Menu Guide

Funicular Restaurant Tbilisi Menu — What to Order

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Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Sourced from the Funicular Restaurant Complex, Gault&Millau and diner reports · How we work · Corrections

The verdict. Ride the 1938 funicular, order khinkali and Imeretian khachapuri, and book the ballroom for a celebration over the city.

Not for: a quiet, refined dinner. This is a 1938 banquet complex built for big tables and coach groups, not an intimate evening — the view and the scale are the point, not the plating.

What Funicular Restaurant Actually Is

The Funicular Restaurant Complex sits atop the Mtatsminda plateau above Tbilisi, in a landmark building completed in 1938 and reached by the funicular railway that has climbed the mountain since 1905. It is not one room but four: a grand restaurant with a ballroom, a traditional Georgian bistro and a café, all over a sweeping view of the city. Our Funicular Restaurant review scores it on exactly those terms — a landmark table where the setting outranks the kitchen. It is open year-round; recent 2026 diner reports confirm it is trading normally.

What to Order at Funicular

Khinkali (around 2–3 GEL each) are the plate to start with — the twisted Georgian dumplings filled with spiced broth and meat, eaten by hand. Imeretian khachapuri (roughly 18–28 GEL), the round bread packed with molten sulguni cheese, is the other essential; ask for the Adjarian version, the boat shape with a cracked egg, if you want the richer one.

Around those two, build a shared table: mtsvadi, pork or veal skewers grilled over grapevine charcoal, pkhali, the walnut-and-herb vegetable pastes, a plain tomato-and-cucumber salad and warm shoti bread from the clay oven. Vegetarian and vegan choices run right through the menu. Wash it down with a jug of Georgian wine or the house tarragon lemonade. Most dishes land in the 20–55 GEL band, which makes a generous spread easy to assemble.

When to Go and How to Book

Come for sunset, when the city lights fill the valley below the terrace — the window tables and the ballroom go first, so reserve them through the complex or a Tbilisi tour operator a few days ahead. The full Funicular booking guide covers which of the four rooms to ask for and how to time the funicular ride up. Walk-ins work at the bistro and café on weekdays; the main restaurant and its ballroom are the ones to book.

The Smart Play

Ride up in daylight, order khinkali, one Imeretian khachapuri and a plate of mtsvadi for the table, and let the view do the work as the light goes. It is a natural birthday dinner or team dinner booking — the ballroom scale suits a group, and the shared Georgian spread is built for a crowd. For a client evening in a serious kitchen instead, our impress-clients tables point elsewhere in the city.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What should you order at Funicular Restaurant in Tbilisi?

Start with the khinkali, the twisted Georgian soup dumplings, and the Imeretian khachapuri, the round sulguni-cheese bread. Add mtsvadi, pork or veal grilled over grapevine, a tomato-and-cucumber salad and shoti bread to share. Most dishes run 20–55 GEL, and the setting on the Mtatsminda plateau is half the reason to book. See our full Funicular review for scores.

How do you get to the Funicular Restaurant?

Ride the historic Mtatsminda funicular railway from the lower station on Chonkadze Street to the top; the restaurant complex sits beside the upper station and Mtatsminda Park. A taxi up the mountain road is the alternative in bad weather. The funicular itself, running since 1905 and rebuilt into the 1938 complex, is part of the experience, not just transport.

How much does dinner at Funicular cost?

Individual Georgian dishes run roughly 20–55 GEL, so a shared table of khinkali, khachapuri, a grilled meat and salads with Georgian wine lands in the upper-mid range for Tbilisi. You pay a premium for the 1938 landmark building and the city view rather than for refined cooking. It is a special-occasion spend by local standards, not an everyday one.

Do you need a reservation at Funicular Restaurant?

For the main restaurant and its ballroom, especially at sunset and on weekends, book ahead through the complex or a tour operator. The bistro and café take walk-ins more readily. Reserve a window or terrace table if the view is the point, and confirm which of the four rooms you are booking, as the complex holds a grand restaurant, a Georgian bistro and a café.

Is the Funicular Restaurant worth it?

For the setting, yes: a 1938 mountaintop landmark reached by a historic railway, with the whole city below you. The cooking is traditional and generous rather than refined, so come for khinkali, khachapuri and the panorama, not for fine dining. If you want Tbilisi's serious kitchens, our Tbilisi dining guide lists Barbarestan and Café Littera.