After a quick Web search: https://www.rbth.com/arts/history/2017/07/28/soviet-hangover-how-people-drank-beer-in-the-ussr_813198 https://www.rbth.com/arts/histo

After a quick Web search: https://www.rbth.com/arts/history/2017/07/28/soviet-hangover-how-people-drank-beer-in-the-ussr_813198 https://www.rbth.com/arts/history/2017/07/28/soviet-hangover... > Bartender of Gambrinus bar, 1967 > Bars only began opening in the seventies. Even the word "bar" itself was a novelty, and sounded Western to people. These joints tended to be pretty simple inside, serving draft beer, bar snacks, and even American cigarettes if you were lucky. During the anti-alcohol campaign of 1985, bars were allowed to remain open as beer was considered a far less evil than vodka. Similar situation with meat, often there were shortages of meat, but it's not like people ate meat only rarely in the USSR, as far as I understand.