Havlabar Cuisine

Was over on the west side so we decided to try some Georgian foods. It was an earlier dinner so the place is not packed. Social media recommended to try Khinkali, similar to Chinese xiao long Bao. Choice fried or steamed. Pretty bland and have no flavor. No sauce auto dip or anything. For the fried ones, they served with sour cream! Still no faded flavor. We also ordered Chakapuli, stewed lamb cooked with Tarragon leaves(similar to collar greens). Still bland but it would be good for a winter’s meal. The service was noticeably bad even we were the only table I the restaurant. Our server went MIA until the check is requested. Don’t waste your money here.

I wanted some Georgian food and heard good things about Khinkali House. On my way I saw this place. When I got to KH, I said to myself, that parking situation looked stupid. So I went back here and got a spot right in front of the restaurant. The kitchen door was open and I saw someone slapping dough between their hands, which is always a good sign. The inside is very interesting because half the tables are sectioned off with what looks like a matchstick fencing material, which I found intriguing and helpful for private parties, although of course you could hear everything being said. The statuesque server was all business. I ordered the Imeruli Katchapuri, which is like a beautifully made stuffed pizza with fondue inside. It's wildly good it's hard to overstate how perfect the bread was. I then tried something I never had before which was the Sacivi, which as described is chicken in a thick Walnut sauce. It's basically an excellent chicken salad with a pureed consistency yet much much thicker than something like hummus. It was very tasty but super rich, and a difficult thing to stack on top of the katchapuri. These dishes are meant to be eaten with Friends and I don't have any, so I have to take most of it to go.

Great place to get Armenian and Georgian food! We got Khinkali, Khachapuri, Kharcho, and a few different salads and appetizers. All the food was hot and delicious, and service was very friendly. Good portion sizes - we had enough leftovers to last us a whole meal. If anything, they should expand their beer offerings, they only had Stella available. Will definitely try to make it back next time we're in town!

Very disappointing experience. The restaurant was smoky and poorly ventilated, which made it uncomfortable from the moment we walked in. The place felt dirty and neglected, with visible grime and an overall lack of cleanliness. On top of that, the atmosphere was oppressive and unpleasant — not welcoming at all. Instead of enjoying a meal, we just wanted to leave as soon as possible. This is not a place I would recommend to anyone who values cleanliness, fresh air, or a comfortable dining environment.

Like all the other comments cigarettes smell were overwhelming and destroyed the whole experience in this restaurant. So be ready to swim in the cigarettes. On another note food was super fresh and delicious. Quantity is reasonable for the price. Just not option of vegetarian/ vegan in the main dishes. Only few options in the salads section. Bread was very tasty and be careful the bread with beans also have cheese.

Apr 21st, 2022 Absolutely not worth it ! I ordered 6 khinkalis and a khachapuri. Khinkalis were OK, nothing extraordinary except one was undercooked, the meat was partially cold. No idea how this might’ve happened. The thing they called khachapuri was inedible, burnt on both sides (top and bottom), and the cheese was anything but suluguni. It looked and tasted like cheep Mexican cheese. Also the size of my khachapuri was really small, 5-6 inches max. For $12 you may have twice bigger pizza (Napoli style at 800 Degrees). I could not finish even a slice and have left it behind. If you have a nostalgia for Soviet times (shameless crooks and lack of service), this place will bring back all those memories. It’s like they have invented a time machine. According to their menu 6 khinkalis are $15, and one layer cheese khachapuri is $12. I was charged $36,69. The worst part is that patrons are aloud to smoke inside. I regret coming here

Good service and food, tables are semi-private screened off booths so you can eat in relative privacy (08/2022). The lamb stew with herbs is delicious, and table is served fresh bread with butter and cream. The Kachapuri on grill is essentially a very long croissant dough with mozzarella cheese inside.

