Glendale Russian Restaurant: $16.75 Pelmeni at Kalinka

Kalinka Russian Cuisine, at 1714 Victory Boulevard in Glendale, cooks what its owners call soulful Soviet food: handmade dumplings, borscht and honey cake, with Armenian and Georgian dishes alongside the Russian and Ukrainian ones. It opens at 11am every day and closes at 10pm, except Friday and Saturday, when it runs until 11pm. A plate of pelmeni costs $16.75, a small borscht is $8.75, and tables are requested through the website.

The restaurant was founded in 2018 by Tigran Elchyan, a lifelong cook who opened it as his first restaurant. In 2026 it changed hands: Vaga Khachatryan bought Kalinka and now runs it day to day, promising on the restaurant's site to keep the original spirit and recipes. That continuity matters to regulars, because the draw here has always been food that tastes like a family kitchen rather than a showpiece.

Glendale's large Armenian community shapes the menu. The kitchen leans into that overlap, so you will find khinkali and kebabs next to pelmeni and solyanka on the same table. The restaurant describes its cooking as just like babushka's, and one recent review on its site described ordering solyanka, Olivier salad and beef khinkali in a single meal.

Start with the soups, which are priced in three sizes. Borscht is $15.75 for a regular bowl, $16.75 for a portion split between two, and $8.75 for a small cup. The small is the smart order if you also want dumplings, because it gives you the taste without filling you up. Solyanka, the sour, smoky meat soup, is $18.75 for a regular bowl and is the better choice on a cool evening.

Ordering for two? Take one split borscht rather than two regulars. It saves money, and the kitchen plates it so that both of you get a proper serving with sour cream on the side.

The pelmeni at $16.75 come with a choice of filling: beef, veal and pork, or chicken. The veal and pork mix is the most traditional and the juiciest, and it is the one to order on a first visit. Vareniki, the larger Ukrainian half-moon dumplings, are $15.75 with potato or cottage cheese, and the cottage cheese version is the classic sweet-savory option that Russian families eat with sour cream.

Chicken blintzes in mushroom sauce, $18.75, are the dish to try if you have never had savory blini. The thin crepes are filled with chicken and served in mushroom sauce, a homey plate more often cooked at home than found in restaurants. Pair them with a small borscht and you have a full lunch for under $30.

For a main course, the choice is between two Soviet classics. The Cornish hen tabaka, $28.75, is the Georgian method of flattening a young bird and frying it under a weight until the skin turns crisp. The beef stroganoff is $29.75. Our pick is the tabaka, because it shows off the Georgian side of the kitchen and is harder to find done well in Los Angeles than stroganoff.

The honest note: the mains are filling and priced close to $30, so two people do not need two of them. Share one main, one dumpling plate and one soup, then save room for the honey cake that the restaurant puts at the center of its own description.

Not everything on the table has to be Russian. The Armenian side of the menu earns its place, and one diner quoted on the restaurant's own site wrote that the chicken kabob a parent ordered was as well done as the signature dish at the same table. A mixed table works well here: one person on pelmeni, another on a kebab, and a shared plate of khinkali in the middle. It is the way many Glendale families eat at home, and the kitchen is built for exactly that kind of order.

Reservations are handled through a request form on the website, where you choose the number of guests, the time and indoor or outdoor seating, and the restaurant confirms afterward. Kalinka has a separate kids menu, which makes it an easy choice for families with children who are not yet sold on beets.

The dining room posts its Health Score A on the website, and the request form lets you add notes, which is the place to mention a birthday, a high chair or a dietary need. Outdoor seating is offered as an option on the form, so on a mild Glendale evening it is worth asking for a table outside rather than taking the first one available.

Lunch from 11am on a weekday is the quietest time to visit. Weekend evenings bring bigger family groups, so book ahead if you are four or more. If Kalinka is full, Traktir in West Hollywood and Melodia on Sunset are the closest Russian alternatives over the hill, both about a half-hour drive depending on traffic.

Kalinka sits on Victory Boulevard in the northwest of Glendale, a mostly residential and light-commercial stretch with easy street parking. After a meal, a short drive east brings you to downtown Glendale's Brand Boulevard, where the Americana at Brand and the Glendale Galleria are the city's main shopping and strolling destinations. The Americana's central lawn and fountain make an easy walk after a bowl of borscht.

For something calmer, Brand Boulevard also leads north toward the foothills, where the streets climb into quieter neighborhoods with views across the valley. A late-afternoon drive that way is a good way to finish a long Soviet-style lunch before traffic builds on the freeways.

Address: Kalinka Russian Cuisine, 1714 Victory Boulevard, Glendale, CA 91201. Hours: Monday to Thursday and Sunday 11am to 10pm, Friday and Saturday 11am to 11pm. Reservations by online request, with indoor or outdoor seating. Kids menu available. Sample prices: pelmeni $16.75, vareniki $15.75, borscht $15.75 regular or $8.75 small, solyanka $18.75, chicken blintzes $18.75, Cornish hen tabaka $28.75, beef stroganoff $29.75. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for a Russian lunch nearby.