Aragvi

The food is fantastic. I highly recommend the Cornish Hen, you have to try any of the scratch made breads or pastries. The Cesar salad is amazing and light. The fresh cucumber tomato and feta salad is huge and great. They also have a great selection of Georgian wines. For desert anything is amazing but my favourite is the Napoleon, perfect and not too sweet.

Update: We returned to Aragvi and were seated at the table nearest the washroom hallway. Which amounted to feeling that we were actually dining in the washroom itself due to the stench that would waft toward us each time other guests opened the door to the washroom hall. The washrooms themselves were not very clean and are way too cramped.
The food was phenomenal and the service was warmer than our last visit.
But if the washrooms are so filthy one is left to wonder about the cleanliness of the kitchen…

Saw this restaurant in a blog post on must goes for foodies so I could not resist stepping in. The hardest part to grasp about this place; is finding it… seriously and it does not help with all the construction going on on Hwy 7. But once this little gem is found; park up and you won’t forget your visit. The décor is well dated but nonetheless does have its charm about it. Its like stepping into a European café or a Russian café. Most of those in the restaurant were Russian or Georgian. The staff were friendly and happy to answer any questions as It was evident the food wasn’t my everyday. The soup dumplings were divine and the waitress gave us a little synopsis on its origin and the proper way to eat them. I loved that. They tastes amazing. And the Aragvi bread… its a Must! the fresh bread with the gooey cheese and the egg in the middle… my lord it was divine… The rest of the meal wasn’t something to write home about but the soup dumplings and the bread are both i’ll never forget and continue to crave! So worth the visit. A def must try!

Very low quality food. Looks like the cook uses whatever left from last night. Overpriced as well. I ate 10 minutes ago and i already feel upset stomach. If you happen to be there just come closer to where the cooks table is and look how dirty it is. What a shit hole…

Russian boyfriend had been dying to try this place for a while so we finally made the trek on a Saturday evening. Place wasn’t too crowded and all the guests were of Russian or Georgian descent (so the BF tells me). Hostess/​server and owner were nice enough but I wouldn’t call it particularly attentive service — no one asked us how we liked our food, for example. And the atmosphere isn’t upscale by any means — the boy described it as Russia in the early 2000s (so not a great look).
But let’s get to what you’re probably here for: the food. You will have to take my comments with a grain of salt as it was my first time experiencing Georgian cuisine. I enjoyed the veal tongue — it pretty much just tasted like roast beef (I like roast beef, so not a bad thing). I really really loved my Cornish hen+garlic fries+salad and the BF’s chicken stew. I would highly recommend those two items as the ingredients were clearly freshly prepared with delicate hands and spiced to perfection.
I would recommend this joint to friends who are looking to experiment with Georgian cuisine. But the BF tells me there are better spots for Eastern European food in Toronto — so stay tuned for those reviews!

Went: 6:00 pm Sat June 6 2015
Ordered: Imeritinski Khachapuri, Chanakhi, and Beef Stroganoff
Cost: incl. tax and tip $ 30 – 40
Food: I do remember there was a sign saying the wait times might be long because the food is cooked fresh and it definitely was. This was some of the freshest food I’ve tasted. The presentation of the dishes being very unique and the food being outstanding. The flavour is there, not too salty as I would expect for stew dishes.
Environment: The restaurant was fully packed. It was rather noisy, there was a function going on (with many kids). Dispite all these, we still get the regular checked in from the staff. They are friendly and attentive.
Bottom line: I would definitely come back. This is 4.5 stars. I’m rounding down to 4 because it is only slightly better than my other 4 star meals.

So far I had 2 lunch take-​outs; once lamb shish kebob and last chicken white meat. Lamb was Perfection, the best lamb shish kebob I had so far in Canada. It was correctly seasoned and marinated, very tender and juicy. Chicken was also very moist and tender, even as second-​day microwaved lunch. I only thought the chicken was a bit on a salty side. The rice that comes with meal is cooked properly. And there’s also a simple salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce), I could tell the veggies were really fresh, just cut.
I would agree that the place might need a little reno here and there, but the quality of food definitely great.

This is an amazing restaurant, great food with delicious flavour! The service was excellent! Was my first time experiencing Georgian food, and I will DEFINITELY be going back! Keep up at the great work!

Disappointing food (looks good, but tastes below average for a Georgian or grill place), mediocre service.
Would eat there in a pinch, but thankfully, there are other places nearby. And if you don’t mind driving 5 – 10 minutes, FAR better places.

This is the first time ever in my life that I write a review for any restaurant.
The experience was so shocking that I felt like something has to be done about it. So upset about our ruined dinner that i left this review on a few websites.
We came to celebrate a birthday with a group of 18 people. Reservation was made in advance of course. Appetizers were served quick and tasted good. Then, we waited 1.5hours to get our food. While nobody complained about the long wait, our kids grew tired and were playing at the window.
The owner came out and shouted to move the kids away. Our food eventually arrived after 2 hours of waiting. BUT! they combined all the orders and put them together on two plates without asking! They did say that because the size of group is large they would have to serve all dishes together (usually means ‘at the same time’) but we couldn’t have imagined it would be all combined on two plates. We have each ordered a dish for ourselves and then it was a mess finding out who ordered what and we just ended up sharing it all. To top it off meat was dry and overcooked. Salad had stickers on tomatoes still.
At the end when paying the bill, they announced that their debit machine broke and we all have to pay in cash. They conveniently had an atm machine at the restaurant. I wonder how many times per day they use this excuse to get payments in cash.
Never have we experienced such rudeness and horrible service. Never coming back and will not recommend to anyone.

