05 - Eat
საჭმელი
What to eat. Where to go.
Know What You're Eating
The rules
Khinkali are soup dumplings. Giant, pleated, filled with meat and broth. They are the most debated thing in Georgian cuisine and there are rules.
Pick it up by the knot. The knot is your handle.
Do not use a fork. That is the whole point.
Bite a small hole in the side. Drink the broth first. This is not optional - it is the best part.
Do not eat the knot itself. It is how people count how many you had. It is also just dough.
Count your dumplings. It becomes competitive. This is fine and encouraged.
Where to eat khinkali
Ask for Khacho's Khinkali - khinkali filled with pot cheese instead of meat. It sounds like a strange choice. It is an excellent choice.
View on Map
Google Maps
A German brewery that also makes, by some miracle, one of the best khinkali in Tbilisi. Also does a smoked lobiani that is worth ordering.
View on Map
Google Maps
Khachapuri means cheese bread. There are many kinds, and knowing the difference matters. Georgia also has over 60 unique cheeses.
Imeretian
The round one
The most common. A round flatbread with fresh Imeruli cheese inside. The baseline. Excellent.
Adjarian
The boat
An open boat of bread filled with cheese, an egg cracked on top, butter added hot. You stir it all together. Order this.
Penovani
The flaky triangle
Layered, flaky puff-pastry style dough. Almost like a savoury pastry. Sofi's favorite from Machakhela.
Qada
The Meskheti one
A flaky, layered pastry from Samtskhe-Javakheti filled with savory cheese. Crispy outside, soft inside. Almost impossible to find outside the region.
Walnuts on a string, dipped in thickened grape juice, hung to dry. Chewy, grape-sweet, nutty. You will see it sold everywhere. Only buy from Badagi — the quality difference is obvious.
Find Badagi
Google Maps
Natural fruit and herb syrups mixed with sparkling water. Started in 1887. Served at the 1945 Yalta Conference. Served in most places we recommend.
lagidze.ge →
Rtveli Festival · Kakheti · September · Photo: Liam
01
For when the day needs to start gently.
Get the shoti bread with pesto. Great to work from during the day and good to be at night. Inside the Fabrika compound.
View on Map
Google Maps
Reliable multi-location chain. Good for a quick snack, coffee, or when you need something fast. Their pastry is genuinely good.
View on Map
Google Maps
02
Traditional flavors, contemporary approach.
One of our favourite places. Modern interpretations of Georgian classics.
View on Map
Google Maps
Good Adjarian khachapuri and Lagidze lemonade. The space alone is worth experiencing.
View on Map
Google Maps
A beautiful, intimate place. Good tea selection. Their Chikhirtma is very good and people are very nice.
View on Map
Google Maps
You eat the pkhali variety from a shared dish called Gobi - the name comes from the Georgian word for friendship - Megobroba.
View on Map
Google Maps
Our go-to for penovani khachapuri - the flaky triangular kind. Multiple locations, reliable, always good.
View on Map
Google Maps
Beautiful place. Good tea. Their Chikhirtma is very good and people are very nice.
View on Map
Google Maps
A solid choice for a proper brunch. Calm setting, good food, the kind of place you end up staying at longer than you planned.
View on Map
Google Maps
03
Places designed for staying, not just eating.
Multiple food and drink spots scattered through the courtyard. Walk around, see what looks good, sit outside. The atmosphere does most of the work.
View on Map
Google Maps
A curated collection of bars and spots built around a shared outdoor space. Good for bouncing between places without committing to one.
View on Map
Google Maps
Reference
Georgia has 12 distinct regional cuisines. Western Georgia is spicier, more walnut, more poultry. Eastern Georgia is heavier on meat and bread - wine country cuisine.
Western Georgia
Samegrelo
Megrelian ajika · Elarji · Gebzhalia
Imereti
Imeretian khachapuri · Pkhali · Chqinti
Adjara
Adjarian khachapuri · Borano · Sinori
Guria
Sacivi · Gurian pie
Svaneti
Kubdari · Chvishtari
Racha
Racha ham · Shkmeruli · Lobiani
Abkhazia
Abista · Apkhazura · Ajika
Eastern Georgia
Kakheti
Mtsvadi · Khashlama · Chakapuli
Kartli
Chikhirtma · diverse soups
Mntianeti
Khinkali (original) · Dambalkhacho
Tusheti
Guda cheese
Samtskhe-Javakheti
Sofi's Region
Tenili cheese · Apokhti · Guliani Kada
სოფელი
Beyond the city
Some of the best Georgian food is not in a restaurant. It is at a family's table in a village an hour or two out of the city, cooked by people who grew most of what is on it.
Mziskari is an independent guide that curates exactly these hosts - family-run homes and agrohouses across the country where you eat what the region actually eats, and get seated like a guest rather than a customer.
Hosts across the regions
An independent gastronomic guide to Georgia
The way to eat here
In Georgia you go to places to hang out and spend hours talking and loving life with friends and family. Take your time. Nobody expects you to rush. Have an adventure.
Share everything. Order too much. Don't plan the last dish before you've eaten the first one.
The table will keep offering you things. Accept most of them.
More recommendations
A curated list from the Fabrika team.