Khinkali
Twisted dumplings full of spiced meat and broth. Hold the top knot, bite, sip, then eat — and leave the knot on the plate.
TipOrdered by the piece; five is a normal start.
Food
Taste Tbilisi.
A cuisine of walnuts, herbs and pomegranate, and one of the oldest wine cultures on earth.
The Georgian table
What to eat
Khachapuri
Cheese bread in many regional forms. The boat-shaped Adjaruli arrives with an egg and butter to stir in.
TipImeruli is the everyday round version; Megruli has cheese on top too.
Georgian cuisine
Walnut pastes, herbs, pomegranate and slow stews — the flavours of the supra, the Georgian feast.
TipOrder several small dishes to share.
Wine
Qvevri-fermented amber wines, Saperavi reds and Rkatsiteli whites — Georgia is one of the oldest wine regions on earth.
TipAsk for “natural” or qvevri wine to taste the traditional method.
Bakeries
Shotis puri is baked against the walls of a round clay tone oven. Follow the smell down any basement stair.
TipBest still warm, torn by hand.
Street food & markets
Churchkhela, tklapi fruit leather, spices and cheese at the markets.
TipBring cash to the bazaar.
Cafés & coffee
A strong specialty coffee scene sits alongside the old tradition of thick, sweet Turkish-style coffee.
Vegetarian
Georgia is surprisingly veggie-friendly: pkhali, badrijani with walnuts, lobio beans and mushrooms in ketsi.
TipDuring Orthodox fasting periods many restaurants have vegan menus.
Where to go
Restaurants, cafés & wine bars
Hand-picked. No sponsored listings, no invented ratings.
Modern Georgian
Barbarestan
Recipes from a 19th-century cookbook by Duchess Barbare Jorjadze, reimagined in a cellar dining room.
Modern Georgian
Café Littera
Chef Tekuna Gachechiladze’s modern Georgian cooking in the garden of the Writers’ House.
Georgian
Culinarium Khasheria
Beside the baths: khashi (the famous hangover soup) and updated Georgian classics.
Georgian
Salobie Bia
A tiny, cosy dining room built around lobio — beans in clay pots — and simple Imeretian food.
Georgian
Keto & Kote
A house on the Vera hillside with a terrace, a view and well-made Georgian dishes.
Cafés
Lolita
Café, bar and courtyard in a restored mansion — busy from brunch until late.
Cafés
Stamba
A former Soviet publishing house turned hotel, café and roastery — dramatic interiors.
Wine
Vino Underground
A cellar bar pouring natural, qvevri-made wines from small Georgian producers.
Wine
Pheasant’s Tears
The Tbilisi table of the Kakheti winery that helped put qvevri wine on the world map.
Coffee
Coffee Lab
A specialty roastery and café, a pioneer of third-wave coffee in Tbilisi.
Street food
Dezerter Bazaar food stalls
Cheese, churchkhela, pickles, spices and fresh bread from market vendors.
Street food
Fabrika courtyard
Several small bars and kitchens around one courtyard.
Opening hours change often — check with the venue before you go.