If I had an Italian grandmother this is what I imagine dinners at her house would be. Fresh, flavorful and filling, everything I tried was perfectly prepared. I will dream about the burrata probably every day and the bucatini is exactly what I needed in a pasta. The meatballs are also an absolute must order. I could have lived without the rigatoni, it was good but it wasn't a show stopper. I love that this place has mocktails, beautiful outdoor seating and and incredibly friendly team who helped make the dining experience! The manager came around to check on everyone and I always appreciate the added touch read more

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Enjoyed a lovely birthday brunch! Sarah our server was such a pleasure. She truly made the experience special. Everything we had was so good! I love the small plates style of dining. Pelato is probably one of the best Italian placing in Charleston. I highly recommend. read more

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Alexis or Evan, A bartender should never presume that patrons are together and automatically combine their tabs. Doing so leads to awkward and uncomfortable situations. In this case, one patron had been alone for almost two hours before a random guy sat down. She closed her tab and left, and I stayed because we were not together. If generosity is your rationale for this situation, perhaps this isn't an isolated event with your bartenders. My guess is that the woman either didn't notice my items were added to her tab, or she noticed and felt uncomfortable saying anything. I shared my disappointment with your bartenders and would strongly suggest additional training focused on clear communication with patrons. Had anyone simply said, "She's covering your drinks," this situation could have been avoided. To be clear, she was there an hour or two before I arrived, she conveyed nothing to me, and your bartenders never mentioned that she had paid for my drinks. I only discovered the issue when I closed out with one beer on my own tab. I find your otherwise eloquent reply as frustrating as the situation itself. I've worked front of house, I've served in a tux, handled door security, worked in the kitchen, and owned a bar. Bartenders are the heart of an establishment ... my suggestion is simply to have them communicate better to prevent situations like this in the future. Best of luck. read more

Pelato - Italian Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

Would definitely recommend this cute Italian tapa style restaurant. The frozen espresso and limoncello margaritas were our favorite drinks of our weekend trip. We also got the baked ziti and vodka pasta. The vodka pasta was definitely our favorite and was so flavorful and rich. Definitely this place a try! read more

Pelato - Espresso martini and limoncello margarita - Italian Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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This place is incredible. Solid service, great food, great atmosphere... will definitely be back! 10/10!

To the business owner who replied: I have had plenty of ravioli in my life including in Italy and made it many times at home. If you zoom into the photo you can see it looks fried - there are literal bubbles on the ravioli. Maybe your team was heating up frozen ravioli and put hot oil on it - who knows! It was really hard to eat and the texture was rough and unlike any ravioli I have ever had. It wasn't smooth like it is supposed to be. We aren't from Charleston and have no intention to come back to Pelato. First of all they offered us the worst table to sit at (secluded, in a weird corner) so we chose to sit at the empty bar instead. Then they dropped the bomb that none of their Thanksgiving items were available except one butternut squash ravioli. We were like ok lets get that. In the meantime we also ordered the garlic bread with melted parmesan, burrata crostini and the dark chocolate budino. The garlic bread and burata crostini came quickly followed by the dessert. We waited almost 20-30 mins (after inquiring twice) before the sad plate of ravioli came. Imagine being offered 5 pieces of "fried" ravioli that were stuffed maybe with a small piece of butternut squash and swimming in a mixture of olive oil and vinegar. The bartender never told us details about the ravioli and never offered us to see the Thanksgiving special menu so we assumed it would be a traditional ravioli with some sauce. If I had known that it would be fried (never seen something like this before) and it would not come with any sauce but come drizzled with olive oil and vinegar, I would have never ordered and waited 30 mins for it. Sorry but it was an abomination of a ravioli and keeping it on a Thanksgiving dinner specials was like committing a crime. read more

