.
Georgian cuisine is one of our favorites, and we've been fortunate to have sampled it in Russia, New York City, and now the Bay Area. Georgian Cheese Boat opened in San Francisco in 2023, but only recently did we have a chance to try it. The restaurant, founded by Shalva Dzotsenidze is the fast casual sibling to his Tamari Authentic Georgian Cuisine Restaurant in San Carlos.
.
Georgian Cheese Boat Location and Hours
Georgian Cheese Boat is located at 1224 Grant Avenue in the Little Italy neighborhood of San Francisco, about a 20-minute-walk from the Embarcadero Muni Station or a 16-minute-walk from the Ferry Building. The restaurant is open 11:30am-9:30pm daily, except Wednesdays and Thursdays, when it's only open for dinner, from 5-9:30pm. In keeping with its casual nature, typically reservations aren't needed for lunch, but because the restaurant is so small, we do recommend making a reservation for dinner, especially during earlier dining times such as 5:30-7:30pm.
.
.
Georgian Cheese Boat Menu and Food
When we dined on a recent Sunday, we arrived a bit early for our 6:15pm reservation, and the restaurant was almost completely full, with one harried server, although fortunately a nice sunny window table was available. It was a few minutes, after he'd taken care of some other tables, until he was able to get us the menu (which was fine: we'd arrived before our reservation time, and weren't in any hurry).
Naturally, we focused on the khachapuri options (our favorite is always the classic adjaruli, which on this menu was transliterated as acharuli):
.
.
.
.
While we might try one of the Georgian wines when we return, on this occasion we opted for non-alcoholic house-made fruit compote (juice). A half bottle, which was more than enough for two of us to share, was just $6.95 + tax, and included many of the cherries used to make it in the bottle.
.
First to arrive was the Combo of appetizers, a nice sampler of pkhali (Georgian vegetable pate made with walnuts, garlic, and herbs), eggplant rolls, stuffed bell pepper, and tolma (similar to Middle Eastern dolma). They must have been out of Carrot Pkhali, since we were given two of the Beet Pkhali, but that was fine with me, since I prefer Beet Pkhali anyway.
.
Next were the much anticipated Classic Acharuli Khachapuri. It was a good thing we ordered two of them, as our ravenous teen commandeered one for himself, while my husband and I shared the other one. While served with a raw egg on top, the melted cheese is hot enough to cook the egg when you mix it in, and then the piping hot bread is torn off and dunked in the cheese-egg filling: incredibly satisfying.
.
We also ordered the Blackberry Glazed Quail, served with fried potatoes. Quails are always a bit tricky to eat, so in retrospect I regretted not ordering something easier, such as the Chakapuli (Georgian lamb stew) or Chicken Tabaka, but our hungry teen wasn't daunted, and put in the work to extract every last bit of meat from the bones.
.
The Verdict
Georgian Cheese Boat is worth a visit for its khachapuri alone, though we look forward to returning to try other Georgian classics as well. It's a small operation, so expect some wait time.
Recommended Posts
Bevri Restaurant Review, Palo Alto
Review: Polenta Trattoria, San Francisco
Top California Luxury Hotel Offers 2026
If you enjoyed this, join 200,000+ readers: follow TravelSort on Twitter or like us on Facebook to be alerted to new posts.
Subscribe to TravelSort on YouTube for travel inspiration.
Become a TravelSort Client and Book 5-Star Hotels with Virtuoso or Four Seasons Preferred Partner Benefits