Roman Russian Food Store

Make sure you try before you buy to check up on the quality of the already-​prepared food.
Pretty much all the products is in great quality, from bread to deli meat. The only problem is that some foods can be too old and need to be thrown away, but they still keep it on the shelf until somebody like myself buys it. I bought 2.5 lbs of cake to impress the people that invited me over as a guest. But to my disbelief the cake tasted horrible and had a greenish blueish haze on the layers. We ended up throwing it back in the box.
Also, the to-​go food may not always be fresh. One time we bought chicken shishkabab and it was delicious. Another time we bought it, it wasn’t fresh; it was over dry.
Make sure you try before you buy to check up on the quality of the already-​prepared food.

I always have fun going to this little store in my neighborhood and whatever I got from there was always tasty. Their smoked salmon is a must buy, so as their salads, and of course their pastry is sooooooo delicious too! Most importantly, whenever i have questions they are always happy to help me. I love this place a lot. Def going back there soon.

Was stoked to check this place out based on what I read. Maybe tonight is an off night. Could have been a good gyro, but it was ruined by stale grill oil.
Might try it again, but not going to suggest it to anyone I want to impress.

We were experimenting with an Eastern European dish, and wanted a suitable bread to go with it. Many thanks to other Unilocalers who led me to try Roman as a destination. Once I found the room dedicated to baked goods, my main problem was figuring out which of the dozen or so varieties of freshly baked loaves would be most appropriate. I chose well, but I suspect I could not have gone far wrong, either. The bread was delightful, and a stop at the mix and match candy section was well worth it. I’m looking forward to going back when I have the time to explore literally entire rooms that I have not checked out yet. This is the type of store that I’m happy to have within an easy drive of my home.

They have everything I want. Deli, cakes, delicious bread. All at cheaper prices than most stores.
The 2 main issues that make this not a 5 star is how far away they are located to where I live and the fact that the customer service is pretty bad.

Haven’t been to this shop without walking out with something from their pastry counter. Such a huge selection of house made cakes and desserts. Most cakes are by the pound, so it makes it easy to try a few different things. Their meat counter/​deli area is pretty great too. Lots of cured meats and sausages. Most everything is labeled in Russian, but just ask. The women there are so friendly and don’t make you feel out of place, even if YOU feel super out of place. They’re open pretty late, too. There’s a small restaurant in the front of the building, but I’ve yet to try it. We were making cabbage rolls for dinner and needed some perogies. They’ve got a decent selection of frozen perogies and we opted for the potato and mushroom ones. Really good boiled, but great pan fried with sour cream. It is a little tight inside, but it’s because they have SO much. Just check them out. Wander around and you’re bound to walk out with something. Also, don’t be afraid to sample things from the counters. They’ll be more than happy to slice you a piece of meat or cake.

Whenever I’m in Portland I try and stop by this Russian Market and stock up on Russian chocolates, bread and teas! They have a great selection of many Great foods including great cheeses and they even serve food. I got a great plate of shashlik, carrot salad and a Georgian cheese bread with a black tea. Everything was perfect!
Not everyone speaks English, but they will still try and help!

I went in search of their bread and walked out with so much more. Katcha Russian Restaurant had their dark rye and wheat with a spread. It was soft, chewy, and as my daugher said, «bouncy». Also, we were close to a Russian grandmother. She used to bring the kids Russian candy and chocolates. My daughter went into the candy bins in search of her favorites. She loved the juice boxes as well.
Roman Russian is a full deli selling sausages, smoked and pickled fish, cheese, prepared salads, stuffed meat dishes, frozen dumplings, and cabbage rolls, beer, wine, and more. The fresh produce section is small. They even buy gold. I was overly eager in buying more than a pound of the Herring Under the Fur Coat as tasted at Kachka. Unfortunately, Roman Russian version was much fishier tasting and not as agreeable. Other than that, everything so far has been a hit. Roman Russian Food Store prices are very affordable. Staff is friendly. Looking forward to the next trip back.

I may not be Roman. I may not be Russian. I am ravenous.
«world markets» are kind of a fetish of mine, but in order to enchant me, they must be «real,» and not some sort of movie-​set like put-​on to make gringos feel safe.
It doesn’t get more real, than this place.
Going here is like being transported to another country. Both the patrons and the proprietors speak little if any English. The labels for all of the deli items and most of the food items are in Russian – good incentive to learn another language!
I wish I could actually name what I ate as opposed to simply describing it, but that’s the best I can do for now, so cut me some slack.
Fresh smoked salmon, head on, baby, along with many other smoked fishes. The cabbage rolls atre filled with tenderized meat and some sort of noddly stuff. They heat up well in the microwave. Sorry paleos, but the meat and cheese-​filled savory pastries (there are many to choose from) will blow your mind. They also carry exotic, fresh cakes, dumpings, liquors, every kind of jam or preserve you could imagine – and some you couldn’t – like whole lemons pickled in syrup in a can.
While it had a smaller produce section than other stores you might go to, they do have options here, including a two-​pounder, ripe and juicy monster tomatoes we bought.
We left here with a armloads of deli food and parted with $ 26. The food we bought provided 4 meals for two people. These are steals considering the quality of the homemade food here.
Whatever you decide, buy 6 or 6 cabbage rolls. At least do that.
They even have a mini-​pharmacy here with a bunch of Russian herbs. I have no idea what they do, but I ate them all, and became much smarter.
Just kidding. Don’t do that.
Come here once, and you will never say dasvidanya again.