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We recently had a reason to go out and celebrate and I had heard of Pelato when I was in Nashville, so I wanted to check out the CHS location! I stalked OpenTable for a bit to find a reservation and after a week, a late dinner option that worked for us popped up! We arrived early because I was antsy, which worked out perfectly for us to grab a drink from their outdoor bar window! We started with the Pelato breeze and the limoncello margarita. Both cocktails were well balanced and refreshing, which is perfect in the (not yet summer) heat. We were seated a touch early, which was perfect, in the outdoor dining area. I had read reviews and crossed my fingers for indoor seating - I had heard the outside was incredibly loud. The place was booked and there was definitely chatter but I had no issues hearing my conversation or the staff! For the meal, we decided to order - mozzarella caprese (I wanted the burrata crostini but they were out), prosciutto di parma, crispy garlic potatoes, chicken parmigiana, bucatini cacio e pepe, rainbow cookies, and the dark chocolate budino. I also grabbed another cocktail, this time the Sicilian lemonade. The mozzarella and prosciutto were delicious but the rest of the meal was phenomenal! The crispy garlic potatoes are a must order, especially if you love garlic. I'm obsessed with bucatini and cacio e pepe so the two of them being together made my heart happy! So, so well balanced with just the right amount of pepper. The chicken parm is one of the best I've had - nice and thin, crispy, cheesy, saucy... For dessert, we INHALED the budino - very rich but with a thick layer of cream to balance it. I only had room for one of the rainbow cookies, and even though they are smaller than I expected (I'm used to them being a little chunky)they were packed with all the traditional flavors I love. Service was great - our waitstaff were all very friendly and well-educated on the menu and cocktails. Parking was very easy. I'd like to sit inside next time to see how that ambience compares, but we went on a lovely (but warm) evening and enjoyed the semi-open patio area. We've already texted our friends that we need a double date, so we will definitely be back! read more

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Waited 3 weeks to dine here and have never been more disappointed. The dishes were all 2-3 bites and 20 dollars each! We were told to order 5 or 6 to share and they would be delivered in a staggered manner. Instead, all arrived simultaneously ice cold. They expect you to dress up, yet the patio has PLASTIC chairs lol. The wait staff seemed confused but this was shortly after opening, so we will give them a pass. The drinks were good but overpriced. The dessert was good. Overall, would never spend 160 to leave hungry ever again. There are far better Italian restaurants in Charleston. read more

Pelato - Italian Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

The service was absolutely the best. Top notch from the time you get in the door until the time you leave. The whole staff works together to bring about an incredible dining experience. I would give it a five but unfortunately, it is very difficult for me to find Italian food that I absolutely love. I am Italian and I cook from my grandmother's recipes so unfortunately, very few Italian restaurants can meet the expectation. I'd love to bring my sauce in for a taste test for the whole staff and see what they think! But, I'd highly recommend Pelato and I will return! read more

We arrived without reservations and were told it'd be an hour wait. No worries. We heard this place was great, so we figured it'd be well worth the wait. So, we put our name in and headed for the bar. Luckily, there were a couple spots at the bar open, so we opted to eat there. The service at the bar was top notch. Friendly and very responsive to all our requests. Awesome! And then the food arrived... We opened with the meatballs. They showed up somewhat below room temperature and were just so-so. I've had much better meatballs at various chain Italian restaurants (e.g., Carrabbas, Buca di Beppo, etc). Then we got the baked clams. They were nothing special. Tasted mostly like breadcrumbs and the clams were tasteless and chewy. Got the ravioli and it was just blah. The marinara the rav came with was watery and unappetizing. Finally, we got the carbonara and the pasta was undercooked (and I don't mind al dente, but these were less cooked than that) and the cream sauce was tasteless and a waste of calories. All in all -- Ambiance - C+ - was loud and extremely busy. We could barely hear each other talk. Service - A - friendly, responsive. No complaints. Food - C- -- I've had better Italian food at places that cost a fraction of what Pelato charges. My girlfriend and I agreed that it was reminiscent of a meal youd expect to get at a restaurant in Disney World. Maybe even a cut below. read more

The bar was set high here with all the 5 star reviews! We did not find it to be a 5, but certainly a 4. The food was fresh and tasty, but didn't knock our socks off hence the 4. We got the prosciutto, garlic bread, arancini, vodka sauce and carbonara. Fav honestly was the bread! The Arancini doesn't come with any sauce which we found odd so we had to ask for some. Although they say the servings are small, we left feeling way too full and will definitely order less next time. Our server was great but she encouraged at least 4 dishes which simply is too much for normal eaters. We will go back for sure and try some different dishes. Only other comment is the noise level is off the charts so be ready ! read more

Grazie Pelato! We went to dinner for my sister's birthday and the staff made it a very personal and memorable experience. The food was delicious! I highly recommend the radiatori vodka, Bucatini Cacio e Pepe and chicken parm BONUS: My child even lost a tooth during dinner and our server, Ashley, brought a small container with a lid so we didn't lose it! To me that was above and beyond customer service. Thank you!! read more

