RFK Rankings · Reykjavik
Best Restaurants for Solo Dining in Reykjavik 2026
Solo dining · Reykjavik · 6 tables ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 15, 2026 · Updated June 15, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
The counter at Skál seats a handful, faces the open pass, and nobody asks whether you are waiting for someone. That is the quiet test of a solo dining city, and Reykjavik passes it more easily than its size suggests. Downtown is small enough to walk end to end in twenty minutes, and its best rooms are wine bars and small-plate counters where a single cover slots in between the regulars. Eating alone here is not a fallback. It is how a compact capital feeds the people who live in it. These six rooms, from a Bib Gourmand small-plate bar to a one-star tasting kitchen, are built for one.
1.Skál
A Bib Gourmand small-plate counter with Reykjavik's best natural-wine list; the solo seat is the default here, so book it.
Skál spent seven years as the standout stall in the Hlemmur Mathöll food hall before moving to its own room at Njálsgata 1, just off Laugavegur. Founder Gísli Matt and head chef Thomas Lorentzen kept the format that earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2019: Icelandic small plates, one of the city's deepest natural-wine lists, and a counter you can settle into alone without ceremony. Small plates run roughly 2,500 ISK each, so a few make a full dinner. Let the award-winning bar team pour around them. For a single diner who wants to eat and drink well without booking a table, this is the most comfortable room in town.
Walk in early on a weeknight; bar seats open first.
2.Mat Bar
Tiny Hverfisgata room of inventive sharing plates like reindeer with arctic-berry glaze; sit at the bar and try it.
Mat Bar occupies the corner of Hverfisgata and Smiðjustígur, a small room that began Nordic-Italian and now runs one of Reykjavik's most inventive sharing menus. The kitchen sends out plates from reindeer steak with an arctic-berry glaze to rabbit-filled dumplings and house pasta, and the seasonal list changes often. Plates run roughly 2,500 to 3,500 ISK. The bar counter is the seat to ask for as a solo diner: you face the kitchen, the staff talk you through the menu, and three or four small plates with a glass of wine makes a complete dinner for one. White Guide Nordic lists it, and it has taken multiple Reykjavík Grapevine 'Best of' medals.
Ask for a bar stool; weeknights seat one fastest.
3.Sümac Grill + Drinks
Beirut-inspired charcoal grill and mezze on Laugavegur, small plates near 3,500 ISK; take the bar seat and settle in.
Sümac Grill + Drinks has anchored Laugavegur 28 since 2017 with a menu built around a Beirut-style charcoal grill and Levantine mezze. Small plates land around 3,000 to 4,000 ISK, and the format — a spread of mezze, grilled lamb and flatbread — is made for assembling your own meal at whatever size suits one. Take a seat at the bar, order a few mezze and one thing off the charcoal, and you have eaten as well as anyone at the full tables. It is among the city's most consistent kitchens and an easy, unfussy room for a solo dinner in the centre of town.
Early evening at the bar; book ahead on weekends.
4.Messinn
Casual downtown seafood where the sizzling Arctic-char pan suits a single cover; walk in and order it.
Messinn made its name on the fish pan: fresh Icelandic catch — cod, Arctic char, salmon — pan-fried in butter and brought to the table still sizzling in a cast-iron skillet. The Arctic char with honey and almonds is the order. At Lækjargata 6b in the centre, where it has traded since 2016, mains run roughly 3,500 to 5,500 ISK, and the casual, busy room seats a single diner without fuss. It is the most reliable mid-range seafood in Reykjavik and a low-effort solo lunch or early dinner: walk in, take a small table or a counter spot, and let a sizzling pan do the work.
Go for lunch or before 19:00 to skip the wait.
5.Forréttabarinn
Nordic tapas by the old harbour, made for a relaxed plate-and-glass; for an easy solo dinner, pencil it in.
Forréttabarinn — 'the starters bar' — has worked a simple idea since 2011: a whole menu of small plates, a Nordic take on tapas, near the old harbour on Nýlendugata. Chef and owner Róbert Ólafsson keeps the format welcoming to one, with plates sized to mix and match and a four-course tasting for the indecisive, plates running roughly 2,200 to 3,500 ISK. The room is cosy and casual rather than precious, the kind of place a solo diner can linger over a plate and a glass without feeling rushed or watched. It is the most relaxed sit-down solo dinner on this list.
