Travelers in Copenhagen quickly realize that the Danish capital is a world-class foodie city! It’s home to Noma, former World’s Best Restaurant winner, and the birthplace of New Nordic cuisines. Copenhagen restaurants are exquisite and they’ve earned more Michelin stars than any city in Scandinavia. Copenhagen is also a hip and vibrant city with an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. The combination of a bold, pop-up culture and a trend-setting culinary community has resulted in a thriving Copenhagen street food scene. Here’s a guide on where to find the best street food kitchens in Copenhagen and the best way to enjoy them.
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Copenhagen Street Food Sites
Until 2017, the Copenhagen street food scene was largely dominated by Paper Island. It’s a man-made island on Copenhagen Harbor across the Inner Harbor Bridge from famous Nyhavn. The massive street food park was housed in and around the former paper depot for Denmark’s biggest newspaper. The abandoned warehouse made a perfect home for an epic cluster of international food stalls in Copenhagen with a waterfront view of the city. As you might imagine, this was prime real estate in the city and eventually, the island was turned over to developers and the street food haven was no more.
As sad as the story of Paper Island is, it led to the development of multiple other street food ventures. Copenhagen street food losing Paper Island led to the rise of food halls, food trucks and new street food parks.
Bridge Street Kitchen (Broens Gadekøkken)
Strandgade 95 (Christianshavn), across Inderhavnsbroen (The Kissing Bridge) from Nyhavn
The first street food phoenix to rise from the ashes (more like rubble – and eventually condominiums) of Paper Island was Bridge Street Kitchen. It’s actually across the canal from the site of Paper Island and you run right into it when you cross Inderhavnsbroen (The Inner Harbor Bridge). It’s open year round and draws huge crowds in the summer months. That’s why they add lounge chairs to sit around the harbor’s waterfront and bring in DJs and other entertainment. Many of the food stalls close for the winter months, but they’re replaced with an ice skating rink and warm drinks like hot cocoa and gløgg (mulled wine).
During the majority of the year, you’ll find rows of food stalls with picnic table seating and sun umbrellas. There are over a dozen food options in total and they represent some of the best Copenhagen restaurants. This street food location is perfect for trying out a few restaurants that you may want to reserve a table at during the rest of your stay. Most of the food stalls offer a moderately priced meal where the average price for a platter and drink is 100 DKK (15 USD).
Reffen Street Food
A, Refshalevej 167
Reffen is AMAZING! It’s the largest street food market in the Nordics and an urban playground, talent venue, skate boarding park and much more. It’s located directly on Copenhagen Harbor, in the same spirit as Paper Island, but is massive and should be on every visitor’s list. Even if you’re not a foodie, you’ll appreciate the atmosphere and buzz that Reffen brings every day from April through October.
At Reffen you’ll find an all-organic international street food wonderland. Reffen has 30+ food stalls and bars with 50+ chefs from 18 different nations. The food stalls are made out of recycled materials – mostly old shipping containers. One of the main dogmas of Reffen is to reuse and recycle as much as possible.
There are events throughout the season from quizzo and bingo to concerts, DJs and more. It’s a place where tourists, travelers and locals all come together around great food, culture, entertainment and good vibes.
Rebel Street Food
New Locations Each Weekend
Rebel Street Food is a caravan of food trucks that pop-up each weekend in Copenhagen. To find out their location each weekend, fans check out their website HERE and track them down for their delicious Copenhagen street food.
The founder of Rebel Street Food recruits only the best street food chefs that commit to running a sustainable business. Not only are there strict culinary standards, but also environmental efforts to make the Rebel Street Food community carbon neutral.
Copenhagen Street Food Halls
Sometimes the Copenhagen street food scene is best tasted indoors. This makes it a bit easier to enjoy year-round and no matter what the weather has in store. The evolution of Copenhagen street food has resulted in a number of fantastic indoor street food halls. Here are the best places to enjoy a street food hall in Copenhagen.
Torvehallerne
Frederiksborggade 21
Copenhagen food culture thrives at Torvehallerne. It’s an indoor street food market with a high-end farmers market element. Inside and outside you’ll find food counters and picnic table seating with an array of culinary ventures to test and try. Similar to The Bridge Street Kitchen, Torvehallerne hosts off-shoots of many popular Copenhagen restaurants and coffee shops that have expanded to open a food stall. It’s a great place to try out some food options that you may want to make a deeper commitment to later in your visit.
Bolten's Food Court
Gothersgade 8
Bolten’s Food Court is the newest Copenhagen street food enterprise and it’s located in a cool historic building with a gorgeous courtyard. It hosts 19 national and international food stalls with indoor and outdoor seating and loads of special events throughout the year.
If you’re looking for a place to try Copenhagen street food and relax with a few drinks – Bolten’s is a great choice. There are plethora of food options and a group of locals or travelers will all be able to find something they like at Bolten’s.
Tivoli Food Hall
Bernstorffsgade 3
Tivoli is an incredible fixture of Copenhagen life and you simply have to visit Tivoli Gardens when in Denmark. Since everything Tivoli is awesome, they decided to jump into the Copenhagen street food scene and opened Tivoli Food Hall.
It contains a carefully curated group of food stalls from chefs that have made their mark on Copenhagen’s food scene. There are barbecue stands opened by Michelin Star chefs and every type of cuisine under the sun. It seems like everything Tivoli Gardens does is magic – and that holds true for Tivoli Food Hall.
