Sorry Babushka

Russia is a country in northern Euroasia. Euroasia is the area of combined landmass between Europe and Asia; Russia is the only county to span across two different continents. The capital of Russia is Moscow and the official language is Russian. From the early 1700’s to the present Russians have been immigrating to America. In the end, the individuals and families that emigrated from Russia to the United States left their home country in order to escape persecution and to have a better life in another country. Most of the immigrants have settled in the New York area and have opened their own institutions that portray the Russian culture. Some of these institutions include churches, stores, community centers, restaurants, food stores, and other religious establishments.

Sorry Babushka is a Russian restaurant located on Hylan Boulevard on Staten Island, New York. Sorry Babushka serves “homestyle Russian cuisine”. The decor of the restaurant does not particularly reflect the authentic Russian Culture. It is basically set up like an American restaurant where there are tables that seat two to four people and have candles in the middle of all of them. The walls of the restaurant can resemble the walls of a hibachi steak restaurant or a sushi restaurant, because one wall contains red ripples and the others contain a tile and steal mix. Sorry Babushka definitely resembles a more modern American Restaurant with an Asian flare. The Asian flare may be attributed to the fact that Russia does span across Europe and Asia.

Sorry Babushka advertises that they serve home-style Russian cuisine on their menus, website and front sign which would be expected for a Russian Restaurant. Surprisingly, Sorry Babushka also offers a wide array of cuisine from various ethnicities, not just Russian. The menu at the restaurant offers typical Russian dishes such as buzhenia, solyanka, uah, samsa, hachapuri, kupati and cheburek. Along with the traditional mean the menu also offers fried calamari, Greek Salad, Ceaser Salad, Norwegian lox, bass filet, shrimp, chicken breast, chicken cutlet, and beef stroganoff. The menu at Sorry Babushka is all in English but next to the home-style Russian dishes there are the traditional Russian names in quotations. The staff at the restaurant are mixed between Russian and non-Russian individuals. Considering that the restaurant offers diverse foods that are not all from Russia, the clientele at the restaurant is mixed between Russians and other ethnicities as well.

Clearly, Sorry Babushka is a restaurant that offers traditional home-style Russian cuisine along with other non-traditional dishes. This restaurant not only blends Russian culture with American culture, but it also incorporates other ethnicities with in its menu. The diverse clientele is a good indicator that Sorry Babushka has been influenced by American culture and appeals to various ethnic backgrounds.