Hit or miss type of place. Â Walked into this place about a month ago after walking around downtown New Haven. Â It was a Saturday night, mostly techno and crazy college kids. Â I walked in and walked out. Â
This past Friday found myself walking around downtown New Haven after leaving C.O. Jones for dinner. Â As were were walking passed the Russian Lady two doormen said hello and handed my friend and I tickets to get in free, we kept walking...We decided to pop into Black Bear (will comment on that in a separate review). Â We left Black Bear and decided to give the Russian Lady a try.
As soon as we walked in I started dancing, fun crowd and 104.1 I guess was hosting the front section, gave out a few free shirts to men and women, good time. Â I ordered a beer, didn't try their any of their cocktails.
We went to the back were another DJ was spinning top 40s, with a sprinkle of rap/hip-hop and a dash of reggae. Â Great mixed crowd, awesome time. Â
Might be back on a Friday night.
*very casual, ladies had flip flops on with jean shorts and tank tops. didn't bother me, wasn't a club in Manhattan.
Surprised to see some of the reviews on The Russian Lady as low as they are. I'm a 29 year old male, who tends to have a better time at smaller Irish style pubs, but my group of friends and I decided to try something different last weekend and had an amazing time!
They have a ton of different micro style beers, to choose from and the bartender really helped me decide on which one to get by letting me sample a few different beers that I have never had before! I normally drink lighter Belgium style beers, but they got me hooked on a beer called Shabadoo, that was FANTASTIC!
Rather then bar hoping for the night we decided to hangout, and the place really started to get packed as the night went on. Again usually being a fan of smaller pub style bars, I was a bit hesitant, but to my surprise we had a blast! There was enough room in the place to really move around and kind of bar hop all in one building. They had a room downstairs devoted to scotch and whiskey, another on the top level that was filled with a ton of different vodkas and playing techno style music. and then a big room in the back filled with people dancing and just going nuts!!
One of the guys I was with somehow was able to make friends with a group that had bottle service in the back room. And we hung out for the rest of the night in the back at their table watching the crowd, all while enjoying my Shabadoo's! (what an awesome name for a beer, its just fun to say...)
If I had to rate this place off my experience from a one to ten I would say;
Atmosphere; 9
Staff; 10
Drinks; 9
Food; - Sorry we didn't try any food this time...
Music; 8
Overall experience; 9!
I 100% will be back again next time I have a night off!
Want to waste your money on watered down drinks and over priced drinks? Then head here. First I would like to say this is the poorest management that I have ever dealt with in my life. They never followed through with phone calls, and one manager's information about table service is different then anothers, by hundreds of dollars. I tried booking a table over there. It was the most unorganized thing I have ever dealt with it is almost as if they don't want you to be apart of their table service. WAY over priced for no reason, when the one in Hartford is cheaper, has better atmophere, more to offer (roof top bar) and friendy employees. It is $10 to get into this dump, and I am SO happy I did not book the table service because when I went in the night I was planning on have the service I paid $7 for their "TOP OF THE LINE" infused vodka that came in a cup smaller then a child's dosage of Tylenol that was filled with bad tasting water. WHAT A RIP OFF. Poor Service, poor drinks, do yourself a favor and pay the bum outside begging for money for a Lou's Lunch burger the $10 you would pay to get in to this place. When you see it just keep walking by.
Review Source:Can be fun on weekends, a good spot for college students.
The atmosphere here varies greatly depending on what day of the week and time you go. Trivia night was dead and as others said, everything started pretty late. The snacks were okay, but nothing amazing.
The drinks are decent and the bar staff is helpful and friendly. Went there Friday night and there was a $5 cover. The drink pricsd in general seemed actually low. Mixed drinks for $5 all night? Wasn't sure if that was advertised or not.
The dance floor is tucked away in back and was really jumping by about 11 p.m. Girls in skimpy outfits were holding bottles with fire/fireworks shooting off. Kind of neat.
The pool room sucks. The tables are missing balls and have duplicates of other balls. There's never chalk, the sticks are broken and the machines don't always work.
Bottom line, if you're a college student or just want somewhere to dance or grab a few quick drinks, this place is fine. Keep in mind that there may be a cover and girls there can dress extremely skimpy. So much so I don't think they'd be allowed to walk on the streets like that. The food and drinks are okay, but the pool room is, for a lack of a better word, ghetto.
My boyfriend and I decided to check this place out after we heard they were now doing Monday night trivia. The trivia facebook page informed us that trivia started at 8pm and included $2 sliders and $3 CT craft beers. Sounded perfect.
We walked through the door 5 minutes to trivia time, happy we weren't late, only to discover that trivia was actually starting at 8:30. Upon arrival, the place was pretty dead, including the music which consisted mostly of songs by Muse played at practically a whisper. We cozied up to a two-top table near the bar with plush velvet seating and waited for the server...and waited...and waited. She must have walked by our table about 10 times without so much as a look in our direction. Both of us, having worked in the service industry, are sympathetic to waitstaff especially when it's busy - however this girl had two, yes TWO tables in addition to ours and couldn't be bothered to even smile or say hello. Unacceptable. So after 15 minutes of waiting, we ordered our beers at the bar from the friendly and knowledgeable bartender, perhaps the only pro of the night. I had a CT craft wheat beer and my boyfriend had a pilsner, both delicious (okay, second pro of the night).
After sipping on our beers for another 10 minutes, our waitress finally decided to make an appearance, apologizing for the long wait and explaining it was her first night on the job. (I fear the staff they have on busier nights). We were famished at this point and decided to order a couple sliders (regular burger and philly cheesesteak), the falafel balls (off their "International Tapas Menu"), and a Mouth Water burger which had cheddar cheese, fried onion, and avocado on top with a jalapeno sauce served with fries.
