Friendly workers, loads of post soviet country foods, I go at least once a month despite it being a decent distance because it's worth it

Please, check your receipt! They charged for items from clearence shelf as regular priced, they were expired too! The phone number is not available! I couldn't go back for $6.00 they charged me extra! Be careful! Check your receipts if they're matching! read more

Russian Gourmet - 2 caramel condensed milk from clearance shelf - Russian Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

Small Russian speciality shop that I've been coming to for years to purchase specialty items. Service has always been courteous. Pumpernickel loaves are incredible. They are a little pricey but for the items I've purchased, well worth it. read more

It has nice selection of Russian and Baltic products. I like the bread while limited is quite good. Some good cheeses and teas.

I recently (Mar 27) shopped for my first time at the Russian Gourmet and was pleasantly surprised and a bit overwhelmed by the variety of interesting products. Luckily I was helped by the friendly store attendant Larisa who quickly came to my help. She helped me pick out a selection of items. My favorite included the delicious Oreshki pastry and Kopobka ice cream that Larisa recommended. Thanks Larisa ! read more

Good morning, Do not buy Salamy, bacon from this store. The sell after expiration date. All they do they clean the products with vinegar not to smell; they put the product in a vacuum foil and change the expiration date. Be very careful, you can get sick. read more

Typical Russian customer service. No smile, no "Hello", no "Can I help you find anything ". I came around Noon and all 3 ladies were eating lunch at the same time, talking and ignoring the customers. When I wanted to pay the look I got was "why are you interrupting our lunch?". They do have a decent stock of European food. Expensive. I will not be returning. read more

This is literally the best store! The people who work here are so nice! I get to practice my Russian every time I visit and buy very tasty Russian food! read more

please check your receipt before leaving. I was surprised to learn that I paid $8 for the one 0.60 sent small frozen Karums cheese pastry. :x read more

10/20/22 On 10/15/22 I decided to check out this store while while waiting for my orders of popcorn chicken at Vivi Bubbles Tea. The staff was in the back of the store having some sort of discussion about men in Russian. Okay, maybe not men, but something. This gave me a chance to look around at the amount of meats they had. This store had a number of chocolate candies from Russia too. Some of the names I have never heard of. Others were knockoff versions of popular American sodas and snacks. I was tempted to buy some candies, but the though of the delicious garlic popcorn chicken played in my mind and I didn't give into the temptation. I do know the next time I come here, I will end up buying something. The store looked well organized and the employees I saw asked me if I needed assistance politely. Since I was just looking, they left me alone. I will definitely be back. read more

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This was a first for me. I tried to enter the store at 10:30 am (30 min after the opening) I was told not to enter because the clerk was washing the floor. Not cleaning up a spill but just doing the whole floor. I argued that all I needed was a few items. The clerk was pissed and asked me to wait 10 minutes outside :)). I thought about leaving but then changed my mind, grabbed what I needed and made the clerk take my money :) what a joke - I am going to Troyka in Vienna for my Russian fix from this point on. read more

Lovely selection of Russian convenience store products. Got some bread soda and loved it. read more

Russian Gourmet - Picture of product (I was in parking lot) - Russian Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

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Very pleasant and many selections. All the food I bought is yummy. The peach gingerbread cookies went well with my tea I bought. I recommend getting the Russian Cheese " " from their deli and Zefir " " from the sweets selections. Customer service was exceptional! read more

Russian Gourmet - Sooshki, Pryaniki, and Zefir. . - Russian Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

This place tried to steal my credit card information. I used my credit card to get a chocolate. A few hours later they took a cent out. They were my only purchase that day.. I said two words to them in Russian and they looked offended before I checked out. read more

