Dvin Restaurant

A quaint and delightful surprise of a little place. The definition of un-​ironic kitsch. I would never have tried it (probably would have missed it entirely or dismissed it as too overflowing with knick-​knacks to be worthwhile) if not for the urging of my parents (who are huge fans) to give it a try.
I am glad that I did. First off, it is a battle of which is better when it comes to ordering a soup or salad to start. The little house salad is excellent, but the borscht is equally amazing and must be tried. I usually just end up ordering both because I hate to miss out on either.
As far as entrees, the cabbage rolls are quite good. And I recall getting some kind of vegetarian/​hummus combination plate, but I’m not sure if it is actually listed on the menu or just the special that night or something.
Speaking of which, the menu availability can be a little hit and miss – seems sometimes they are out of things (which can certainly be forgiven considering it is a 2-​woman operation with apparently a quite small kitchen).
Another thing is that you may feel a little awkward if you’re the only big group, or, conversely, if you’re the only small group and there’s a big group there. The place is small and it feels like someone’s home, not a public restaurant. Also, the waitress is sometimes gone for long stretches of time, so it’s just you and the other tables, in pretty close quarters – not that this is a bad thing. You just may feel a little awkward at first walking into it.

The Ukranian Goulash is OUTSTANDING and tastes like something my Grandmother would make. Flavors are deep and unexpected. Highly recommend.
If you eat in the restaurant, it may be empty but DO NOT let that stop you from enjoying a great meal after a long hard day.

Nice authentic Armenian/​Russian food. The goulash is excellent, the gyro is enormous, the coffee is explosive, and it’s a cute little kitschy place. Not great for groups but worth the visit. Don’t skip the appetizers, the Armenian dip and eggplant spread are delicious!

Ease into the comfort zone.
Many previous reviewers nailed this place already — I fully agree with comment that liken the dining experience here to a visit at an old aunt’s home.
I never would have noticed this place as being a restaurant if I didn’t know about it previously. It’s so tiny and unassuming. I wasn’t even sure if they were open when I went here for dinner one evening. The window is full of potted houseplants and I don’t think they post their hours on the door.
Upon entry I was surprised at the tiny space where two other diners were just leaving. There are probably only about a half-​dozen tables and it really does look like someone’s living room, if they’d fixed up a bakery to be a home. The space clearly used to be some kind of bakery or deli, but with the wallpaper and borders, clutters of framed pictures, knick-​knacks and plants, and the tables with vinyl placements over printed cloths, it truly is like visiting an old relative.
The menu has greek and eastern european classic dishes. The server was pleasant and sweet. We ordered russian salad, chicken blintzes, and varenicky, and sat back to enjoy the interesting music — I’m guessing Russian folk music.
I could hear the Russian voices from the kitchen in the back — the server and the chef. I think it’s just two women who run and operate the place.
the salad was refreshing tomato and cucumber, with a tangy tzaziki sauce heavily spooned on.
The food here is comfort food. It is like someone’s grandmother’s dishes. Heavy and mild, but full of slow-​cooked flavor. The dishes are not overly large in size, but not meagre either.
The Varenicky — potato cheese dumplings with a sour cream sauce — were creamy and velvety, and I was loving the warm cooked cabbage which is part of this dish. It was tangy, with the flavor of tomatoes, sweet carrots, and vinegar. It really offset the creamy, starchy dumplings well.
The blintzes were delicious pancakes, with a filling of mild and tender ground chicken. And I mean really tender, melt-​in-​your mouth. The only complaint is that there wasn’t much chicken in the blintzes and most of the dish was the pancake. I think that there might have been one or two blintzes without any chicken filled in.
Overall it was good filling comfort food, in an unsophisticated atmosphere.

Dvin is like going to your Aunt’s house from the old country for dinner.
It is sparsely decorated with a few cultural nick knacks, with some basic tables.
The menu is a mixture of Arminian and Russian comfort foods that are all very good.
They do not serve alcohol and I have never asked if you can BYOB.
There is just one wait staff and she is very pleasant and friendly.
It really does feel like you are having dinner with family.
I really enjoy eating there and hope you will to.
Steve.

What a great place, a hidden gem in Webster.
Love the décor and china, made you feel like you were eating someones home in an Eastern European village.
We started with warm tea served in a cup and saucer. I’ve always loved that.
We had the eggplant spread with very warm pita bread as an appetizer. YUM, just like my Grandma use to make. We both had a small dinner salad. Very fresh and tasty.
I had the meat blintz. They were divine! Melted in my mouth. Pete had the Ukrainian goulash and reports it was very good. Perfect temperature and not over spiced.
There were so many things on the menu we both wanted to try so that only means one thing, we’ll be back!
We look forward to a return trip very soon!

