A place where you feel like traveling back to the 19th century. Some dishes are also from those times. Ask for the place next to the window to enjoy the view.

Amazing atmosphere there and service!!!Price it’s pretty good for such a historical cafe🙌🏼

One of those must visit restaurants where famous writers hung out back in the day. I had the prawns for starter which was large and filling. Opted for pumpkin soup for mains. Dessert was average.

We came here 2 evenings in a row and were very very satisfied with everything. The food was absolutely delicious and the waiter very very friendly. Although they dont speak English very well they always were helpful and tried their best. Only the man at the wardrobe seemed a bit grumpy, but towards every guest not only us. The interior seems old but everything is clean and in a good condition. There was live piano music and a violinist on Saturday and a solo pianist on Sunday.I can totally recommend this restaurant to everyone who wants a good dinner with reasonable prices

Really great find. Service was good - very efficient and attentive, and in the middle of the winter was very warm too.Menu was typically Russian and they also serve a wonderfully very thick hot chocolate. Grand interior and not expensive. Recommended.

Literary cafe at the intersection of Moyka Canal and Nevsky Avenue. Pushkin drank the last cup of coffee here before he died. Luxury decoration, excellent service. The food are delicate and delicious. But the price above the average. It is a good choice after Hermitage visiting.

Visited for Pushkin. Disappointed. The service is pathetic and slow. Food is decent but very expensive for the price. The waiter kept forgetting our request to get the dessert menu. Ultimately we walked away without ordering dessert because it just took very very long. When I tried giving the manager Feedback she communicated she didnt understand English.

Good food and nice place for touching local Russia relax. Enjoyable more than meaningful, highly recommend.

Fantastic. Nice Ambiance cool music staff very hygienic well groomed we liked the place will be back soon . Thank you so much!!!

The interesting place in the very heart of the Saint Petersburg. The legend goes as even Pushkin himself (among many other famous writers) was frequently seen here back in a days.Now though it is an ok place with interesting interiors and fine prices (lunch with 3 courses would cost you only 500 rub). However, the service was extremely slow, the stuff was not friendly, and the food was merely ok.Go here for an experience.

We had such a great meal here, the food was delicious the waiter was friendly and the atmosphere was great

The decor of the restaurant is in a very classical fancy Russian kind of way. There was a live piano and singing performance. Both musicians were very good.The staff was quite nice. Our server was very patient and was very detailed when telling us about recommendations.We ordered Russian tea, 2 kinds of homemade vodka, Russian beer, borscht soup, Russian salad~ 1860 salad, caviar and pancakes, and beef stroganoff.The tea was very nice. Floral and fruity and rich.Homemade vodka was good. Like vodka as usualBeer was meh normal.Salad was interesting. There was salmon caviar, quail, egg and some veggies mixed in a cream mayo sauce and then covered by a clear gelatinous thing.Beef stroganoff not bad. The meat was tender.The soup was ok not bad.Overall the food is ok. Not bad but not much of a surprise or a wow.Good place to check in.

Beautiful and historic place. Posh pre-revolutionary Russian decor. Waiters are dressed in tux-like uniforms and are extremely attentive. Live piano music. Very good food but I expected the food to match the atmosphere in nuance and elegance. It was very good but not as good as one might expect. But I am still glad we came because it was a very nice experience.

Nice place with nice service and great patisserie!!!

A beautiful historical restaurant. Staff was very nice and friendly.

A bit pricey and arrogant staff. Nice piano concert though. Its 4 stars overall

A very charming place. Good service and tasty meal.

Pricey but great! You have to experience this to understand the 19th century atmosphere

The best café in St Petersburg. The service and the food were amazing.Definitely will come again

The best Kwas in town.

Food was lovely and reasonably priced. Service was attentive and the overall atmosphere of this place was so cosy with candles and a pianist. Definitely worth a visit

This place is a MUST VISIT. You will be shocked on how beautiful this restaurant is. The food is fantastic and the atmosphere takes you back in time. I absolutely recommend this cafe to anyone coming to Saint Petersburg.

Quiet and quaint place. Staff speak English.

Amazing! Delicious food!!!

Nice Russian restaurant , traditional food ,

We went to the cafe last night because I had very fond memories from my previous visit quite a few years ago... Well, I agree with previous reviews that the greeting was not very welcoming. The piano performance was great and food was OK. I was disappointed with the attitude of the waiters: they were quite snobby and kept forgetting our order. It was like going back in time by about 20 years. I think they need a good manager and some training in customer service.

That was an amazing experience! Would have never thought of such a place. Great atmosphere, live music, delicious food!Прекрасная атмосфера, спасибо создателям!

