Russian Restaurant Fare Under the Chandeliers: Baku Cafe

Baku Cafe, at 17080 Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach, is an Azerbaijani grill and bar that doubles as a Russian restaurant for much of its menu: borscht is $18, vareniki with cheese, cherry or potato are $18, and beef stroganoff is $28. It is open every day from 9am to midnight, and a 20 percent service charge plus taxes is added to every bill, so read the prices with that in mind.

The restaurant takes its name from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, and was founded by Slavik Gurshumov, who spent more than two decades managing upscale restaurants and kitchen teams in New York before moving to Miami. His philosophy, printed on the restaurant's site, is that a restaurant should offer a memorable experience and not just a meal. His Azerbaijani heritage shapes the grill; the Russian, Turkish and European dishes fill out the rest.

Sunny Isles Beach is home to many Eastern European families, as Miami New Times has noted, and the menu reflects that: herring, crepes, vareniki and kompot sit beside kebabs and Turkish baklava. One Google reviewer quoted on the homepage called it the first Azerbaijani restaurant in the area. The restaurant notes it had a 4.8 rating from 1,594 Google reviews as of October 12, 2026, which puts it among the busiest dining rooms on this part of Collins.

The dining room is built for occasions. Crystal chandeliers, velvet seating, hanging gardens and gold mirrors set the scene, and the restaurant describes its nights as date nights, family dinners and celebrations that run late. A full bar serves signature cocktails, such as the $20 Baku Lychee Tini, and there is live music with dinner; call ahead for the night's schedule if music is the reason you are going.

The Russian side of the menu is classic. Borscht is $18, lightly salted herring is $17 and Olivie salad is $16. Vareniki come three ways at $18 each, and crepes with minced meat are also $18. Beef stroganoff, at $28, sits in the meat entrées next to chicken cutlets at $25. A bottle of homemade kompot, the dried-fruit drink every Russian grandmother makes, is $15.

The honest verdict: the Russian dishes here are priced for a chandelier room, not a deli. Syrniki are $18 at breakfast, compared with under $5 at Kalinka Euro Deli about a mile north, and the service charge adds a fifth on top. Order the vareniki and borscht if they are what you crave, but spend most of the bill on the Azerbaijani grill, which is the kitchen's real strength.

Meat on the grill comes with rice, sautéed onions and a homemade red sauce. The lamb ribs kebab and the chicken breast or thigh kebab are $21 each, and lamb lyulya is $20. One reviewer on the homepage singled out the veal liver kebab, also $21, along with the baklava. Chicken tabaka, a whole chicken flattened and pan-fried with garlic and herbs, is $24, served with pickles and tomato sauce.

For Azerbaijani dumplings, order dushpara, $18, tiny meat dumplings served in broth, or kutabi, $6, a thin stuffed flatbread filled with herbs and meat. Khinkali, the Georgian dumplings, are $25. For a table of five, the Baku shakh plov is $60 and takes 45 minutes, so order it when you sit down. It arrives with a crisp rice crust over saffron rice and lamb or beef.

Breakfast is served from 9am to 2pm. The Baku Cafe Breakfast Platter, $42 for two, brings eggs, feta, kashkaval cheese, olives, homemade jams, pogaca and simit with two glasses of tea. Bal kaymak, clotted cream with honey and walnuts, is $17, and draniki, Russian potato pancakes, are $15. Sucuk, the spicy grilled Turkish beef sausage, is $16 and pairs well with the platter for a larger group.

For a celebration, the caviar list runs from red Alaska caviar at $45 for 100 grams to Siberian sturgeon black caviar at $80 for 50 grams. For dessert, the Napoleon and the honey sour cream cake are $16 each, and Baku baklava is $10. A glass of Baku tea is $5 and a full teapot $15, which is the better way to end a long dinner here.

Private events for up to 90 guests are priced at $120, $150 or $180 per person, and the room hosts birthdays, weddings and corporate dinners. Parking is free for guests, which saves circling Collins Avenue for a space when the dining room is busy on a weekend night.

Weekend nights are the busiest, so for a quieter dinner pick a weekday before 7pm. If Baku Cafe is booked out, Chayhana Oasis on Sunny Isles Boulevard serves Uzbek plov and Russian pelmeni in its own ornate dining room, and Kalinka Euro Deli on Collins is the fast, inexpensive option for borscht and dumplings to take away.

Baku Cafe sits in the middle of Sunny Isles Beach, between the condo towers and the ocean, with the beach a short walk east. Newport Fishing Pier, the city's long pier over the Atlantic, is a short stroll south and the classic place to watch the light fade before a late dinner. Samson Oceanfront Park, with its beach access, is a quieter alternative to the north.

Baku Cafe Bar & Restaurant, 17080 Collins Ave, Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160. Hours: Monday to Sunday 9am to midnight, breakfast 9am to 2pm. Free parking. A 20 percent service charge plus 7 percent sales tax and 1 percent tourist tax are added. Prices: borscht $18, vareniki $18, beef stroganoff $28, chicken tabaka $24, lamb ribs kebab $21, Napoleon $16. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP to book a Sunny Isles dinner.