The restaurant scene has changed dramatically from the last edition and now there are dozens of good eating places. Scores more are remodeling, retraining and transforming themselves under the pressure of competition and the prospect of success.

St. Petersburg has over 1000 eating establishments from the numerous very basic, inexpensive cafeterias and fast food restaurants to the most elegant restaurants in old palaces and hotels.
The selected restaurants and cafes are listed in alphabetical order. The typical listing includes short description of cuisine and interior, followed by address, telephone number, mention of working hours, nearest metro station and major credit cards accepted.
In addition to restaurants and cafes, "Blinnaya" and other specialized eateries offer simple but tasty repasts.

"CC Only." Some restaurants, especially in hotels, only accept credit cards as a way of restricting clientele. Prices are often given in dollars.

"Light snacks" usually means "open-faced sandwiches" (buterbrod) with cheese, meat, caviar, some baked goods, juices, cognac and champagne.

"Entertainment". "Music" usually means recorded music. Look for "Orchestra", "Chamber Music" or "Band" for live music. Some have dance floors. "Variete" are variety shows with singing of contemporary music, dance line and comedy. The "Erotic Shows" usually denotes scantily clad chorus girls a la Folies Berge. A "cultural evening" may include classical music, poetry and Russian romantic ballads. "Folklore" and "gypsy" are usually in national costumes and feature folk dancing and national songs. Russian "romances" point to an evening of melancholic love songs.

AMERICAN
No other nation has such a variety of foodstuffs at its disposal, or such contrast cuisines, as the United States. That is perhaps why there is no one national cuisine. America has developed a variety of overlapping regional cooking styles including the native dishes of New England, the Dutch (German) cooking of Pennsylvania, the French Creole of the Deep South, the Mexican influence on Western cooking and many other tasty influences that can be characterized as culinary exclusiveness.

BEER RESTAURANTS
In this section we list beer restaurants, where they serve several varieties of bottled and draft beers from Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Russia. Most of these eateries also feature European, Russian, German, or Austrian cuisine.

CAUCASIAN
When we mention Caucasian cuisine, we are including Armenian, Azerbaijanis and Georgian restaurants that serve a variety of dishes based on meat accompanied by spicy dressings and sauces, as well as fresh and pickled vegetables. In the restaurants listed below you will find the following specialties: shashlik (shish kebab), khinkali (large steamed dumplings), chebureki (thin fried bread with a meat filling), khachapuri (bread and melted cheese), chanakhi (spicy lamb-based soup), kyufta (rice soup with meat balls), tolma (grape leaves stuffed with ground beef and rice), gozinakh (honey with walnut dessert), kharcho (spicy meat soup), markurma (roast lamb with pomegranates), gutap (stuffed crepes).

CHINESE
Chinese cuisine offers a great variety of dishes. Traditional Chinese restaurants feature specialties prepared from fish, seafood delicacies, pork, beef, chicken, duck and rabbit. Exotic dishes from snails, eels, turtles, frogs, sharks, octopuses are also widely available. For garnish they serve rice with vegetables, ham, eggs, etc. The methods of preparation include stir-frying, stewing, steaming, deep-frying, flash frying, pan-frying and so forth. A dish may be savory, sweet, tart, or piquant.

EUROPEAN
European cuisine restaurants serve dishes from meat, fish and poultry (usually fried or stewed), mushrooms, seafood delicacies. Entrees are served with an exquisite sauce with good cuts of meat, green salads, and rolls, lightly spiced. For garnish they serve vegetables, potatoes or rice. Most popular desserts include fancy cakes, ice cream, whipped cream and fruit.

FRENCH
French cuisine is world-famed both for its quality and its variety. French restaurants serve a wide choice of meat, poultry and fish dishes, as well as oysters, shrimps, mussels, clams, crabs and other seafood specialties. Herbs and spices are frequently used and in a variety of combinations. Delicious French cheeses of many types are also widely available. French wines are not only perfect drinks, but may also be used in preparing exquisite dishes. For your sweet tooth, try tasty desserts, which may include pastries, stuffed crepes; cakes topped with chocolate, fruit and whipped cream, ice cream, mousses.

GERMAN
If you want to have a shot of beer and to eat something substantial, German restaurant is your obvious choice. Here they serve wurst with sauerkraut, dishes from pork and fish, thick soups with meat, smoked food, sausages. Potato dishes, prepared with onions, mushrooms, and ham are very common. Strong flavors, solid foods, thirst-quenching beverages, this is German cuisine at its best.

INDIAN
If you are a vegetarian, try an Indian restaurant, where vegetarian selections are widely available. Another strong feature of Indian cuisine is highly spiced specialties from chicken, meat or fish, cooked in Tandoori ovens and served with rice or beans. Try as well Tandoori bread, which is especially warm and soft. To finish your meal, take a few long sips of perfect Indian tea. Soft music, dancing and styled interior will also contribute to making your dining experience unforgettable.

ITALIAN
The world famous Italian specialties, pizza and pasta, are widely available in Italian restaurants. Pizza is served with various toppings of vegetables, mushrooms, meat or seafood. Pasta is accompanied by different sauces and is served with cheese, mushrooms, vegetables, meat, ham, and fish. Dishes from pork, beef and fish also find their way onto the menu, and are served with wine sauces, cheese and vegetables. And do not forget to toast your companion with exhilarating Italian wine!