We went here on a whim, have lived in WG 20 years, not sure how long Dvin has been here, but never paid a lot of attention to it. We were the only ones in the restaurant for the first 35 minutes. It was like visiting an foreign aunt in her home. The wait for food was a little long but well worth it. I had cheese and potato dumplings, simply delicious. We tried the honey cake and mango cake for dessert. Both were delightful. I highly reccomend this place.

I stopped by on a vacation and was blown away. This quaint little restaurant provides an incredibly authentic experience that features delicious dishes at incredible prices. I hope to swing back to sample even more of their offerings. I highly recommend them!

What a wonderful find this restaurant was. Dvin serves Greek, Armenian and Russian (ukrainian) food. From the moment I walked in, I knew it was going to be delicious as the restaurant smelled divine, the kind of scent you get from long slow cooked, unhurried real home cooked food.
Dvin is run by 2 people, mother and daughter I believe; one cooks, one serves, so expect a more leisurely paced meal. Appetizers came out quickly and we were happy. We got the eggplant spread and hummus with fresh warm toasted pita which were both delicious. The eggplant had nice carmelized onions and a lovely sweetness. We also got the russian pork dumpling entrée special as an appetizer to share – they were crazy good. Wonderful flavor and amazingly not super heavy despite the lovely cream sauce which also had small chunks of delicious beet in it. I didn’t personally try the borscht but my friends who discovered the place had tried on a prior visit and said that was very good also.
For entrée, I got the Ukrainian goulash which exceeded expectations. Suffice to say, I now prefer Ukrainian to Hungarian goulash greatly. Nice wonderfully tender meat slow cooked with onions, carrots, nice big chunks of potato in a savory sauce with a nice sweetness that was not cloying and a hint of spice. I almost licked the crock clean. My dining companions had the meat blintzes (like crepes full of yummy flavorful meat with a white sause), the beef stroganoff special, the pork roast special and the lamb all of which were also really tasty.
We tried the plum cake for dessert, despite being stuffed which was quite nice. Very european, not too sweet with dried fruit and an almost fruitcake like layer layered with something that seemed very similar to marscapone cheese.
Can’t wait to go back; this will become a comfort food favorite for me.

The food here is a mix of Russian, Ukrainian, Armenian, and related cuisines. I really enjoyed my Ukranian goulash but was disappointed at Dvin’s lack of a liquor license. I was looking forward to trying a nice house-​infused vodka or something along those lines, but nyet! I think you can BYOB.
Similar to Jonathan P.‘s experience, the server seemed overwhelmed and stressed that we came with a large group (9 or 10). However, we were the only ones in the restaurant save for a couple who came in for a take-​away order. I think there was only 1 other person working in the kitchen besides our server. Don’t come here if you are in a hurry.
Also, this is the type of restaurant that doesn’t always have what is printed on their menu. On any given day they might be out of Dishes 1, 3, and 5 and only have 2 and 4 plus a special. One of my friends ordered pork dumplings on special, and when they arrived she was shocked to find that they were pork AND shrimp. A lot of people can’t or don’t want to eat shrimp — the server should have been more clear about the dish before we ordered it. Still, this was an interesting experience and I’m glad we tried it. Would have been more fun with vodka though.

I’d passed this place for years before I ever knew what it was. It literally occupies half the space of even the smallest of storefront shops, and I had no clue it was a restaurant. My ex and I stumbled in there once simply by our own curiosity, and I’m so glad we did.
There must be about six or seven tables in the place, but it’s so cute and cozy. There’s lots of Eastern European tschotske in the place, and an eclectic soundtrack that only gets turned on when you sit down. Every time I’ve gone in, it’s been empty. But certainly people must patronize the place, or it wouldn’t have lingered so long. After all, it’s in the Old Orchard section of Webster Groves — not exactly a low rent area.
The food is really fantastic. The kidney bean dip, which is a bit like hummus, is both sweet and creamy. The roasted red peppers are okay, but a bit too vinegary for me. The stuffed cabbage is buttery and rich. The absolute best item on the menu, though, are the meat blintzes. The blintzes are light and slightly sweet and nutty, and come filled with wonderfully flavorful ground chicken. It’s topped with sour cream. Wow! It’s always the simplest things that are the best anyway.