Restaurant “Sofiko” is stopping counting on tourist expectations and will focus entirely on local customers, the restaurant’s founder, Irakli Kakhidze, said in an interview with BMGTV’s “Business Morning.”
According to him, 2025 started hard for the restaurant sector due to the events taking place in the country. The restaurant was even temporarily closed.
“We decided to temporarily close the restaurant, give ourselves time to focus on other areas and adapt to the new reality. We no longer have tourist expectations. Now we are focused on local customers and residents who have been living here for years,” Kakhidze explained.
He said that earlier, at the beginning of the tourist season, the restaurant was counting on specific countries and segments, but now this strategy is no longer realistic.
“Now, due to the instability of the country, such calculations are ineffective. Everything may change in one day, so we choose stability and focus on the local market,” Kakhidze noted.
According to Kakhidze, although the number of European tourists might increase in the summer, this will not be the same as before the pandemic.
Due to changes in the political and economic environment, prices at the restaurant Sofiko have also increased.
“We had to increase prices both at Sofiko and at our other facilities. "We changed the menu and increased prices by an average of 20-25%," Kakhidze noted, adding that the reason for the price adjustment is the increase in the cost of raw materials.
Despite the current challenges, Irakli Kakhidze hopes that the situation will change for the better, although at this stage the restaurant is still focused on the local market.
