I have been to Crystal number of times before Covid . It was a fun place ( live music) and pretty decent Russian food. Not enough of parking fora such a busy place though. read more

Arbat is fantastic. It's very authentic Russian- from the food, to the decor (which borders a bit on tacky but that's the style!), to the music, everything is pure Russian goodness. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was in Russia being here- it reminds me of a lot of the standard banquet halls in Russia. I went recently for a friend's birthday party and I'm considering having my next birthday celebration here. The food is served banquet style and it is delicious- especially the shashlik and the potatoes mmm. The servers are super attentive, always stopping by to clear any empty plates or fill any empty pitchers with water or soda. Plus, from what I know, they allowed my friend (the birthday girl) to bring in her own alcohol There is a dance floor and music which is really karaoke style- there were three people (two girls and a guy) singing along to random hits (both Russian and international) -- I personally thought the music was fantastic, they played a lot of my favorites. Everyone has fun- young and old- dancing! There were little girls around age 2 dancing and old dedushka guys (grandpas) dancing too. If you're in the Russian community at all you're bound to run into someone you know here ;) which can always make it even more fun. Another friend of mine is having her birthday here in a few weeks and I am looking forward to returning! read more

Booked a table for my mom's 75th birthday in advance. Explicitly asked to put us far away from their music. Being seated right on front of it! On top of it the table was broken. Finally after 2 more re-seating ended up in the corner right under the vent. Everybody were freezing and have to put on their jackets. Food... nothing special... Jumbo shrimps were 2 inches long. Guessing that's the bostonian jumbo scale, there were 2 of them. Great! Drinks.... Their bartender have no clue about them. Margarita was again bostonian style and had nothing to do with the real margarita. Service.... Similar to the USSR restaurant, you need to chaise a waitress to get something. Music... Loud and unprofessional. I'm guessing this is the only one Russian restaurant in Boston. That's why it's still in business. read more

Although this place is not my particular style, it was a nice venue for my friend's wedding. She has a very regal but understated taste and the ballroom was decorated as just that for her big day. The food was plentiful, but again, not my cup of tea. The appetizer buffett was probably my favorite. We found that the large pillars throughout the room obstructed our views from the wedding party during speeches and dance floor entertainment. read more

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This is a very beautiful establishment! However after my third time attending events here I will not be returning. The staff was very rude and unprofessional. The bartenders in particular. There is a minimum amount of customer service that I expect when I spend my money and they did not meet them. Do not recommend. read more

looking for some russian fun? well look no further than arbat restaurant on linden st. they serve banquet style meals here and there are options for $65, $75, and $85 menus. ahhh, arbat. where the smirnoff flows like the volga, the food is assorted and intriguing, and the merriment is everlasting. where the party only ends when the little 90 yo man falls off his chair after drinking and dancing all night (1 am) or someone suggests that it's time for you to go home. (for natalia: nazdorov'e!) (if you go, i strongly recommend you follow these rules: http://konstantin2005.blogspot.com/2005/09/how-to-drink-vodka-and-stay-sober.html or you may be in for a painful day after) read more

the band is loud, the food is good and the place is packed with all the Russians you know it's get too crowded on Saturdays, so it becomes impossible to pass by the table; i'm pretty sure they are violating some sort of fire code by packing so many ppl in that place Mags L., it's actually "nazdorov'e!", which means "to health!" read more

