St. Petersburg Nights

Food is ok. Place is dirty and the service is bad. Went there few times and it was bad. Havnt been there in a while. Singers are bad too.

This restaurant is no longer open. It is moving to a new location. They say the reopening should happen in 2 months — it’s now July 4. We have always liked it in the past. I look forward to opening in a new location

I was slightly poisoned by Grilled Pork Chops in my first visit. You could ask how I determined I was poisoned by their food? I took left pork chops to motel and put them to refrigerator. When I ate them next day dinner I got stomach discomfort and diarrhea again.
You may thank I’m crazy but I decided to give them another chance and drove more than 6 hours from Charleston, SC to immerse in Russian Night show. I made a reservation via
, got a confirmation and reminder day before my visit.
When I arrived I realized they are CLOSED with construction inside. No one notified me and there is no notice on their website. What a shame! I even called them afterwards and left voice message but didn’t receive any apology.

If I could give it less than 1 star I would!
We went for their «Burlesque» show and what we got was a side show circus!
First off we were seated with a waitress that started rude! Her first words were we couldn’t split the check and she doesn’t normally work nights. When we asked for a refill she rolled her eyes and had an exchange of words with my friend about how long she was a waitress trying to justify how rude she was being. It became so uncomfortable that people around us was listening to her!
We waited almost an hour and 45 minutes before we cancelled our food order! Which we got a nasty reaction from the owner and she just kept repeating «it’s made fresh»
Best part of our night was Wendys drive thru and our 2 hour drive home!

Abdolutely rude people !
Completely ignoring customer requests
Food ok. Show terrible, deafening & boring

This is a place you want to try. It is an experience of ac different culture. The environment is lively and designed for entertainment and a floor show. Tables wrap the dance floor that is the center of activity throughout the evening as it transitions from just dinner, floor show, to night life.
I started the evening off with a carrot beet salad and bread with roasted onions in oil. A very tasty combination the salad had hints of beans and onion which accented the beets and carrots. The bread and onion dip was very good. I ordered the Beef Stroginoff which was flavorful but as an entrée seemed more like an appetizer. It packed wonderful flavor that left you wanting more.
I enjoyed the Soviet Block beers, specifically Baltika 5 which had light color and crisp refreshing taste.
The floor show started about 8 with a small lesson in Russian (how to make a toast) to kick off the evening. The show mix of instrumental, russian dancing, vocals, and humor. After which a d.j. opened up the dance floor.
It was a fun night.

This was the worst experience of my life! I came here with my boyfriend and his mother after moving to Florida and hoping to find a nice Russian restaurant near me, since we are Russian. After arriving and being seated, it took over an hour for a waiter to come and take our drink orders. We even politely asked the waiter several times if he can give us a minute of his time. He kept nodding and nothing. We also asked the owner herself, who told us how busy and understaffed she was. I understand busy nights, however, it’s a different story when parties that arrived later than us are already receiving their food and we haven’t even gotten our drink orders taken care of. After an hour and a half, a what seemed like drunk and high waiter asked for our orders but did not have a pen and paper out. We asked him if he would remember our order to which he assured us that he will. 45 minutes later, he came back to ask us what we ordered. This means that our food order has not been put in yet. The belly dancing show was almost over at this point. Not that it was anything to watch. There were probably only two good performers. The rest were 50+ years of age, and approximately 300 pounds. AND I HAD TO PAY A $ 15 COVER TO WATCH THAT? Anyway, finally our food comes out. We ordered a julienne which is one of my favorite Russian dishes. I took a spoonful and noticed a very odd smell. After I took a bite, I realized the mushrooms were spoiled! We called over the owner Ilona yet again, who started yelling at us! She went on to say that the mushrooms are marinated with white wine. Okay lady, there is a difference between white wine and spoiled. I have taste buds too, yanno? She was yelling at us that she was understaffed on her busiest night. First of all, if it is your busiest night, get more staff. Second of all, that’s not my problem. Third of all, that doesn’t give you a reason to poison your customers. She was so rude, we stormed out. Never coming back again. This place definitely needs a health inspection. Dine at your own risk.

Ochen davno hoteli posetit eto zavedenie. Kagdiy raz, kogda edim otdihat, hodim v russkie zavedeniya, tak kak vsegda priyatno okazatsya v rodnoi atmosphere. Takogo razocharovaniya mi eshe né ispitivali. Zakazali na zakusku seledku, i nam prinesli kakuyu to kids portion iz pyati kusochkov santinetr na santimetr. A shaschlik bil takoi otvratitelniy, chto esli bi oni prosto pogarili myaso na skovorode, bilo bi, ya dumayu, vkusnee. Alkogolnaya produkciya bila yavno palenaya, uge i v Rossii takogo né vstretish. V obshem, zaplativ bolee 120 dollarov za dvoih, bilo oschuschenie polnogo odurachivaniya! Kakaya to parodiya na russkiy restoran! Edinstvennim plyisom bili muzikanti i saksofonist. Nikomu bi né posivetovali idti tuda, dage esli ochen zaskuchali po Rodine! Ostanutsya tolko negativnie vpechatleniya!

