Reykjavik's cafe map is compact enough to walk in a morning and stubborn enough to reward a whole week. The 101 postal district holds most of what matters, a tight grid of harbour, hill and shopping street where the coffee is taken seriously and the pastry cabinet is not an afterthought. What follows is 12 rooms chosen for the specific case each one makes: a downtown roaster on Kárastígur, a harbourside cafe inside the concert-hall block on Austurbakki, a Skólavörðuholt kitchen that cooks the traditional plates locals eat, and a handful of counters east of the centre where the tourist tempo drops off entirely. Hours are given in 24-hour form because Iceland runs that way, and because the daylight lies to you for half the year. This is a list for a visitor who would rather have one honest flat white and one properly buttered slice of rye than three photogenic near-misses, and who wants to know, before setting out, which door is worth the walk.
-
1 Te & Kaffi
20 Hafnarstræti, Reykjavík, 101A weekday-morning downtown counter that opens at 08:00 sharp and treats the espresso as the point of the visit.
From 08:00 on a weekday the counter at Te & Kaffi, 20 Hafnarstræti in 101, is already working through the office crowd on their way toward the harbour. Skip the hotel-lobby coffee two blocks up; the locals go where the machine is dialled in and the queue moves. Weekends open later, at 10:00, and the room stays quieter until noon. It operates as a straight coffee shop, which in a city where every second door promises brunch is a small mercy. The website at teogkaffi.is lists the wider network, but this address earns its slot on foot traffic alone, sitting on the walk between Ingólfstorg and the old harbour where you will pass it twice a day without meaning to. Phone ahead only if you need catering; otherwise the door is enough. Closing is 18:00 daily.
- coffee shop
Hours: Mo-Fr 08:00-18:00; Sa-Su 10:00-18:00
-
2 TIDES Café
2 Austurbakki, Reykjavík, 101The harbour-side sit-down cafe that opens at 06:00, before anywhere else on Austurbakki has unlocked the door.
By 06:00 TIDES Café at 2 Austurbakki in 101 is already pouring, which in a country of late risers is a service, not a boast. The locals head here when they need to be at a desk before the sun bothers to show up, and the room, part of the tidesrestaurant.is operation, is calibrated for that kind of morning: warm, low-lit, with a full breakfast rather than a pastry-and-run counter. It closes at 17:00 every day of the week, holidays included, so this is a first-half-of-the-day room, not an evening one. Don't bother queuing at the sea-view spots two doors over; the water is the same, the coffee is better, and you will get a table. If you need to reach the kitchen the number is +354 582 0002. Come once for the 06:00 opening and you understand why the harbour crowd keeps the seats warm.
- cafe
Hours: PH,Mo-Su 06:00-17:00
-
3 Reykjavík Roasters
1 Kárastígur, Reykjavík, 101A small roaster's counter at the base of Skólavörðuholt, where the espresso is the whole argument.
The doors at Reykjavík Roasters, 1 Kárastígur in 101, open at 08:30 on weekdays and hold until 17:00, which is a working roaster's schedule rather than a tourist one. Unlike most rooms that carry the coffee shop label in this city, it roasts what it pours. Skip the chain lattes on Laugavegur and walk the two blocks uphill; the locals go here on their day off, not just on their commute. Saturday runs 09:00 to 17:00, Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, which is enough hours to plan around and few enough that the room never empties out. The website at reykjavikroasters.is lists beans by origin if you want to buy a bag on the way out. Call +354 517 5535 only if you need the wholesale side; walk-in is how the counter is meant to work.
- coffee shop
Hours: Mo-Fr 08:30-17:00; Sa 09:00-17:00; Su 10:00-17:00
-
4 Café Loki
28 Lokastígur, 101The Hallgrímskirkja-facing kitchen that cooks the local plates the guidebooks only describe.
At 28 Lokastígur in 101, directly across from the tower on the hill, Café Loki opens at 09:00 six days a week and 11:00 on Sunday, running to 21:00 every night. This is the room that cooks the plates the tourist menus talk around, and locals head here when a visiting cousin has finally asked what Icelandic food tastes like. Skip the harbourside places selling laminated-menu approximations; the case for Loki is the kitchen, not the view, though the view of Hallgrímskirkja from the upstairs window is the honest bonus. The website loki.is has the current menu if you want to plan a plate. The 21:00 close is a proper dinner service, not a coffee-shop pretending. Phone +354 466 2828 if you want a group table upstairs; otherwise the stairs are open.
