Bushra z.

I randomly found this spot in Cedar Park, it's a Georgian and European food And one thing I really appreciated they actually have a separate halal menu, so it just makes everything easier if that matters to you. First thing we tried Khachapuri. It's this warm, cheesy bread with a soft egg in the center you mix it all together and scoop it up. Then came the beef khinkali these juicy dumplings filled with broth. For drinks, we tried the green mocktail and tarragon lemonade both refreshing and actually unique, not your usual sweet drinks.overall we had good experience

Delores L.

I was literally across the parking lot when I saw the Sami Sumeli Restaurant. It has been on my dining bucket list for a while. I thought I would try something small like an appetizer to get my feet wet. I was a little hungry, but not completely ravenous. So I zeroed in on sour cabbage...I know it does not sound appetizing on the surface. However, it is a dish where red beets are boiled with cabbage. Of course, the cabbage is turned red in the process. The cabbage is actually not sour but has a hint of a pickled taste. The flavors were bold and powerful! This family owned business features Georgian European cuisine. Did you know that Georgia is not only a state but a country as well? Although I have visited 90+ countries, I had not heard of Georgia, the country. Perhaps I took a small respite from the world of the knowledgeable. In case you are like me, the country of Georgia is located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is often considered part of Europe culturally and politically, however, geographically it straddles both continents. Georgia features Mediterranean, Middle East, and Eastern Europe cuisines. Anya, my server, was helpful at recommending a popular and unique appetizer. She was very soft spoken and kind. I was one of two customers in the restaurant. Super chill vibe...look forward to returning...

Sunny C.

Still good overall. We got to try other things now that the post is smaller. They do close early on a weekday at 8:30 so better act fast.

Mandi I.

Today we celebrated Easter and we typically do a Polish feast. Our fav local Polish place closed, unfortunately. While I was looking around, I found Sami Sumeli, and we decided to try Georgian cuisine for Easter this year. It was a hit! We will definitely revisit and highly recommend. Such a delicious treat! I especially loved the Mushroom Khinkali. So good!

Andrew L.

Came here for dinner on a Wednesday evening. We had no wait time and found the service to be friendly, though a bit on the slower side. I overall had a very good experience and appreciated the diversity of options compared to other Georgian restaurants I've been to. We started with the phali mix, which was a variety of herby walnut spreads. They said they are traditionally eaten plain, but they added pita due to popular demand. I tried them both ways and don't have a particular lean one direction or another. The beat spread was my least favorite of the 3, but i really liked the spinach and cabbage ones We both had khinkali for our main course. I had the pork and beef ones. While they were good, I thought this was the weakest part of our meal. The broth was flavorful, but fairly light in volume creating a very doughy experience compared to other dumplings I've had. While the dumplings were on the large side, 3 for $14 felt quite pricey. For dessert we shared the karmeli cake which was really tasty! I thought all the flavors worked together really nicely, the caramel and honey were the strongest but the white chocolate complimented it well. Another item where I feel the size was pretty small given the price Overall we had a good experience, I do think the food is a bit overpriced given the portions you're getting. I also found the service to be pretty slow given the number of people they had working and how few tables were occupied. Would recommend giving them a try and I'd definitely consider coming back in the future

Briana N.

Besides seeing pictures and videos of khachapuris online, I don't think I've ever had Georgian food so I was so excited to try Sami Sumeli out. And I'm so glad to have had it! Literally everything we had was so good. Of course we had to try the khachapuri, and it was probably my favorite thing we had. It's bread, cheese, egg, and butter, of course it's gonna be delicious! But the bread was so warm and crusty (in the good bread way) and doughy and perfectly soaked up the cheese and butter. And the butter itself was so rich. The herring with potatoes is also something I've been craving. The salted fish goes so well with the crunch and acidity of the raw onion. The potatoes were whatever though, I feel like I barely noticed it was there. The eggplant rolls were also so good and garlicky. Each roll had a bit too much cream cheese for my taste, but still delicious regardless. The kharcho soup was probably my least favorite thing we ordered. But even then, it was still pretty good! It was also super garlicky though, like to the point that it gave it some spice. But the broth was thinner than I expected, and less flavorful than I expected. The mini honey cake was really good, but smaller than I expected. But I guess it is called mini for a reason. The honey flavor is really deep and nice though, and the cream is really light. The workers were super friendly and checked up on us a lot, maybe perhaps even too much. But they made sure our waters were never empty! I think I would have preferred if they just left a pitcher on our table instead though. Or got bigger cups because it did feel like they came around a lot.

