September 4, 2013. According to Sverdlovsk Region Agriculture Ministry, there are only 1.4 cafes/restaurants per 1,000 residents in Yekaterinburg, and the rate at which such places open in the city has been going down for the last four years despite the stably high demand.

What is more, while the number of restaurants with a medium-range check is on the increase, the upmarket restaurants are now converting into clubs and gradually closing down.

At the same time, experts say the Italian, Japanese, and Uzbek cuisine restaurants that are all located close to one another tend to prevail on the local market.

‘Why the Ural restaurateurs have created such a fierce competitive environment for themselves is a question that remains to be answered. We obviously have too many Italian, Uzbek, and Japanese restaurants, besides, the prices and the food are pretty much the same,’ says local food critic Anna Shelepova.

The restaurateurs explain, however, that the locals prefer these particular cuisines, while the Russian cooking, for example, is more labor-intensive than the Italian one.