Going Out in Novosibirsk — Food, Entertainment, and Activities

For a listing of What's On in Novosibirsk, please, see our Nightlife, Exhibitions, and Events calendar.

Novosibirsk is considered to be the foremost city of Western Siberia. Being a big scientific and business center of Siberia, it attracts many people of all ages, origins, and interests. It's no surprise then, that one can find any kind of entertainment, food, and activity there.
If you decide to go for a walk, the best and the most central place is Ploshchad Lenina (Lenina Sq metro), from where you can walk along the city's main street Krasny Prospekt. It's better to walk on the left-hand side, as there are more cafes and restaurants there.
There are a lot of open air cafes on Lenina square during summer and it's just a nice place to walk around and to meet people. Another good way to meet people is to go to a jazz or rock club — this kind of music is very popular in Novosibirsk. See addresses below.


Eating Out: Restaurants & Cafes
Novosibirsk has a great variety of places to eat. The price is usually not more than 200-300R ($7-$10) for a full meal, however, you can find cheaper places. A coffee usually costs 30-50 R ($1-$1.7), and a beer is 20-100R usually ($0.7-$3), depending on a sort.
Here's a list of some restaurants and cafes that seem to be nice:

Old Irish Bar, Stone House Restaurant, and Rock City rock club.
The best place to eat in Novosibirsk, located very centrally on Krasny Prospekt, 37. Opened daily 12.00 until 2.00. The food is traditional Russian and European, an average bill (including drinks) is about $10-$15 per person. The portions are hearty, the food is delicious, the people are nice. There's also an open-air terrace where you can sit and observe the city dwellers.
There's also a popular rock club "Rock City" located in the same buidling, featuring live concerts by Russian rock groups every evening.
Address: Novosibirsk, Krasny Prospekt, #37. Contact: (3832) 22-62-06. Internet: http://www.rockcity.ru/

Jily Byli. Well, the profitable business idea of budget Russian style restaurant works not only in capitals but in the center of Siberia as well. This medium-size restaurant is decorated with wood and ceramics, the waitresses are in Russian style clothes, and the food is typically Russian and tasty. Don’t miss their kvas – it is really good.
To eat there you need about 100-200R ($3-$7).
Address: Lenina St., 1. Map: B4 - square #1

Druzhba. This popular restaurant is located in the centrum of Novosibirsk and serves Russian food. Most of the meals are with meat and fish. A business lunch is 100R ($3). Open daily from 12.00 to 2.00.
Address: Lenina, 3. Tel.: (3832) 22-06-68, 22-05-15. Map: B4 - square #1

New York Pizza. American-style pizzeria. In Summer evenings there are many foreigners, maybe because it was recommended by the Lonely Planet. Open 24 hours. For pizza delivery phone (3832) 29-75-75 (free delivery, 1 hour).
Addresses: Dimitrova Prospekt, 4 (the most popular one); Dzerjinskogo Prospekt, 61; D.Kovalchuk St., 266; Kropotkina St., 118; Ob’edineniya St., 80; Map: B4 - square #4

U Vatslava. A moderately priced restaurant, serving Chekh cuisine.
Address: Gorkogo St., 78 (3 mins walk from Lenina St).

Cafe Terra. A cozy nice coffeeshop. Coffes, cakes, cocktails, alcohol drinks, salads, sandwiches, hot dishes. Expect to pay about $1 to $2 for a coffee and about $10 US for a meal. Open from 9.00 to 23.00 daily.
Address: Lenina St., 8. Tel.: (3832) 22-44-77. Map: B4 - square #2

Travelers Café. They claim to be the first espresso bar in Novosibirsk. Coffees: from 30 to 50 R ($1 - $1.5), sanwiches 30 – 60 R ($1-$2), soups $1. Open from 9.00 to 23.00.
Address: Krasny Prospekt, 86.


