From Iceland — Legendary Hotdog Stand Bæjarins Beztu Forced To Move

Words by

Photo by

Jón Benediktsson

The latest casualty of the hotel construction boom is famous hotdog stand Bæjarins Beztu, as the restaurant has been forced to move 4 metres to the west of its former location. To demonstrate the severity of the move, Grapevine’s graphics department made this handy computer generated image:

bbflutt

“I can’t imagine that this will impact our business,” said María Einarsdóttir, who has been manning the stand for 39 years and was the first female member of staff, to the Grapevine. “In fact, people can probably see it better now.”

Despite María’s stoic optimism, there a few inescapable consequences of this ideologically large, but measurably small, displacement.

1. The archival photographic record will now be split in two: before-the-move and after-the-move.

2. There will be a generation of Icelanders and tourists unfamiliar with the stand’s former glory–leaving only the stories of elders to keep the history alive. This will cause more inter-generational strife, much like baby-boomers who attended Woodstock (1969), as people of the 4-metres east generation shout ahead in line, “you should have been there, man.”

3. The move only further develops the pedestrianization of 101 Reykjavík–giving a clear message to residents of Kópavogur and, especially, Hafnarfjörður: “There is no parking for you. Stay Out.”

When asked if the new location was the final location of the stand María said “In the end the stand will probably move a little further west.”

God help us.

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