The restaurant is more like a white glove table cloth fancy restaurant. It has an old 1900 century feel. The prices are reasonable, and the waiters are excellent. The food is good, but I think youre paying more for the environment.The menu has two different prices one for lunch and one for the evening after 17:00.

A bit disappointed as we were recommended by our tour guide to come for this famous restaurant.Performance: both piano and the recite was pretty good, however the dishes were below standard.Dishes: The cod was pretty dry. Duck breast was a bit smelly, maybe it wasn’t handled properly. The foie gras was way too cooked. The tiger prawn was flavored but a bit salty. However, I would highly recommend the borscht soup. The dessert was okay.Service: The service was way too slow and the waiters had a bit of attitude.

I loved everything about it. Most visit place .

Service from our waiter was very good and very attentive. Piano man was superb. A very talented piano man indeed. Was wasted on the 3 tables in attendance that night. Food was alright, and quite pricey. Duck soup was, well duck soup. The “highly recommended” lamb rack was over done, and based on the size of it, it must have died immediately on exiting the womb.

Amazing.

One can feel the history the moment you step into the restaurant... the food is great and service is warm and friendly. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves especially looking out of the window watching passerbys by the river on a beautiful white night.

This is a very fancy restaurant in the Russian style. Its an historical place where Pushkin visited before the famous duel. The food is done with the classical Russian recipes pretending youre in the Tsar period Russia.The usual meals that are served in all Russian cafes over the city are enriched with aristocratic additions.The atmosphere is very nice, live music. The service is superb.

Tasty food. According to the legend, famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin was a resident of this place. A bit pricey. Great very central location.

This is history. This is a place where Pushkin drank his last coffee before the fatal duel. And Dostoevsky used to frequent here. Now turned into a fine dining restaurant, a bit steeply priced; but you wouldnt mind paying extra for visiting a chunk of history. I had Borscht which was decent. And they brought the check inside a book!

Tasty food and excellent service. Really nice place in central St. Petersburg!

What a lovely surprise. Authentic Russian food served by white gloved waiters in a beautiful setting. And reasonably priced. The soups, in particular, were outstanding.

Good food and good service. Maybe a bit expensive, but the history and old charme of the place justify this

We loved this. I loved this. I loved this.Delicious food, astonishing interior, lovely staff and professional musicians.

I am currently in St.Petersburg for holiday, and I like to enjoy a good tradition cuisine and have a relaxing tea time. I searched google for this and to me and to my surprise it was an awful experience. The business has been running since 1816. I went when the weather was wet, rain, snow. We wanted to go there even though we weren’t greeted in the most welcoming way. The manger came up to us and said cash only in a harsh tone clearly thinking that we did not have the money to afford the restaurant . When we arrived upstairs we were directed to a table that could only fit around 3 people however there were 5 of us. Bare in mind we are chinese. We kindly asked if we were allowed to change tables but no we were snapped at multiple times with a sharp “no” and obviously rude manager. However she allowed 2 people who were caucasian on a table for 5 people. I honestly would give minus stars if I could. Truly disappointed.I like St.Petersburg, but this Literary Cafe!!!!!!!

Despite the traditional decor and upper class ambience, food is just above average. We went for a Saturday evening dinner and we were one of the only two tables. Service was good.

Nice place, a large selection of wines

You guys have to change the guy at the reception area. Very disappointed. I didnt even get a chance to sit at this place because he looked at me as I cant afford it, and pointed out that I have to see the menu first so to know the prices. If you dont want to lose clients youd better teach your staff hospitality

Great atmosphere, (upstairs, evening) live music and good food. Very reasonable to compared to London! £3.50 ish for 200ml of Russian champagne.

Decore great history magic venison terrific as is the service

Very nice bar in the centre, popular for the Great Russian writer visit. Good meal and gentle staff.here you can see the statue and the puppet of Puskin to get a picture with. Definetly to visit

Be aware - this place is a tourist trap. The waiter will ask for 20% service charge no matter how much you like to tip. So you forced me pay 400 rubles as tips and this is the result - You asked for it.

The food and atmosphere were exceptional! But I hope that The Literary Cafe is paying their waiters properly so that they don’t have to ask for their tips! Which I have never experienced elsewhere in Saint-Petersburg! The waiter pointed out to me that the service fee is not included in the bill, and I did tip! But as the waiter found out that my tip was not what he expected! He was extremely rude to me (he closed the bill box very loudly and gave me a very annoying look), which spoiled the whole experience!!! Please, so train your waiters properly or pay them probably! For the food I had I would definitely like to go back, but considering the waiters dying for the tips and might turn to be extremely rude if your tip is not what he expected, I’m frightened!!!!

