Cafe Stamba

A hall in a former publishing house

The room came from a 1950s printing house, and Stamba Hotel has kept the bones of it. The café occupies a large, light-filled hall with tall windows onto the street, split into three parts: two smaller areas for drinks and a bigger main dining zone. Rectangular counters run across much of it, and an open kitchen puts the cooks in view behind them.

The furnishing softens the industrial frame. Vintage booths, mid-century pendant lamps, bookshelves and a good deal of greenery give it a sophisticated but relaxed feel, and a leafy terrace extends it outdoors. The street visibility matters too: the activity inside is part of what the building shows to the road. The wider property is raw, industrial and bold, tied into the city's cultural scene, and the café is where that character meets the street.

Coffee by day, restaurant and bar by night

The format shifts across the day. Mornings and afternoons run on coffee and café visits; the evening brings restaurant and bar energy to the same hall, with cocktails alongside the coffee. That double life is the thing to plan around, because the room feels different at either end of it, and locals use it as much as hotel guests do.

Coffee is central to Café Stamba's identity rather than incidental to the food, and it sits inside a wider Stamba ecosystem that includes a separate roastery among the hotel's food and retail ventures. Pastries are made fresh on site, and the croissant, crisp outside and creamy within, is the one that gets singled out.

Georgian cooking with a modern turn

The kitchen is the other reason to come. The cooking is Georgian with a modern twist, holding on to traditional flavours while taking in international influences, and it leans on Georgian spices and aromas rather than smoothing them out. It is a full kitchen rather than a café menu, which is why the room works as a restaurant in the evening.

Two dishes show the approach clearly: the mushroom soup, and the new khachapuri creations that rework the country's most familiar dish. Order either with a coffee in the morning or with a cocktail later, and add a pastry from the counter, which is where the hotel's baking makes its case.