5.0 · 145 ratings118 Nevsky Prospekt
by Moskovsky railway station
Mon–Fri 9:00–21:00, Sat–Sun 10:00–21:00
machine “Elizaveta Petrovna”
St. Petersburg · since 1958
The only place in St. Petersburg where you can watch pyshki being made on a Soviet machine
Pyshki are St. Petersburg's hot yeast rings dusted with powdered sugar, the local classic that visitors often mistake for a donut. Here you watch them being made: a dispenser drops a ring of dough into hot oil, and it sails round a carousel, turning golden on one side before the machine flips it over to finish on the other. It all happens right at the counter while you wait for yours. Your pyshka arrives hot, snowed with powdered sugar and surprisingly light, because the oil stays on the outside. Our three pyshki cafés in central St. Petersburg all run on restored Soviet machines.
Rated 4.7–5.0 on Yandex Maps and 2GIS · RestaurantGuru 2025 and 2026
The Soviet pyshki machine sits right at the counter, in full view
Step inside, and the first thing you notice is the machine itself. It stands openly at the counter, so you can follow a pyshka's whole journey, from a ring of raw dough to a shower of powdered sugar.
The dough is a living yeast dough, mixed right here. The dispenser presses out a neat ring, which drops into hot oil and slowly rides round the carousel. For the first half of the circle the pyshka cooks on one side: a crust forms quickly and keeps almost all the oil out.
Halfway round, a little chute catches it and flips it over. For the second half of the circle it bakes on the other side, and at the end it tumbles down a second chute into the tray, already golden. Children stand spellbound in front of this carousel, and so do grown-ups, phones in hand.
A dusting of powdered sugar, and the pyshka lands in your hands still hot. From ring of dough to plate takes a couple of minutes. The oil stays on the outside, so it's light, closer to fresh bread: you can eat two without feeling heavy, and children usually ask for a third.
We don't hide a single step. Other pyshki cafés in the city have machines too, but almost everywhere they're tucked away in the kitchen. Ours has been brought out to the counter, and the baking has become a show that people come in especially to see.
Every machine is named after a Russian emperor or empress. On Nevsky Prospekt it's “Elizaveta Petrovna” (Empress Elizabeth) doing the baking, on Malaya Sadovaya “Ekaterina Alekseevna” (Catherine the Great, whose monument stands in the garden next door), and on Moskovsky Prospekt “Pyotr Alekseevich” (Peter the Great). Regulars get used to it and say they're off “to Catherine's” or “to Peter's”. Ask for a machine by name, and the staff at the counter will tell you its story.
How we restore these machines →
Three pyshki cafés in central St. Petersburg
The recipe, the machine and the pyshka itself are the same everywhere: hot, sugar-dusted, 40 ₽. What changes is the character of each place. One sits on Nevsky Prospekt right by Moskovsky railway station, you'll stroll past another near Gostiny Dvor while walking along Sadovaya Street, and the third turns up on your way to Sennaya Square. Pick whichever is closest.
5.0 · 145 ratings
5.0 · 1,153 ratings1/25 Malaya Sadovaya St.
by Gostiny Dvor
Mon–Fri 9:00–21:00, Sat–Sun 10:00–21:00
machine “Ekaterina Alekseevna”
5.0 · 178 ratings2 Moskovsky Prospekt
by Sennaya Square
Mon–Fri 9:00–20:00, Sat–Sun 10:00–20:00
machine “Pyotr Alekseevich”
More than pyshki: signature teas, coffee and lemonades
At a typical pyshki café the choice is short: a pyshka and a coffee to keep it company. With us, your pyshka comes with a whole drinks list that no other pyshki café in the city can match.
- Pyshka with powdered sugar, 40 ₽. Crisp crust, soft middle. Lovely on its own or with a topping.
- Toppings, 35 ₽: condensed milk, jams (apricot, cherry, strawberry, raspberry), white chocolate, chocolate sauce.
- Signature teas, 220 ₽: lemon, ginger and mint; raspberry, ginger and rosemary; blackcurrant and mint. Made right in the cup with fresh herbs and syrups.
- Lemonades, 320 ₽: mojito, raspberry and mint, strawberry and lime, tarragon. Ice-cold, made with fresh berries, a lifesaver on a hot day.
- Coffee from 100 ₽: espresso, americano, cappuccino, latte, flat white, iced latte. Brewed on a proper espresso machine, just like in a specialty coffee shop.
- Milkshakes, thick and cool, just like the ones you had as a kid.
For groups there are 12+1 and 24+2 sets, where the “bonus” pyshki are on the house. Order a whole mountain for the table, everyone picks their own drink: that's how most people visit us.
Full menu with prices →“Is this a gimmick? The café on Konyushennaya has been open since 1958, and you've only just started”
That's the first thing new guests wonder. Here's a straight answer.
The pyshechnaya, a pyshki café, first appeared in our city in 1958. The very first one opened at 25 Zhelyabova Street (today's Bolshaya Konyushennaya Street) and is still going strong. We respect that place and have no quarrel with its claim to be first. Our job is a different one: we're restorers. We hunt down surviving Soviet machines all over the country, bring them back to life and return the original recipe to places where it had long since disappeared.