I traipsed over to Beautiful Fairfax to visit this store. The first and only item on my agenda was to find some "Russian" products. The store is of medium build, in that there is a decent selection of a variety of items, ranging from poppy seeds to kholodets to Russian pharmaceutical products, esteemed around the world for their efficacy. However, as you read on, you will gain a better sense of my grievances with respect to Russian Gourmet, as well as its positive attributes. First and foremost, the strip mall in which Russian Gourmet is nestled is truly the most UNSIGHTLY building I have ever laid my two eyes upon. Imagine being the architect who designed this strip mall or the constructors who built this strip mall! Imagine the shame they must feel! The construction resembles an overripe, greying chicken that was boiled in unsalted water for several hours. Other than the intriguing Uighur restaurant, there is absolutely no aspect of this building that beckons you in. The interior of Russian Gourmet is slightly better, but lest we forget that the bar is truly ROCK BOTTOM. There is a wide selection of products. I will not list them all, but some examples are: spice, jarred vegetable, Russian-language magazine, buckwheat groat, chocolate, fresh little-salt pickle, tvorog, frozen pelmeni shipped from Brighton Beach, bread, and various prepared products ranging from syrniki to an enticingly jiggly kholodets. Yum. Now, you may ask: why only three stars? Well, allow me to tell you. While the selection of goodies here is decent, the price is far more abrasive on the constitution. A small bag of pelmeni, mailed from the distant Brighton Beach, rings up at a whopping $7.99. A single wee syrnik will cost you about $2. A smoked mackerel will drain your checking account, and perhaps some of your savings as well. Prices aside, I very much enjoyed the ambience of the store. It vaguely resembled that of a small Magnit in the regions of Russia, albeit slightly worse. The cashier generously insisted on bagging my purchase, as if it were not completely obvious that she only wanted to ensure that I wasn't stealing anything in the folded-up reusable Trader Joe's bag that I had brought and had nestled in the bowels of my armpit for the duration of my visit. If you very much need to acquire a certain Russian product in the DC metro area, your options are quite limited, and you may end up resorting to Russian Gourmet. You will likely be able to find what you are looking for, even if at great cost. You may also wish to trek over simply to lay eyes on the abomination that is this strip mall. There is, if you stare at it for long enough, something grotesquely beautiful in its hideousness. read more

I can't say I know many Russians in this area, so I was surprised and glad that's there's a store that imports yummy Russian stuff. Knowing little to nothing about the Russian snack scene, the nice lady directed me to the "Alenka" candy and the Laima(Est 1870) candy with the squirrel on it. The Alenka candy is creepy AF, but is it crazy good! By nice, I mean, the lady wasn't mean or anything. She was quite helpful. I don't expect "Japanese retail service" when I really don't understand another culture. Sure, the stuff is pricey, but it's still better compared to what I'm finding online. Somehow the 5 candies I got weighed in at $1.50. Not bad for chocolate. I'll definitely be back, I found that the creepy baby candy has two wrappers. The inner wrapper doesn't have any images on it. Possibly I will just take off the outside wrapper after I buy it.... read more

Russian Gourmet - Russian Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

It feels like you're in Eastern Europe. You walk in, and until you press for it, there's no customer service to speak of. It's actually quite hilarious. I do like this and the store though. It is well maintained, clean, and where you can find some goodies. One surprise is how good Russian chocolate is. They have a bunch, and the best are the ones with vodka in them. These are delicious, but even the ones without booze, are very tasty treats. The sausage they have, that's ready to eat is another good one. They have a bunch of teas, and while not a fan of this beverage, many are so if you do, this could be an ideal location. read more

Terrible customer service. Food is overpriced. The store is clean though and selection is pretty good.

the rye bread and sweet cherries in the little blue ceramic bottles are delicious . I also enjoyed the frozen food section. They also have little Knick knacks. read more

Very nice store! I have been using this store more than i can remember. And i love how they sale so many of Armenian products.

Big selection of product from Europe, my favorite is Russian candy. The last time I was a the store and bought variety of chocolate candies and I found that in some of them were bugs inside. So be careful. Always check expiration date. read more

Used to be my go to place. Not anymore. Shelves half empty, most of my favories are gone sucha as russian champagne, some salad, variety of hams, red ikra in bulks, etc. For any question that I had the answer was: I don't know. For any: how can I find out, all I got was: I don't know. Ham that I end up buying was poorly wrapped and ended falling apart in a shopping bag. Overpriced everything! Compare to what it use to be not so long ago. Never again in this location. Russian Gourmet in McLean and Rockville still great as always. read more

A good selection of products and very helpful staff. Excellent herring from a barrel.

I speak Russian so I can't really talk to the employees' English skills, but overall their customer service is alright. Not too bad, but nothing to write home about either. Out of the Russian Gourmet stores in the area, I prefer this location the most. It has a good variety of items that "teleport" me back home for just a second :) Despite the variety, some of the items are old (not expired, but hard cookies for example) and somewhat at a steeper price. I personally have never found expired items there, but to those complaining about it: always check the expiration date anywhere because I've found expired items at Giant, Safeway and HMart before as well. I don't mind the higher price only because I know what I'm getting here I can't get at any American grocery store, so I'm willing to pay it. If you're thinking about checking out the store, I would suggest doing so with an Eastern European friend maybe just so they could give you a better idea as to what's what :) read more

As Russian as it gets.... "you aint Russian, so why you rushin'" ST. Louis rapper's lyrics it was a cold, boring afternoon and I was waiting for my roomate to buy some threads from the local thrift store. I had my camera in hand and time to kill.... considering, I recently attended a Russian fashion show in DC last week, I was astonished and delighted to stick with the all Russian theme... I walked in and discovered a delightful Russian gourmet.... the staff was friendly and their help was appreciated as everything was in Russian! go figure the only thing they didnt have was Vodka? I bought some dark Russian and Latvian beer...it was rich, and strong fruity notes.... I bought some croissants with fruit filling, some chocolate cookies and dark chocolate. the best part was savouring the fresh Piroshki, pirovski ( baked filled croissants, with cheese, or beef and potatoe) I also tried some Russian Salami and it is rich and flavorful than the regular store bought kind. overall, I will go back and try some cheese, maybe caviar and more local russian products... small store but packed with variety read more