Astonishing food and service

A bit overrated restaurant. The food wasn’t that good, the service also.

Really enjoyed 2 evening visits, very varied menu, great staff

Very touristic place to go with foreigners, for foreigners and for Russians who miss real Russian cuisine. Borsh, beef-stroganoff and Pavlova for dessert were a good choice!

Loved the food, good value for money. Charming, though self-conscious atmosphere. The only negative - no Wifi..

Very interesting and historic place. For fans of Russian literature. Very 19th century atmosphere. They sometimes play the piano live on weekends, or read poetry. The food is all very whatever there was in the 19th century. Very unique.

Great food and fantastic atmosphere bringing you in the ancient Russia, live opera and piano!

Fancy but affordable, we had some very nice food here!

Very classy cafe, good service

Good food, good service, very good live music ect..

Still one of my favorite places to eat for a fine dining experience.

Despite being a potential tourist trap, we had a great dinner with a bit over the top service. We loved it.

The staffs are very unfriendly and impolite, both the girl at reception and the male waiter. It’s not full house at that time and the male waiter refused to provide one more menu to us, we have six persons but just got one menu to share and he urged us to take order with a rude tone. Very bad experience.

Great place with good food and fantastic service....hope to come again

Nice food and service . Offers limited vegitarian options.

Terrible cafe taste （i ordred a classical latte）and attitude of serviceto be honest it is much lower than expectation .the waiter change back a bunch of coins , like serveral dozens of coins and not easy to count and carry at all when i ask to change they say no more notes at all in this cafe (said impossible to change , i have no choice blah blah blah )after a while , they eventually are willing to change those hundreds of coins into paper notes . ridiculous.never go there , i suggest.

Definitely recommend. we came in at 8pm during a music night, there was an amazing pianist and a very talented singer performing, they were singing mostly old soviet songs which the Russian patrons seemed to recognize and sing along. they were engaging the diners and took requests. when the pianist found out we were from israel he started playing jewish folk songs.the food was fancy, traditional Russian cuisine. altho it was fancy it wasnt too expensive. we had a dinner for three including dessert and drinks and the bill only racked up to around 5000rub. overall an extremely memorable and pleasant experience and i do recommend having dinner here.

Very nice setting...beautiful interior...friendly staf...delicious food...and the atmosphere is everything St Petersburg stands for. What can I say...5 stars!

Very bad service. Waiter gave racist comments, joking about Asian only know to share food.Only 1 menu available for a table of 8. No tablewear are set when arrived.Will never come back.

Good food, not very expensive, really recommend Russian traditional soups!

Russian food in an elegant atmosphere with a piano and soprano as entertainment. Not cheap by St Petersburg standards, but I really recommend going here if you are visiting the city.

Food was ok. Decoration was terrible.

Fantastic My favourite place to eat in St Petersburg for food and atmosphere

Historical sight, classic service, nice food, smooth music~!

Beautiful cafe, nice style but food is quite disappointing. Beef stroganoff is very small portion, forêt noire cake looks great but quite tasteless (need to put better quality chocolate in it). Waitresses are friendly but the guy at the entrance (cloak room ) is really unpleasant and arrogant. It gives bad impression when entering cafe. Never smile.

Food was good and so was the service

Served fake wine in glasses and couldnt provide the bottle when were asked

Very rude staff. They didn’t even bother to give us menu.

Very central location just next to the river. Service are very nice and the food are tasty.

Great atmosphere, good service

Excellent service, amazing stroganoff and very nice atmosphere :) We highly recommend it!

Food & service was just soo soo. Not worth the visit

Interesting place, designed as it was in 19th century. Russian couisine. Nice for tourists, but one-time-place for people who live in Spb

Not really haute-cuisine, but the food is tasteful and well served.

Nice place and food is good 😊👍

Nice atmosphere for a Tea or meal.

Live music and nice food

Worst experience in St Petersburg. Terribly bad service!

Style to the max. decor is nice, food not that good.

The food is ok. Very interesting decor.

The staff was very rude. He slammed the bill on the table, laughed at us and threw changes at us. I found the cafe highly luxury, but the staff wasnt. Ruined the fame of Pushkin.

Worse service ever, clearly racist, they let Russian speaking people sit where ever they want but not let us go and forced us being 5 people on a 3 people table

Romantic atmosphere and not expensive.

Like a piece of old St Petersburg

Nicely decorated, food is mediocre. Portions are small.

Very good coffe!

Nothing special, but location is in the very heart of Saint-Petersburg, on Nevsky prospect ...

Nice place, good foods

Nice but relatively expensive

Terrible restaurant never visit again!

Not Tasty, Very Slow Service, Disappointing.