Last Russian restaurant closes in Washington

Mari Vanna announced it will shut its doors at the end of January after eleven years in business

Mari Vanna, a restaurant that has been operating in Washington DC since 2013, has announced that it is shutting down. 

According to a message posted on its Instagram account earlier this month, the restaurant’s “last pre-retirement day” would be Monday, January 29.

“And now we have come to the moment when it is time to close our doors with a creak in our hearts,” the restaurant said, providing no specific reason for the move. “Our Family extends deep gratitude to all of you, our precious Friends, for these warm years spent together.”

The farmhouse-chic restaurant, which is decorated with lace curtains, old books, framed photos and vintage plates, serves Russian classics such as cured herring, blinis, vareniki, borsch soup, and savory baked pies commonly called pirozhki. 

“The decision was definitely a tough one for our owners, but they are looking forward to a new direction,” the restaurant management told the local media outlet Eater Washington DC, adding that the company’s NYC sibling in the Flatiron District will remain open.

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Mari Vanna has been the last Russian restaurant in the city after longstanding eatery Russia House failed to reopen after the Covid-19 pandemic.

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