The best and perhaps the only place on Main St. of city Fairfax where you can buy Russian food. I went there to buy a cake. They have fine and delicious selection of cakes and chocolates exquisitely decorated. I was pleased to see a well-organized place. Moreover, polite staff makes it the number one choice for flavored bakes with a Russian touch read more

Russian Gourmet - a car parked in front of a store - Russian Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

Compared to other Russian based convenience stores I have visited, this one is not fantastic, but at the same time not terrible. First off, if you are a native English speaker and if you do not have any Russian in your repertoire, then it may be hard for you to navigate through some of the selections. Despite this, it is not impossible to find something that suits your interests. Russian Gourmet sells a variety of chocolates and other snack foods that are pretty clearly labeled (with pictures as well, for non-Russian speakers). From my experience the staff speaks predominantly Russian, and while this is no issue for me I can see why it would be for other customers. From my experiences, everyone who works at Russian Gourmet has been very nice and in a sense motherly. The selection is not vast, but not terrible. Russian Gourmet does offer many of the staple foods I enjoy eating in Moscow. However, like other reviewers have mentioned, I have run into issues with food, especially the store cooked food, being out of date. While this irks me from time to time, I think it is more common to find sub-par foods at even the best of shops back in Russia. People are less attentive to certain things there, but I do not think they realize that the U.S. food standards are often much higher and more rigid. In any case, I have run into issues purchasing stale gelatin candies many times. For instance, candies that were labeled to have been sold a month previously. All in all this is a good, quaint, family like, shop to visit and definitely brings some of Russia to Fairfax. Just be very careful when it comes to checking expiration dates. read more

Reminds me of the food I had when I was little. They have an assortment of delicious russian treats and food for the family - LOVE it!

Double check what you bought in your bag before you leave the store. When you get home you might be missing some items. They might forget to put it in just like it happened to me. Definitely not gonna shop at this particular location again. Receipt doesn't specify what you are buying either, just a word "Grocery". Good luck on finding out what that was when you get home. read more

I've been here before, but had more time to peruse the store by myself and look more closely at products today. I decided to stop and get some candies before I head back home, so I came by. I like that they have the candy bar shelf, that you can put an assortment of candies into a plastic bag with. Though I think the price of $12 /lb is pretty steep. *trying to understand that it's all imported..but still. I wanted to try some dry Russian snacks, like Russian versions of potato chips, crackers, etc. but I didn't see too much of that. They had several cookies/biscuits and sweet goods, but I hope they can have more variety in their snack sections. They do have a good assortment of caviar, alcohol, pickles, and other things, but I think I'll have to com back when I'm more courageous to try them. Their baked goods and deli section looked nice (didn't look too hard at the expiration dates), but may come back with a friend who is a better Russian speaker than me. Nice to have a Russian store in the middle of Fairfax close to Mason. read more

a good store, all products are fresh, the employees are very pleasant, sociable, the prices are also affordable, a good assortment, I recommend this store to everyone read more

We went to the shop and got a box of giner taste biscuit with sugar coating. It did not taste right. we did not think too much about it. After we got home and had a look at the label. It was made on Jan 21 and sale by Jan 22. Today is Feb 20 2011. This is a deal breaker. I hope someone taking action of what they are doing!!!!!!! read more

I like the customer service at this store and the variety of products that people can try regardless of their familiarity to Eastern European foods. The cashier is very friendly, and there are samples to some foods. I don't know what I would do without this store, especially if when I had to do last minute shopping. They also work most of the holidays, which saved me many times. Overall, visit this store, totally worth it! read more

