Restaurant Scams in Moscow

Tourist Restaurant Menu Overcharge

Some restaurants near Red Square, along Tverskaya Ulitsa, and in the Kitay-Gorod district maintain dual menus -- a standard menu in Russian and a tourist menu in English with prices 2-4 times higher for identical dishes. In a variation, the menu presented to foreign-looking diners has no prices at all, and the bill is invented. Overly attentive staff who flag you down from the street with claims of authentic Russian food are almost always earning a commission from the restaurant.