Went for Brunch on Valentine's Day, showed up with high expectations. Was let down hard. -tequila soda with lime $18...terrible price for a basic mixed drink. -mimosa $16....all OJ Garlic Potatoes and the Garlic Bread with Parm dip were best part of meal, and they were the appetizer. The Nutella French toast was good but could easily at home. Italian Biscuits and Gravy had about an 1/8" of oil sitting on top of a lackluster "gravy". Looked thrown together. 2x tequila 2x mimosa Appetizers And two Brunch entrees $168. To sum it up, highly overpriced drinks with food that could easily be seen in an Olive Garden. OH, and they ripped off the Bocci's logo. C'mon man, be more unique. read more

Pelato - Old Bocci's logo. - Italian Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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Love the premise of Italian tapas! Our first time here did not disappoint. We sat on the covered patio, which thankfully became more covered and heated as the night went on, was always very comfortable. Our server was great! He was helpful and knowledgeable. The food was very good! The clams were really tasty, the pasta vodka was a little spicy but the flavor was great! Definitely recommend. read more

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Always loved the food at Pelato. Ambiance is decent as long as you sit outside. But as a historical repeat customer, it's surprising to receive such poor customer service as a GM refusing to wave the charge when a reservation needed to be cancelled for an unexpected emergency at home. Way to make a bad day worse! read more

Awesome experience! Our first true date night in over a year couldn't have gone better! Our server, Freddy, gave us amazing recommendations and was so thoughtful. We ordered 7 dishes but my stand outs I would get again are the shrimp campanelle and burnt broccoli. Next time I'd love to try some other vegetable dishes and the clams! Highly recommend Pelato! read more

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Came across this place searching for a newer place to go for Hubby's birthday. He loves Italian food but it's hard sometimes with him being Celiac as his options are limited. We saw they offered several options for GF so we decided to go! The place is right next to Edmund's Oast brewery and there's a good amount of parking. I would recommend making a reservation for even a weekday because when we got inside it was packed! They had a beautiful outdoor space with big windows, but we chose to sit inside. Our server Kalendar greeted us in a timely manner and gave us the spiel of this place. Brooklyn Italian food and served in smaller portions. I absolutely loved the concept because I enjoy eating smaller format items so you can try different ones instead of the big portions they normally give you at Italian joints. Burnt broccolini- 5/5 these were the BEST I've ever had. So much flavor and the perfect char on them. Devoured these up! Panelle- (chickpea fritters) 5/5 - I don't eat chickpeas but apparently I enjoy them smashed and fried. These were light and perfectly crispy. GF options -Campanelle Shrimp Limon, and Rigatoni and Italian sausage Both were excellent and the perfect portion! Gotta come back soon! Thank you for making GF and option for delicious Italian food! I read more

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Brody was lovely!! He was so tentative and made sure we' were having the best experience possible!!! Great food great service!! Definitely recommend the meatballs!!! read more

Pelato was amazing! The manager, Will, went above and beyond to make our dinner superb. Beautiful decor and fabulous dishes. We will be back!! read more

Vibes 10/10 they do a great job curating the nyc feel We got the mozzarella, Caprese, meatballs, chicken parm, vodka pasta, ravioli, and gelato. Would recommend this to anyone Mozzarella, meatballs, and chicken parm were our favs. This is tapas style which is really fun but you definitely don't need as much as they recommend, 2 items per person is perfect. read more

Pelato - The Pelato Rav - Italian Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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I had a fantastic experience at Pelato. I had a pre-dinner drink at the bar. The bartenders were very helpful and nice. For dinner we had almost everything on the menu. However, the broccolini and the vodka pasta were my favorite. I'd highly recommend giving this place a try! I'll definitely be back! read more

Pelato - Bar area - Italian Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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Lucas was so friendly and had wonderful recommendations. The food was amazing, as expected. You MUST have the Campanelle Shrimp Limone! We have been to their sister restaurant, Luogo in Nashville, many times and Pelato is a wonderful addition. We love the ambiance - this is absolutely the place you want to go to celebrate, but it's also a lovely weeknight dinner with a friend, date night with your love, or quality time with your mom. One thing their restaurant family does right: hiring. The service is spectacular! It doesn't matter what day of the week, which section, or the server... When you dine at any Pelato OR Luogo restaurant, you can be assured that the service will be 10/10 every time. We will certainly be regulars at Pelato now... read more