First off, this place was impossible to find unless you called the restaurant to ask for EXACT location. It' s hidden in a brown brick building that houses a daycare and dance center. The decor is really tacky. We went on a Friday night and it was dead quiet. We were basically the only table there. I'm sure this space is maybe pleasant for banquets are weddings. Not recommended at all for a Friday night group dinner. From appetizers to wine, 80% of what we ordered was not available (even though they told us it was). Our first waiter was really attentive and nice - but then I guess he got off his shift and another waiter came on, and he was so lost. He would pour wine only for one person and left the bottle there for them to pour it themselves. We ONLY ordered 3 plates to be shared, and he couldn't even get that order right. We ordered a kebab dish, seafood platter, and cold platter....he didn't put the seafood platter in and insist we ordered from another waiter...Seriously?! The kebab took over an hours to be served - must be made with lots of love...waited over 2 hrs for the seafood platter and it never came...so we cancelled and asked for bill. The waiter then have to explain to the owner why we had to cancel (who knows what his version of the story was). The bill even took like 20 minutes to come..... The whole place in general was very Russian feel, and if you're not Russian...you feel kinda of out of place. You didn't really feel welcomed if you're not Russian. Overall, this was one of the worst restaurant experiences we've ever been to. Would never go back.. If I could give half a star i would. The only part that was worth even giving a star was the live singer. She was very good. NOT RECOMMENDED~ read more

I just had my parents' 60th Birthday party, on February 8. Got shocked, disappointed right away. We were standing at the entrance waiting for my parents to arrive and suddenly what do I notice: my cake that I gave to the personal 10 minutes early is carried covered with the plastic bag from the storage to the kitchen. When asked about what happened, I was told that a box felt on it. Needless to say I got stressed at this point. However, I was promised that kitchen personal will fix it. During the evening, I asked about the cake multiple times and was told that they still fixing it. Yet without a notice and showing it to me it was presented to my parents. The cake looked like it was just pulled out of the garbage bag. NICE JOB. YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF YOUR CUTOMER SERVICE!!! When I inquire why they did it, I was told a million excuses that my cake was bad quality and they did whatever they could do it. First, I bought at least two dozen cakes from this Whole Food bakery over the years. Second, I had another birthday party a day before at the Vernissage serving identical cake and was superior quality. Third, they did not admit their fault. They treated me like I am stupid. What did they think, I would not notice it? Well, I am attaching pictures so you could see and judge. AGAIN, NICE JOB. YOU HAD A GREAT CARRIER PATH IN FRONT OF YOU: McDonald's Just a note for cooks: great food, thanks read more

Crystal - How cake looked when I gave it to them - Russian Near Me - Allston, Massachusetts

We had a wonderful night at Crystal Restaurant, a totally hidden gem (and hard to find) in Allston. On Friday nights, the large beautifully decorated is often empty, and we had the place to ourselves while we enjoyed delicious food and superb singing with an empty dance floor which we occupied for many hours. Highly recommended for either large or small parties for a truly special evening. Elena, the manager, is delightful, and will help with food selection for those who are not familiar with Russian cuisine. read more

The Crystal Restaurant has management problem. Yang lady "manager" need training or go to business school. Last year I made reservation for my special birthday party. She "manger" agreed with my request just to get party in. During party she made change in my request even were agreement . The food were served by their Schedule ignoring time I asked. The music in reality like karaoke, pre recoded on computer. My birthday cake wasn't cut well. It was crashed. It's terrible. The owner should be involve otherwise people will not come back. In 2010 we had party there. At that time restaurant were leased to couple from Israel. We had very good party. Sorry she is no longer there. read more

First time in a Russian restaurant...We had a party there. There food was great. We loved everything on the menu: very flavorful and tasty. We hated the music. At first we felt like we're attending a burial, the music very sad and boring. And then surprise! people start ordering the songs they wanted paying $20/song and it turned out they have nice voices :) They don't know a certain song? no problem, they find it online for you and just let it play, while they just stay there talking and laughing, but only after they get the "deserved" $20 from you. You want another song? no problem - pay $20 again...... I would not recommend it to my friends, and I'm not going back again, I can listen to music online at the comfort of my home for free and unlimited... read more

The worst restaurant ever. Besides the location, the food and especially service was total disaster. After placing an order and waiting for 35 min.,the waiter came up to us and said that they missing some ingredients for our meal, the menu suddenly changed and nothing of what we were able to get, came in the right order. We left the place extremly disappointed. We will never visit this place again and never suggest it. read more

If you are going to have some good russian food and dance, forget about the second part. They killed Fridays by having "jazz on Fridays" nights as if we don't have real jazz clubs in Boston... not sure Saturdays or Sundays are going to be better - they are now for European music (what is this - is Russian included?) or karaoke parties. Good bye our old good russian restaurant atmosphere. Unfortunate... read more

