Fish and Chips Vagninn is a street-food stop in 101 Grandi, Reykjavik.
Editorially verified May 28, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Must order: Cod and chips, made from fish landed only hours earlier by the family's own boats.
Tip: Run by a fishing family with their own vessels, so the cod could not be fresher. Eat it by the water.
Address: Grandagardur 19, 101 Reykjavik
Valdis at Grandi on Grandagardur scoops some of Reykjavik's most inventive ice cream, with over four hundred flavours tried since 2013, from rye to liquorice.
Try: Icelandic ice cream
Order: Ask for the rye-bread or liquorice scoop, two flavours that taste like Iceland.
Tip: Queues out the door on summer evenings despite the cold climate. Cash or card both fine, no seating.
Voffluvagninn is a bright yellow waffle wagon parked near Hallgrimskirkja, serving warm waffles with sugar, chocolate and cream as a Reykjavik street snack.
Try: Waffles with cream
Order: A waffle with jam and whipped cream, eaten on the steps below the church.
Tip: A seasonal cart that parks by Hallgrimskirkja in good weather. A cheap sweet stop between the sights.
Valdis at Grandi on Grandagardur scoops some of Reykjavik's most inventive ice cream, with over four hundred flavours tried since 2013, from rye to liquorice.
Try: Icelandic ice cream
Order: Ask for the rye-bread or liquorice scoop, two flavours that taste like Iceland.
Tip: Queues out the door on summer evenings despite the cold climate. Cash or card both fine, no seating.
Hamborgarafabrikkan, the Hamburger Factory, on Katrinartun is an Icelandic gourmet-burger chain whose fish and chips and burgers feed Reykjavik families.
Try: Gourmet burgers and fish and chips
Order: A loaded gourmet burger, or the fish and chips if you want a break from beef.
Tip: Family-friendly and roomy, in the Turninn tower north of the centre. Larger groups fit easily here.
Mandi on Ingolfstorg square is the city's busiest shawarma window, a halal Reykjavik street-food counter wrapping kebab and falafel late into the night.
Try: Shawarma and falafel
Order: A chicken shawarma wrap, dripping with garlic sauce, eaten on the square.
Tip: Fully halal and open late, so it catches the after-bar crowd. The falafel covers the vegetarians.
Hlollabatar has filled hot Icelandic subs since 1986, a Reykjavik sandwich window whose loaded baguettes feed the late-night and lunchtime crowds.
Try: Hot subs
Order: The New York sub, the house favourite, hot off the press.
Tip: The original Reykjavik sub shop, copied many times since. Several branches, some open very late.
Hallo Xin Chao at Hlemmur Matholl on Laugavegur cooks Vietnamese street food and pho from a counter in the old bus terminal, a fast Reykjavik stop a short.
Try: Vietnamese street food and pho
Order: A bowl of pho or a banh mi, the two house counters that locals queue.
Tip: Inside Hlemmur Matholl food hall, so plenty of shared seating around. Open daily until 21:00.
