St. Petersburg Restaurant & Vodka Bar

Great vodka martinis. Chicken Kiev, lamb chops, and cabbage rolls were amazing. For an appetizer you want to get the pita bread with eggplant dip. Fun atmosphere in the dining room, live music, and dancing. Only two of the desert options are made in house, and we were kind of disappointed with most of the sweet plates they offered. I really, really enjoyed this place and hope to be back.

I love this place.
Food: it has quite authentic Russian cuisine, and you can enjoy that while sipping good cocktail and live music. No one can beat that!
I tried almost all the meals here during the last 4 times I’ve been here.
Olivier salad: they have their own unique taste here. Moscow on the hill has good salad, but these two aren’t really competitors. Each has their own unique taste.
Pelmeni: come on, you’re in a Russian restaurant. Have to try this.
Blini: was quite thick than I’d like. But still tastes good.
Piroshki: tastes good, but I personally prefer doughy one instead of being in puff pastry
Cabbage rolls: they’re pretty good, definitely better than that of kramarczuk’s. But I don’t really like cabbage, so wasn’t my first choice.
2. Service: they’re always packed, so service is slow. In my case, I always went there to hang out with friends and catch up, so I didn’t really care how long it took. But definitely slower than almost all places I know.
Server won’t really check on you too many times, which is what I like. I prefer to be left alone instead of being asked how I’m doing every 3 mins. I’m doing just as fine as 3 mins ago!!! So I like that about here, no nonsense attitude.
Occasionally there’s Russian karaōke party right next door. That is so much fun even if you can’t sing well. I’ve never had so much fun either watching people singing, actually singing and/​or dancing in MN.

It’s definitely not what you expect but I have yet to be disappointed. Bartenders are great and infused vodkas are delicious. The lemon drop martini is my favorite.

Just moved to the neighborhood and this is quickly becoming my new favorite hangout. The bartender knows almost every person that walks through the door and never runs out of quips as he’s pouring a (very strong) drink. If you’re unsure of what you want (not hard seeing that the entire bar is stocked with every kind of vodka you could think of including infused-​vodka) Johnny will whip you up something that you’ll fall in love with.
I could see coming alone to this place for some filling food and interesting drinks, going on a fun date, or hanging out all night with a crowd of friends (a few of which will probably be new — everyone’s eager to chat at the bar).
Thursday — Saturday are the best nights, great vibe and fabulous drinks!

Great place. Good quality traditional Russian food, blintzes are awesome. Service and drinks are deferentially a 5 star. I would differently recommend this place if you wont to see something different.

Very unique style and feel inside the restaurant. Our service from Nicole was outstanding! The food and alcoholic beverages were of high quality. Might be spendy for some but it’s well worth it!

Great food, attentive service, lively bustling crowd, large tables celebrating events and hosting friends, live music, great vodka flights. The owner visited our table several times and checked on everyone. What happened to that kind of service elsewhere? We love this place!

Had no idea what this place would be like when we met some friends here for a drink. I was happily surprised. The atmosphere was different. We sat in the bar area. It was kitschy, but not hipstery. I liked it.
The bartender was awesome. The drinks were great. Definitely a fun place to hangout with friends. Not a place you might think of first, but once you try it, you will be glad you did.

This review is also only for the vodka bar.
Two words: Bartender John.
Out of all the Twin Cities bartenders I’ve encountered, John is the friendliest, funniest, and most considerate bartender I’ve ever come across. Also: TALENTED. Have an idea for a martini but aren’t sure which one you want? He will make you original concoctions that will blow your mind.
My friends and I were there near bar close on a weeknight and admittedly were the last patrons. John did not encourage us to leave but instead hung out with us while he cleaned the bar and we finished our martinis. He is a skilled conversationalist and leaves his bad days at home.
As Karah mentioned below, décor is a bit dated (ok a lot dated), but you kind of get the feel of a Russian restaurant of old. I don’t exactly hate it.
I absolutely need to come back to try the food. This is one of Robbinsdale’s best kept secrets!

