St.Pete: the Bar Route

The founders of Warszawa bar in Kazanskaya Street Ilya Revidt and Mikhail Overbuh have a new place at Nekrasova, 22, next to Khroniki and Redrum, — a bar called Bazin. The owners say their idea was the darkest bar in town with music blasting out loud — psychedelic, punk rock or indie.

The Rubinsteina street is perfect as this is the best gastrolocation in town. As the restaurant's name suggests, the menu is all about cuisine from all around the world. Only here you can try specialties from the Middle East, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico, Peru, Europe and Russia.
They are also proud of their cocktails aimed to make you cast away any doubts about matching food and drink. Bitters, teas and spirits reveal their inner secrets in trendy sours and gin-martinis. The wine comes from both the New and the Old Worlds to please your taste. And every Friday 9 pm the best DJs will play for you.

This cafe-bar pioneer celebrated its second anniversary last year and is now more than a "place for pals" with homemade food but a trendy cafe with interesting menu and the extensive wine selection. Every day they offer new lunch sets: a salad, a soup and a second course. Food is typical: mushroom cream soup, fried cheese salad, appetizers but everything is cooked with love and care. And they keep bringing in wine specialties: Chilean rose or some rare brut. The owners also love cider and beer, recently they brought GloryWood cider from the city of Barnaul (look at the name). If you want to share your impressions of the drinks you can find the owner at the bar.

Any justification for a bar charging 400-500 roubles per a glass wine in times of crisis? Location and atmosphere and Bar 8 boasts both. It opened in the famous round tower in the Petrogradskaya Storona and joined a few decent places in the neighborhood. Historical interiors were preserved: white walls and ancient bas-reliefs, huge windows with a perfect view and old plafond. The rest is done by candles and charming frequenters who are all really nice. It feels like a Parisian cafe or the early 20th century club with jazz, wine and twinkling female laughter. The food is limited to pates and olives but the place is more about aesthetics and a good company.

Vosstaniya Street is gradually becoming the drinking neighborhood: it's hard to get out of the area sober. A new Khroniki bar neighbor is Redrum beer bar. Its owners are fed up with regular low-ceiling-dark-wood pub and made a well-lit laconic venue that looks more like a cafe than a bar that offers 40 kinds of beer. It’s perfect for a date. Bartenders are always eager to help with the choice – they all love their job and are ready to share love to beer, but be ready to know your preferences. Or pick up any name in the menu you like, this could be fun. With the beer you can take their smørrebrød – it would be enough to feed two moderately hungry girls.

The menu is extensive while the bartenders are too serious. They make multilayered shots and sweet extravagant longs and serve them with fire and show. They follow classical recipes to the letter and make no compromise – no straw for a cocktail that should be drunk without it, and you will be scolded for asking. Prices are higher than in other Vosstaniya Square establishments but alcohol is really good. Frequenters are serious young men in expensive suits and their long-legged girls who order 50 shots at once. Be ready for bouncers not letting you in and saying “private party tonight” or “the house is full” for a mysterious reason.

This modest bar rarely sees strangers. Its waveform bar counter (reminds of the bay) attracts pale crème de la crème of St. Pete intellectuals – from movie critics to reporters and mathematicians. They share not just poker faces but a well-defined goal – they come here to have a drink. So forget about food, they have appetizers only: four types of sandwiches (100 roubles each) and that's it.
Their cocktails are thoroughly and rightly mixed classics without any extravaganza. Try their Free Ingria (250 RUR ) fenberry liqueur and Severny shot with the famous Minttu you all know from Finnish duty free. If you can’t make up your mind, ask the bartender for his pick and be ready for surprises.
Unpretentious interior is great for both gang fun and intimate tête-à-tête with aquavit. But the best thing is to come alone take some port wine and feel the Leningrad splean.

Тhis is a typical port tavern: hot inked girls and boys on the walls, stools screwed to the floor (just in case of storm) аnd when you are looking for the menu the bar guy says he is the menu and asks what you will be drinking. In this case, if you planned to have just one cider, everything can end in perfect ("got it just two weeks ago") calvados and something to eat. Every day the cook makes one hot meal and that is what you get – no delicacies – just filling and yummy. The food is served in a metal bowl and should be eaten with a spoon and a concentrated face. Afterwards get back to the booze, that is what you sailed here for. You will get your receipt on a boarding pass positively saying "one way".

