LÓA Restaurant — Restaurant in Reykjavik

Our flight got canceled and we had to spend Christmas eve in Reykjavik. After a quick Google Search, we found this place that was pretty close to our hotel and offered a Christmas eve menu that everyone liked. We made a reservation deposit and were told that it would cover a glass of Prosecco. We arrived at the restaurant early but the place was packed and we were asked to wait for our table to clear which was ok. After that time, we were seated at around 8:20pm (our reservation was at 8:15pm so this was totally expected). Once seated, we waited about 30 minutes to order the Christmas eve menu. Apparently, we should not have been told that we would get a glass of Prosecco but the waitress (very nice and polite) said that they would honor it. At around 9:30pm, we were served the soup (Appetizer). Then, came the wait. After one hour, I told my husband they probably forgot about us and that's when the waitress came to ask if we had our dessert or where still waiting for it. I told her we were still waiting on the main entree. She apologized profusely and said it would take about 10 minutes to get them. I believe at that point, the kitchen had closed the main entree station and we had to wait another 30 minutes. We got our main entree at around 11:15pm. Then dessert was served promptly after that. So we arrived early for a 8:15pm reservation and left at 11:45pm. 3 hours and 30 minutes later. The waitress apologized profusely and she was an exemple of professionalism but she was obviously overworked as it seems like they were only 2 waitresses for the whole restaurant. We were not offered any discount for the snafu which would be common practice in the US. All in all, the food was excellent and the waitress provided a great service. The atmosphere of the restaurant is very convivial and elegant. So beside that little issue that they forgot about us, I would highly recommend it but they need to work on...

Important note: This restaurant changed ownership on January first of 2024. All reviews from before that date, including those on TripAdvisor, should be considered irrelevant.

This is one of the few "all you can eat" options in Iceland as they seem to consider this a new concept here. There is an extensive salad bar and a soup(main buffet), some meat and fish that seem to rotate when something runs out, and some dessert and fruit options. You just take a plate and get food at the buffet, drinks are ordered at the table.

Food seems to be of a good quality and spices can be added to flavour at the buffet (different Icelandic salts included). My personal opinion is that a buffet type concept should have more variety in their served dishes though.

The staff is incredibly friendly (as most Icelandic people seem to be) and they answer any questions you have thoroughly. They also seem to be aware of the conflict between expectations and reality as they explained their concept and asked if we were still interested after learning about it.

The atmosphere is okay at best, since you are effectively seated in an extension of a hotel lobby, where a few too many chairs and tables are crammed into a half decorated dining hall. It feels to me like a former conference room, and if that turns out to be true, they made the most of it.

Main take-away of this review: What you see is what you get. Walk in, let the staff show you around the buffet, then make...

I’ve never been treated so poorly in a restaurant before, and I travel a lot. At 7 AM, while the place was closed, I was sitting on the stairs trying to tie my shoes when a man claiming to be the manager unlocked the door and yelled at me to leave. He shouted, "This is not a bus stop; the place for homeless people is downstairs." His outburst came out of nowhere, which was shocking, especially in a city known for its calm and quiet demeanor. Furthermore, as an autistic person, this was particularly overwhelming.

I’m not homeless and I have no idea of why he profiled me like one… but even if I were, is this how they treat people? He was yelling at me. I couldn’t tell if he was just incredibly rude and classist, or even misogynistic or racist, given that he was a white blond man and I’m a dark-eyed, dark-haired woman. I wonder if he treats his peers this way.

As you can see from the pictures, the stairs are big enough that I wasn’t blocking any entry, and the place was closed.

This is my first negative review on Google Maps (I usually only give positive reviews), and I also write professional reviews for travel magazines, hence I’m well-traveled. People simply cannot behave this way. I’ll be filing a formal complaint as well. There are plenty of wonderful places to dine in Reykjavik—don’t waste...