Gina’s Cafe (CLOSED)

In-the-know skinflints get their culinary kicks in Brighton Beach, where even the most modern Russian café is priced as if it were in Cold War Moscow. Cheap thrills include Gina’s Salad, a fresh take on the Caesar, featuring lightly dressed greens piled with strips of lox and beads of saline salmon caviar. Sour cream stars in the traditional cold borscht, and coats tender beef in a solid rendering of Russia’s most recognizable dish—beef Stroganoff.