Everyone should try Georgian food and Toronto is lucky to have this hidden gem tucked away in a shabby plaza. And it’s worth the trek.
PROS
–Every dish we tried was amazingly tasty, hot and beautifully presented
–Khacapuri is sort’ve a Georgian pizza with egg in the middle. It is the only thing we tried that didn’t blow my mind. Compared to the ones I had in Russia, this one wasn’t as gooey, the egg was overcooked, and the cheese got hard once it cooled.
CONS
–While the Georgian owners are quite social with their clients, the young Russian servers aren’t attentive or friendly. Don’t go expecting friendly service.
–While the place recently had some superficial renovations, it’s still noticeably shabby with old carpet, smelly washrooms, and doorknobs falling out of doors.

Delicious food. I can’t wait to go back and try something new. We had the Khinkali, Adjarian Khachapuri, and Chanaki.

Delicious food! Very authentic. Welcoming stuff. Recommending!

Go to this restaurant!!! It is so amazing! Makes me drive north of Shepppard (their original location) because the food is so unbelievable. Chinkali is the traditional dish. The meat and the juice plus dumpling melt in your mouth. Lots of other delicious items on the menu. Tried the Kyufta-​Bozbash soup on this very cold night and it was a wonderful mix of flavors. We went to one of the other 2 Georgian restos up north (the one that is not called Georgia) and this is superlative. Go to this restaurant and taste for yourself!

I visited the new location and it wasn’t any worse than when I reviewed the old location. Takeout/​delivery available.
Solyanka– Great
Stroganoff– rich but guest said could have small improvements (couple of meat pieces unchewable, more mushroom); very thick
Budemjan– very good
Adjarian Khachapuri– very good
Dessert– good
Prices for the entrees are fair. Appetizers cost more but are very good. The service was very hospitable and there were no issues at all. I look forward to returning some day.

To start off, we make the trek to Aragvi once a year, usually in the winter to have the stews. To say that the location is nondescript is a given but I’m coming here for the food, not to be seen. I recommend coming as a group so you can try more of the dishes! The appetizers are especially easy to share.
For the first course we ordered: veal tongue, potatoes with chanterelles, beef kninkali, and adjarian khackapuri (the bread). Out of these, I hadn’t tried the potatoes before, the others we had had before and ordering them again was a no-​brainer. Everything was as tasty as before. The cheese bread comes with an egg on top, so it’s the perfect dish if you love eggs as much as I do. The cheese gives it a saltiness that I like but I can see how it would be too much for some. The khinkali dumplings have some broth inside so eat them carefully; I was pleasantly surprised by the tastiness of the filling. And the potatoes, they’re going into regular rotation now.
For the mains we got: the chicken stew (chakhokbili), the unbelievably tasty veal stew (chanakhi), georgian solyanka, and chicken shish kebob.
I’ll be honest the first time we ordered the «unbelievably tasty stew», it was for the ambitious name. It takes guts to call your food unbelievably tasty. But honestly, it is *really good*. It has the perfect storm of ingredients, a very nice balance of umami and slight sourness. One of my dining companions said it’s one of his favourite dishes ever.
The other stews were very tasty as well but if I had to only order two things here, it would be the cheese bread and the unbelievably tasty stew.
The chicken shish kebob was cooked to perfection, it wasn’t dry at all. The fried potatoes it came with where great. This for me is more of a summer dish, which I think the menu needs as it’s skewed more heavily towards stews.
We washed everything down with tarhun, a tarragon flavoured über-​green soft drink. The taste reminds me of childhood but if you’ve never tried it before, I’d recommend it for the novelty, it might just grow on you.
I have never made it to the desserts at Aragvi, the portions are big enough (we all brought something home for lunch the next day!) and the food is very filling.
To sum it up, it has a bit of a banquet hall feel and it’s quite far but the food here is so different from what you can get downtown, and so tasty, that we’ll be back again for sure!

Delicious! We took 2 different types of Hachapuri, Harcho and Satzivi. Everything was very tasty. The waitresses proved once again that amous Georgian hosting traditions still there; warm and welcome. Recommended!

Disappointing food and service. Something straight out of Kitchen Nightmares. My sister found a huge wad of plastic wrap in her salad. The servers took a long time and the kitchen messed up our orders. They seemed inflexible on sides and swapping out items. You could hear the kitchen staff fighting with the servers. Our meat dish was scarily undercooked. Everyone who worked there seemed miserable and smug. Way way overpriced for the quality of food and overall experience. We had to launder our clothes immediately when coming home because they smelled like a deep fryer. This place probably lost love for what they do a long time ago, and it shows in their food… Sad, because I imagine it probably used to be very good. Shocked that they didn’t offer to comp part of the meal… Especially for the plastic wrap fiasco. On the upswing, the breads were nice, but not enough to redeem for the sad overall experience.

Dropped it 2 stars. Food’s still good but I recently took my friends for Christmas dinner. Everything was great and happy but when I asked the lady to split the bill she rolled her eyes and angrily told us we should have said so in the first place.
Now I for one am easy going. If you told us you could not split the bill, I would have happily done it myself amongst my friends. But no, you had to ruin a perfectly good Christmas dinner with your attitude.
I am sorely disappointed by the service now. Too bad, although the foods good, I’m probably not going back ever again.