Seeking authentic Armenian/Georgian cuisine. Is Kavkaz the OG or is there another contender?

Thanks for any recs, super appreciated!
Happy New Year!

Old Village was probably the best for a great variety of Georgian dishes before they closed (possibly due to retirement). Since it’s closure, Kavkaz or Khinkali House in Glendale can fill in some of the void. And there’s Tukmayan Khinkali Factory in Glendale as well, but has the most limited menu of the 3.

I have little to report since this discussion. Our people still mainly cater our own which means going to weird places like Golden Fork and I can’t find any Georgian around at all. Haven’t tried hard though.

Thank you LAFP and Nemroz…super helpful leads!

just to point out my feedback is for Armenian and Georgian food actually from those places. There are tons of Armenian places around from arabic countries which are labeled armenian but are fusion with lebanese/syrian etc.

I haven’t found any Georgian food in LA.

Closest I know of are Pomegranate in San Diego (now only one location) and Bevri in, of all places, Palo Alto.

Hi Nemroz, what about pure Armenian/ Armenian spots in LA…what restos would that include?

sorry busy day… we did that pretty well in the other thread

generally they’re tough for americans to deal with with the language barrier and our people smoking and doing shots at 1 pm… but it’s not as if you’re not welcome.

Thanks Nem. We’re takin’ it gangsta from what I can tell…Old Gyurmi in Glendale. Should be interesting!

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go all in.

Old Village in Glendale was the place to go for all things Georgian. Husband was Armenian, wife Georgian. The place closed about a year ago, think they retired. So right now, Kavkaz is the place to go for good khinkalis. They didn’t speak English, so I would just point to pictures on the menu.

There’s also a Khinkali place in Glendale. Probably your best bet for some Georgian fare. Otherwise, Georgian khachapuris can be found at Tony Khachapuri in Hollywood, or at any Big Mama & Big Papa’s Pizza. Euro Asia in Encino is a Russian restaurant that offers some dishes from their former republics.

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I dig the various Khachapuri at

T&Y Bakery
6333 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 930-2355
https://goo.gl/maps/MgH3ytDUrfa47wpc8

No adjaruli though.

Khinkali is at every Armenian restaurant these days but I don’t know who has homemade and who doesn’t. The deep Georgian stuff we read about like stews etc is nowhere to be found and I’m mad

You can get pre-made kharcho (a Georgian soup) in most Russian delis.

Happy to see that Havlabar has the walnut purees; those are always great in Russia but I don’t really see them out here.

Anybody know where to find the bright green tarragon soda drink in LA?

I’ve definitely seen it at Super King and Jons

Every Armenian shop has Tarxun, that drink. It’s an Armenian classic. Our #1 herb

Had I had any doubts - which I did not have - that many of the LA Times/Eater LA ideas come from “us,” they would have been dispelled by Addison’s newsletter on khachapuri last Saturday in which he writes, " If you follow social media food accounts or the obsession cycles of food writers, or if you frequent the Armenian bakeries concentrated in Glendale and Pasadena, you might know about this caloric gift to humanity. "

I think the obsession was already widespread by the time someone opened a khachapuri pop-up inside of a hipster banh mi shop in Hollywood and offered a version covered with everything-bagel spice.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/is-georgian-cuisine-the-next-big-thing-these-enthusiasts-hope-so/2015/03/03/d5060ece-bdfd-11e4-8668-4e7ba8439ca6_story.html

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We had reasonably decent khinkali, khachapuri, kebabs, muhamarra, and a really good eggplant and beef salad at Chef’s BBQ in Glendale the other week.

Would definitely go again. Although I think the kebabs are better at Skaf’s (plus they have kibbeh nayeh!).

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