Entree: Georgia's Answer to Starbucks

You'd probably be surprised if I told you Armenia didn't have a single McDonald's in the nation. You'd probably be more surprised to here that general fast food and coffee chain aren't much of a culture in Georgia either. There is no Starbucks, and Costa is something only found in the airports where they can pick travellers up by their ankles and shake them dry of their money for overpriced coffee. In Armenia, coffee was something one would purchase from a small outdoor shack and walk with, rarely was coffee considered something one would purchase and sit with. These two countries are surprising given their close proximity and still massive cultural differences, but it's evident that there are some similarities in how the cafe culture is still something being birthed, something that clearly still needs to be sold to their populations as they prefer to simply drink coffee at home or just get it on the go. This means that coffee chains are a relatively new thing in this part of the world, few succeed and most are met with relatively poor service or generally poor coffee quality. Having roamed a little bit of Georgia and much of its capital Tbilisi, I've encountered three particular chains where locals might run off to during the day and in the evenings: Coffesta, Coffee Lab, and lastly the bakery giant of Entree.

Out of the three I'd definitely argue that Entree has been the best in terms of its food options and its coffee quality, but it's also met with some slightly higher prices than the rest of the city. Of course, there are small spots here and there that are more independent and are filled with people hunched over their laptops and working tirelessly throughout the day, each one varying in their own weaknesses and strengths, but those are more locations people go to for environment, familiarity, and the fact that they might be a bit more convenient on the work side of things. Especially if they're more Russian owned and feeling a bit more home-like to the average tourist here, which tends to be Russian. Entree tends to be found throughout the city though, kind of plastered around here and there from smaller shops to larger ones with bigger seating areas. The best one I've stumbled across thus far is found in the Vake district just on the corner of Irakli Abashidze Street, with a little more space and seating area. Though as always service in Georgia is a gamble, and sometimes you'll find yourself paying for your order and simply not getting the order, having to get up to remind them about it. It's somewhat expected in all areas of Georgia, and it's not something you find specific to one region, district, or company.

For the average person I'm sure finding those little nooks down alleys and old streets is far more interesting when it comes to finding something to eat or drink, but that's not always an option if you're on the road and in need of something fast. Or if you're like me and often take your laptop with you somewhere to spend a few hours (I'm actually writing this post in that aforementioned Entree in Vake right now). I would argue that it's probably better to risk a shit coffee and some shit lunch while exploring the city and finding something new, less franchised for other situations. Anyway, to give the little introductory part of this review its conclusion: it's not a bad place to get a bit of work done in the day and evenings. It's open quite late from 10AM to 10PM (workdays in this part of the world tend to start a little later in the morning and that's something you have to get used to for anything really). But it's not a place where one should expect the greatest culinary dishes of the region, you shouldn't expect anything particularly cultural from the cafes. You're really just jumping into your typical realm of cakes, salads, and sandwiches. The food also varies if you're getting a wrap or a croissant, it tends to be around the $2 and upward range. Though from what I've seen the salads tend to look a bit sad, the rest doesn't look too bad in comparison. The cakes look pretty good and fresh at least. And the sandwiches could be a bit better for the price but the ingredients seem fresh and with pretty good bread.

I mentioned before that coffee isn't exactly the cheapest, but it tends to stick to the usual general pricing of the region, perhaps even in most parts of the world: your latte is going to run you about 12 Lari which equates to around $3.50. Cappuccino is about one or two Lari cheaper with an average around 9 Lari. Though throughout the city it will vary depending on where you are, and the quality regardless of pricing is certainly hit-or-miss. Especially in regards to the sizing, where some places may give you the most pathetically small cup and others might give you a generously sized one. Entree's Lattes tend to be a bit more on the generous side with relatively large cups, the same for the cappuccino. Though if you're going to get coffee and take it out, then their sizes are oddly small with the same pricing. I'm not sure what the deal is there, but it's something to consider. 

In terms of atmosphere, I wouldn't say it's the worst. As is the case in most places in Georgia and particularly in the cafe culture that they haven't yet quite managed to get the grasp of, the music tends to be the most annoying aspect. It's either way too loud or really doesn't capture the general cafe atmosphere you may want. Perhaps I could do a post on the failed cafe culture here but in regards to Entree, it tends to be this strange club-like music. Giving me this feeling that I'm in an underground room way back in the 90s in some strange area of London listening to a random DJ throw out his techno experiments. It's probably the weirdest aspect of Entree given you'll find elderly couples here spending a few moments grabbing lunch or attempting to relax with their tiny dogs as some jungle beats thump into the flooring from the speakers above. If you plan to come here to work for a few hours, then I'd definitely suggest bringing some of your own headphones just to cancel out some of that noise and give yourself either your own playlist or just block it out. It would probably be a hard place to have work meetings, that's for sure. So it's best to come if you're here to type out large sums of text (code or just publications of some sort) or work through some spreadsheets. Otherwise it will feel like you've entered a club and you're sitting there on your laptop. I should also mention that it's not one of the types of cafes to offer a vast number of plug sockets for charging devices either. So you should either bring your own batteries or ensure things are charged in advance. You'll definitely notice others sitting around with their laptops.

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