Michael L.

THE BIG: Located in Cedar Park, this Georgian restaurant satisfies all the flavors of the Caucasus. Beautiful interior with Georgian landscape reels on the TV. Plenty of parking in lot. THE BLACK AND WHITE: I came here on a Saturday around noon with a friend and we were seated immediately. The lunch rush didn't catch us yet. For food, we ordered the khachapuri (egg in cheese butter bread), chakhobili (tomato chicken stew) , khinkali (gigantic soup dumplings), honey cake (layered honey cake) and karmeli cake (caramel honey cake). The khachapuri is VERY rich with the cheese, two slabs of butter and the egg on top. It was very good. My favorite was the khinkali. Something about soup dumplings that always gets me and these were gigantic. The desserts were alright, small and very sweet. THE FINAL BAMBOO: Overall, we spent around $86 for the meal and the experience itself warrants a revisit to try the other items on the menu.

Wes E.

Austin is no longer a Georgian culinary desert (that's the Republic of Georgia, bordering Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia) thanks to this restaurant in Cedar Park, officially open since early May. Georgia is a former Soviet republic, but is culturally and linguistically quite distinct. The restaurant is spacious and visually appealing, with an open, modern feel, attractive murals on the walls and two large TV screens showing the home country's natural beauty. We had to try the Adjarian khachapuri, Georgia's national dish, which is local cheese, butter, milk and a runny egg in a toasted, crusty boat-shaped bread bowl; perfect for sharing (be sure to mix up the ingredients well). Mushroom khinkhali was another delight, three oversized dumplings containing shrooms and broth (ask the server to demonstrate the proper eating technique if you're not familiar with it). The chicken shashlik platter, several large pieces of roasted chicken on a skewer, came with rice, Georgian sauerkraut, roasted veggies and tangy onion slices, with a medium spicy tomato-based sauce on the side that reminded me of Serbian ajvar. The shashlik was perfectly spiced and plentiful. Our server was friendly and very helpful in explaining the dishes to us non-Georgians. We went on a Sunday evening in June that happened to be the birthday of an important partner in the restaurant, and were entertained by a singer of Georgian and American tunes throughout. We like the idea of supporting a unique local business that's authentic and believes in quality. Highly recommended.

Orlando R.

My family and I came here on a Saturday evening on May 31st and we were pretty excited to try Georgian food since we have never had it before. For the appetizer we had the Phali Mix which was a trio of vegetable spreads. The red spread was beetroot, the green spread was spinach, and the brown one was cabbage. My personal favorite was the beetroot as it had a nice garlic flavor with a hint of sweetness and a slight earthy aftertaste. The other two also had a nice garlic flavor, with the cabbage phali having a horseradish flavor and the spinach a slightly grassy flavor. However, they were all a little lacking in salt. For the main entree, I had the Chakhobili, which was a stew of tomatoes, onion, garlic, and white chicken; for the side, I opted for buckwheat. The Chakhobili was alright, the broth was tomato-based and was a little rich from the oil the added to it, but the chicken was a little dry and the dish lacked salt as well. The buckwheat was cooked nicely but the tomato broth was unable to balance the earthiness from the buckwheat due to either a lack of salt from the broth or note enough tomatoes for added sweetness. For dessert, we had the eclairs which had a wonderful rich cream filling and both the chocolate and raspberry glaze were great additions to the dish. However, the choux pastry was pretty dry, which made it difficult to truly enjoy the dish overall. In terms of service and atmosphere, our waitress was very nice and attentive to our needs and requests. Furthermore, the restaurant was clean and had a wonderful modern aesthetic. My family and I will probably come back again to try other dishes as we might have came on an off-day for the staff.