I'm from Brooklyn NY and I've been to Great Russian Restaurants all over the world. When I moved to Boston area I found my self surrounded with HORRIBLE Russian "SO CALLED RESTAURANTS" But CRYSTAL, is the Only one in Boston area that could possibly be what Russian restaurant should be. For Boston it will do! read more

Been there to celebrate 2010 New Year. They told us it is going to be great food, gifts, dancing and entertainment program. The entry was $200 for the whole night, which was expensive, but we thought it will be worth it. What we got is a very bad vodka (people got sick from it), cheapest wine possible (probably it cost them 5-7$ per bottle), a lot of fatty food that you cannot eat (like brains) and very average food. Service was so-so also, and they even refuse to let us get the food to go! Gifts were very cheap. Unless you are really into getting drunk and like russian songs, avoid! read more

The worst service and food we ever had. The new chef decided to make a new fancy-shmancy menu, and put in there lots idiotic names and the dishes he makes are horrible and very expensive. We waited for 2 and a half hours for the food to be served. They motivate it by saying that they cook "from under the knife", which has to mean from scratch. They also promise that it takes from 10 to 30 min to have the food served. Well, it's with a time difference with Russia, I guess. A such long time to prepare a steak or a chicken kebab decorated with onion rings can be explained only if you slaughter the animals in the kitchen and harvest the onion in the adjacent parking lot. With a chef like this the restaurant will go down in a couple of months, which is great. There is nothing Russian there, except for horrible and rude service, so if you want to experience RUSSIAN HAMSTVO go for it. read more

I love it so much!!! I celebrated my 50th birthday there and it was fantastic !!! The food , The atmosphere , The stuff , Music !! Everything was just great !!! Highly recommend to everyone read more

We went there for discotheque. The place looks good after renovation. Food was good, but really pricey. But on top of that, fish was smelling! And our friends got sick from it and was recovering for a week! Definitely not worth the money, avoid. read more

One of the lousiest restaurant experiences I've ever had. My uncle and aunt had a birthday party here on a Saturday evening for 22 people. The kitchen put out enough appetizers for 12 and refused to provide more. After 3.5 hours we had only had appetizers and salad and we were all starving- they could not be bothered to bring the main course. We all left about 10 pm and after paying $75 a head for a banquet, went to McDonalds to get something to eat because we were all so hungry. The decor is nice, the dancing is nice, but if you are a restaurant, then providing food should not be beyond your capacities. Go to any of the other Russian restaurants- stay away from this one. read more

The interior of the restaurant is very tasteful and elegant, the food is good and plenty, especially if you 're going for the banquet menu. Nice music. However, what absolutely kills the experience is the lackluster service! We had to wait 15-20 min to get seated, even though we had a reservation and the restaurant had plenty of empty tables. We had alcohol included in our menu, but the waitress was confused and told us we don't have any until we insisted and she went to double-check. Alcohol is not poured here when you order by the bottle which is strange for an upscale restaurant. Finally, we informed them in advance that it was a bday party and we wanted the cake brought out with candles, like it's usually done. Well separated dessert pieces were brought out with no candles or any kind of presentation. This place has great potential but just doesn't seem to care about customer service. read more

If you want bad food, terrible service and to be ripped off this is the place to be. I went there with a friend visiting Boston. Ordered some vodka, cold-cuts and BBK. BBK was served hour after the order and I had to send it back as it was not properly done. Service non-existent. At the end the bill was for $330. I could've dined at the fanciest restaurant on the planet and pay half that. When I asked to talk to manager they said that there is no manager. I ended up talking to him later on the phone and he said that $330 for 2 is a normal price and refused to look into the bill. Just woeful. read more

we Love Crystal's Party...we do not like the meniu of 25-50$,,,it is not enough for one person...you can have a bite of everything only...and this is sucks...i dod not know if we will come again if the meniu will be the same read more