Walk-ins fine early; reserve for a weekend table.
6.Dill
Iceland's first Michelin star paces a single cover through a New Nordic tasting; for one fine solo meal, reserve it.
Dill, on Hverfisgata, was the first restaurant in Iceland to win a Michelin star, in 2017, and it holds one star plus a Green Star in the 2026 Guide. Chef Gunnar Karl Gíslason runs a New Nordic tasting menu built entirely from Icelandic ingredients — around thirteen courses at about 27,500 ISK, with an optional wine pairing. It is not a counter, but the kitchen paces a single cover with the same care as a table, and a solo seat is the calmest way to follow a long tasting. For one proper fine-dining night alone in Reykjavik, this is the room that earns it.
Book a single cover online; weekday for the calmest tasting.
Avoid for eating alone
Right city, wrong room
Grillmarkaðurinn. A theatrical grill built around sharing boards and big tables; the long menu and buzzy room leave a single cover marooned. Save it for a night with company.
Apótek. A grand former-pharmacy dining room that runs on brunch crowds and cocktail tables. The food is fine, but the scale and the see-and-be-seen energy are wrong for eating alone.
Fiskfélagið. A romantic stone-walled basement that is one of the city's best date rooms, which is exactly why a solo diner feels out of place here. Go as a couple instead.
How to eat alone in Reykjavik without a reservation
Most of this list is walk-in friendly for one. Skál, Mat Bar, Sümac, Messinn and Forréttabarinn all keep bar seats or small tables that open to a single cover faster than to a group, especially on weeknights. Downtown Reykjavik is compact, so it costs nothing to try two rooms in a night. Aim for before 18:30 or after 20:30 to dodge the short dinner peak, and carry a card, since most rooms are effectively cashless.
The one booking worth planning is Dill, which releases single covers online roughly a month out; take a weekday for the calmest, best-value tasting. The rule here is the same as anywhere for solo dining: take the counter or the bar over the table, every time. Counters fill first, seat fastest, and give a single diner the open kitchen to watch and someone to talk to.
Frequently asked
What is the best restaurant for eating alone in Reykjavik?
Skál is the top choice. Now at Njálsgata 1 off Laugavegur, it pairs Icelandic small plates with one of the city's best natural-wine lists at a counter where a solo seat is the default. It won a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2019 and small plates run about 2,500 ISK each. For a fine-dining meal alone, Gunnar Karl Gíslason's one-star Dill paces a single cover better than any other room.
Is it normal to eat alone in Reykjavik?
Completely. Reykjavik's small downtown is full of wine bars, small-plate rooms and seafood counters where a single diner slots in easily, especially on weeknights. The city is compact and informal, so nobody blinks at a solo cover at the bar. Counters such as Skál, Mat Bar and Sümac are the most comfortable, because you join the room rather than sit apart from it.
Which Reykjavik restaurants take walk-ins for one?
Most of this list. Skál, Mat Bar, Sümac, Messinn and Forréttabarinn all hold bar seats or small tables that open to a single diner faster than to a group. Arrive before 18:30 or after 20:30 to skip the peak. Only Dill really needs a reservation, which it takes for one cover online.
Where can I get the cheapest good meal alone in Reykjavik?
Messinn, in the centre on Lækjargata, serves a sizzling fish pan from around 3,500 ISK, and the small-plate rooms let you eat for the price of a few plates: Skál from about 2,500 ISK a plate, Forréttabarinn from roughly 2,200 ISK. None need a booking for one, and all are genuine downtown rooms rather than tourist traps.
Can you eat at a Michelin restaurant alone in Reykjavik?
Yes, and Dill is the one to choose. Gunnar Karl Gíslason's one-star, Green-Star room on Hverfisgata takes a single cover online and paces its New Nordic tasting menu for one as carefully as for a table. Book a weekday for the calmest room and the best value. It is the most solo-friendly starred kitchen in the city.
Related rankings
More from RFK
See the complete guide to dining in Reykjavik, browse the best solo dining tables, compare fine dining worldwide, or open the full RFK rankings index.
Restaurants for Kings is reader-supported. Some reservation links are affiliate links with OpenTable, Resy or Tock; we earn a small commission at no cost to you, and a link never buys a place on a ranking. Editorial scores and ranking order are independent of any commercial relationship. See our ranking methodology.