Sæta Svínið sits at Hafnarstræti 1 to 3 in central Reykjavik, a gastropub built around Icelandic small plates, a long beer list and a daily happy hour.
The bar trades as a large ground floor room near the old harbour line, built around a bar counter, booth seating and a kitchen of Icelandic comfort plates. Anyone after a relaxed after work drink with food finds the format easy. Anyone chasing a quiet wine bar or a late club looks elsewhere.
Sæta Svínið, which translates as the sweet pig, has run as one of central Reykjavik's dependable gastropubs for years, and Visit Reykjavik lists it among the city's eating and drinking rooms. The daily happy hour from three to six is the draw the guides return to, paired with a menu of Icelandic plates. That mix of food and discounted drinks is the identity the room is built around.
The drink list runs from Icelandic and imported beers to house cocktails and wine, with the happy hour cutting prices across the board. The kitchen leans into local classics, from lamb to fish, at prices below the fine dining rooms nearby. Pairing a happy hour beer with a shared plate is the easiest way in.
The space spreads across booths, bar seats and tables that fill from the after work hour onward. It reads warm and casual rather than designed, which suits the mixed crowd of locals and visitors. Groups fit easily, which makes it a common first stop for a night out.
Regulars and city guides flag two points: the happy hour is the reason to arrive by six, and the kitchen runs late enough to anchor an early dinner. The room turns louder as the night goes on and the tables turn into a drinks crowd. Booking ahead helps for larger groups on weekends.
Sæta Svínið works for an after work round with food, a casual group dinner, and a first stop before a longer night downtown. It is the wrong call for a quiet date or a refined cocktail list.
Hafnarstræti runs through the centre of Reykjavik near the old harbour, walkable from most of the 101 district, with the kitchen and bar open from late morning until eleven daily. The happy hour window in the late afternoon is the value play, while the later hours bring the drinks crowd. Arriving by six is the easiest way to land a booth.
The bar sits on Hafnarstræti in the thick of the central restaurant run, a short walk from the harbour and the main square. That position makes it an easy meeting point for a group spread across the city. It pulls a steady mix of after work locals and visitors working through the centre.
What sets it apart is the pairing of a full kitchen with one of the longer happy hours in the centre, which gives a table both food and value in one stop. Guides return to it as a dependable option rather than a special occasion room. The draw is the ease and the price rather than a single standout dish.
On the order, a happy hour beer with a shared plate of Icelandic classics is the value play, with the lamb and fish dishes worth the step up for a sit down meal. House cocktails round out the list for a mixed table. Arriving inside the happy hour window keeps the bill down.
The bottom line is a reliable central gastropub with Icelandic plates and a long daily happy hour, set apart by value and a kitchen that runs into the night. For an after work round in Reykjavik it is a clear call. Compare it against the rest of our best after work bars in Reykjavik guide, the wider list of bars in Reykjavik, and our roundup of Reykjavik pubs. Drinkers after more of the same should weigh Public House and Snaps Bistro Bar.
Sources: Visit Reykjavik; Sæta Svínið official site; Guide to Iceland review; Tripadvisor; Google Maps reviews.
