Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.06.2015, Síða 18

American Bar
Austurstræti 8
The American influence on Reykjavík
bar culture is already so widespread that
"American Bar" is perplexing. Bjarni Fel
(cheapish towers of bad beer; walls covered
entirely in flatscreens), Kex (Edison bulbs;
hardback books by the yard), and Lebowski
Bar (named after 'The Big Lebowski') feel more
'Murcan than this high-ceilinged space. The
long, curving bar is how it should be, as are the
several TVs playing 80s music videos, but the
walls of neon liquor logo signs and NFL helmets
are obviously alcohol-distributor giveaways.
The bottled and draught beer list also skews
heavily towards Icelandic breweries, which is
no longer a novelty given Reykjavík's maturing
beer culture.

1000 1500 1200

What's more American than an
acoustic cover of an old Icelandic rock
song?

Young (20s - 30s)
Americans, despite having spent
thousands of dollars to travel thousands
of miles from America. Icelanders,
despite having a culture of their own.
Darts (not pool, pinball, shuffleboard,
or a mechanical bull, but *darts*). Live
Premier League football. You can order
Icelando-American messy/upscale food
from next door's Dirty Burger and Ribs.
The American Bar has the authenticity of
the English Pub mixed with the chilly
high-ceilinged ambiance of an airport
lounge. – MA
Austur
Austurstræti 7
Austur is one of the few bars in Reykjavík that
might be considered a club. People go there to
buy bottles of vodka for their reserved table,
dance to insanely loud EDM, and show off
their muscles/suits/tans. If that's your thing,
this place has it in spades.

1090 1500 1250

Expect only electronic dance music if
you plan on drinking at Austur.

Young (20s - 30s)
Bodybuilders, tan monsters, bankers,
beautiful people.
All the mirrors, oh so many mirrors.
When John saw how amazing his tan pecs
looked in the mirror, he gave himself a
wink and flexed just ever so slightly.
– RJH
B5
Bankastræti 5
B5 is made for grinding; it's the closest thing to
a Miami night club in Reykjavík, but not that
close.

1000 1400 1000

Pop music, Top 40, and occasionally
something from the past millennium (if
the DJ is feeling frisky).

Young (20s - 30s)
Professional athletes, would-be
yuppies, young bankers, realtors, gold
diggers.
They have a VIP section downstairs
where you have to buy a bottle of hard
liquor to get a table. There's also a
burger joint in the back that's open
during the day.
No hipster would ever say that this is their
favourite bar, but a lot of other people do—
and being at someone's favourite bar is
always fun. – JB
B7
Frakkastígur 7
The bar has a certain desperate charm. If you
show up early you can enjoy the cheapest pints
in town and run into tourists with a similar eye
for frugal drinking. However, nighttime gives
it a darker shade. The threat of violence begins
to permeate the air, which excites some and
puts off others.

550 1300 800

It sounds like they are playing whatever
the bartenders have on their iPods.

Older (40+)
Cheapskates, possibly underage
drinkers, and the dentally lacking. Yet,
amidst it all, there can be a rose in the
concrete, and you could end up having a
very interesting conversation.
The bathroom has been broken for four
months, so you need to cross the street
to Obladi Oblada to use the facilities—
which will cost you a beer each time.
Much like Zen, the only joy you get here is
what you bring, and I recommend not
coming empty-handed. – YOU
Bar 11
Hverfisgata 18
It's like an amalgamation of every reality show
about ink, choppers, the South, and nü-metal.
Spanning three rooms on two levels (one of
them being completely obsessed with Tuborg),
Bar 11 unabashedly embraces the kitschier side
of rock 'n' roll.

900 1100 1100

Rock hits!

Young (20s - 30s)
Metalheads, punks, rockabilly types,
tattoo addicts, people who just came to
play and/or see the gig tonight, some
token underage kids.
The coffin-shaped DJ booth, the
Tuborg basement, and the cigar store
Indian behind the basement bar.
Whatever, Mom, you don't understand.
This is the REAL ME. Deal with it. *Devil
Horns* – RX
Bar Ananas
Klapparstígur 38
Painted in bright yellows and greens and
decked out with tiki decor and palm fronds,
Bar Ananas is like the swim-up bar of a tropical
resort in Cancun (minus the swimming up). It's
quite nice, but it unfortunately closes at 1:00
AM, so if you get there at midnight, they're
already cleaning up.