This place just screams home as an Italian American from New Jersey. The zeppoles in a bag as dessert almost made me cry. Start to finish 10/10. I loved the small plates style dishes, which feels so opposite Italian food (more family style). Every dish hit - no notes. Can't wait to return and try the rest of the menu! read more

Pelato - Italian Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

You guys... a good meal, great cocktail, and incredible service all in one spot. I came here for a weekend brunch and it was busy but not too crowded. We made a reservation for outdoor seating and were sat promptly and met by a server soon after. The dishes are all shareable plates, so you get to try a bit of everything. The cocktails are unique and Italian-inspired, and SO good. I talked about this meal all weekend. 10/10 would recommend. read more

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initial thoughts, wayyy too pricey for that small of a plate. However, after the meal, i could not be more thankful for the food that blessed my mouth. eat here read more

Pelato - ordered the baked ziti, the pelato rav, and the garlic bread absolutel BANGERS. bill was 117$ for 5 things and 2 drinks - Italian Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

Phenomenal. I came for girls night on a Saturday and it was packed but service was still stellar. We ordered 4 plates to share: radiatori vodka, chicken parmigiana, meatballs al forno, and the daily special which I can't remember the name. The radiatori vodka was my absolute favorite and I will continue to order when I come here. I ordered the strawberry fields mocktail (twice) and need to make these at home!! Everything was full of flavor and nice to try multiple items! Will definitely come back again - the hype around this place ia valid. read more

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This place had real potential Plusses. Server (Gianna)was incredibly good Meatballs A+ Burnt broccoli D- Calamari B - typical fried rings nothing special Potato croquettes A- Pasta with vodka sauce- A solid but a little too spicy Zucchini straws - B- cut way to thin so there was no flavor at all. Cooked perfectly though This place wants you to buy lots of small plates and share. OK with me as I like to try different dishes. Table of 4 which is normal right? Then why serve 3 meatballs and 3 croquettes? Someone is getting left out. There prices are decent and they could make dishes maybe small and large to accommodate We did complain about broccoli and sent it back. All we got from the manager was a shoulder shrug and a wow sorry. They could have sent a replacement dish Pasta choices should have small and large options to allow for more variety. They recommend 4-5 dishes per table adding pasta on top of that is way too much food. We ended up taking most of the pasta home and certainly didn't have room for dessert Like most Charleston restaurants this pace is very loud Hope this place reads there reviews! We will likely try again and try different things Good luck!! read more

The food here is phenomenal. Pelato bills itself as Brooklyn Italian, and it genuinely delivers on that -- it reminds me of Sundays at my nonna's house, an Italian immigrant who spent decades living in Brooklyn. Some of the dishes taste as close to hers as a restaurant can get. The ambiance is fantastic too -- beautifully decorated and perfectly on-brand. I've had both brunch and dinner here, and both were excellent. My personal signature dish is spicy rigatoni, and their radiatore vodka is the closest anyone has come to the home-cooked version I grew up with. Overall, very good vibes. One thing I do want to note, though it hasn't been enough to stop me from going back: at the end of our meal, the manager came over and handed out cards asking us to leave a review, which is totally fine -- reviews are a huge driver of restaurant success, and I get that. But he went on to say that, unlike other restaurants in Charleston, their reviews are all authentic and not paid for, and that other restaurants in the area pay for reviews these days, some accumulating thousands of reviews that "don't make sense." I understand the sentiment behind it -- paid reviews are genuinely a shady practice -- but it felt a bit over the top to hear it as a sales pitch at the table as we were packing up to leave. Let the product speak for itself; there's no need to put down other restaurants to earn a review. It's also worth noting that when you look Pelato up, they themselves have upwards of 3,500 reviews for a restaurant that's only been open about a year -- the very thing being implied about competitors. It's been about a month since this happened, and it's stuck with me more than I expected. That said, the food really has been phenomenal every time and I will go back whenever I'm in the area. read more

Our favorite Italian restaurant we've tried in Charleston! The salad was honestly our favorite and want to go back to try more small plates and pastas! Service was super fast (under an hour for 3 people and 3 courses; almost too fast, would have liked to sit longer). Will be going back and probably buying a T-shirt too. read more

