Vegetarian in Kutaisi: Retro Restaurants & Cute Cafes

Kutaisi is big on the restaurant and cafe scene, and a lot are in really interesting buildings: retro spaces with high ceilings, vintage decor, unassuming hidden nooks, riverside balconies, artwork from floor to ceiling. But it’s not ‘all style, no substance’. Some of the tastiest meals we have had in Georgia have been in Kutaisi!
This guide will pull together all our favourites, from the really budget places, to the no-quite-so-budget-but-still-budget-enough. You are sure to easily eat vegetarian in Kutaisi and not break the bank, unless you go to the Indian (but they serve some seriously good food there!).

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Vegetarian in Kutaisi: Retro Restaurants

El Depo for the Best Mushroom Khinkali

📍 10 Ioseb Grishashvili

El Depo has a very local feel about it, and serves our favourite mushroom khinkali for very small prices. As the restaurant is across the bridge from the main part of town, you won’t find many tourists here, which is perfect! If you think you can handle the extra carby, cheesiness, order some Imeretian khachapuri with your khinkali. Carbs with a side of carbs; you can’t really go wrong!

Find our favourite spot for blue cheese khinkali in our Tbilisi veg restaurants post.

Sisters

📍 35 Zakharia Paliashvili

Sisters is a beautiful restaurant tucked away on the first floor of what looks like a residential building. The restaurant has high ceilings, retro decor, and has live music (singing or piano playing, or both) in the evenings.  Give the pkhali, lobio, and ajapsandali a go. Good food in a characterful setting.

Story

📍 52 Tsereteli St.

Another restaurant with quirky interior, almost a 1920s feel about it. Story is situated about a ten minute walk out of the centre of town down the river, and with its lovely outdoor seating area overlooking the river Rioni, it’s the perfect spot for a drink. Try the lobiani, elarji, and our favourite; the mushrooms chips with coriander and mashed potato too.

The Biryani House

📍 38/40, Ilia Chachavadze St.

Some of the best Indian food that we have had outside of India. The food is fresh and the flavours are punchy, but not too heavy. The restaurant is a little further outside of the centre – about a 40 minute walk, but you could easily grab a Bolt to get you there for a few lari. They accept cash payment only, and are a little more pricey than the veggie dishes served elsewhere. But, the taste is outrageous and definitely worth the extra journey and extra money.

Palaty

📍 2 Alexander Pushkin St.

Palaty is the only restaurant that we found in Kutaisi without service charge. We have had a couple of great meals here – khachapuri, pkhali, and mushroom soup. Or order yourself a bottle of wine and a plate of their local Imeretian cheese and have yourself a wine and cheese night! Really relaxed atmosphere with friendly staff.

Take a look at this post for all the best things to do in Kutaisi (in between all the eating, of course).

Magnolia

Magnolia is set in another beautiful traditional building overlooking the river. There is an outside seating area with the traditional lacy-style blue balconies – try to snatch yourself a table here, right on the water! The vegetarian food here is really tasty. Try the Adjarian lobiani – the bread boat is really filled with the spiced bean mix and then topped with a variety of pickles. And the beetroot pkhali from here is a must too!

Cafe Newport

Cafe Newport is located inside a fancy hotel, and it definitely has that fancy feel about it. But the prices of the vegetarian food don’t reflect a fancy price tag. Try the ajapsandali, mushroom ojakhuri and the Adjarian khachapuri with spinach. Lovely stuff.

Vegetarian in Kutaisi: Cute Cafes

Cafe Sanimusho

Chris’ favourite spot for a ponchiki. Every time we walked past, he stopped in to grab one. This small bakery serves coffee and drinks as well as freshly baked sweet and savoury goods, and has a lunch deli section. Prime location in the centre of town.

Mini Art Cafe

Across the river, just outside of the main part of town, Mini Art Cafe is a small space covered with art from floor to ceiling. The space has a few tables inside and a few outside, and it is probably my favourite cafe in Kutaisi because of its character! They serve great coffee, and filled croissants to have with it – perfect. Maybe give the veggie breakfast a miss though.

Tea House Foe Foe

This cafe isn’t run by the friendliest people, but it’s worth going for a coffee just to see the place. It has such a unique decor – the cafe is set on a grand retro staircase, with tables and chairs arranged literally on the steps.

Mio

The best ice cream in town! Between us, we must have tried all of the flavours here. We always had to walk past Mio to get to our apartment in Kutaisi, and so naturally, we had to stop in each time.

Bread and Wine

Located inside the Green Bazaar, Bread and Wine serves (you guessed it) fresh bread baked in a traditional tone (similar to a tandoor oven) and wine. The fresh shoti really is perfect from here!

Biblus

I’d say this is the best spot in town for remote working. Tall ceilings, big windows, plenty of power outlets, good wifi, and good coffee. All the boxes ticked.

Cafe Gardenia

This cafe seems to only be open during the warmer months. Seating is placed along the river front, and is a lovely spot within the city centre to have a reasonably priced glass of wine overlooking the water.

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