping
all the hottest...mp3's. He really
hit those MacBook keys with some
heat. As for the tunes, (think:
"When the pimp's in the crib ma,
drop it like it's hoooot). I haven't
heard that much Snoop Dogg
since the early 2000s.
Young (20s-30s)
People that travel in packs, people
that order food while they drink
Vegamót's floor plan encourages
exploration, with its labyrinth of
sitting rooms. Also, the bathroom
doors are beautiful.
Loosen up! Woah, not that much.
Save that for Prikið. – PKY
Vitabar
Bergþórugata 21
Vitabar feels more like a diner
than a bar. At almost midnight, the
crowd is more interested in greasy
food than pints, but the pints are
too cheap to skip. The combination
of friendly servers and a total lack
of irony creates a sort of family
environment, albeit one where it's
just fine to be belligerent.

700

1200

950
The servers keep top forty radio
and inoffensive American oldies at
such an unobtrusive volume that
you can hear yourself chew.
Young (20s-30s)
Miscellaneous drunk people in
their twenties, stoners, lads, a few
regulars in their 30s.
The (CHEAP!) burgers are more of
a draw than the (CHEAP!) beer.
This isn't a hotspot, but it is the
place to grab a cheeseburger and
cheap pint with friends before the
night really begins. – AS
Vínbarinn
Kirkjutorg 4
This is the perfect lair if you want
to get a glass of really good wine or
try a beer you've never seen before.
The atmosphere is laid back but
sophisticated at the same time. It’s
one of the hallmarks of Icelandic
bar culture.

900

1200

1100
The music is mellow and easy on
the ear in the background. Jazz
and alike.
Older (40+)

Business people; bankers; artists,
academics.
It offers Reykjavík’s greatest
selection of wine by the glass.
A must-visit for every wine con-
noisseur and lover of quality beer.
– SKK
Ölsmiðjan
Lækjargata 10
Ölsmiðjan is laid back. A single
attempt at a chandelier hangs dimly
over the main area, but thanks to
the street-view windows lighting
is more than sufficient this time of
year. It’s not a place to go and "get
lost in the crowd." It’s more a place
to go on a low-pressure date with
your business partner.

490

1150

950
The music plays so low you have
to try to hear it. A fun game to play
to endure the awkward silences
while your date texts his mom or
your business partner calls his
wife. The tunes are all sing-along
love ballads from the 50s and 60s.
The kind that have overstayed
their welcome, but are too
charming to kick out.
Young (20s-30s)
Lots of pairs, lots of men, lots
of pairs of men, travellers on
business that want a reason to
leave their suits on for a while
after the conference, students
attracted to the cheap beer while
pretending to be attracted to each
other.
An unusually large "round table"
upstairs, if you're not used to such
quiet music and prefer to scream
conversation at your date.
Safe, comfortable, and enjoyable.
Like oatmeal. – PKY
Ölstofa Kormáks & Skjaldar
Vegamótastígur 4
This place is said to give you “the
smell of the town" and it certainly
will. It’s normally full of large,
bearded Icelandic males discussing
all sorts of matters at ‘80 decibels
minimum. While the music here
offers more of a background buzz
to the choir of tweed-clad grunts,
the place is surprisingly cosy. The
best smoking area in Reykjavík
may easily be found here, with
overhanging heat lamps to tackle
Iceland’s less than reliable summer.
The place offers a rare house brew
on tap called Bríó and the service is
usually reliable.

800

N/A

N/A
You don´t visit this place for the
music.
Young (20s-30s)
101 rats, artists, actors, writers,
directors, entire whole movie
crews, really, smokers.
This place has a great smoking
area and its own brew on tap. The
Bríó!
A Vikings-gone-English-gentlemen
bar. – HH
Þingholtsbar
Þingholtsstræti 3-5
Hidden away in a basement on
a side street off of Laugavegur,
you'd never stumble upon this
place unless you knew what you
were looking for. The sleek black
interiors are somewhat austere but
offer patrons so much space there’s
no danger of being overheard at
all. In fact, it's more like a private
party at a rich friend’s house than
a public bar. Perfect for intimate
conversation.

900

1300

1100
In the short space of time that it
took to finish one beer, I heard
everything from Beyoncé to
Leonard Cohen to Bill Wither's
"Lean on Me." Fortunately the
music was turned down very low
so it was not a defining part of the
experience.
Older (40+)

Older tourists, most likely hotel
guests.
The huge, luxurious black leather
couches look great for lounging
around in; you almost want to take
your shoes off and make yourself
at home.
This is a sleek hotel bar which is
typically empty. – PÞ
THE GRAPEVINE'S BIG-ASS BAR GUIDE 2013