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I had VERY high hopes for Pelato after reading reviews and following them on Instagram. After eating there, I was VERY disappointed. I'll start off with the environment. I love what they did with the B&B space. It was still open up top and had a lot of natural light coming in. They did cram A LOT of tables in there, though. Trying to walk to our tiny table in the corner was frustrating since they had about ten thousand employees walking around. A lot of the servers had a second server with them, people were running plates, people were running drinks and others were clearing off plates. Just so many bodies moving around at once and not a lot of space to do so. The tables were all very close together. I probably could have laid my head on the shoulder of the person at the table next to me. Our server and her partner were great. Attentive, knowledgeable about everything on the drink/food menu and incredibly nice. No issues there at all! The drinks were pretty solid, I'll give them that. My partner had a mocktail which was delicious. I had a glass of wine and the Pelato Breeze which was A+. The drinks did take quite a while to come out, but I didn't see but one or two people working the bar for the large amount of tables in the restaurant + outdoor space + two bars people were sitting at. Let's move onto the food... All of the plates are considered "small plates" and "shareable". I find that laughable as the plates were very small and some could be finished in one or two bites. Prosciutto Plate - cut fresh when ordered, tasted as prosciutto should taste. The parmesan on top was delicious and the balsamic was a nice touch. The meatballs - Listen, I love a good meatball. Our server had advised us that this was made with breadcrumbs, which was weird to tell me but I suppose if it would be a dietary restriction it is nice to know. There were three in a bowl. Presentation look good, so I was excited to try them, especially after reading great reviews online about them. I was a tad disappointed when I realized that they were ground Italian sausage. Don't get me wrong, I like Italian sausage - I've just never had it in a meatball form when there wasn't really any other kind of protein with it (beef, pork, etc). If it was ground up in a sauce, I may have enjoyed it more - but this was too much like just eating a sausage link. The marinara/sauce was very watery and lacked flavor. The burrata crostini came next. I love a good seeded bread loaf. After seeing it come out and having sesame seeds on it, I was so happy! Reminds me of the loaves I'd get from the bakery down the street in Brooklyn with my grandparents. Once it was placed on the table, I became a little sad seeing that the marinara/tomato sauce (whatever they call it there), which as I mentioned was very watery, had made the bread super soggy. It wasn't crusty at all. The burrata on top was topped with something SO SALTY that I could barely eat it. I like flavor and salt in my food, but this was way too much. I only took one or two bites before deciding I couldn't finish it. Next came the Pelato Rav. This lacked....everything. It was 3x3 squares, but not cut, just making it one large square. If that makes sense. I posted a photo with this review so you can see. It was just a sheet of ravioli, which was very al dente and kind of hard to eat. The filling didn't have any flavor to it. My partner basically folded it over and was able to eat it in two bites. It wasn't hot, either, which was sad. The campanelle shrimp limon was our next dish to come out. The shrimp was overcooked and made the "o" instead of "c" shape. They were rubbery and tough to eat. The flavor of this dish was pretty great, but the black pepper on top wasn't a good addition to it. The pasta was also undercooked. The chicken parmigiana was received last. I had seen photos and reviews of this and was looking forward to one dish I didn't think could be messed up - especially if you call yourself an Italian restaurant. Our chicken was SO thin, we could barely tell what what chicken and what was breading. Some parts of the chicken tasted burnt (either from the breading being burnt or the oil not being refreshed). I have made so many chicken cutlets in my life for a lot of Jewish holidays and gatherings. I've messed up and burnt some before but I would never serve it to anyone. The cheese on top was slightly melty but the rest of it seemed as though it sat under the broiler too long. With the red sauce, which lacked flavor, this was a very underwhelming dish. Desserts - the torta di mele was so so so dry. The apples on the edges tasted really great, but the cake itself was not good. The rainbow cookies made me want to cry. As someone who grew up in Brooklyn eating rainbow cookies and has rainbow cookies delivered ever year to her from there, these were nowhere close to "Brooklyn Italian". It lacked flavor and were so tiny. I will probably not return to this restaurant or recommend it. read more