- local
Hours: Mo-Sa 09:00-21:00; Su 11:00-21:00
-
5 Trung Nguyen E-Coffee
23 Hallgerðargata, Reykjavík, 105A Vietnamese coffee counter east of the centre, in 105 rather than the tourist 101.
At 23 Hallgerðargata in 105, a short walk east of the downtown grid, Trung Nguyen E-Coffee runs from 08:00 to 18:00 on weekdays, opens later on Saturday at 09:30, and takes Sunday from 10:00. It is a coffee shop, and in a city whose default cup is a filter blonde, it argues for a different tradition entirely. The locals in this quarter head here when the Laugavegur roasters feel too crowded to sit in; skip the downtown queue and take the walk. The website at trungnguyen.is carries the wider brand's catalogue if you want to take a tin home. The address matters: 105 is a residential postal area, not a tourist one, and the room reads that way, quieter and slower than anything on the main shopping street. Call +354 787 2502 for pickup, or just walk in before the 18:00 close.
- coffee shop
Hours: Mo-Fr 08:00-18:00; Sa 09:30-18:00; Su 10:00-18:00
-
6 Kaffi laugalækur
74a LaugarnesvegurA neighbourhood room that runs to 23:00 on weeknights, closer to a bar than a coffee counter.
The hours tell you what Kaffi laugalækur at 74a Laugarnesvegur is: 11:00 to 23:00 Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 to 22:00 on Monday and Sunday. That is a bar-adjacent schedule, and the room reads that way in the evening. Regional in focus, the kitchen leans on Icelandic staples rather than the internationalised brunch menu that has colonised Laugavegur. The locals head here when they want a slow lunch that turns, honestly, into an early beer without anyone at the next table checking a boarding pass. Skip the harbourfront rooms with their laminated tourist menus; the case for Laugalækur is that it is still a neighbourhood cafe, run as one, priced as one. The website at laekur.is has the current specials. Phone +354 537 6556 to book if you are more than four; otherwise, walk in before 22:00 and settle.
- regional
Hours: Tu, We 11:00-23:00; Sa 11:00-23:00; Th, Fr 11:00-23:00; Mo, Su 11:00-22:00
-
7 Joe & The Juice
Miklabraut, Reykjavík, 103The Miklabraut counter in 103, the one that opens at 08:00 on the drive-through commute line and keeps sane weekend hours.
The Miklabraut address puts Joe & The Juice at a commuter artery in 103, not in the tourist 101, which is the whole point of putting this branch on the list. It runs 08:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and 11:00 to 18:00 on weekends, which is a schedule built for people driving to and from work, not for cruise-ship crowds. The site at joeandthejuice.is carries the wider menu, but the case for this address is location and hours, not novelty. Skip this one on a leisurely Sunday morning when 101 is more interesting on foot; the locals go here when they need a fast, functional coffee stop between a school run and a supermarket. The 08:00 weekday opening is the honest sell. Call +354 550 0569 to check a pickup order. The room is what it is; the point is that from 103 you are already halfway to the airport road.
- coffee shop
-
8 Skor
2 Geirsgata, Reykjavík, 101A harbour-edge counter running from 11:00 to 01:00 every day, well past the point most kitchens shut.
At 2 Geirsgata in 101, on the harbour edge where the tour boats tie up, Skor runs 11:00 to 01:00 seven days a week. That closing time is the case: after a night walk down the waterfront, when everywhere else has thrown the chairs on the tables, Skor is still open. The room is honest about what it is: not a third-wave roaster with latte art, but a late-service counter that happens to also pour coffee. The locals head here after a show, not before a meeting. Skip it as a first-morning breakfast stop; the 11:00 open tells you the room wakes up for lunch, not for commuters. Phone +354 539 5099 for a takeaway order on the way to a late boat. The point is the hours; almost nothing else in 101 keeps them.
- fries
Hours: Mo-Su 11:00-01:00
-
9 The Laundromat Cafe
9 Austurstræti, 101The Austurstræti room that keeps a proper dinner service, running to 22:00 on Thursdays through Saturdays.