Customer service does not exist in this restaurant. Trying to point out to the owner of the business on the flaws turned into argument. Never again.

John, the super fun bartender, serves a tasty and strong drink to wash down delicious, buttery comfort food. Sounds like a winning combination to me!

The bartenders were super friendly! It was my first time there and they took the time to introduce me to some folks at the bar. It was so friendly.

Vodka is the anti-​Jenny. It makes me unreasonable and about 50 times more paranoid than I usually am on a regular basis. I try to avoid it as much as possible.
Anyway, I had about 3 cocktails and 2 shots and washed it all down with a beer. All of the drinks I ordered (not that I can remember what they were) were tasty. I started the night with a White Russian made from coffee infused vodka. It was good but didn’t have the balance and flavor depth of a traditional White Russian. That’s about where my opinion on the vodka ends. It’s vodka, it makes me angry no matter what flavor it is.
The food was surprisingly fan-​fucking-​tastic. I ordered the roasted duck which came with a cranberry glaze, roasted apples and a bed of rice pilaf.
Does anyone really like rice pilaf? I really don’t think so.
With a $ 20 price tag, I was expecting something impressive. It wasn’t food art by any means but it was tender, hearty and two of my favorite things. Meat and fruit –together-​.
Our waiter was a lot of fun, but spent about 5 minutes taking out of focus pictures of the group.
Our waitress was nice and came around often to refill our drinks.
This restaurant didn’t die down the entire time we were there. If I maybe had one more drink in me I would have dragged Sam and Dita to the dance floor. Sam’s patented «potato sack» dance would have been perfect at a vodka bar.
The bill was a disaster because everything was rang up together for a table of 9, all of whom seemed to be heavy drinkers. It took a very long time to figure it all out. But, the night was super fun and we’d go back in a heart beat. Shout out to Steve D. for being our sober-​cab! And Shout out to Dita D. for hounding strangers for some balloons!

I’ll be the first to tell you that vodka’s not my bag and I instinctively avoid VFW’s (and similar places) like the plague.
So, that being said, this vodka bar is conveniently attached to a VFW.
I silently prepared myself to endure a couple solid hours of old people staring at me with vehement disdain while making audible comments about the poor life choices of people my age and struggling to choke down church basement style food.
Thankfully (for me, at least) the two are pretty clearly divided as far as clientele and experience goes despite being in the same building.
There must’ve been a wedding the night we attended as the main dining area was packed full of people dressed to the nines and dancing the night away.
I felt comparatively underdressed until I looked off to the bar side of the place and saw some guy in flip flops and cargo shorts. Even so, It was strange being immediately surrounded by a casual atmosphere while women in dresses that would make prom night look tame were pouring in and out of the other side a few feet away. If you’re the type of anxious person that worries about shit like that, you might want to step up your game a bit so as not to feel so slovenly.
There are four or five house-​made infused vodkas that they had available that night and – though I’d imagine the flavors are rotated – they were mostly of the fruity persuasion. I got hooked into trying a White Russian with their only non-​fruit offering, the coffee infused vodka, and I didn’t prefer it over the traditional drink. I drank it because… fuck yeah, booze, but it was rather akin to licking an iced coffee bean.
However, it was a birthday bash for Chris and we were all ready to unleash our inner booze gods so my plans to order a normal one were snuffed out by a deluge of shots. I was cool with that.
Speaking of the shots, none of us knew what the fuck we wanted. The guy waiting on us came up with several creative ones, however, and managed to keep us all at a steady buzz. Thank you, guy.
The food:
It seemed a little ‘slap yo bitch up’ costly to me given that I was picturing grey dick sausages, sour cream and mashed potato-​laden everything because Russians. I reservedly ordered pierogies because the combination of butter, potatoes, bacon and dill seemed like the safe bet.
They were pretty damn delicious, indeed, like little potato filled pouches of love.
I also sampled the roasted duck (tender, slightly sweet and fuck yeah), the lamb chops (laughably small portion with two tiny ass chops but prepared very well without being gamey), the chicken kiev (crispy, seasoned nicely and packed with herbaceous flavors) and the roasted eggplant dip (smoky and much smoother than a hummus).
Overall, I was very pleased and frankly blown away with how good everything tasted.
There were hiccups to the night, though. Chris was the last to get his entrée due to them having forgotten about him ordering. I heard talk that regulars don’t get the same level of glitz that newcomers do, and that was disappointing.
The bill hadn’t been split at all at the end (we were explicitly told it wouldn’t/couldn’t be) and nine or so of us had to struggle to drunkenly divide it. Climbing Olympus Mons would’ve been less daunting at the time.
Truthfully, I’d go with a 3.5 star but I rounded it up since the ‘better’ outweighed the ‘average’ for the night. I wouldn’t be opposed to going back whatsoever but I don’t think I’d ever do so if I weren’t in a group. It just doesn’t have that one-​on-​one style feel to me.

