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photo credit: Melissa Zink
Georgian Cheese Boat
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We submit Georgian Cheese Boat as the perfect casual dinner spot. This North Beach place (the city’s only Georgian restaurant) is brimming with perks you didn’t know you needed: quick service, homey charm, and a fun selection of Georgian wines. If Cheese Boat was located in the middle of the Bay Bridge at rush hour, we’d still send you there.
Another perk: leftovers. They're guaranteed since you’ll probably get tap-happy at the tad awkward (but efficient) self-service kiosk, which includes a digital screen and pictures of every dish. You won’t regret ordering too much since the traditional homestyle food is so good, and the streamlined process will make you giddy about all the salads, sausages, stews, and khachapuri heading your way.
photo credit: Melissa Zink
photo credit: Melissa Zink
photo credit: Melissa Zink
Speaking of khachapuri, this spot’s namesake dish—a bread boat filled with tangy melted cheese, butter, and egg—is incredible. As are the juicy beef and lamb khinkali full of rich broth. Since this is the place to order enough food to feed a baseball league, be sure the following are on the table, too: the phkali, a puréed, walnut-based salad with minced vegetables (get it with a side of bread), the golden-fried cornish game hen, and the gooey cheese-stuffed puffed penovani. Drinking wine (just $10-$13 a glass), preferably while catching up with your tablemates, is a non-negotiable.
Out of Georgian Cheese Boat’s many superpowers, one we admire the most is its versatility. It’s casual enough for you to just stroll in (no reservations here), but also ideally suited for cute date nights—just so long as you’re OK with having to wait for someone to finish tippity-tapping at the ordering station.
photo credit: Melissa Zink
photo credit: Melissa Zink
Food Rundown
photo credit: Melissa Zink
Khinkali
photo credit: Melissa Zink
Khachapuri
Georgian Salad
Chicken Tabaka
photo credit: Melissa Zink
Phkali Combo
photo credit: Melissa Zink