Best Georgian Armenian cuisine, I will come back to this place over and over. I recommend to all lovers of the best exotic Caucasian food

Pro tip: anticipate not finding parking at this strip mall. Be ready to park across the street because slots here fill up fast! The food is great! Authentic Georgian cuisine at reasonable prices. The only issue I had is that they allow customers to smoke indoors. Other than that, it's a wonderful place to just eat good food and chill. Bring your friends to Havlabar when you're in Glendale. The khachapuri alone is worth it.

Best I've had it's basically home made. Very nice place and they have everything you'd ever want or need at a proper dinner table. Service is great every question is answered and explained properly by the server. Will always come back only cons are the place isn't bigger and parking isn't bigger.

Love this place! Good selection, authentic taste, reasonable pricing. Service is not typical for US, which makes it even more authentic.

the lady answering the service quality worst then sovet union times . if you want experience the worst customer answering service call and see

Best food and service ever . No other experience like it. 10/10 recommend, will be going again soon

Do not come here! 1. They smoke inside. 2. The worst customer service I have ever had. 3. We walked into an unfriendly hostess. She sat us down at the farthest table from the entrance. Basically, tossed the menu at us, didn't explain the food or any specials. Then we asked for water, not bottled water. They brought us bottled water. We asked a 2nd waitress for water, and she also gave us bottles. I had to use a hand signal for a pitcher. I ordered 3 dumplings, and they're were huge and missing something. Such terrible service, didn't come over to check on us. Then, I started to smell cigarette smoke. The waitress was smoking inside the restaurant! We asked her to go outside to smoke, and she refused. Then we noticed other people were smoking inside too. The service was rude, we just left. Do not come here!!

I wasn't sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised to find some very traditional Armenian dishes. The soups take a long time to cook so they are only available at certain times or through advance orders

The name of the restaurant is Havlabar which is the Armenian spelling of the word Avlabari. It is a city in Georgia, now we read it as the state of Georgia. The pronunciation of the county of Georgia should be its Russian name Gruziya, so it's not the same pronunciation as the state of Georgia. I was introduced by a friend who referred to this as a Libernan restaurant, but we eventually found that it's a Georgian family restaurant. The waitresses come from the mid-east, they are so beautiful with dark eyes and dark hair. Danny and I arrive around 2 pm, fortunately, they are still open. It looks like Danny is very familiar with the restaurant and the waitress. He told me that the yogurt and bread is very good, and it looks like both yogurt and bread are made by the restaurant instead of purchased from the market. I do not know Libernan food, as Danny first mentioned, nor Georgian Food. As Danny ordered a set of Beef Lule Kabab, I mentioned that I want to try some single dish. The waitress recommend the OSTRI, and we also ordered two Khinkali, one boiled and one fried, it looks so like a Chinese dumpling called sui mai. The juice of the Beef Lule Kebab was much beyond my imagination, it was so soft and juicy. The best kebab I ever had. I only shared half piece of Beef Lule Kebab from Danny, I have to say this one is worth 5 stars. The Beef Lule Kebab is served with grilled tomato, you will smash it and mix it with the rice, it is sour and can reduce the oily of the meat. I was supposed to order lamb chop or other dishes, but the waitress recommend OSTRI. The dish is soooo goood it's stewed beef with tomato, onion, and spices but mixed so well. No matter eat with rice, pancake, or bread, they are all good. It's sour and tasty, I definitely will copycat it.

Food was great The ladies serving were so friendly. Helped us understand the menu as well. Mmm the khinkali were so good!

