McDonald's may not have landed in St Petersburg yet, but the next best thing has: Carrol's.
Carrol's, a fast-food restaurant at 5 Vosstaniya Ulitsa, is light, bright and cheerful. The burgers taste fresh and the "thickshakes" -- vanilla, strawberry, chocolate and banana -- are thick, creamy and cold.
I discovered this fast food restaurant quite by accident while waiting for a train at Moscow Station. Starving hungry and anxious to kill a hour before my train departed, I searched in vain along Nevsky Prospect for any place still open at 10pm on a Friday night.
It was then I spotted the brightly illuminated red street signs along Nevsky Prospect directing me towards Ploshchad Vosstaniya and Carrol's, which is located 100 meters down Vosstaniya Ulitsa, left of the Metro.
The restaurant is very large and clean, with an army of staff clearing the tables and washing the floors. It is also extremely red, with red tables, red decor and red chairs.
Just as in Burger King, McDonald's or Wimpy, the customer is greeted by a long stainless steel counter armed with several computer tills and manned by polite and tidy staff dressed in Fruit of the Loom sweatshirts and the seemingly obligatory trademark of the burger bar joint -- those silly peaked baseball-style caps.
Overhead are several brightly lit menu boards written in English and Russian and stating the prices, which are reasonable judging by the number of Russians at the many tables.
A large hamburger with large fries and a banana (actually not very banana-tasting) shake (or milk cocktail, as they are called here) will set you back 20,000 roubles -- under $5.
A number of ice cream sweets in pre-packed plastic cones neither looked appetizing nor seemed good value for money at nearly 10,000 roubles, but the coffee with cream and sugar was standard.
As with most burger bars, there are quarter- and half-pounders, fishburgers, and small and large fries, as well as fizzy drinks -- Sprite, Coke and Fanta.
If you order the largest burger on the menu, be prepared for a 10-minute wait. These are cooked to order which gives you time to consume the cardboard-tasting chips against a background of pop hits which made the charts five years ago.
Having criticized the fries, I must say the burgers are good and filled with fresh salad and liberal shots of both mustard and ketchup.
If you find yourself, like I did, waiting for the overnight Moscow-bound train, you could do far worse than to while away half an hour in Carrol's Burger Bar.