The service hours at 9 Austurstræti in 101 are the argument for The Laundromat Cafe: 09:00 to 21:00 Monday to Wednesday, 09:00 to 22:00 Thursday and Friday, 10:00 to 22:00 Saturday, and 10:00 to 18:00 on Sunday. That is a kitchen that will still feed you at dinner, not a coffee bar pretending. The locals go here when they want a long, cheerful sit-down with a friend flying out the next morning; skip the pared-back roaster counters if you want a room where the conversation is allowed to sprawl. The website at thelaundromatcafe.is carries the current menu. Austurstræti puts the door on the pedestrian line between the parliament block and the old harbour, which is convenient without being a novelty; you will pass it on the way to almost anything. Call +354 771 9660 for a weekend booking; the Sunday 18:00 close is earlier than the rest of the week, so plan the last visit accordingly.
Hours: Mo-We 09:00-21:00; Th-Fr 09:00-22:00; Sa 10:00-22:00; Su 10:00-18:00
-
10 Kaffibrennslan
21 Laugavegur, Reykjavík, 101A Laugavegur room whose Friday and Saturday hours run to 01:00, one of the few coffee names on the strip that turns properly nocturnal.
The 21 Laugavegur address in 101 is one of the busiest walking lines in the country, and Kaffibrennslan runs to 23:00 Monday through Thursday, to 01:00 on Friday and Saturday, and to 21:00 on Sunday. That Friday and Saturday close is the case: this is a coffee room that turns into a proper evening room without needing to change the sign on the door. The locals head here when they want a slow late drink that is not, quite, a bar. Skip the neon-signed places on either side; the argument at number 21 is the hours and the room, not the marketing. The kaffibrennslan101.is site carries the current menu. Sunday opens at 09:00 and shuts at 21:00, which is a reasonable window if you are trying to squeeze a last coffee in before the airport bus. Phone 5115888 for a table on a Friday when the strip fills up early.
Hours: Mo-Th 08:00-23:00; Fr 08:00-01:00; Sa 09:00-01:00; Su 09:00-21:00
-
11 Iða
2a Vesturgata, 101A Vesturgata coffee shop that opens at 08:00 on weekdays and stays until 22:00 seven days a week.
Weekdays at 2a Vesturgata in 101, Iða opens at 08:00 and stays until 22:00; weekends run from 10:00 to 22:00. That evening close is unusual for a straight coffee shop, and it is the reason to put this address on the walking list ahead of a dozen 17:00 competitors. The locals head here when they want a coffee that can turn into a long book without a barista wiping down the next table pointedly at closing. Skip the touristy rooms one street north; Vesturgata is quieter, faster to walk, and the 22:00 window means you can circle back after dinner. The site at ida.is carries the current shelf. The room is more bookshop-adjacent than roaster-serious, which is fine; the point of Iða is the hours and the address, not a competition for pour-over crowns.
- coffee shop
Hours: Mo-Fr 08:00-22:00; Sa-Su 10:00-22:00
-
12 Kaktus Esperssobar
12 Vitastígur, Reykjavík, 101A Vitastígur espresso counter opening at 07:30 on weekdays, earlier than most rooms in 101.
The counter at 12 Vitastígur in 101 unlocks at 07:30 on weekdays, which is a proper commuter opening in a city where 08:00 is the more common bar. Weekends shift to 09:00, and every day of the week the doors shut at 17:00, so Kaktus is firmly a first-half-of-the-day room. The locals go here for the actual espresso rather than for a laptop shift; skip the wi-fi-forward rooms on Laugavegur if you want a short, fast cup poured by someone who cares about the shot. The Instagram at instagram.com/kaktusespressobar is where the room communicates changes rather than a full site. Vitastígur runs quietly off the main strip, one block up, which is the whole point: the address transcends its neighbours by being marginally harder to find. Phone +354 869 3030 if you want to check the day's beans; otherwise show up before 17:00 and let the counter decide.
Hours: Mo-Fr 07:30-17:00; Sa-Su 09:00-17:00
Last verified by automated review (v1.7.2_onboard-reykjavik-food-cafes-2026-09-09) on . What is automated review?