Here's what you can see and check for yourself:
“The machine stands in full view, with its original factory nameplate. Machines like these were made by Soviet military factories and later by a factory in Kyiv; none have been built since 1991. Ours date from that era.”
“People who remember that taste recognise it instantly. One of our regulars, a man of about seventy, worked on a machine just like this in Soviet times. He crosses the whole city to visit us and says: “you make the tastiest pyshki”.”
““it's the real machine”, “they really are delicious”, “I was a child again”, “at last I've found that forgotten taste”.”
“Rated 4.7–5.0 on Yandex Maps and 2GIS (Russia's two big map apps), with a 5.0 on Malaya Sadovaya from 1,100+ ratings. RestaurantGuru awards in 2025 and 2026, two years running. Registered trademark ® No. 1143773.”
The easiest way to find out is to take one pyshka and try it. Just don't wander off too far: you'll be back for seconds.
Where we come from: bringing back a Leningrad tradition
After the 1990s, hardly any pyshki cafés were left in the city: one after another they closed, and the machines themselves had stopped being made back in 1991. A ritual well known in post-war Leningrad (as St. Petersburg was called in Soviet times), when students, workers and professors all met at the same counter, very nearly vanished along with the era.
Pyshki iz Detstva® (“Pyshki from Childhood”) was conceived as a restoration project. We track down surviving Soviet machines across the country, buy them, bring them to St. Petersburg and bring them back to working order part by part. We've also revived the original recipe, the very one our older guests recognise. A genuine machine, a living recipe and people behind the counter with stories to tell all come together in our cafés in central St. Petersburg. There are three of them today, with another 10–15 on the way.
Every member of our team carries a head full of lively facts about the machine, the technique and the history of the St. Petersburg pyshka, and weaves them into conversation. Guests leave with a hot pyshka and a little story on the side, and they come back for the next one.
- 1958
- the year St. Petersburg's pyshki tradition was born
- 3
- cafés in central St. Petersburg
- 5.0
- rating on Malaya Sadovaya (1,100+ ratings)
- No. 1143773
- registered trademark
Pyshki catering for your event in St. Petersburg
Canapés and pizza at a corporate party won't impress anyone any more. Hot pyshki from a Soviet machine, on the other hand, are something most guests have never seen. We deliver them fresh to your event in St. Petersburg, in our branded packaging, with serving for your guests. On request, a baker can even come along with a machine and bake right on site. People book us for conferences, weddings, birthdays and children's parties: it's the kind of treat guests talk about afterwards.
Catering and corporate orders →Or just give us a call: +7 (969) 717-98-89
Pyshki history, stories and facts
How a pyshka differs from a donut, how military factories came to build baking machines, where to find real pyshki in St. Petersburg: these are the stories we collect in our blog. They're the same facts our team shares with guests across the counter.
Read the blog →FAQ
Are your pyshki the real thing or just look-alikes?
The real thing: made to the restored original recipe on Soviet machines from that era. The best proof comes from our older guests, who remember the old taste and recognise it straight away. The technique is exactly the same: in the hot oil the dough seals itself in a crust and bakes like bread.
How are you different from the café on Bolshaya Konyushennaya?
Konyushennaya opened first, in 1958, on a historic spot, and we respect it. What we offer is our own: three cafés across the city centre, the machine brought right out to the counter, and a long list of signature teas, coffee and lemonades that Konyushennaya doesn't have. And the queue is usually shorter.
Is the machine really Soviet?
Yes. They were made by Soviet military factories and later by a factory in Kyiv, and production stopped altogether in 1991. Each one still has its factory nameplate with the year and serial number, so do ask to see it. The sign outside one of our cafés shows the year 1989.
Where are you?
Three cafés in central St. Petersburg: 118 Nevsky Prospekt (by Moskovsky railway station), 1/25 Malaya Sadovaya St. (by Gostiny Dvor) and 2 Moskovsky Prospekt (by Sennaya Square). Addresses, opening hours and directions are all on our locations page.
Can I bring children?
Of course. The machine and the little chute with the finished pyshki turn into a real show, and children cheer on their own pyshka. Pyshki are light, so both kids and parents can relax.
Do you have anything for people watching what they eat?
The pyshka bakes and soaks up hardly any oil, so it's lighter than ordinary fried dough. For drinks there are signature and classic teas without sugar, mors (a traditional berry drink), juices and coffee without syrup. We won't pretend it's diet food, but it's not heavy fast food either.
What are your opening hours?
118 Nevsky Prospekt and 1/25 Malaya Sadovaya St. are open Mon–Fri 9:00–21:00 and Sat–Sun 10:00–21:00. 2 Moskovsky Prospekt closes an hour earlier, at 20:00. The exact hours for each café are on our locations page.
Come and try real St. Petersburg pyshki
A menu reads best with a hot pyshka in your hand. Pick the café nearest to you (by the railway station, by Gostiny Dvor or by Sennaya Square), pop in and grab one. Don't wander off too far: you'll be back for seconds.
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