900 1200 1200

Bar Ananas keeps it real with
fashionable house music and hot
summer tunes.

Young (20s - 30s)
Yuppies, artists, hip musicians,
journalists, dreamers, schemers,
slightly sketchy 101 rats, people who
have never been to the tropics.
The whole place is meant to look and
feel like a tropical beach, which is
pretty special and cool.
"Let me take you to my rocky island—it's
tropical!" – RX
Bjarni Fel
Austurstræti 20
A small sports bar with almost as many TVs as
seats —it's not the best in town but it still gets a
lot of traffic due to its central location.

1090 1500 1490

I believe they maybe play pop/rock
music, but any tunes are completely
drowned out by the sports programmes
on the TV.

Young (20s - 30s)
Tourists and sports fans, small groups
looking for somewhere quiet-ish to
hang out.
Bjarni Fel shares the best smoking patio
in town with Hressó and you can order
food from Hressó as well. They'll show
anything that's on TV, from football
and mixed martial arts to Eurovision.
Bjarni Fel is an extension of Hressó, just
smaller and with sports. – HMF
Boston
Laugavegur 28B
Decorated like a Palladian-style sex dungeon
with less comfortable chairs—mock flock
wallpaper, rococo bric-a-brac, sultry light,
an erotic print whose symbolism 101's finest
minds have yet to fully parse—Boston is
appealingly loungey even on party nights.
Their "dance floor" is not the typical sweaty
mess, but instead has people dancing sexily/
dorkily around tables where it's still possible to
sit and have a conversation.

900 1400 900

House music, in which the house is
large enough to contain a roller coaster,
of love (say what).
In total, we went to just shy of fifty
bars. This included a fresh look at all
of the places we covered last year. And
while that might seem like retread-
ing old ground, downtown Reykjavík
is actually a bar merry-go-round on
which places are constantly opening,
closing, changing spaces, changing
floors, changing names, taking back
a previous name, or even reviving a
long-dead one. Bars here also regu-
larly change hands, and when they do,
the decor, drinks selection, staff and
atmosphere often change too, accord-
ing to the new owner’s taste. So, we
took one for the team, you know. Once
more into the breach...
Of course, you may not agree with
everything we’ve written. Bars change
feel according to the time of day you
visit, or how familiar you are with
their secrets, quirks and eccentricities.
Or, maybe we just plain got it wrong in
some cases - you can write us an angry
letter about that, if so. We won’t mind.
This guide is ultimately for the pur-
poses of entertaining you, informing
you, and inciting pub-table discussion.
And if it helps you find a new bar you
love, then all the better.
All that said, there was some meth-
od to our madness. Here’s the criteria
we used.
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 alcohol’ as
its main purpose and goal. It can sell
food and host events, but the emphasis
must be on drinking.
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 - 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:
Atmosphere
What’s the vibe? How’s the decor, the
setting, the general mood?
Prices
The cheapest price of a beer, glass of
wine, and 'single + mixer'.
Music
What’s on the stereo, by type (DJ, play-
list, live music) and genre?
Clientele
Who hangs out there?

Beer

Single + Mixer

Wine

Music / Genre

Age
Clientele
Special feature
Troubadour Alert
Our Review Team:
Hildur María Friðriksdóttir, Mark
Asch, Larissa Kyzer, Gabriel Ben-
jamin, Jón Benediktsson, Ragnar
Hrólfsson, York Underwood, Helgi
Harðarson, John Rogers, Ragnar
Egilsson, Hannah Jane Cohen, Rex
Beckett
Wow, can you believe our bar guide is five years old al-
ready? That means, in just 15 years, it will be old enough
to go drinking downtown. And it’ll definitely know all the
best places when it does. Over the last few weeks, we sent
our team (who previously could have been described as
“fresh-faced and intrepid”, but are now more “grey-faced
and shaking”) to grab a beer, people-watch, and take in
the atmosphere of Reykjavík’s many downtown bars, and
report back accordingly.
T H
E G
R A P E V I N E ' S B I G - A S S
2015
18 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 7— 2015BAR GUIDE
Illustrations by Snorri Eldjárn Snorrason
Photos by Nanna Dís