Glendale’s Georgian Heartbeat: Five Khachapuris at Art’s Bakery to Know
Walk into Art’s Bakery on a busy Glendale morning, and the cases hum quietly with routine. There are rows of nazook, glossy ponchiks, and careful layers of cakes. Then your eye lands on the khachapuri, and routine falls away. These breads look like something between comfort and celebration, each one a small drama of dough, cheese, and heat.Khachapuri belongs to Georgia, although Glendale has happily adopted it. Here, the bread feels less like an import and more like a neighbor who never went home. You see people ordering it by name but also pointing and saying “that one”, the way you do when you recognise pleasure before you remember the word for it.
Spend a little time in front of the khachapuri section, and a pattern appears. There is a snack you can finish alone in the car, a round meant for tearing at the table, and a showpiece boat that turns breakfast into a small event. Art’s Bakery lets you move through these moods one loaf at a time. Here are five that tell the story best.
Glendale’s Georgian Heartbeat: Five Khachapuris at Art’s Bakery to Know
Small Cheese Khachapuri / Börek
Start small. The tray of cheese börek looks modest, just puffed parcels scattered with sesame. Inside, though, the bakery hides a salty mix of melted feta that hits the palate quickly and stays there. The dough bakes into delicate layers that flake in your hands; this is the one you eat standing up, maybe in the parking lot, while the box of sweets for everyone else waits on the seat beside you.
Imeruli Khachapuri
If the börek is a snack, the Imeruli is a commitment. It arrives as a round, burnished disc, heavy with promise. Cut into it and you find the classic Georgian pairing that made khachapuri famous: warm, pillowy dough wrapped around a rich, molten cheese filling. The edges stay slightly crisp, the center stays soft, and every wedge feels like a main course. This is the bread you put in the middle of the table and let everyone pull from, piece by piece, until only crumbs remain on the plate.
Original Ajarski Khachapuri
The Ajarski is the showstopper. It comes to the table shaped like a small boat, sides curved high to hold its cargo of feta and mozzarella, the center gleaming with two sunny eggs. The cheese bubbles into the crust, the yolks wait to be stirred in with a fork, and suddenly breakfast turns into a small ritual. You tear off a corner of bread, swipe it through the molten mixture, and taste why Georgia put this dish on postcards. It is rich, generous, and just messy enough to feel intimate.
Khachapuri Kabob
Then the mood shifts from bakery case to grill. The Khachapuri Kabob reads like a bridge between two worlds: skewers of meat, grilled to a deep savor, carrying the name of bread. Art’s offers beef, chicken, and a jalapeno version for those who like a slow burn of heat. Each piece comes off the skewer juicy and well seasoned, built for those evenings when you want something heartier with your khachapuri order, something that smells of charcoal and spice.
Ajarski Khachapuri with Vegetables & Canadian Bacon
For a final act, the bakery leans into fusion. The base remains familiar with a boat of dough and eggs. Then it is loaded with a bright mix of mushrooms, green onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, and some salty cubes of bacon. It tastes like brunch in two countries at once. The vegetables bring freshness, the bacon adds smoke, and the cheese ties everything together. You could share it, although it also makes a very persuasive solo meal.
Some bakeries sell bread as background, something to fill a plate or soften a cup of coffee. At Art’s Bakery Glendale, khachapuri behaves more like a main character. Choose one, or work through these five over a few visits, and you start to feel what good food writers love to chase. It is that quiet moment when a dish stops being “just bread” and becomes a story you will tell someone later, probably with a little cheese still on your fingers.