Music of Ethnic Cultures (Tuva and Altai)
Novosibirsk is the place to go if you want to hear the music of various ethnic cultures. Its proximity to Altai mountains and Tuva republic makes it easy for authentic musicians to come and perform their traditional songs. The kind of music they play is very different to categorize (and is uneeded also), but to give you an idea, it is a mix of throat singing (which sounds really strange and enticing) and traditional play of ethnic Siberian people's musical instruments.
We highly recommend you to attend such performance, if you have a chance. Below is a list of places where you can hear this kind of music. You can also contact them to get more info on upcoming venues:

Zhivaya Voda (Live Water) Ethnic Cultures Festival organize annual ethnic music festival that takes place in Novosibirsk and Altai mountains as well as various open air and club parties. Among their latest projects are Ethnic Music Festival 2002, which hosted traditional Siberian music as well as underground groups, and “Cuba, My Love” rock, blues and reggae open air festival.
You can see their website for the latest information or contact them directly.
Internet: http://etnofest.nsk.ru/, email: kosmos@online.nsk.su and nasty-888@yandex.ru, tel.: (3832) 22-48-59, 22-31-05 (Yana Glembotskaya), and (3832) 20-45-21 (Alexey Kazarinov).

Chyornaya Vdova (Black Widow) art gallery and underground music club. The gallery itself is closed, but on their website you can see announcements of the most interesting alternative art and music projects in Novosibirsk.
Address: Novosibirk, Narymskaya St., 21 (located close to Novosibirsk Circus); Contacts: tel. (3832) 20-45-21, internet: http://blackwidow.nsk.ru/. Map: B3 - square #5


Jazz, Blues and Rock Music
Novosibirsk people like jazz and blues music, you can often hear it playing in some specialized clubs and cafes; the city is even considered to be one of the three big jazz music centers in Russia (others being Moscow and St. Petersburg).
If you want to hear good jazz music or just meet local people who speak English and make new friends, there's a good chance to all this in one of Novosibirsk's jazz clubs. Here's a list:

Rock City rock club.
The main rock club of Novosibirsk. Every week hosts popular Russian rock stars (not really rock music, more like quality mainstream music for young people), every evening a good concert. Located in the same building as Stone House restaurant
Address: Novosibirsk, Krasny Prospekt, #37. Contact: (3832) 22-62-06. Internet: http://www.rockcity.ru/

New York Times Jazz Club. A cozy club with wooden furniture and slow staff. You can eat there for 200 R ($7), but we didin’t check the quality of the food – there was meat only in the menu (we don't eat meat). In the evenings, at about 9.00 pm the concerts start, the entrance will cost you 50 R ($2).
Address: Novosibirsk, Lenina St., 12. Map: B4 - square 3

The Novosibirsk State Philarmony. Sometimes hosts jazz events and concerts. You can see what's on on their website (in English).
Address: Novosibirsk, Spartaka St., 11. Contacts: tel.: (3832) 22-34-84, email: philharmonic@mail.ru

You can find some information about jazz music in Novosibirsk and see what's on in Jazz music on this Russian-language website: http://jazz.nsk.su/afisha/ ("Freezed Jazz").


Club & DJ Music
There are many young people in Novosibirsk, so dance music is quite popular there. You can find many clubs with stupid Russian techno-pop stuff (favourite among think-neck mafia types with golden chains and model girlfriends), but if you're after quality music and "trendy" young people you need to spend time looking for it.
We recommend you to go to the places listed in Ethnic Music section above, and we also heard about one club, that's considered to be the most fashionable in Novosibirsk: Studio 69, located on Krasny Prospekt near the TV Center.

Shuttle Club. One of the main dance clubs in Novosibirsk, mainly pop-dance music. Has a chill-out room and a restaurant. Located slightly out of centre. Beer on tap from $1.5 to $3, entrance 100-200R ($3-$7).
Address: Novosibirsk, Seleznyova, 46 (metro Imeni Pokryshkina), tel.: (3832) 78 33 08

For a listing of What's On in Novosibirsk we can recommend the following websites (both in Russian):
WayToRussia.Net Siberian What's On Listings (in English)
NovosibOut.Ru (in Russian)
AllNight.Ru (in Russian, focused on clubs)