Argo Georgian Bakery

Hardly a week goes by that I don't find myself strolling down Devon to Argo Georgian Bakery for their wonderful bread - the round lavash and shoti "long bread." It is fresh, wonderfully chewy and full of flavor. I think it's about my favorite bread in the city and the one I serve most frequently for guests, who also fall in love with it. It is perfect with soup, a great base for spreads, and just perfect for tearing chunks off the still warm loaf as you walk out the door and wander down Devon.

While I haven't tried them, several people have also noted that their frozen dumplings, pelmeni, vareniki and pastries are also quite good.

But I think the other great star at Argo is the hachapuri. Oh, the hachapuri. When people ask, "What's hachapuri?" - my short answer is that they are cheese clouds on angel's wings. The longer description is that they are amazing flaky pastries filled with a mix of farmer's, mozzarella and feta cheese. More often than not when I get one, it is straight from the oven - hot, light yet rich, and redolent of tangy, creamy, cheesy, buttery fabulousness. I would eat one every day if I could.

Surprisingly, Argo has only one dedicated thread and it dates back several years.

Georgian Bakery Thread

There are, however, several positive references on other threads which you can find if you search "Argo." I think it's one of those places many people love, but maybe don't think about that often. I think it's time to give it some GNR love.

Argo Georgian Bakery
2812 W Devon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60659
773-764-6322

Argo makes one of my favorite breads, of any kind, in all Chicago. They turn out a few simple products with great care and consistency. I support this nomination.

Jonah

I wonder if we should have another category for Great Neighborhood Food Purveyors...or something like that. I don't really think of Argo as a restauant. That being said, their hachapuri is my favorite Saturday morning breakfast in Chicago. Absolutely delicious. In fact, I blame Argo for all the little croissant-like flakes of pastry in the creases of my car seats (since I am unable to drive home without reaching into the bag of the still-warm, melty cheese, dough-wrapped wonders). I emphatically third.

Per this year's new guidelines, "Great Neighborhood Resource" is a new category. Nominators, though, are supposed to specify whether they are nominating it as a resource or a restaurant.

aschie30 wrote:Per this year's new guidelines, "Great Neighborhood Resource" is a new category.

Aha! That sounds much better. Anyhow, I still emphatically third.

Oops - in my hachapuri-focused haze, I forgot to note that I'm nominating Argo as a resource. I believe that's where it fits.

I'm not quite sure that I appreciate the difference between Restaurant and Resource, because like Thaiobsessed, my order is often half gone by the time I reach home: that sounds ready to eat to me. But whichever it is, I endorse the nomination of Argo Bakery with cheese-puff enthusiasm.

Note: Bakeries have historically been considered GNR(estaurants,) and for consistency's sake should remain so.

GNR Guidelines wrote:Surprisingly, what seems like the simplest term has been the most contentious. Every year, a new nomination would further stretch the definition of Restaurant, until in the new nominations of 2008 it broke. A nomination was excluded because it did not logically fit into even the loosest definition of the term restaurant.
As a result, starting in 2009, we decided to codify the definition of this word. For the Great Neighborhood Restaurants, a Restaurant is any place where we go primarily to get ready-to-eat food or drink. Specifically, it is any place that fits into the categories defined by the places that were already GNRs as of January 1, 2009. While we generally wish to leave it to the posters and nominators to determine the category of a place, based on tradition so far, bakeries shall be considered Restaurants for the GNRs.

That is A-OK with me. I was wavering about the category when I wrote up the nomination, anyway.

LTH,

I've loved Georgian Bakery since the first time I walked into the place. Beautiful beehive oven, but they had me at the first bite of the bread.

Count me a fan.

Enjoy,
Gary

The hachapuri is destination dining.

This place is up for renewal of its GNR. Please post your comments here until 10/10/11.

Walking along Devon munching on a hachapuri fresh from the oven, raining pastry flakes all over my shirt, all with a fresh baked loaf of shoti tucked under my arm = happy, happy , joy, joy.

My girls sampled their first Georgian bread in Tibilisi and Batumi and are hooked on the stuff. Glad I can get it here-since the Bread Bowl closed in Niles/Morton Grove.

Argo is a regular stop for us. Their breads are consistently delicious, particularly when they're fresh out of the oven and the khachapuri is spectacularly flaky and satisfying. We stop by most often, though, to pick up bags of their frozen dumplings that are the ideal freezer food. Try the small ones Turkish style topped with garlic yogurt, cayenne pepper, and butter.

I can't stop eating the pelmeni that I picked up from Argo a while ago. Whenever I want a really quick meal or snack I just boil some up and have delicious dumplings in no time. Not to mention the amazing hachapuri they sling. Definitely still a GNR in my book.

I've introduced many people to the wonders of Argo in the last few years, all of whom keep returning for the bread and hatchapuri. It is still my go to bakery for bread. And the hatchapuri are a constant siren call. It takes tremendous discipline for me not to have one every day, since it's only about 5 blocks away.

I'm glad the renewal threat finally prompted me to stop in, which I posted about here. Loved the hachapuri and another pastry that was filled with cabbage and mushrooms. I look forward to many return visits and very much hope it retains its GNR status. It's exactly the kind of little niche spot that makes living in Chicago so fun.