The food in Iceland is amazing. Truly, very good. So why do you often hear people lament how bad it is and that it’s “all about hot dogs”. This is true IF you restrict your food sourcing to gas stations; so yeah, no shit the food isn’t good at gas stations, just like everywhere else in the world.

If you branch out and try local restaurants, cafes and hotel eateries, then it’s very good. I get it, gas stations are cheaper; just don’t judge the cuisine of a country based on rest stop food.

One thing to keep in mind is, you will not find food spaced evenly along your route. It’s entirely possible to drive for hours without finding a single piece of food. Keep this in mind when planning you day.

Hotel Restaurants

This is probably the most reliable place to find 1) food, period, and 2) good food. In most of the towns there is at least one hotel. Usually this hotel has one place to eat, open at the normal times. Try and coordinate when you pass through such a town, with meal times. If that isn’t possible, plan ahead and take an extra meal to go in the morning.

Grocery Stores

You’ll find varying sizes of Icelandic grocery stores depending where you are. Grocery store size and quality is typically correlated with proximity to Reykjavik and Akueryi. They’re usually closer to what Americans know as gas station travel marts: more like a rest stop mart than a full-blown Whole Foods.

Gas Stations

As mentioned, a cheap way to eat in Iceland is to buy meals at gas stations. Hotdogs are popular items in this case, and they are actually quite good. Try it, why not, but please don’t base your food intake on them unless you absolutely must. Again, anyone who tells you the food in Iceland is bad, was aggressively optimizing for cost, not food quality.