My khinkali and khachipuri addiction knows no bounds, so here's another review of a delightful Aremenian/Georgian eatery in Glendale. Seating was great with little "enclosures" that truly made it feel like a private party for a group of 5 of us. I called ahead on a Saturday to see if there was an opening for 5 and they said to "come," so I was glad to snag a weekend table. I was in charge of ordering since no one in our group had much Georgian food experience and I think I did pretty well. I ordered 3 sets of khinkali, a Megruli Khachipuri which is a delicious cheese bread (think similar to a pizza) or hangover cure. We also ordered the Chakkokhbili which was chicken simmered in a delicious tomato and garlic sauce. This was so good! My one not so great ordering item was the Chakapuli which was lambed cooked in tarragon, but it was sort of steamed/boiled and not very shareable, while the piece of meat was tender and delightful--it just wasn't a great value for 20 nor very splittable between our group. The khinkali, the star of the show, were pretty good. They were a little more apt to fall apart than some of the others I've had, but nonetheless, delightful. Just be sure to eat them the right way - don't eat the top and make sure to make a small hole to drink all the delicious juices out of the dumpling so it doesn't spill out all over ya!

Authentic Georgian restaurant that serves my two favorite dishes: khachapuri and khinkalis. It's located in a strip mall with a small parking lot, but there's street parking along the block as well. They do accept credit cards, but I'd suggest paying cash as the credit card machine was finicky when I went and I was accidentally double charged. To their credit, once I reached out about the issue the restaurant promptly rectified the issue when I went back in, so I appreciated that. They're open for indoor dine-in (no outdoor options) but they have dividers between tables. Food wise, everything we ordered was tasty. You can't go wrong with a plate of khinkalis (soup dumplings). They come boiled with piping hot soup/beef inside. The khachapuri was more like a pizza in terms of its size, and was super filling. We got the version without the cheese on top, and I think we had more than enough. The sausage came with two pieces and had a lot of red onions, with pomegranate arils mixed in. Scott Conant wouldn't have been happy, but I do like the bite of onions so I enjoyed it.

I have been to many Armenian restaurants. this one hands down had the best food. the service was great. Ambience was ok. not a flashy place but the food is 10/10 hands down. doesn't get bette than this. definitely try it out. thank you

The worst place in my entire life! We were there with friends, but now I will not advise anyone. I don't know who got paid there for good comments. First, the service is disgusting. We ordered food and they brought us something else, as they said that the waiter did not understand what we ordered. When the waiter was changing the plates, her jacket went into the ketchup plate for the child and after that she dropped it altogether, took napkins from our table and wiped it, smearing it on the floor. In parallel with this, the waiters run to smoke every 10 minutes. We were about to leave, gave the card for payment and waited for it to be returned to us for about 20 minutes, they had already forgotten about it, but they didn't forget to run a smoke. Food - you will not find traditional khachapuri or Georgian wine here. The price is too high for this quality and service. I do not advise anyone!

Splendid Georgian cuisine: wonderful homemade bread; good Georgian red wine. Baked trout is a standout dish; beef kebab, cucumber salad, assorted pkhali (excellent!). Friendly and helpful waitress. Ambiance is arranged with privacy panels--probably done for Covid. it looks like you could've wandered into a social club or card game...

Never had Georgian food but my God this was a great introduction. The bread was super fresh. Loved the lemonade that they had in stock. The kinkhali dumpling were huge and so tasty. Beef stroganoff was incredible. Do yourself a favor and try this.

This is definitely an experience, so keep that in mind when you go. Yes, people do smoke inside. There is only one waitress on the weekends, so expect to spend one-two hours and have a leisurely experience. The waitress speaks English but is definitely more comfortable with Armenian (and, I expect, Russian and Georgian) so you may need some patience. They appear to have some liquor bottles behind the hostess desk, though they don't show up on the menu. Now, for the food. There are two menus, Armenian and Georgian. I'm not Georgian so can't speak for the authenticity of the Georgian menu (though I did recognize some dishes). However, I can attest to the authenticity of the Armenian menu. Don't expect to eat kebabs but you can order harissa, tzhvzhik, ker u sus, and other Eastern Armenian dishes. Since we had the Georgian dishes, I'll talk about those. They were generally very good. My only complaint was that a few were over salted. I thought the khinkalis at Khinkali House were better, but these were pretty decent. The chakapuli was particularly good, redolent with tarragon, parsley, and other greens. The bread must have been homemade and was chewy, dense, and crusty. The mushrooms in sulguni cheese were perfect, the funkiness of the cheese balancing out the meatiness of the mushrooms. So if you want a true food adventure in Glendale, this is the place to go. Just leave your expectations of high end dining at the door. Instead, imagine you're eating at somebody's house somewhere in the Georgian countryside.