Delicious Russian food at very reasonable prices.

Yikes, Interesting, Yikes! Hey, I did give it 3 stars. Undoubtedly it was unique. I cannot say I will be back, but I cannot say it was a bad experience. This place is a bit off the St. Pete Beach main drag. Felt a bit awkward walking in, but I can’t hold that against the establishment.
I came here to see a Russian Beach/​Surf Rock Band called the Red Elvises. Not the reggea kind, I am talking like Beach Boys on speed with Animal (from the Muppets) on the drums, WIPE OUT!!! Look them up on google. Yes they do play that huge bass guitar. The band was just as interesting as the establishment.
The crowd was old. It is St. Petersburg. More than half the crowd was retired. But that did not stop the bartenders from pouring some stiff drinks, at a good price too, I might add. Thanks to those drinks, I can rate this place with 3 stars. The band also was fun, weird, wow, but fun. They also deserve 3 stars.
I did not try the food. I see mixed reviews on here for the food. I would not doubt for 1 minute that the food is pretty darn authentic. But I decided a concert night was not the night to try something new.
A friend of mine came here for a vodka tasting event. He only had good things to say about that event. I am not sure if I will be back. The place was interesting. Nothing bad about it. If you have a reason to come here, this review should not hold you back. If you want authentic Russian food, or want to see some real REAL real Russian-​ness (like the Red Elvises) then you should check this place out. Otherwise, nothing in this review should make you want to drop your regular dinner plans to try this place. It was interesting, and unique, and A-​OK, but that is it!

Average review now of about 2.5 stars seems about right — this was our second time with a group, and I’d say the first time the food was slow and pretty poor, this time it was still slow and maybe a bit better.
With a group of 14, half our orders were not right (usually the wrong sides), coming out at random intervals (and the last person’s over 30 minutes after the first one, after she asked where it was).
The band did a sound check while we were eating, and confirmed they could reproduce high decibel screeching — really pleasant — then they left on a loud annoying soundtrack (can’t really call it «music»), which our waitress just made a face when we asked if it could be made lower so we could talk at our table. The hostess did about the same saying the band is setting the Russian mood. (guess we’ll bring earplugs if we ever visit Russia).
I actually enjoyed the fried chicken (must be from Southern Russia), but neither my wife nor I wanted to finish her lobster pierogi — just had an off taste.
The entertainment was definitely entertaining (including the stripper), and the band was very energetic and had most up on the dance floor.
Doubt we would return just for the food, but okay if an interesting show and we have a few hours to burn. They do seem to be pleasant and trying.

Russian, actually Russian, Ukrainian, Armenian & Georgian cuisine authentic and tasty! Great service, good beverages & a lot of fun! very Euro & very Slavic! Try the sample platter of zakuski (appetizers).! Lots of food… lots of fun… you may even learn something.

Took the whole family there for Christmas dinner, that’s eight people. The foods was eh, acceptable, nothing I would ever crave again. We spent over $ 200 there and left a good tip despite a rather slow service. At the end of the dinner I noticed that my dress was sticking to the bottom for the table, and, to my horror discovered it was chewing gum — how disgusting! The waiter almost laughed at me when I complained and offered me some soda water to clean it off (REALLY? He obviously knows nothing about cleaning). I asked to talk to the manager, and her response was that people are pigs (wow, that was helpful!). When I requested that some amount is taken. Off our bill because might be ruined now, she bluntly refused. Typical Soviet attitude… Guess which restaurant we and our friends will never go to again?

It was ok. The service was good but of course my friend & I were the only ones in the restaurant. The best that could be said about the food is that it’s edible but as far as being authentically made or made on premises — no! I had the Siberian dumplings. Traditionally the filling is a combination of veal beef & pork. These were just made with beef & the dough wrapper tasted «commercial» not made in house. These weren’t dumplings, they were like chef boy Ardee ravioli.
The pickled herring had an old «fishy» taste. The cold cut platter appetizer consisted of very tough cuts of meat.
On the plus side, the Baltika dark lager was excellent.
Bottom line: I was hoping for traditional Russian cuisine like my mother used to make or something close to it. It was very far from that.

