🍷🥟 24 restaurants and cafes in Tbilisi 2026: where the locals go — a guide for gourmets and tourists

🍴 Where to eat in Tbilisi like a local: tried and tested establishments with atmosphere and taste

🍷 Where do Tbilisians eat? We've collected 24 favorite places of locals - for those who are looking for a real taste of the city and do not want tourist traps.

🍇 Dukans, wine and cellars with history

If you want to get a real taste of Tbilisi, start with dukans - these are traditional Georgian taverns that serve simple but hearty food. Translated from Georgian, dukan (დუქანი) means a shop or a tavern, and most often these are intimate establishments with home-made wine, a warm atmosphere and cuisine "like grandma's".

The peculiarity of Tbilisi dukans is in their surroundings: underground halls with arched vaults, grape vines above the courtyards, a chalky menu and an environment in which nothing has changed since the 60s. This is not pathos or style, this is life.

Why do locals come here? Because it's not "for tourists" here, it's for real: lobio in a clay bowl, khachapuri "workshop-style", homemade wine that flows like water, and conversations until the night. It doesn't matter what the interior is here - it matters who cooks the soup. And it's usually cooked by those who know the recipe from their great-grandmother. In these dukans you can meet students, teachers, artists and grandfathers who have been coming "to their place" for 20 years. Their addresses are passed on by word of mouth, and you need to book a table in advance - especially in the evening.

Mariam, Kutaisi
"Every time I'm in Tbilisi, I go to the dukans. They're not like regular restaurants at all - they're cozy, like you're visiting relatives. The last time I sat in Sofia Melnikova's - an amazing courtyard and khinkali, like they make at home! You can't find such places by chance, it's good that you have them all collected in your catalog - everything matched point for point ❤️"

🥣 Sasadilo & canteens — hearty, simple, homey

A Georgian "sasadilo" is not just a canteen, but a kind of dining space where they serve hearty, inexpensive dishes, often with an open kitchen and an invariable homey atmosphere. Here they do not strive to impress with the interior - people come here for taste, speed and prices, both locals and those who have long become "their own".

The so-called sasadilo are the evolution of Soviet canteens, where the menu is updated on the days of the week, and the portions remain large. This is where you can catch the real rhythm of the city: taxi drivers, students, office workers, pensioners - all with different stories, but with the same goal - to eat tasty and inexpensively.

Such establishments are especially popular in Didube, Isani, Chugureti, and the most "lamp" ones can be found far from the tourist streets. These are not tourist traps, but places where they feed you "according to your conscience": a hot dish, puri from tone, some lobio and tea with sugar - and all this for a couple of lari.

It is worth going here if you want to:

• try Georgian cuisine without pathos, but with soul;
• have a quick bite without losing quality;
• feel like a part of city life, and not just a guest.

If you plan to explore Tbilisi "like a local", be sure to visit one of these places. This is part of the city culture, which is not for photos, but for real impressions.

🥟 Khinkali Favorites: Dough, Juiciness, Love

If you think that khinkali are just “dumplings with broth,” then you’ve never eaten them in the right place. In Tbilisi, every resident has their own favorite, where “those” khinkali with the perfect ratio of dough, filling, and broth are served. Some choose the classic with beef and cilantro, some love mushroom or cheese, and some hunt for rare khinkali with potatoes or herbs.

Locals go to trusted places for khinkali - where they mold them by hand, and not according to a template, where they serve them freshly cooked, and not from the refrigerator. These establishments are not tourist traps, but lively, noisy, and delicious dukans, where it is customary to argue about who ate how much, and how many pieces are “a lot.”

Important to know: in good places, khinkali are served quickly, 5-10 pieces at a time, and always with pepper. Forks are not welcome - take the tail with your hand, bite, drink the broth, finish eating. If you leave the tail, it is considered that you ate it fairly.

🍖 Foamy classics and mtsvadi on a skewer

If you ask a Tbilisi resident where to “eat well with a glass of beer,” they will most likely name one of the establishments from this list. These places are not striving to be included in glossy guidebooks — they have long been on the people’s map of the city, where the main thing is mtsvadi, crispy lavash, homemade beer and noisy conversations at neighboring tables.

Mtsvadi is not shashlik in the usual sense. These are pieces of juicy meat, fried on a skewer over coals, without marinade, with salt and patience. Sometimes it is served on “swords” — long metal skewers with a characteristic presentation. And all this is accompanied by fresh puri from tone, tkemali and sometimes signature kvass or unfiltered beer.

The establishments from this block are favorite places after work, on weekends with friends and during important matches. It's not about aesthetics, but about taste, satiety and atmosphere.

Advice: if you want to understand Tbilisi, eat mtsvadi with your hands, dip it in sauce, wash it down with homemade lager and listen to the conversation at the next table. The whole essence of the city is there.

Marek, 34, Warsaw, Poland
“I flew to Tbilisi from Warsaw for a couple of weeks — friends said that I definitely need to try real Georgian shashlik. Without unnecessary pathos, I went to Taglaura — and it was a hit! Beer, mtsvadi on a skewer and a noisy company of locals — that evening I really felt Tbilisi for the first time. Thanks to the catalogue — I found all the necessary places without unnecessary googling!”

🥟Ovens & pastries: where khachapuri is not just food, but a ritual

If you think you've already tried "that" khachapuri, wait until you visit these places. Here, the dough rises according to all the canons, the ovens are real - wood-fired or tone, and the recipes are passed down from grandmother to grandson. These are places where the food smells like home, and every bite has a story.

📍 At the Lagidze Water cafe, you can wash down a ruddy khachapuri imeruli with real lemonade "on tap" according to an old recipe. And if you want to feel the smell of Kekelidze Street in the morning, just bite into a piece of lobiani from the shop of the same name - its recipe has not changed for 30 years.

💡 Advice from locals: Look for signs with the words "თონე" (tone) - this is a sign of a real Georgian oven. And also - look where the queue is: if the locals are standing, then it's worth it.

🌿 Gastro-courtyards & coziness: where taste, atmosphere and soul meet in the yard

These places are not looked for in guides - they are told about in secret. Establishments where wine flows from a clay jug, poetry sounds in the evenings, and pomegranates bloom next to the kitchen. They don’t just eat here - they live, communicate, celebrate and get inspired.

📍 Salobie Bia is not only the legendary lobio soup, but also an art space where poets perform in the evenings. Rigi Gastrodouqan serves khinkali with a view of the street market, and Palermo offers an atmosphere “like grandma’s” with portions for two. Finally, Alani, where they drink unfiltered homemade beer with Ossetian pies.

💡 Advice from the editors: if you see light bulbs, grapes and an old piano - don’t pass by. This is most likely the very cozy place that will make your evening in Tbilisi unforgettable.

Andrea, Naples (Italy):
"I am simply in love with the gastro-courtyards of Tbilisi! Such places are difficult to describe - you have to feel it. Salobie Bia amazed me with its atmosphere: at the next table they were reading poetry, and I was eating hot lobio and drinking wine from a qvevri. In Palermo I felt like I was at home with a Georgian family. Thanks to your catalogue - without it I would not have found these gems!"

📣 Your establishment may be included in the next rating!

If you own a cafe, restaurant or cozy dukan in Tbilisi, write to us. We will be happy to test it and consider it for inclusion in future selections.

And if you are our reader, tell us about your favorite places in Tbilisi in the reviews. Perhaps they will become the heroes of the next rating! 🥟🍷