Terrific authentic Georgian food! This is the real deal. A great variety. This isn't a formal restaurant - so don't come here expecting one. Come for good real Georgian food!

We are from her very often. Their food is vey delicious and consistent. They also have in house delivery.

I try this place last week and it was pretty good. I used to live in the motherland and I did not expect to find real Georgian food in USA. I got the khachapuri imeruli and megruli. Both very tasty and rich in flavor. I definitely recommended all people try!

I have to preface this review by noting that perhaps because the restaurant has just launched there are demonstrable kinks they still seem to have to sort out. Also, that I have traveled in Georgia and being a fan of the cuisine, own a cookbook which I read like a gourmand, have prepared recipes myself, have attended feasts prepared by Georgian friends, and have tried Georgian restaurants in Europe and in Washington DC. So it is with regret that I must inform the Yelp checker that this establishment, in comparison with my previous experience, is astoundingly disappointing. The room itself is plain and sparsely decorated, but oddly reminiscent of some former-Soviet-satellite spartan-ism so I let that slide. The menu seems oddly overpriced for such a no-frills place. While the menu covers the highlights of Georgian cuisine including khachapuri, cooked stews featuring lamb, cooked sturgeon, salads, phkali, and rinkali (the dumplings), it's oddly arranged. A typical Georgian meal is served with multiple dishes on the table, usually savored in courses but really fine when combined together. Here, the menu has cordoned items into "appetizers" and "mains" in a manner that seems unfairly priced. Phkali, a vegetable dish that is eaten alongside a meat dish, with a bread item, and a salad, is found in the appetizers section and priced at $16. Mains are priced at around $24. You cannot therefore order what in Georgia would typically be served together at a table--as a "combo" for example-- unless you drop around $20 for each item. This place is using what feels like a false-fit model that doesn't correspond to the Georgian style of plating. They ought to figure out appropriately-scaled pricing or "combination" plates that represent their plating without breaking the bank. The phkali I ordered was proffered as three different vegetables-- beet greens, eggplant, and spinach. What came out (without apologies) was spinach (twice) and eggplant. Yet, as their ONLY customer, they didn't try to offer me a discount for providing only 2/3 of what was advertised in their menu, nor did they offer me the compensation of some other sample of their menu (a cup of soup?). A dry cut of bread accompanied the Phkali balls. The balls themselves were dry and didn't have enough red wine vinegar in the mix to make it adequately sour. I've made Phkali many times and I know the tricks. It felt sad that despite having only ONE customer, they couldn't pull off the caliber of generous hospitality that one associates with Georgia. Once in America you operate like an unfeeling capitalist? What a sad reflection of cultural misdirection. I felt like I spent $21 on three slices of egg plant and a fistful of spinach, inadequately prepared. They don't have a liquor license to be able to serve the famed Georgian wines. I also thought the service was rather dour and unprofessional. I ordered a lemonade so they opened a bottle, served me a glass and kept the bottle. I had to request the left over drink in the bottle! Later, I walked a few steps down towards the bustling and friendly (Armenian) Lahmajune Factory and bought a perfect Lahmajune for $1.50 to remove the slightly dry aftertaste of this so far stumbling restaurant. I might go back innocuously though, in a few months to try some of their other mains, just for my own cook's curiosity about their renditions of Georgian items. Until then, general public be warned.

Since it was our first visit (2 couples) we asked server for recommendations and got no answer so we chose based on Yelp reviews we had read. Had the Lamb Chops. Overcooked and dry. Khachapuri very good. Ambiance was meh. Would not go back since too many other good restaurant options.

