Tbilisi, Georgia

Eating & Drinking

Eating

Georgian cuisine is especially unique and is surprisingly diverse for such a small country. Each regions has its own specialties and almost all of them are represented in Tbilisi. Georgian cooking was seen as the haute cuisine of the Soviet Union and while most other republics lacked restaurants and cafes, the Georgians maintained their tradition.

Food is fresh and filling in Georgia and is one of the center pieces of the culture. Throughout Tbilisi one finds the streets lined with cafes, restaurants, bars, and other kinds of eateries. Bakeries dot the city baking fresh bread and khachapuri (cheese pie, see photo at bottom of page) all day long. Despite the vast assortment of eateries the Georgians still pride themselves on home cooking. If one strolls the city on weekends they will find that courtyards and verandahs are full of families surrounding tables with plates of food stacked high. Georgians will spend time eating, enjoying their food and usually supplementing their healthy appetites with large amounts of wine and vodka.

There is one McDonald's located in Tbilisi, but for the most part foreign food as not made an entrance into the culture, despite how cosmopolitan the city is otherwise. There is some Turkish food, and pizza is starting to become a regular item, but Georgians consider their cuisine the best and find it difficult to accept others. Due to this, foreign food is fairly difficult to find in Tbilisi.

Drinking

Not only do the Georgians enjoy their food, but they also enjoy their drinking. Wine is the most popular alcoholic beverage followed by vodka. Another Georgian specialty which is nonalcoholic are fresh juices where are sold at stands and kiosks throughout Tbilisi.

At a supra or dinner party one experiences the full extent of Georgian drinking. A toast maker or tamada is selected and they'll conduct toasts throughout the dinner, and at certain points may ask guests to drain their glasses. A supra may last for hours and be followed by singing. The meals have a series of courses and usually liters of wine are emptied. In restaurants it is common for customers to individually order multiple bottles of wine.

Bars are common throughout Tbilisi and generally offer a selection of wine (though not sold by the glass) vodka and some local brands of beer. Generally bars will also have a selection of hot dished to be eaten while drinking such as khachapuri and khinkali, a kind of dumpling.

Khinkali - Meat Dumplings. Georgian men often compete to see who can eat the most while drinking beer
Acharan Khachapuri - oven baked cheese pie where raw eggs are added after beeing pulled out of the oven. They are cooked on a simmering bed of cheese
Imereti Khachapuri- simple bread with fatty cheese baked cheese inside.
Bardijani - Grilled Eggplant
Kharcho - A meat stew
Georgian Wines