Katia's: A Russian Tea Room

01/16/08

great food! Very cute & romantic!

by adorkable25 at Citysearch

I love this place. I don't normally write review, but this place is so great I had to say something.

• Pros: live music on some Saturday nights, great food, owner is VERY sweet!
• Cons: parking is difficult to find

Quaint Richmond eatery serves up authentic Russian favorites.

by Contributor at Citysearch

In Short
Tablecloths and dim lighting do not equal fine dining, but judging from the satisfied Russian expats who pack this spare dining room, the delectable food makes up for any lack of glamour. The menu of zazuski, or little bites, and entrees ranging from $13 to $19, is inspired by the meals of Katia Troosh's childhood. Don't miss her homemade pickles and pel'meni, plump beef dumplings in chicken broth with a dollop of sour cream.

01/23/06

Authentic Russian Cuisine

by stance at Citysearch

I loved this little jewel of a restaurant. The food was excellent and so was the service. The owner of the place, Katia, sat down and chatted with our group of 4 girls and told us what to order to experience Russian cuisine. We had the blinis, borscht soup, lamb (this is the best dish), potato dumplings with caramelized onions and an assortment of desserts that were to die for. There is an accordion (looks like one anyway) player who plays any song you ask him to (from Britney Spears to Abba) so the evening was a blast.

• Pros: food, service, ambience
• Cons: parking

01/13/06

GREAT RESTAURANT

by tracie74 at Citysearch

The food was great, but the portions were somewhat small so I recommend ordering appetizers, the borscht was excellent, and beer to help fill you up. There were only 2 people working in the entire restaurant, 1 waiter and the chef, but suprisingly the wait wasn't terribly long. The waiter was friendly and provided excellent service. I would defintely recommend this restaurant. We went on a weekday and it didn't seem too busy, but for a weekend evening I would suggest a reservation.

• Pros: food, service, ambience
• Cons: small portions, small staff

01/17/05

Authentic Russian!

by epicurious_sf at Citysearch

The negative reviews here just don't make sense, particularly the one below. The food is tasty, unusual (if you are new to Russian), and authentic. This isn't the sort of heavy eastern European food you might expect. The blini (like crepes) with lox, herring, and roe make a wonderful appetizer or entree. Excellent piroshki (small pastry dough filled with meat or vegetables). The borscht is flavorful, and is a nice-sized bowl (not a cup as someone mentioned). The Pel'meni (tasty meat-filled dumplings) are served in a chicken broth that by itself would be excellent it was the favorite of the table. The lamb shashlik was also outstanding - very flavorful and perfectly cooked. Combined with Katia's welcoming presence, this place is worth a visit for an introduction to authentic Russian cooking.

• Pros: Authentic cuisine, unbelievable pel'meni

11/14/04

Worst restaurant I've ever been to

by kittennyc at Citysearch

Unfortunately, Katia's was nothing but a disappointment. This past weekend my friends and I arrived at 8pm and even though the place was only about half full, it took forever for the waitress to take our order and bring out our food. We only started to eat at about 9:15pm...over an hour after our arrival. When the food was brought to the table, it was no where near authentic russian cuisine (the shishlik, which is russian style shish kabob, was paper flat and fried in a regular pan!) Also, the food smelled and tasted like feet! With a $90 bill, I haven't felt this ripped of in a long time.

10/02/04

A Jewel

by mdivani at Citysearch

On a recent trip to San Francisco, I was in search of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral and was given wrong directions. Luckily, I ended up in the neighborhood of Katia's, which I had heard of on the internet. Although it was neither lunch or dinner time (3:00), Katia took us into her restaurant and prepared a wonderful meal for us (we were the only ones in the restaurant at that odd time of day). The Borscht was just like my grandmothers as was the piroshki and Blini. The owner was hopitable and witty and took the time to chat with us and make us welcome. I can't wait until my next visit to SF in order to visit Katia's again.

06/09/03

Great service!

by goldenbear87 at Citysearch

I first heard about Katia's from my Russian co-workers ("just like mom's cooking!") so I made reservations there for my dining group. And we weren't disappointed. Talk about great service - even though we had 10 more people then expected, Katia was able to fit all 27 of us in (AND give us all separate checks, which is unheard of for a large group.) And so much for the stereotype that Russian food is bland - even my potatoes were rich and tasty. This place is a winner.

04/23/03

THE WORST DING EVER!

by nnayebi at Citysearch

We got ther at 7:30, no lights (I could barely read the menu,) no music, and 1 server to 11 full tables. The place was freezing. 30 minutes after ordering, we got our broshch. It was the most flavorless broth I have ever had! (tiny bowl $5.50) We finally gor our dinner at 9! It was dissapointing. The blini were burned. Can you imagine 4 little crepes with a little sour cream and salmon roe for $18! Ridiculous ugly place... worse Russian tea I ever had too, it was completey tea-less. $60 down the drain... we got out by 9:45, went home to snack because the portions were so tiny and the food bad!

• Pros: funny place
• Cons: no parking, expensive, bad food

01/16/03

A Dining Delight!

by reedsf at Citysearch

We just enjoyed a most wonderful dinner at Katia's for a friend's birthday. The food was deliciously prepared, even with vegetarian selections and the ambiance was perfect with a ticklingly rare range of not-so-typical accordian music (Abba?) The owner is witty, the service friendly, and the napoleon heavenly! I'd definitely recommend it!

• Pros: accordian delights, friendly staff, delectable desserts