I'm so glad they opened yet another Russian Gourmet, this time just 15 min away from my home. This is the place to get REAL, dark or light rye bread (not the tasteless sweet white stuff Americans devour). They get fresh bread every Tuesday, so be sure to come by on Tuesday evening or a bit later in the week- on Saturday or Sunday most of the bread is already hard (it doesn't affect the taste much, but the freshness is gone. It's not the soft square stuff from Giant, which can sit on top of your fridge for months, you know :)). My favorite pickled herring is "Zigmas"- Lithuanian product, not too salty, not too vinegary. Just perfect. Smoked bacon and sausages are to die for. "Evreiskaja"- "Jewish" hard salami is delicious. Frozen cottage cheese desserts, glazed with chocolate (right besides ice cream) are wonderful- just thaw them and enjoy. Frozen dumplings ("pelmeni", to be correct) are great too. Try to cook them in a broth and serve with a touch of sour cream and fresh parsley. Heavenly and satisfying, especially in cold weather. Make sure to try Russian Baltika beers- most of the range (especially lager) is quite good (now you can get Lithuanian beers in Total Wine- they're awesome ). Just don't be tempted by the strong (9.5 vol) ones :) The salespersons will probably greet you in Russian, but don't be put off, if you don't understand a word- they speak English too and will be willing to explain everything you don't understand. My Russian is not perfect, yet I shop there almost weekly. I go there mostly for the bread. Most of the products have English descriptions, so language shouldn't be a problem anyway. Majority of the products can be weird at first if you are not familiar with Russian/ Jewish/ European flavors (like all sorts of pickled vegetables, birch water, herring... ) but many of them are delicious once you get used to. They have products from Russia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, etc... Quite a selection for a small shop. read more

Good selection of Russian classics like red and black caviar, Russian salads, sushki, and Russian drinks. Great frozen selection too, with veal, pork and beef pelmeni, tvorog and vareniki. I've always found the service to be very friendly read more

Great cake and amazing service here. It's nice to have this cuisine in my area because russian cake is amazing. Its also by my house and reasonably priced. I love the candy options here too. You cant go wrong here read more

Nice staff, really? I went there today for the first time, I was really excited. Until a nasty Russian cashier said, "Are you going to buy this reusable bag? If not, put it bag and dont take it again. You have to watch yourself!" I was speechless! I was expecting something like "Welcome, how can I help you, thanks for coming...etc." Not going there again, she spoiled the entire experience. (It was Herndon store) read more

Let me just start by saying that my husband is from Russia and I am from the US. What brought us to this branch of Russian Gourmet was that we were looking for some herring for him to make a "Herring Under Fur Coat" salad. When we first drove up to the store, we thought it looked really tiny from the outside. My mind was changed the instant we stepped foot in it. It is fairly small, but the selection is wonderful! To the immediate left are beers. Wine is sort of scattered along the front of the other rows, accompanied by chocolates and confectionery. You will not find liquor here, being in VA (sad). Metal shelves run down the left, all brimming with jars and cans of fish, veggies, jams, and all sorts of stuff I didn't even recognize, such as "meat gelatin product." On the right is their "deli" type area where they keep their meats and cheeses, as well as some desserts at the end, such as Napoleon cake. In the back they have both a fridge area in which you can find fish, kefir, mayo, and more, and a freezer in which I instantly saw some pelmeni. Right at the cash register you can buy medicines. They have a community board where sales and services are pinned, which I think is a wonderful resource. My husband looked like he had gone to heaven as we walked through the store. It's been a good year since he had food from the home country. He assured me that they have plenty enough variety for him to get his "Russian food fix" when he needs to. Personally, I did not see anything expired. My husband did tell me that in Russia it's common for people to take items from the back of the shelf so sometimes items in the front can be expired. I would just keep your eye open and make sure to check before you buy something. The staff who were there were all friendly enough, which is good since not much of the food does have English on it. However, I'm sure they'd be willing to help if you need it. We chatted with them a little trying to decide which herring to pick, and didn't get grumpy when we asked one of them to ring us out. In the end we bought not only his herring, but a kefir, 2 beers, a soft foamy dessert thing, and a can of cod liver that was a childhood favorite of my husband's. We have plans of returning and getting some fresh meat and cheese next time. Overall, we will definitely be back! The selection at this store is wonderful if you're looking for some authentic Russian food, so be sure to check the place out if that's what you're after! read more

I shop here regularly. It's an ethnic store, do not expect much of a customer service, especially if you do not speak Russian, but every ethnic store has this problem, in my experience, the koreans and the indians are worse in that regard. A Western way of small talk and butt kissing is just not that common in the rest of the world. Get the siberian raviolli and other frozen goodies that are near that item, get the diary products (razenka), watch for the expiration dates. I'd stay away from cakes, they tend to be not on a fresh side. The sweets/candies are good, but are pricey, get them just to try a few. Alcohol is good, as well as the veggies can food and the grains (grechka, manka). Again, check/ask for the expiration dates. Caviar is ok but can be pricey. I usually do not get hams/salamies, they are not that much better than in your grocery store, but pricier. Overall, it's a good store to stock up on eastern european food occasionally, may be once a month. They also have russian books and magazines. read more

I have some Russian speaking friends so is familiar with all rye bread, salo, salami, sausages, etc. Overall it is not bad store, but I just can't take it when some canned and some other food don't have the expiration date. When you ask them if it is still good, they tell you we just received it. Well, receiving food today does not mean it was made today, does it? read more