I am appalled by the lack of quality in their food. Granted, yes it's bar food - but wow. It was really bad. The falafel balls were dry and flavorless and about the size of cherry tomatoes. There were about 6 or 7 of them arranged around a dish of what was supposed to be tahini sauce. The sliders were mostly bread and also completely lacked flavor. The avocado on our burger was light yellow and looked like it was scooped out of a plastic unlabeled container. The fries were soggy and soaked in grease and oil. Terribly disappointing.
As for the trivia, it was OKAY. I understand it's a new thing but it was a real turnoff how unorganized everything was. I probably wouldn't have minded as much had everything else been better.
All of this being said, the decor of the building is pretty awesome and it's massive inside; it truly has a lot of potential. Too bad I will not be spending my money here again in the future. :(
Do you have money and little-to-no taste?
Do you enjoy Well Rum & Fountain Shasta drinks served in plastic cups?
Do you enjoy observing dozens of frowning college dudes all wearing the same shirts & "mad-dogging" the other college dudes for wearing the same shirt as them while chewing on the ice from their empty rum and cokes in a plastic cup?
Do you enjoy watching 21 year and 2 week old girls wearing next to nothing in 15 degree weather (whilst holding... you guessed it, well rum and coke in a plastic cup)?
Then this place is for YOU!!
Only up side to this place is the staff... they are very nice and accommodating and handsome and pretty.
Went here for Super Bowl Sunday and loved the $1 pitchers of Coors Light! Â Big joint with lots going on...service was a little slow but I think it was just because they were so busy. Would suggest this for anyone looking to go tie one on with a group, but not a place for peace and quiet.
Review Source:To be fair, I didn't have very high expectations, based on Wicked Wolf and the Russian Lady in Hartford. This place is okay, at best.
For starters, we went on a Friday night maybe around 11 or so and the cover was $10. $10??? Just to walk in and have the privilege to buy your overpriced drinks? I was ready to skip it, but my friend wanted to stay and check it out. It's laid out much like Wicked Wolf, except with a live music stage by the downstairs bar, and some extra booze bars upstairs. Coat check for $2.
The crowd was similar to Wicked Wolf, young and glam. There were waitresses walking around with sparking bottles, so I guess that's exciting?
As for the vodka bar, I actually wasn't very impressed. They have fruit infused vodka, which is cool, and we ordered a few cocktails with it. Mine was orange and my friend's was pineapple, and they were good, but I'm not convinced there was much, if any, vodka in there. It seemed more gimmicky and cute than anything.
I mean, there are people who are into that scene and loved Wicked Wolf. If that's you, and you think you'll like this place, you're probably right. Otherwise, it's entirely forgettable. (Except for the huge bar tab you're bound to walk out with.)
I'm primarily comparing the Russian Lady to its predecessors - Wicked Wolf and The Playwright. After WW closed, the Russian Lady took its sweet time opening, but it made sense when I finally went last week and saw that they actually did make a lot of changes. The wall behind the bar juts out a bit more and now features 40 beers on tap, compared the previous bar-top taps with approximately 8 taps. My friends pointed out a slight flaw that they have no printed menu of their beers so you have to squint to read the names of all 40 of them while you're trying to pick.
One major change is that the Russian Lady now has different rooms, complete with names. Upstairs you now have the Vodka Room which features a number of vodkas and some cozy seating areas complete with windows to look over the crowd below. When I was there on a Friday around 10, 10:30, there was a DJ upstairs with his fancy macbook BLARING music. So loud, we had to leave. Also it was particularly cold as well.
Downstairs is the KGB room featuring bourbons and whiskeys. When we went downstairs to check it out, it had a few seats and a waterfall wall, but no bartender. Russian Lady has also added a few pool tables between the front and back bars so there's an additional "activity" as it were. They put a stage together in the front window area where they used to have large booths. I walked by and heard/saw a band playing last night.
There's a weird issue about the decor - the original Playwright woodwork is beautiful, but clashes somewhat with the new bar/theme. While getting rid of it may help the aesthetic, it would be a shame to get rid of the woodwork too. I think they're kind of stuck when it comes to that.
This place is huge, has several bars and several places to sit and gather. I have not ate here but there drinks are delicous! There mixology is fab. (try the starburst with sprite). Its a fun place to go with friends- its perfect for any type of person for the club scene type, the laid back friend, and the sports fan.
Review Source:We went during opening week. We decided to give it a try despite hankering assumptions that it might be a lot like their failed predecessor that formerly occupied that location.
The decor is dark and kinda baroque, I liked the huge booths with tufted velvet seating. This place has a dining area, a vodka bar (with other boozes as well), and a club like area in the back. This place is actually pretty huge. The seating area has lots of big TVs also that played sports, thus its also part sports bar. Seems like they wanted to be a little bit of everything.
I ordered the small plate of wings and the zucchini and cheese fritters. The wings were annoying and very dry. I got them half Parmesan and half Cajun. Though I ordered dry rub flavors, they could of made the chicken itself not dry. Also the Parmesan seemed to fall of the chicken when picked up thus becoming a plain wing with no flavor. It was basically plain wings with some kraft Parmesan sprinkled on top. The zucchini fritters were kind of ugly but ok tasting. They seemed more like little flat pancakes than fritters. My eating partner got a burger with fries that was actually not bad. The fries were decent and the burger was cooked medium well and not dry. I regretted the two appetizers I ordered.
We also got some beers. The waiter, when asked what beers were on tap, told us something like "you know dark, light, ales...," Instead of telling us what beers they actually had on tap. I'll be nice and chalk that up to opening week. Overall though I probably won't be going back.
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