Entrance to this arched brick walled basement is not so obvious. St Pete bar owners seem to believe that if you're craving a drink you don't need a bar to have a fancy sign. What I love about this place is friendly staff – they would recommend you wine, help to her rid of too obtrusive or treat to a complementary shot. If you order a bottle they will bring you to the local cellar to give several options to choose from. Unlike many bars, the food here is taken care about and is good. The chef being part of the team and is pretty good. What is bad: no precise closing hours and freezing cold bathrooms (can be easily used as sober-up cells) and people in cardboard bunny ears popping in from time to time (from the nearby Purga).

The bar from the guys who opened Fartuk in Rubinsteina Street has a brutal interior: a moose head inside (the hero of all instagrams), massive furniture and a small stage housing local and overseas bands and DJs. The owners wanted to bring dancing, drinking, sports bar, concerts and burger joint in one – so every night the venue becomes a different place. On Fridays and Saturdays, the Union is packed with a diverse crowd, where you will definitely see all your friends. The noise makes any talk impossible – just dance, drink and laugh. Ordering in such a hustle is quite challenging so use your pushing skills.

This is so far the youngest Vosstaniya Square bar with designer servings – each shot is accompanied with a small appetizer to reveal all the hidden flavors. Thus white port wine is served with sliced cucumbers and basil, kava goes with raspberry and ribbons of cucumber in Vasileostrovsky cider appear quite good. They serve no food but promise a cold kitchen soon.
The name hints at tiny size – the first hall is good for friendly chats (overheard by Dovlatov, Brodsky, Pushkin and Blok looking from the wall), while the second hosts a bar – be ready to relinquish some privacy and chat with bartenders, they are pretty easygoing. Or you can send your friends a postcard with the writers from the wall posters, but use it as a drink mat before for atmosphere.

The bar is the child of ex-participants in the Restaurant Day driven by the success of their tarts – now they are part of the menu (tomato one is great). Clients and friends are locals, bartenders – amateurs, and parties go wild till the sun rises.
Order homemade liqueur or signature cocktails with crazy names and ingredients. Waiters are slow, so the challenge is not just to grab the bartender's attention but try to keep it so better order two shots at once. The interiors boast of RGB-wallpaper, changing with the light. So don't fear you had too much booze, when seeing green and red people .
On weekday nights the place is strangely empty and family-like. You can dine with plat de jour, it is the only thing served.

The owners started with selling homemade hotdogs in front of the Hat bar. Later their gastronomy ambitions resulted in a small wine bar for friends only – this winter it was still hard to get. First you had to memorize the number of a backstreet in Vosstaniya, make it to the second yard and not loose your determination. Now they have a sign (Fligel), gates and fame – DoImmigration is the most popular wine evening starter in the city. Fridays and Sats the place is packed: people love the atmosphere and 150-200 rouble wine. A typical practice is to get the booze and go out. It is really stuffy in the summer inside, so the owners made a kind of veranda on the bridge-balcony linking the nearby buildings .

Once I asked for a cacao and the bartender said they are a whiskey bar not a coffee shop. They serve classical cocktails and strong drinks – 80 sorts of whiskey alone. Soft options are dandelion lemonade that will make you look like a drunkard. The kitchen works all night and breakfasts start at five am. Appetizers feature pâté sets (a good dining option for one), fish and chips (to share), salads, pasta and burgers . Now they disguise as a gastrobar and plan to expand the menu.
Apart from alcohol you can get some culture the famous Lev Lurye Lectures about St. Pete, booze, traditions and personalities. Come prepared: reserve a table and get a drink.

This bar never sleeps: be it a weekday or a holiday. Its frequenters have forgotten it takes the site of a laundry and you can still do it here. All customers are friends and welcome newcomers. Years ago this place was the epicenter of St Pete nightlife and still has this vibe – a beer with a stranger here feels great.

Mishka bar used to be a private party place but recently bouncers have become kinder as the owners are busy with their new toy – Clean Plates Society. You can just pop in or come for a special occasion but chances are high that you would be leaving this Fontanka basement in the morning, crawling on your knees after having tasted all their signature shots: Boyarsky, Lisichka and Мishka ... under super beats by local DJs.

Chat-and-whiskey lovers are welcomed in the recently opened The Hat jazz bar (its founders are the guys who opened The Terminal iconic St.Pete bar and Billy Novik from Billy's Band jazz band) The chairs are brand new and the style is very NYC of the 1940s-50s. The upper floors are taken by a movie theater, a gallery, a theater and a dancing school so music nights will for sure see not just beatniks but all creative folks.