There are no restaurants of note in the Pankisi villages — eating happens at the guesthouses, which is part of the point. Kist food is its own thing: Georgian khinkali and khachapuri sit alongside Chechen-style mutton, walnut sauces, herb-stuffed flatbreads, and homemade fruit compotes. Meals are usually included in a guesthouse stay and are taken as a long table around the family. Vegetarians are easy to accommodate with notice; alcohol is not part of Kist culture and the gorge is effectively dry, though one or two guesthouses will quietly serve wine to non-Muslim guests.