Georgian cuisine is unique, both among neighboring cultures, and on a broader scale, featuring a unique combination of influences and indigenous cooking practices that give us the multitude of Georgian dishes that can be seen today across Georgia and in the diaspora. Common ingredients found in Georgian food include cheeses, walnuts, eggplant, meats, grapes, breads and doughs, fish, and a wide variety of spices such as tarragon, coriander, Georgian saffron, fenugreek, and ajika – a chili pepper paste.
Well known dishes in Georgian food includes the instantly recognizable khachapuri, a cheese-filled bread which can be round or square, but also has a boat shaped variety, kharcho, a hearty beef and rice or beef and walnut based stew, khinkali, a juicy twisted dumpling, or churchkhela, walnut and grape juice candies strung and resembling candles.
Georgia is also famous for its wine, where wine has been produced in the region for 8,000 years. Traditionally Georgian wine is produced in buried vessels like Qvevris, where fruit is left to ferment. Saperavi is one of the most well known grape varietals from Georgia, and is unique for having red inner flesh.
Georgian feasts, known as supra, are a type of Georgian feast centered on toasting. Festive supras are known as a keipi and serve as large celebratory events for these toasts. The toasts are led by tamada, or a toastmaster, who proposes a toast on a given theme, which then rotates to different guests to speak on the topic, and when toasting is done, a new theme is toasted for. Guest participation is expected and lots of wine and food may be consumed at these events. In the Georgian diaspora, food as a connection to Georgian culture is just as important as it would be in Georgia. Members of the Georgian diaspora in the United States have established many restaurants across the US to serve as connections to Georgia, as well as allowing those outside of the Georgian community to experience some of the unique and delicious qualities of Georgian food.
The Georgian Association has prepared a map compiling the restaurants across the country, facilitating access to this incredible and vibrant network of food and culture, for Georgians and non-Georgians alike. Several of the restaurants here may allow guests to participate in a supra.
This page showcases several of these Georgian restaurants with an interactive map, where you can see all Georgian restaurants across the US. We are embarking on a journey to tell the story of their owners and founders experience in the diaspora and with Georgian food culture.
If you know of a restaurant we have missed or have any other updates, please fill out this Google Form allowing you to inform us on restaurant openings and closing so we can keep the information fresh.
To check out specific restaurant profiles and interviews with Restaurateurs as a part of the Georgian Diaspora Project, please click on the button below.