STREET FOOD AND SNACKS

Street food is a Russian institution. Ice cream, cakes and sweets, hot dogs, hamburgers, small pizzas and pastries are all readily available from street vendors. Eat anything with meat in it at your own risk; the burgers, hot dogs, and meat-filled pastries are suspiciously cheap compared to the price of real meat which raises disturbing questions about their origins. Around many metro stations shawarma stands (labeled in Russian) have popped up, serving meat or chicken pita-bread sandwiches. There are also countless little cafe-like places for a quick snack and/or drink. These places tend to be named according to what they serve and as a general rule they are for people seeking to overcome hunger pains without worrying much about taste, or for those looking to get tanked.