It’s a liquor store. Run by the state. Good selection of Icelandic beers, and some foreign brands.
Next door from Micro Bar, which is convenient. I’m told there is better stocked Vinbudin stores elsewhere in the city, but this is the only one I visited.

The staff is helpful, but didn’t seem to know too much about their products.

Kind of tough for me to rate this, as it’s the only beer store that I’ve visited thus far in Iceland. It seemed to have a fair variety of Icelandic beers, especially their macros. Prices were way better than bars. I guess the best selling point is that Micro Bar and the Iceland Bar are both about a block away.

This was the only place I could find in downtown Reykjavik that sold half way decent beer. Had to wait in line as there was a festival going on and it was the only place to buy beer that wasn’t 2%...however, they could only sell warm due to local bars not wanting them to take customers away. Picked up half the top 10 Icelandic beers here, but you have to ask for the Viking stout...clerks are very helpful and will take you around if you have a list. Selection is not great at the downtown location, but the service is excellent.

Iceland’s monopoly when it comes to buy alcohol. Nice store but extremely expensive.

Sometimes you can find good beers in Vinbud, but in rural areas they really have a limited amount of beer types on stock. Mostly lagers. Its expensive. And the staff doesn’t really know what they are selling.

Visited during my trip to Iceland, early May 2008. I visited both the Kringlan and Austurstreiti locations. The Kringlan certainly had the best selection, with what appeared to be all Icelandic beers that were being sold at the time. The selection at Austurstreiti was less, though you would still be able to get a decent selection of Icelandic beers, and is far more convenient if you do not have your own transportation. Overall, I found both shops to be clean, well layed out, and with helpful folks wandering the store. I have seen far worse state run liquor stores in my days!

Vin Bud is Iceland’s state-run liquor monopoly. They are clean and tidy. Lower alcohol beer is available at convenience stores. The selection is limited to about 30 beers (bottles and cans). Reykjavik has several Vin Buds, and the easiest one for you to find will be the big one on the main shopping drag in Reykjavik’s old town - Austurstreiti. It closes around 6 or 7pm and I think it’s closed Sunday. Look for the one malty beer in all of Iceland, Egils Maltbjor.

Side note: When in Akureyri, don’t bother actually showing up at the Viking Brewery - there is no tour and nothing to see.

Addendum: To get to the larger Vin Bud located in the Kringlan shopping mall, take the public bus system, called Straeto, which you can catch all over downtown.