Russians Like Fast Food, Their Way

Hold the burger and fries. Pass the pirozhky and kvas.

Amid the Marlboro ads and McDonald’s outlets downtown, city authorities are taking aim at Western commercial culture with their very own, very Russian fast-food restaurant.

The Russkoye Bistro is serving up Romanov pea soup, mushroom- or cabbage-stuffed “pirozhky,” or pies, and kvas, a traditional drink made from fermented bread, near the glittering shops full of imported trinkets on Tverskaya Street. All sell for under a dollar.

“Competition with McDonald’s?” scoffed restaurant manager Alexei Bryilovsky on Wednesday, a day after the Russkoye Bistro opened. “We don’t sell burgers or Cokes, our products are natural, so I don’t think we’re in competition.”

The menu has a distinctly Russian flavor.

“Mushrooms, sour cream, potatoes - this is our food,” said 23-year-old student Svetlana Podkovitova proudly. “I only go to McDonald’s as a last resort.”