15 Best International Restaurants in Tbilisi

A 5 rating across 360 reviews is a difficult thing to hold, and this small Italian room on Iakob Gogebashvili Street has managed it. The menu runs Neapolitan pizza, pasta and ravioli, with cocktails and Georgian wine beside them, and the terrace is where the view is. Google's listing marks the room casual and quiet, family-friendly and LGBTQ+ friendly, with dogs allowed inside. Come here when you want proper pizza without leaving the centre for it. The kitchen opens at 2 PM on most days and runs to 12 AM, and there's usually parking outside.

The view is the reason to climb up here, and the kitchen happens to be vegetarian all the way through. Livin & Jagannath sits on Samreklo Street with its terrace pointed at the Holy Trinity Cathedral: the church view takes 9 mentions in its review topics, the city view another 9 and the panorama 7. Its own listing is blunt about the food, with no eggs and no meat of any kind served. It suits a solo dinner, and one reviewer who wanted somewhere quiet enough to eat alone found it here. Come at sunset if you can, because that's what the terrace is for.

Most of the Italian cooking on this list sits within a walk of the old town. La Burrata doesn't, and 769 reviews still hold it at 4.8 out in Nadzaladevi. Italian food takes 57 mentions in its review topics, ahead of large portions at 12, the cozy room at 9 and thin crust at 4. Google marks it casual and quiet, good for groups, with outdoor seating, a private dining room and free parking. It's open 12 to 11 PM every day and takes bookings, so a table for 8 on a Friday is a phone call away.

The garden is what you come for: Persian takhts to sit on outside, with an indoor hall for when the weather turns. Mr Kabab is a halal Iranian kitchen on Iuri Gagarini Street in Saburtalo holding 4.8 from 516 reviews, and halal food takes 26 mentions in its review topics with hookah on 13. Its own listing offers a DJ and full celebration service on request, so birthdays and private events are part of what it does. It's open 12 to 11 PM daily and takes bookings through its site. Bring cash: it comes up 7 times in the review topics, and you'd rather know now.

You go down a set of steps off Geronti Kikodze Street to get in, which its own listing counts as part of the appeal. Kava is a Lebanese kitchen in a historic Sololaki building, holding 4.8 from 374 reviews, and Lebanese food takes 52 mentions in its review topics with hummus and shish tawook on 18 each. Google marks it casual, cozy and quiet, family-friendly and good for groups, with a private dining room and a salad bar. It's open 1 PM to 1 AM every day, with paid street parking outside that its listing warns is usually tight.

Halal food takes 92 mentions in this one's review topics, more than anything else about it, and biryani takes 67. Al Madina Cave is an Indian, Arabic and Pakistani kitchen on Gia Tetelashvili Street, in a vaulted room one reviewer describes as cave-style, and 1,619 reviews hold it at 4.7. Its own listing promises curries, biryanis and tandoori dishes in a family-friendly room, and welcoming staff carries 27 mentions of its own. It's open 12 PM to 2 AM every day. Come here when dinner has slipped past midnight and you still want it cooked properly.

Ambrosiano has been doing the same thing on Tamar Chovelidze Street since 2016, and its own listing calls the atmosphere formal instead of apologising for it. It's a family-owned Italian dining room that identifies as women-owned on Google, with 1,152 reviews holding it at 4.7. The profile flags a great wine list, great coffee, great dessert and a great tea selection, and marks the room quiet, with dogs allowed. Reservations are required here rather than merely accepted, so book before you go. Google also marks the entrance as not wheelchair accessible, which is worth knowing in advance.

Some dinners want a plate of khinkali and some want a tablecloth. Brasserie Buvette is the tablecloth kind, a European kitchen on Lado Gudiashvili Street that its own listing sells as fine dining with a European touch. Its review topics run French bistro at 9, burrata salad at 8, salmon at 7 and steak au poivre at 6, with elegant interior at 3. Mirrors and glass panels split the room so one table isn't quite in the next one's lap, and the music stays at the volume of a conversation. It's open 12 PM to 12 AM every day and holds 4.6 from 370 reviews.

Karaoke takes 25 mentions in its review topics, more than any dish in them, which tells you what kind of Japanese restaurant this is. Nozomi sits in a basement on the lower end of Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue, holding 4.5 from 243 reviews, and its own listing calls it an international communication bar and a place for encounters and reunions. Cosy place takes 8 mentions and meeting new people 3. Come here when you want dinner that turns into a night. It's open 6 PM to 12 AM and closed on Tuesdays.

Its own listing puts it in 1 line: Caucasian barbecue, known as mtsvadi in Georgian, plus kebab. Big Boar is up in Nadzaladevi on Tengiz Sheshelidze Street, holding 4.5 from 270 reviews, and outdoor cafe takes 3 mentions in its review topics, alongside grilled meat and beer on 3 each. Friendly staff leads everything at 8. Come here when you want meat and beer with no ceremony around it, and bring patience: one reviewer waited over an hour for an order. It's open 11 AM to 11 PM every day.

Halal food takes 85 mentions in its review topics, well ahead of any dish, which tells you what most people come for. Spice Garden is an Indian and Pakistani kitchen at 123 Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue, holding 4.5 from 2,493 reviews, with a salad bar, a private dining room, free parking and free Wi-Fi. The crowd runs to families, groups, college students and tourists, and the listing marks it popular for solo dining as well. Come here when you want Indian food a mixed table can agree on, vegetarians included. It's open 11:30 AM to 11:30 PM daily and takes reservations.

It's open 12 PM to 12 AM every day, which makes it a late option as well as a lunch one. Tom Yum sits on Lado Asatiani Street in the old town, holding 4.5 from 629 reviews, and its Google listing describes the whole operation in 2 words: Thai food. The room is informal and cosy, and English is limited, so be ready to point at the menu. Come here when you want soup and noodles rather than an occasion, and note that one reviewer was charged 10% extra for paying by card.

Cats take 27 mentions in its review topics, more than any dish. Shpana is a fully vegan kitchen on Giorgi Chitaia Street, 4.4 from 288 reviews, at 20 to 30 GEL a head, and its own listing describes artistry and anarchy and a place free from violence and discrimination. The crowd is students, groups and tourists, the listing marks it LGBTQ+ friendly and a transgender safespace, and dogs are allowed inside. Food is cooked by the owner as each order comes in, so it's an evening you give over rather than fit in. It's open 4 PM to 12 AM daily.

The owner and the staff are Thai, and the kitchen cooks Isaan food, the Northeastern style. Thanapon is a small room on Aleksandr Pushkin Street, holding 4.4 from 289 reviews, with a kind owner leading its review topics at 9 mentions, prawns at 8 and pad krapow at 7. Small place takes 4 of its own, and the kitchen smokes the room out when the orders stack up. Come here when you want the cooking to be the whole point, and bring cash, since cards have been turned down here. It's open 11 AM to 11 PM daily.

Students take 21 mentions in its review topics and the student discount another 9, which tells you who fills the tables. Spectra is a halal fast-food kitchen at 27 Vazha Pshavela Avenue in Saburtalo, holding 4.4 from 541 reviews, and its own listing sums the operation up as halal food in Tbilisi, all fresh. Sandwiches lead the topics at 19, with affordability on 3 and portion size on 2. Come here when you want halal food fast and cheap rather than an occasion. It's open 11:30 AM to 11:30 PM and closed on Sundays.