3 Best Restaurants in Kremlin-Red Square, Moscow

This upstairs cafeteria-style café is a throwback to the Soviet era, packed with students drinking cheap beer, pensioners reminiscing over meat-filled pancakes, and business people of all ages from the offices nearby. A larger downstairs room gets rowdy on weekends. The no smoking policy is a huge plus and a rarity in Moscow, but you may have to walk through a cloud of smoke to get near the door.

This reliable Italian chain with outlets throughout Moscow may not whisk you away to a Roman piazza or the Tuscan countryside, but you can expect a well-cooked risotto and efficient if unenthusiastic service in slick environs. In the Kremlin branch, a very popular terrace that overlooks ulitsa Tverskaya is great for sipping a beer and watching the crowds in summer. Portions can be a bit small—an entrée may not fill you up if you're famished—but everything is very fresh.

Recalling the splendor of prerevolutionary Russia, the opulent interiors of the Metropol hotel's grand dining hall are a stunning memorial to Russian art nouveau. The nearly three-story-high dining room is replete with stained-glass windows, marble pillars, and a leaded-glass roof. Among the famous guests to have dined here are George Bernard Shaw, Vladimir Lenin, and Michael Jackson. The menu is laden with French and Russian delicacies, such as the popular fried duck with wild-cherry sauce and a baked apple. Cap your meal off with wine from the extensive list and cheese. There is also live music at breakfast and in the evenings.