KOL runs a cocktail bar and restaurant from Skólavörðustígur 40 in central Reykjavik, a two-floor room built around an open kitchen and a long bar. Guide to Iceland describes a space where the country's leading bartenders work from house-made syrups and self-infused spirits, set inside a room with a Tom Dixon-led design. The pitch is a kitchen and a serious drinks list under one roof rather than a bar bolted onto a dining room. It has held a place on Reykjavik dining and cocktail lists since it opened, and Tripadvisor reviewers return to the same note, that the cocktails match the food.
The room
The restaurant sits over two floors, with the open kitchen and the main bar on show and a warmer level above, per the venue's own description. The design leans on modern Icelandic materials with Tom Dixon furniture at the center, a look that reads polished rather than loud. The bar is the heart of the room, and the team treats it as a working station rather than a backdrop, with syrups and infusions prepped in house. Reviewers on Tripadvisor describe a full weekend service and a calmer early-week table. The counter seats are the spot for anyone who wants to watch the drinks built and skip the long dinner. The bar looks straight onto the open kitchen, so a counter seat doubles as a view of the pass.
What to order
The draw is the cocktail list, which the bar builds from house syrups and its own infused spirits rather than off-the-shelf mixers, per the restaurant's own account. The kitchen runs a comfort-food menu with a twist on classic dishes, from starters and salads to fish and steaks, so a drink pairs easily with a full meal or a single plate. Reykjavik prices run high across the board, and KOL sits at the upper end, so expect a cocktail to land as a considered round rather than a cheap one. Ask the bar what is freshly infused, since the back bar shifts with what the team is steeping. The food and the drinks are priced as a destination night, which the room earns. A seat at the counter is the move for anyone who wants to see the syrups and infusions pulled into each drink.
Who it is for
KOL fits a date that wants cocktails and a kitchen in one room, a traveler after a true Reykjavik cocktail bar rather than a hotel counter, and anyone who rates a drink built from scratch. Skip it if a cheap, fast pint is the plan, since this is a destination address with prices to match. It rewards drinkers who book a table or take a counter seat and treat the cocktails as the headline. Groups do well early in the week, before the weekend service fills both floors.
Best time to go
Early weeknights are the calm way in, with a counter seat and the bar's full attention. Weekends fill across both floors, so a booking helps for dinner and for a table near the bar. The kitchen runs lunch from 11:30 and dinner from 17:00, with later closes on Friday and Saturday, per the restaurant's listed hours. For the cocktails alone, an evening seat at the bar after the dinner rush is the quiet window. Skólavörðustígur climbs toward the Hallgrímskirkja church, so the bar pairs with a walk up one of Reykjavik's main streets before or after a drink.
The bottom line
KOL is a central Reykjavik cocktail destination, a Skólavörðustígur room where house syrups and infused spirits sit beside a full kitchen. Guide to Iceland rates the bar team among the country's best, and the Tom Dixon design backs the polish. Come on a weeknight, take a counter seat, and ask what is freshly infused. Book ahead on a weekend, since both floors go early.
Keep exploring with our best cocktail bars in Reykjavik guide, the full Reykjavik bar guide, and our edit of cocktail bars worldwide. Pair KOL with Flora Cocktail Bar in Reykjavik, Jungle Cocktail Bar in Reykjavik, and Galleri Cocktail Bar in Reykjavik.
Sources: Guide to Iceland (Kol Restaurant); Tripadvisor reviews; KOL official site (kolrestaurant.is); Visitors Guide Iceland; Google Maps reviews.