Loved this place! Went to the restaurant for the «girls night out». Our server brought the menus immediately and offered her recommendations. The food arrived pretty quickly, hot and delicious. My friends ordered some wine and I had an ice tea.
As far as the music — yes, the music is «back (to 80s-​90s) in USSR» but it brought back some good memories and everyone had lots of fun dancing and just goofing around. I don’t think they offer live music daily, but we went on Saturday and they had a small live band. Overall, again, had lots of fun and definitely recommend.

This is not a place to go eat. It’s a wonderful bar, though, worth 4 stars, even though the restaurant service and food are not great. The vodka bar is fantastic. If you are in an experimental mood, they will craft you something based on preferences you tell them, and it’s ALWAYS good. Try their homemade infusions. Two tips: be sure to have a designated driver, and call to be sure they’re open.

I’ve been coming to the vodka bar since Johnny left 13 Moons ions ago. He is a bartender worth following. A guaranteed good time when he is behind the bar. The martinis and White Russians pack a punch, and the crowd is friendly. Everyone loves everyone here. Super fun time always. Cheers!

Definitely worth stopping in on a Friday night for some sort of vodka drink! The bar tenders are very friendly and chatty if you’re hoping to make a new friend at the bar or there is a live piano player if you’re hoping to get lost in the tunes while sipping your white russian.
I enjoyed the atmosphere almost as much as the drinks — they had all different ages represented and it was clearly a place that people go to to mark an occassion. I’ll be back for sure!

My buddy in I went in for dinner. It took five minutes for anyone to acknowledge us. Once we were seated, it was another five minutes of being ignored. So I figured we might just go ask if they served food in the bar. They did, so we decamped from the dining room and into the bar.
We were seated almost immediately. Once we were seated, no fewer than four employees walked by us over and over without even a word. As we walked out, the bartender snidely told us to have a good night. So I don’t know if their food or drinks are any good, but their service is some of the worst I’ve experienced.
The plus side is, St. Petersburg is close to Pig Ate My Pizza, which gladly feed us awesome food without the décor of a spinster’s boudoir.

This review is ONLY for the vodka bar.
I went on a random Wednesday night with my boyfriend and a few friends because one of them had just moved in down the street. The décor is lacking, meaning I was reminded of my grandma’s house. The lights are also flashy and pretty annoying. However, what they lack in décor they make up for in vodka. Our bartender John was amazing, and quite generous with the free samples of cocktails.
I had a lemondrop martini and my boyfriend had a straight up martini and both were the smoothest, best tasting martinis we’d ever had. His had absolutely ZERO alcohol aftertaste, which I have never experienced elsewhere. The service isn’t fast, but thats because the martini glasses are chilled in ice for at least 3 – 5 min. before pouring alcohol in. If you want an excellent cocktail and are fine with waiting a little while for service (because they are making you a delicious drink) this is the place for you.