Eat and Drink | Iceland Monitor | Thu 21 Jan 2016 | 17.00 GMT | Modified 27 Apr 2016 13.26

Irish pub in New York calls Iceland's Dead Rabbit pub a copycat

The Dead Rabbit in NYC are not too impressed. Photo/ Facebook

The Irish Dead Rabbit bar, opening in Austurstræti, central Reykjavik in February has not been a it with the owners of New York bar, Dead Rabbit. "Ye wouldn't catch us ripping off your ethereal post-rock or geothermal springs! Get it together, Iceland," they write on Facebook.

"They're not inventing the wheel and neither are we," says one of the owners of the Icelandic Dead Rabbit to Mbl.is, Andrés Björnsson.

Austurstræti has become somewhat of an international street of late with its English, US and now Irish pub. The Dead Rabbit will replace the Brooklyn Bar on Austurstræti 3 with the same owners.

"The Brooklyn Bar was simply an idea that didn't work out so we're trying something new says Björnsson. He adds that the new pub will feature an old-fashioned Irish atmosphere. "We have decorated the place with lots of old furniture and objects and it's meant to be really cosy." The pub will feature live music and an impressive variety of beer and whisky.

The owners of The Dead Rabbit in New York however are not too pleased and have posted a photo of the Icelandic Dead Rabbit on their Facebook page writing, " Did we tell you about that bar we're opening in Reykjavik? Yeah, there's a reason for that. We're not opening one. "

Björnsson says that the New York Dead Rabbit owners have not contacted them personally and they're welcome to do so. "But they have no exclusive right on the name."

The name is from an Irish gang in New York in the 19th century made famous again by the movie "Gangs of New York," by Martin Scorcese.

The Dead Rabbit in New York is well known, especially as a watering hole for Wall Street brokeres, and Business Insider voted it the best bar in the US in 2014. Time Out also voted it as the best bar in New York for 2016.

Quite a number of people have commented on the New York Dead Rabbit post on Facebook with one person noting that Reykjavik also has a Sushi Samba, also in New York.

Björnsson says that they were aware of the New York bar but they are not copying it.