About
The oven came first. The restaurant followed.
Kvevri opened in 2022 after its two founders spent three years working kitchens in Tbilisi and the Kakheti wine region before bringing a mason from Tbilisi to Chicago to build the tone by hand, brick by brick, against the back wall.
The Oven
Clay, not steel.
The tone is a cylindrical clay oven sunk into the hearth and fired with hardwood until the interior walls hold heat for hours. Bread goes directly against the hot clay wall, which is why khachapuri here comes out with a blistered, slightly smoky crust that a steel deck oven can't replicate. It's also why we only run one khachapuri order at a time — the oven has room for a handful of loaves, not a rack of them.
The same fire heats the mtsvadi grill beside it, so the kitchen runs on one heat source, the way most Georgian family kitchens do.
The Wine
Fermented in clay, the way it started.
Georgia is generally credited as the birthplace of winemaking, and much of it is still fermented and aged in qvevri — large clay vessels buried underground, sealed, and left for months on the grape skins. That process is what gives amber wine its color and its structure, closer to a light red than a typical white.
Our list leans on small Kakheti and Kartli producers working this way, poured by the glass, half-liter carafe, or bottle. If you've never had amber wine, ask your server to start you with a taste before you commit to a glass.
The Room
Built for a full table
Nineteen seats line the bar around the tone for guests eating solo or dropping in without a reservation. The dining room holds a mix of two-tops and a long communal table built for groups splitting a Supra Board. A small heated patio off the side entrance seats twelve, weather permitting, spring through October.
Bar seating around the oven — first come, first served.
The communal table, built for a Supra Board and a full bottle list.
The patio, open through October.
Groups & Private Dining
Hosting a supra of your own
The communal table seats up to fourteen for a fixed, family-style supra menu — a common way to celebrate a birthday, work dinner, or holiday in Georgian tradition. Reach out at least two weeks ahead and we'll build the menu with you.