Chicago Diplomat Cafe — Restaurant in Lake View Township

Overall Thoughts: This is the only Georgian restaurant in Chicago and my first time trying Georgian food— it didn’t disappoint and made for an extremely hearty, filling meal (albeit on the saltier side). Extra shout out to our super kind and awesome server!! The ambience inside is beautiful—both stately and homey. We came with a dinner reservation on Friday, but it wasn’t too crowded inside so walk-ins are probably fine too. Prices were a bit high, but reasonable for the portions (~$42 pp with tax/tip).

Food I tried: Pkhali: Kind of looked and tasted like colorful, non-fried falafel without the chickpeas. These are made with various vegetables and walnuts for a robust umami flavor. They were very soft and creamy, and were quite hearty and delicious.

Imeruli Khachapuri: Khachapuri is the national dish of Georgia; our server recommended this particular one as his favorite. It was essentially a bread stuffed with various cheeses, and tasted quite good and was very filling. It was really salty though, so I was pretty thirsty after this one.

Mushroom Ojakhhuri: This is a vegetarian dish that our server recommended. The mushrooms were soft and flavorful, though the potatoes were a little too mushy for my liking. Was delicious overall though, with buttery and creamy textures.

Khinkali: For reference, these soup-filled dumplings are kind of like Chinese xiao long baos but with MUCH thicker skin and an all-meat filling, so they’re a lot heavier and more filling. They were delicious— I really liked how doughy and chewy the skin was, and the soup and filling were flavorful. You can choose how many you want (they’re $4 each).

Stewed Feijoa Kompot drink: We also tried a bottle of stewed feijoa kompot drink, which our server told us is very popular and commonly drunk in Georgia. The flavor was pretty interesting—mildly sweet, flowery, and tart. —

Price (relative to peers): 4.2/5 Food: 4.3/5 Ambience: 5/5 Service: 5/5 Overall...

This place fills my heart with a warmth that I can only feel while traveling. The food is delicious, with many options being packed with garlic (if you love garlic, then go here!). It truly feels like a home cooked meal and it takes you out of America and into a small restaurant in the heart of Georgia.

The staff are friendly and more than willing to talk about different aspects of their home. They even gave me some complimentary chocolate for my birthday. There are various tapestries and artwork hung up on the walls which help establish a comfortable and warm ambience.

Every dish I’ve had here has been amazing, ranging from the (please excuse my spelling) chkmeruli (garlic chicken in a cream sauce), to the khinkali (brothy meat dumplings), to the khachapuri (Georgian cheese pastries). Even something as simple as rice has been prepared excellently.

Restaurants like this exist to share the joy of their home culture, and no place’s cooking has filled me with such warmth from food like the Diplomat Cafe has. I highly recommend this place to anybody looking to try something new or to anybody looking for food that feels like home, even if it’s something they’ve never had before. The Diplomat Cafe has managed to touch my heart like no other Chicago...

As Ukrainian, I love delicious Georgian food. I was very excited to find this cute Georgian restaurant in Lakeview. In my opinion Georgian food is one of the most tastiest in the history of the world’s famous cuisines. Every dish is so full of different flavors which will surprise and satisfy the most demanding pallets. I’ve ordered some meat khinkali filled with delicious broth. There is some trick to eat this dish without spilling the broth. I think the restaurant personnel can help to learn that little trick. Also, I get a chance to enjoy khachapuri with melted cheese and an egg . And it’s taste was very delightsome. Their pkhali were very rich in herbs and walnuts. The dish is eggplant and beets based. This place is BYOB and Georgian red wine is perfect choice for such a hearty food filled with Georgian sun and love. I think that some ethnic Georgian music would be great addition to underline the authenticity of this restaurant. The service was very attentive but I’ve came early afternoon and was an only customer over there to my big surprise. Don’t hesitate to give it a chance if you not familiar with Georgian good. The dinner can take a turn being a great gastronomic discovery...