JAPANESE
Japanese food is considered to be very healthy. The emphasis is on seafood, including octopuses, calamari, spiny lobsters, mollusks, crabs, sea kale, and fish. Spices and chili sauces are used in very limited amounts, not to drown the flavors of the main ingredients. A traditional Japanese specialty is sushi - a dish consisting of thin slices of fresh raw fish inside a cake of cooked rice wrapped in a seaweed wrapper. Traditional Japanese fermented rice liquor is called sake.

JEWISH
Kosher food is prepared according to strict Jewish religious laws. Pork, clams, flatfish, sturgeon and eel are forbidden. You not mix meat and dairy products. Menu in Jewish restaurant includes a choice of entrees, including forshmak (baked hashed meat or herring with sliced potatoes and onions) and stuffed fish. For the main course, meat and fish dishes in sour-sweet sauce are the most common choices. Desserts are prepared from dairy products, fruit, nuts, honey.

KOREAN
Appetizers in Korean cuisine are prepared from carrots, new fern and freshly pickled fish. For the main meal kuksa noodles with broth, or steamed ravioli are served. The best-known meat dishes are kalbi (beef ribs flesh) and pulgoki (fried meat cut into small pieces and wrapped in a lettuce leaf). Rice almost always accompanies the meal. The food can be highly spiced.

MEXICAN
Come to Mexican restaurant and indulge your appetite for hot and spicy delights of Tex-Mex cooking. A Mexican meal is not a meal without tortillas- the round, flat, pancake-like disks that are eaten with nearly any non-dessert dish, including salads, meats, seafood, beans and vegetables. Meat dishes include cabrito, carnitas fajitas and more. The choice of seafood varies from shellfish, oysters and scallops to crabs, shrimps, lobsters and abalone. Mexican tequila is famous alcoholic liquor. If you want something softer, try Margarita - a cocktail made with tequila and lemon or lime juice. Suddenly you feel Latin fire coursing through your veins, and you want to dance. It’s fiesta time!

PIZZERIAS
Pizzerias traditionally serve a wide variety of delicious pizzas, good choice of salads, wines, soft drinks, and desserts. See also italian cuisine.

RUSSIAN
Modern Russian cuisine very much resembles European cooking. Dishes are overwhelmingly based on fried or stewed meat, fish or poultry, garnished with potatoes, vegetables or rice. Old style Russian cooking of the Boyar’s table includes dishes from sturgeon, white sturgeon, salmon, geese, ducks, partridges, hazel-hens, game (meat of wild animals), mushrooms, caviar, bliny (thin crepes), pies, pelmeni (Russian version of ravioli).

SEAFOOD
Here we list restaurants, where you can try both traditional Russian and European seafood specialties, and exotic delights of French, Japanese and Thai cuisine prepared from alligators, lobsters, oysters, shrimps.

SPANISH
In Spanish restaurants there is a good choice of seafood, including shrimps, calamari, octopuses, mussels and a variety of fish. Among the meat specialties the most common are dishes from pork, mutton, beef, smoked sausage. A characteristic feature of Spanish cooking is that many different ingredients are often mixed together. For example, paella is cooked from rice, chicken chunks, and shrimp, mussels, paprika and green peas. And every meal is accompanied by a glass of good wine almost as a matter of course.

Restaurant = Restoran
The Russians make a very clear distinction between the word for "restaurant" and all other places to eat. The "classic Russian restaurant" means high class, good-quality, expensive with a special cuisine and champagne, wine and vodka and often an orchestra, variety show or music. This type of restaurant is frequently found in large HOTELS.

Cafe = Kafe
The word "Cafe" is loosely used in Russian and refers to anything from an ele-gant little restaurant serving steak and lobster to a basic coffee shop serving tea, juice, pastries, and ice cream but no coffee. In general cafes are smaller and less formal. In this book those cafes that serve something hot and substantial to eat, from sandwiches, soup, pizzas and good pancakes to steaks and fish are included under Restaurants and Cafes. Those cafes that serve mostly drinks, pastries and ice cream are listed under CAFES.

Grill Bar = Gril Bar
Serve drinks, grilled meats, often chicken & sometimes "shashlyk," (shish kebab).

Beer Bar = Pivnoy Bar
Serve beer and appetizers; a beer restaurant has a more extensive menu.

Blinnaya = Blinnaya
Serve Russian blinys, thin pancakes filled with jam or meat and baked pastries.

Pizzeria = Pitstseriya
Russian pizza is different but tasty.

Bistro = Bistro Moment = Moment Just a minute = Minutka
All mean "fast" in Russian and are stand-up places for a quick cup of coffee, open-faced sandwich, salad and soup.

Ice Cream Cafe = Kafe morozhenoe
Serve ice cream, coffee, chocolates, sweets, champagne and cognac. See ICE CREAM

Donuts = Pyshechnaya
Serve coffee & Russian-style donut-puffs

Cafeteria = Kafeteriy Company cafeteria = Stolovaya Buffet = Bufet
These are basically "cafeteria", very cheap and very basic. Eat at one only if a Russian recommends it. The better ones are often operated by an organization, factory, or firm.

Swedish Table = Svedskiy Stol
Refers to a buffet type restaurant in hotels, often offered for breakfast.

Brunch, a recent introduction from the US, served at the better hotels.

Reservations are highly recommended, especially for larger and popular restaurants. For reservations, call and ask for the "Administrator" or "Maitre D'Hotel".

When asking for a table, ask for a "clear table without zakuski" (chistyy stol bez zakuski) which means that it has not been preset with expensive hors d'oeuvres (zakuski). If you are given a table laden with zakuski, make it clear that you want to make your own choice.

Tipping:10% is a reasonable tip for good service in a sit-down restaurant.