Courtney B.

Throughout history Georgia has been a territory of interest to many foreign countries, mostly due to its strategic location between the Black Sea, the Caucasus mountains and the Caspian Sea. Also, part of the Silk Road, it was invaded by Greeks, Mongols, Persians, Romans and Arabs, all bringing their influences to the Georgian table and creating a unique and exciting cuisine unlike any other. Therefore, it's so interesting to have a Georgian eatery in this area. For those of you have never had this type of food, Western Georgian food is said to have been influenced by Turkish cuisine while Iranian influences are more prevalent in the East. In the West, Georgian-style cornbread (mchadi) and poultry like chicken and turkey are favored while meat dishes made with pork, beef, or mutton are more prominent in the east. What I got Shashlik is a Georgian Kebab that is a traditional dish that's rich in flavor due to its unique combination of spices. The dish features juicy meat pieces marinated in a blend of yogurt, red wine vinegar, garlic, paprika, and cumin before being grilled to tenderness. Unfortunately, the Shashlik (chicken) that was served here was dried out and lacked flavor. The accompanying pickled red cabbage (Russian style) was spot on, yet the rice for the dish was a bit hard (over done). The service here was nice but the food was a bit of a miss for me. I know that new establishments sometimes need to find their sea legs a before they get it together. Perhaps, that is the case here. Yelp Fam, stop in and give this place a try and let me know your thoughts.

Sirio B.

Ever since seeing a video of Georgian food on YouTube I've been wanting to try their food, and hearing that a restaurant was opening in Cedar Park was a pleasant surprise. Went with my wife and it's nestled in a corner of the strip mall close to Wild West and the Austin Steam Train. The restaurant itself is nicely decorated and cozy, with warm lighting and murals. We got the Khali (very vibrant vegetarian spreads made with cabbage, beets and greens) as an appetizer and it was refreshing. Afterwards we got Khinkali (soup dumplings) with pork and beef- Which were juicy and flavorful, followed by the absolute highlight: Khachipuri. A giant baked bread boat filled with cheese, butter and topped with an egg yolk. It was MASSIVE! Enough for 2 and it was incredibly good. It was happiness in a dish and I'll be back just for that. Service was really good. Not sure if it was the owner but they were super attentive and friendly, explaining how to eat the dishes. Had no idea what Georgian food would be like, but im a newly minted fan. Worth checking out!

Bowie L.

I was so excited to see we now have a Georgian restaurant in town and finally got to try it. Walking in, the ambience was nice but casual. We ordered a few things but the eggplant rolls which was a starter really wowed us. The kharcho was hearty and worth the price and the khachapuri of course was good, though the cheese was thicker than I've had before so you couldn't really dip the bread. We still had appetite so we added a Skhmeruli which was okay but not as flavorful and a bit pricy for what it was - chicken cooked in a cream sauce. The servers were friendly and Europeans. We definitely want to come back and try other menu items, but will definitely get the eggplant rolls and khachapuri again!

Amanda M.

I was excited to see a new Georgian restaurant near Austin with a chef from Tbilisi. And I love a family style meal. The restaurant has a modern, clean and minimal aesthetic that subtly highlights its origins. I crave badrijani, but I'm honestly too lazy to make it myself sometimes. So I went specifically for the eggplant rolls. Theirs are hardy! They use cream cheese and a lot of it. The taste was nice, but it was not as garlicky or light as I like. But it was nice. Khachapuri was decadent, creamy, and just right! Shkemeruli was creamy garlic stew that will heal you from the inside. I look forward to trying it again this fall. We also tried the chicken shashlik, all the khinkali, the phali mix, red caviar, and the karmeli cake. It was all wonderful. We also enjoyed flights of wine, and several of the mixed cocktails. They have house infused vodkas to set their drinks apart. Take friends and family. Prepare to stay a while as you enjoy everything on the menu. And definitely get a flight of wine!