Tales of the Table · Heritage · Downtown 101
Four generations at the hot dog stand
Nobody knows the exact day Bæjarins Beztu opened – the oldest record is a letter from the autumn of 1937. Nearly ninety years on, the same family still runs Iceland's most famous hot dog stand.
Founder Jón Sveinsson started with a cart on Austurstræti. Thanks to a Danish butcher in the family, the sausages were made with Icelandic lamb – which is still the secret today. At first they were served wrapped in paper; buns only arrived in 1948, when flour rationing ended. Nobody ever officially chose the name “the town's best” – it simply stuck.
Jón's son Kristmundur started working there at fourteen and took over in 1952. The stand moved to Tryggvagata in the 1960s, where it still stands. His daughter Guðrún Björk grew the business to twelve locations, and today her son, Baldur Ingi, leads it as the fourth generation.
Famous guests come and go – Bill Clinton stopped by in 2004 and ordered his with mustard only – but for most people the order is “ein með öllu”: one with everything.
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