Great surprise for me and all Georgian , Armenian Caucasican food lovers, simply amazing , anything you order just so good , well prepared food, very good, right tasting, and nice people,all my friends just loved it , coming back for more takeouts soon! Thanks! Don't forget to have with it good red wine, otherwise you waisting the food;))

Khinkali were the biggest disappointment How you can run a Georgian restaurant with this kind of Khinkali?! Also, this restaurant smells like a smoke shop. We didn't even finish our food and just walked away. Btw, costumer service is horrible too. The waiters talk to you, like you own them a money.

Ker U Sus was very tasty service was at a very high level prices were good cleanliness at the highest level in one word recommend

Great service and yummy food. Georgian and Armenian menu. Prices are reasonable. The Khinkali is to die for

This people have NO idea what Georgian Khachapuri and Lobiani are. They even not from Georgia. It's a shame. First of all, they over cook and burn it. Second, once it's cold, it's hard to chew , because of rubbery texture. Third, $12! for one small .." whatever", is waaay to much. I don't know how their other the "Georgian" dishes taste, and don't even want to try it. Any housewife in or from Georgia will make you Khachapuri that you will never forget the taste. I wanted to take back my $72 order, but instead threw it in the trashcan. Food is a big part of Georgian Culture. We, from Georgia, take personally, if we see something like That.

I am very disappointed and will not advice to visit. We were there with our 2 kids: 5 years old and 8 months old. First of all, it was like a place where only men gather and smoke and drink. Then, everything we ordered was not Georgian dish. They made everything too oily, not authentic to Georgian food, and heavy. Please see the pictures I did and you will see.

I had to burn my clothes after going to this place everything smelled like cigarettes because they allow smoking in doors. Food was mediocre. Service wasn't the best as well. Hard pass.

Love this place, I recommend to all lovers of the best exotic Caucasian food. I will come to this place over and over

Positives: first and foremost the food is really delicious , ordered the khinkhali (would recommend boiled) and the chicken and lamb stews Parking was easy and it's a convenient spot to have a party I would rate the food very highly Negatives: that being said, my group received bad service, which would be one thing, but the other tables who spoke the language seemed to get much better service which we didn't take well Also the prices seem much higher than appropriate for the dish, for example, if you came alone and ordered the lamb stew you'd be paying for two small pieces of meat and a savory soup I would come back if I was in a large group and we were all sharing and celebrating an occasion Not as good for a date night or with one or two friends...

This place is a wonderful dining location. The service is very fast, prompt and and the food is beyond amazing. A must go if you are in the area! : , , : , : . , . , ! . , ​​ . !

This place is the best! Reminds me of Home. There xinkali and ojahuri are amazing. There xachapuri on the grill is just the best I have ever had. The food is just like it is in Georgia. The service is amazing and all at a great cost. I come here all the time with my family.

Perfect place! Excellent cuisine! Great service! This is a piece of Georgia in Los Angeles. Recommend!

Amazing Georgian dinner. So unique and fresh. Great service. Looking forward returning to try the rest of the

Very Bad. There are 2 Georgian resteraunts in Glendale, Havlabar and Khinkali House. I'm not a big fan of Khinkali House (Gave it 3 stars) although this makes it look like a 5 star resteraunt. Run by some old glendale mob men who dont give a crap. I was excited to see they have Megreli and Imeretian Khachapuri as its almost impossible to find here....being dissapointed is an understatement, didn't hit at all, you could just tell it wasn't made correctly. Also did not like their satsivi or khinkali. Everything seems refrigerated. Not a good place.

Prices just insane. Quality is questionable. We ordered a lots of food. They brought as khinkali with a really cold stuffing inside. We know Georgian cousins and how it should be. I would never come to this place to eat frozen khinkali and pay premium price as Michelin star restaurant. It is not a restaurant it's a stinky smoky bistro with a tasteless food.