This place is awesome! We loved the various types of caviars, teas, desserts (They have DADU OMG) definitely a place to visit. They are open late, which is good. If you’re having a craving Russian food VISIT THIS PLACE!

Roman Russian food is the best Russian store in Portland. They even named it after me…
It has one of the largest selection of food here that will pass the Russian sniff test. Unlike most Russian stores they have a giant deli selection that they make themselves. It’s good and reasonable. Like most stores they have pickled veggies, kvas, Soviet bread, fish section, cheese section, prepared meat section, things to fill your pantry with etc
There is covered seating outside so you can snack on some food that you just bought or they can make shish kabobs, pizza etc.
Definitely impressive.

My daughter is learning The Russian Language so I surprised her one morning after finding this place online. Such a great experience, the beautiful ladies working were so helpful and kind, took time to explain to us what things were and how to say them., we got some delicious candy and syrniki. I felt like the prices were good, but I have nothing to compare them too. We will be back for sure!

Great customer service. Always fresh food and happy faces. Unlike other Russian stores in town. Love their pastries, deli meat, bread and etc. Thank u!

i can’t eat anything from those stores but its reminiscing. they do have a bakery in the back and all kinda pastries behind the counter, also very affordable prices :) fruits int eh produce section were super cheap … and 100% of the customers were russian even tho the products where more of a eastern european flavor
there was a guy making some shish kebob outside and the smell of the ingredients was very aromatic

interesting selection, must find expiration date before buy, it can be expired long ago. If you decide to buy stuff that has to be weighted, they might do it not to your favor, you will overpay! You can’t see how much it is weighted and you can’t see how much price they put there. I overpaid 50 cents and this is not the first time. not big deal, but I will not go back soon. Hope other Russian stores more honest. I hope this one is not following the owners order to overcharge people.

This place is currently my jam.
I am all about picking up a fresh dark rye, warm from the oven here. I also get fresh wafers and their in-​house smoked salmon. The smoked salmon I purchased here was fragrant, not laden with salt, and they had coaxed out the natural fish oils. It was so tasty! Today, I walked up photo the market and the smoker was not only going, but the scent of barrels of apples hung in the rainy Portland air.
I also love grabbing stuff from the deli here. I’m a big fan of their bread, stuffed with dill and three cheeses. They also have a good smokey chicken kebab and delicious cabbage rolls.
I’ve picked up a loaf of bread from their fresh bakery section that turned out to be a sweet bread stuffed with apples as well as an apple dumpling my friend and I mistook for a meat tart. Discovery here can be half the fun as not everyone speaks English to let you know what you’re ordering. Today, the person who helped me had only been in America for a few months.
If you’re open to getting a meat/​cheese/​apple delight or even a pound of Russian candy, you should definitely stop on by. You probably won’t go wrong, but you might be surprised by something you didn’t expect.

Great store and Great people. Used to live in Portland and only shop at Roman Russian Food Store. The food is great and fresh. Employees are always very helpful. The idea that you can get various food from the various cultures is wonderful. Now i live in Las Vegas but always miss delicious dolma from the Roman Russian Food Store.

I love this place!
If you want to explore Russian and Eastern European cuisine then this is the place for you.
The grocery area is stocked with many varieties of pickled vegetables, fruit spreads, and canned products. They have most products you would expect to find in any typical grocery store. There is also a large selection of Eastern European pastries and snacks to choose from.
This is also the only place in Portland that I found that sold fresh-​made bread. Straight from the oven to your home!
The deli section has some many different kinds of meats and cheeses that I can’t even being to name them all. There is also a large assortment of fresh fish to choose from including things like salted cod.
The best part is their ready made stuff! There’s so much to choose from! Olivier salad, plov, khachapuri, piroshki, and golubtsy are among my favourite however, they have a lot more!
As for the staff, everyone is very friendly! Don’t be afraid to ask any of the wonderful ladies that work there for help if you don’t understand something. If you want to go on a little culinary adventure just ask for their recommendation and they’ll set you up!

So, so good. Every kind of bread they make (follow the scent and walk around to the back) is fantastic. The have awesome meat and cheese and veg filled pastries, lovely butterflied chickens, skewers, beet salads, sausages, cabbage rolls, pickles, desserts, the list goes on… herring under a fur coat. Everything tastes great, and it is SO cheap. Go here, buy food, eat the food, and then tell people about it. Do it. Now. Do it. No, seriously, now. Go and tell them now.

I agree with some of the other reviewers here, that the outside seating arrangement is very attractive and convenient, especially in summer time.
I have visited all possible Russian markets in this area and I think this is the best so far, and which can be considered to be authentic. The wood fired pizza is almost impossible to get anywhere in the Portland area, except some pizzerias in the SE, where even if pizzas are really baked in the wood fired oven, they tend to be quite dry, burned and with no sauce or very little topping.
At this Russian store pizza is delicious and there is a great variety of fresh pastry, fresh bread, and cakes as well, that taste exactly like those my family make, like they are supposed to taste.
Also, I like their Perizhky and I actually think it tastes even better than that one my mom makes! I like most that it is like back in Europe, where the store staff lets you taste and try different kinds of treats and goodies, and I also like the friendliness of the people who work in the shop. So I will keep on coming back!