I’ve been wanting to go to this place for ages since I bought my
coupon! It’s rather hidden though, parallel to Gulf Blvd. You would never take notice of it passing by unless you live or stay by the nearby condos.
My boyfriend and I went on an off-​night it seemed. There were only a few men lingering at the bar, with our live entertainment testing the mic as we came in. She ended up singing to just the both of us for a good portion of our stay. It is extremely dim in here! The chairs were actually wicker, which threw me off.
He ordered the cornish hen dinner with vegetables, while I decided to test their potato and cheese pierogis with a bowl of borscht. The borscht itself was mediocre… Nothing extravagant in taste, plus it tasted premade sitting under a heat lamp for a while. My pierogis were were pan-​fried, which created the perfect crusty, yet doughy texture I love… if it were not for the ladle of oil and fried onion it was drenched in! The excess oil made it difficult to eat, and unfortunately, I was feeling my stomach twist and turn by the end of dinner.
The cornish hen, or chicken tabaka, was pretty good. I actually liked the taste of the spices, garlic, and butter on it. The plate presentation of the food is gorgeous! The vegetables were overly oiled and a bit bland.
This was my first experience trying Russian food. Overall, I noticed a trend of oil and butter throughout the dishes… which is not exactly tasteful for a healthy palette. Although the food did not win me over, service was great.
FYI, THE PRICES ON THEIR WEBSITE DO NOT MATCH THEIR MENU PRICES. Expect about a $ 2 – 3 difference… Perhaps I got the dinner menu, but I definitely know it was not the same pricing I glanced at prior to my arrival.
To be honest, it was more a 3-​star experience only because it was not overly spectacular that I would recommend this place to friends. They get 4 stars for attentive and friendly service!

A nice, but obscure little Russian «hole in the wall».
The atmosphere is quite unique, not elegant, and the food IS traditional.
The menu is written in English/​Russian for visitors from the old country out to get some home cookin’.
Everything is cooked to order, so those expecting the Red Lobster assembly line speed will be disappointed. This is a place to RELAX and dine. Marginally pricey, but the flavor is excellent.
There is a pool room, and fairly priced full bar! After sunset, entertainment is not unusual on the full stage with dance floor; one can just come it and see the performances from the full bar.
Table lighting may be poor in some spots as of this writing.
Right now I am HIGHLY impressed with the State health inspections I’ve read; this is one of the cleanest kitchen reports I’ve ever seen in this area!
Parking is METERED, but usually free after daylight hours.

I gave this place an extra star because the experience was so hilarious.
The waitress spoke almost no English and could not answer any questions about the menu, the food was terrible and the bill was over 200 bucks for 5 people.
For a teaser you may enjoy the chopped up can beet salad or the delectable array of lunch meats. The entrees looked exactly as I would have imagined: Brown watery and tasteless
The main reason for so many stars… that was a tie between the musician in the white tuxedo that dry humped his saxophone and the Russian version of Passion of the Christ which was just ending when we arrived.
I can’t believe anyone would go here, I’m not entirely sure that this place isn’t a strip club during the day.

The restaurant is nice and dim, but the seating and décor appears very cheap. The waitress was very friendly and our appetizers were brought out very quickly. Our food, on the other hand, took forever, but I believe they make your order from scratch, so that’s understandable. As far as the food, it was delicious and made up for the other slight shortcomings. I would eat here again!

So I got a reply posted from someone at the restaurant who states I must have not seen the dancing bear. Yet, I did. Why, and how, could I have possibly made that up? As for it being completely legal, no one said it wasn’t, just tasteless, cruel and tacky. I’m sure, and this can be verified by a phone call, that the health department is NOT Aware of this, as they won’t even allow a parrot in a dining establishment yet along a bear. I guess some mentality assumes this ok, but others who care about animal rights, such as myself and others, will still boycott this place and spread the word around for others to do so as well. Oh, and by the way, a dining and entertainment establishment is not so «european» that we Americans don’t get it, and there are plenty of other entertainment/​dining options in town that I’ll be glad to patron besides this one.

Don’t expect to be in and out of here in no time. It takes a while for food to come out because it’s all made from scratch in-​house, just like it should be. The staff is pretty friendly, and they have entertainment periodically (they had a Borat screening one night, belly dance haflas once a month, singers, etc.). It’s a nice dark atmosphere where you could sit hours on end.
The menu has a lot of traditional things on it, many of them I can’t spell. I ordered a chicken kiev and it was nice. Pretty much everything comes with a side (mashed potatoes with onion, fried potatoes, or a veggie), a side salad (just mixed greens with oil, there may have been some tomato), and bread with an onion and oil mixture for dipping.
I’m sure the server can help you through picking something on the menu if you ask. It’s definitely a nice change from a lot of the generic restaurants in the area. Oh, and reservations are encouraged for the bd haflas because they can get packed.