No Starbucks in Tbilisi?

It’s true that, for better and for worse, there are no Starbucks in Tbilisi. Yet. But those who long for a coffee-and-pastry pick-me-up on the way to work, or for a comfortable cafe in which to mega-dose espresso and type their novel, need not despair. At Coffee and Donut and the Donut Stop your pre-caffeinated self will swear – if you only squint a little – that you’re at a South Caucasian Starbucks/Krispy Kreme joint venture.

A variety of fresh pastries are available at both donut depots for GEL 0.20, 1.10 and 1.20. Plump sugar-dusted jelly-filled confections and crispy chocolate-glazed cream-filled morsels jostle for primacy at the counter. It doesn’t really seem possible to be able to go wrong with any of these – deep-fried dough and sugar can’t help but nail a hole-in-one – but I will say that the chocolate-icing crust is tooth-achingly familiar, and the fruit-jelly-filled pastries are especially worth a try; the fruit filling has a tart kick to it that makes these a much more toothsome treat than their overwhelmingly saccharine state-side jelly-bellied counterparts.

The GEL 2.50-and-under coffee menu at both donut shops includes various members of the -ccino family (cappuccino, mochaccino) as well as regular coffees. Authentic Starbucks blends (Yukon Blend, Breakfast Blend, etc) of questionable provenance (which country have they been smuggled in from?) while not on-tap at the time of writing, are intermittently available as well.

The Donut Stop on Kekelidze Street is best suited for those who prefer their coffee and pastry to go. A few years ago, when trademark anarchy reigned supreme, patrons of the Donut Stop might have been lured into the shop by a Starbucks logo painted on the wall outside the café. No longer. Whether due to the need for a new splash of paint, or in provident response to the proliferation of trademark lawsuits against blatant knock-offs in countries where Starbucks is expanding (which now include India, Egypt, Brazil and Russia), the mermaid has been covered up, somewhat diminishing the Donut Stop’s genuine faux-Starbucks aspirations.

Which is not to say it doesn’t try to evoke some atmosphere. The shelves behind the counter boast a number of namdvili (if purely decorative) Starbucks coffee bags, while Starbucks stickers adorn the front counter. The walls of the café display a waist-high band of that distinct ‘Starbucks Green’ paint, and are festooned with green-painted pictures – some of which include the word “Starbucks” swirling around in the pigment. There are a handful of tables should you choose to eat-in, but the atmosphere is a little on the silent-and-deadly side.

On Abashidze Street, Donut and Coffee provides all the ambiance of a neighborhood Starbucks without the “wannabe” vibe of its first location (although its sign – a green circle around the Donut and Coffee logo – does distantly resemble the insignia of its Seattle-based spiritual mentor). Inside, the cafe is spacious and bright. Large windows look out onto the street. Tables for four are set discretely apart from one another, evoking the ambiance of a street café and a feeling of privacy. Patrons have the rare luxury of being able to choose between discrete smoking and non-smoking sections, and one room has a stack of periodicals for your perusal. Come early however if you want to enjoy peace, quiet and fresh air as the dining room fills up with cigarette smoking students in the afternoon.

If nursing a -ccino and nibbling a donut for hours isn’t satisfactory, Donut and Coffee also offers more substantial fare, including salads (GEL 4-8), pasta (GEL 7-9), sandwiches (GEL 3-5), and the strange and misguided “flat burger,” – a hole-less donut with odd fillings such as crab salad (GEL 3).

Donut and Coffee: 10/12 Abashidze Street, Tel: (32) 25 14 66
The Donut Stop: 16 Kekelidze Street, Tel: (32) 25 39 85
Menus in Georgian and English.

Published in Georgia Today, 9 Feb 2007.