Wow this guy knows what his doing great Georgian food try the "Hinkali" 100% recommended

Food and service was excellent. I was very suprised with the service that we received as typically middle eastern restaurant employees dont have the best customer service,, but you wont see that here. Khinkali was amazing.

Food and service was terrible!!!! It's not Georgian food !!! I can't understand how to make food like this , this is khachapuri with red beans

My husband loves Georgian cuisine and was craving khachapuri and kharcho soup, so we decided to give this place a try. First off, the service was slow and we were the only customers on a Tuesday. But that's OK by me, I don't expect great service at any former Soviet republic's cuisine restaurant. Just have to deal with it. We ordered kharcho, megruli khachapuri and beef lula platter. The food was tasteful and the portions were satisfying. However, the kharcho was made with beef and it's traditionally made with lamb. Khachapuri was said to be baked with suluguni fresh cheese, but came out with plain yellow cheese. For me, that ruined the whole thing and I didn't get the khachapuri flavor I was expecting. Last, but not the least, they didn't have ANY khinkali when we asked for it. How come? I mean, it's the most popular Georgian dish you guys! But still, everything we tried tasted great, though not as expected, so I'm giving the place 4 stars.

Interesting place. We ordered black tea, but she brought green and asserted that "Lipton green tea" is a black tea. We asked about khinkali with no pork, but she brought beef with pork. Don't want to write about khachapuri...

Went here for lunch with a coworker. We called upfront to order, so when we get there food was ready. Most places don't accept that but they did which I appreciate. We got there around 12:30 pm on a weekday and the restaurant was empty. I kind of felt bad for them because they have just recently opened and I like to support small businesses. We ordered a baked khachapuri which was amazing and sacivi and the lamb dish with greens (forgot the name but it was more like a soup) we shared . They brought warm baked bread as well. The food was tasty and authentic. The flavors were there and we enjoyed it. However the restaurant was extremely hot as their AC was off . We asked the server if they had an AC and I she turned it on and apologized for forgetting to turn it on. Also, the kitchen door was open and the staff were yelling at each other and arguing really loud as we could hear all their conversation and I didn't think that was professional specifically when you want to relax on your lunch time and enjoy. I hope this place can improve on service so they can attract customers, considering they just opened I would love to go back if they improve on these small things . By the way, I thought their items are overpriced as the lamb dish had a very small amount of lamb and was $20, we spent $60 including tip for 2 main course and one appetizer.

There's not much open in Glendale at 10pm put I was hungry and decided to try something new. I dont think I'd ever actually eat in the restaurant because of the smoking in the back, but the ladies who helped me order take-out were nice. I got a plate of appetizers (that I think were the Assorted Pkhali), which were very flavorful and different than anything I've had.

Been here couple times when visiting los angeles. I enjoy their xinkhali perfectly seasoned meat. Staff are attentive and helpful SOME have little language barrier...and the owner is a bit rude to his employees, even though he is trying to be attentive to his customers.

I have been to a lot of Georgian restaurants but by far this is the best one I've been to. The food is amazing and the portions are big. The owner Peto is very pleasant and the service is great, I highly recommend this place

This place has very delicious food it has a lot of options like vegan and vegetarian I enjoyed it a lot go there and see for your self.

Oh my god i love this restaurant, food is amazing Very good salads, armenian dolma is so good

Everything about this place was great ! You can really tell everything is homemade and it tastes amazing !!! The service is also outstanding !! Definitely coming back soon.

If you want to try authentic Georgian cuisine, this is the right place to go. Affordable prices and good quality food with generous portions. I really liked their khinkalis, they tasted just like the ones I had in Georgia.

First time here and very impressed. Summer salad is amazingly delicious. Been soup YAMMIE!!!! Cheese and bread you can eat endlessly. Veal khashlama ( especial stew) full of amazing flavors and juicy. You be lucky if you get Lusine as your server ( she deserves her tip)