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We absolutely LOVED Pelato. Travel and eat out a lot and this is not a place I will soon forget. The Lemoncello Margarita tasted like Italian ice Each dish we had was outstanding.. the burrata crostinis, baked clams, cauliflower dish and rigatori vodka dish but the absolute show stopped was the shrimp campanelli. Oh my gosh!! I will have dreams about that Finished up with the canolli dip and chips for dessert and the bill was cheaper than I even expected. We will DEFINITELY be back read more

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Really enjoyed Pelato! great ambiance, you have to love a place you can go to have a good meal without having to engage in a fashion show!! The Service was outstanding. A waiter was intentive and funny and make sure we had everything we could possibly want. We started the night with a few slices of prosciutto de Parma and Parmesan Reggiano with a little balsamic and olive oil. Great prosciutto! And olive oil was pretty good also. We also shared a Pelato house salad. A great blend of lettuce, vinegar, peppers, provolone, salami and oregano. We opted for the Sunday sauce for the main entrée. Wonderful sauce with a combination of meatballs, pork ribs, sausages, and beef braciola. A big dish of fusilli on the side. It was wonderful. A nice Nero d'Avola was the perfect way to wash it down. Anthony came over and gave us a little history of the places in Nashville and Brooklyn Heritage. There's a nice decent size bar there Full bar so anything you could want is available. We've already made reservations again on another Sunday and bringing two more couples. It's good to have a great Italian American restaurant in Charleston!! read more

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Yall... ITS. SO. GOOD!!!! Prices are high, but the vibes and experience is everything!!! We got the campanelli and radiatori, as well as a frozen espresso martini (total of $59). We were suggested to order 3-4 dishes since the portions are small, and the timing of when the dishes come out are not consistent (like it won't come out all at once). So just keep that in mind, and I would also recommend making a reservation since this place is fairly new and is popular! Service is also amazing! They want you to enjoy the experience within a 2 hour time frame, but nonetheless so welcoming and accommodating. Would come again, and get more menu items!! read more

Pelato - frozen espresso martini and menu - Italian Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

The service was phenomenal, the cocktail (Casanova) was so good, the appetizers were all fantastic, and I love the casual ambiance--stylish but not stuffy, city without the pretentiousness, no white table cloths here. Love me a budino and theirs was [chefs kiss]. Will 100% return. read more

Everything was amazing from top to bottom from the moment we walked into the door we knew we were going to be treated special. They actually pay attention to notes made during your reservation so if you have a special something you're celebrating or any food allergies or intolerances they will make note even before you arrive. The ambiance is lively such as an Italian Cafe can be and the acoustics or proof of this. The ambiance is wonderful boasting a brisk afternoon in Italy with subtle touches of elegance and pictures to make it feel like home. The food is carefully handcrafted and attention to detail is where it's at. An empty plage doesn't remain on your table for long and water carafes/drinks don't go unattended. The small plates are brought out Swifty for you to plate and enjoy sharing different tastes with your table. Absolutely loved the gluten free homemade rigatoni. Delightfully surprised at the portions for sharing. Can't wait to return and bring others to share in the experience! read more

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Wow this place was incredible! From the service to the drinks to every dish - it was such a standout experience and I can't wait to go back. The owners wife has celiac so there's a lot of gluten free dishes on the menu and their house made GF pasta might be the best I've ever had. I loved the panelle too. Incredible! read more

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I don't usually leave reviews unless something is really off, but this experience was disappointing enough to warrant it. For a restaurant charging premium prices, the portion sizes were shockingly small. We left feeling like we barely had a meal, which is frustrating when you're paying top dollar and expecting a certain standard. To make matters worse, one of the salads we ordered was completely inedible -- it was essentially a bowl of onions. Not a balanced salad, just overwhelmingly onion-heavy to the point it was absolutely disgusting and couldn't be eaten. Overall, between the tiny portions and the poor execution on dishes, this was a letdown. Definitely not worth the price, and unfortunately not a place we'd return to or recommend unless you love onions for days! read more

Pelato - Italian Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

Booked a month in advance to celebrate multiple birthdays (noted it in the reservation), and a few days before dinner they pushed our time back for a private party. Fine. We were flexible. The night of, we arrived ONE minute past the 15-minute cutoff after calling to say we were on our way... and our table was already gone. Instead of the indoor seating I reserved (it was freezing and we were dressed up), we were put on a drafty "enclosed" patio where half the heaters weren't even on. Everyone out there was wearing coats. Not exactly birthday vibes. Service was minimal at best. No recommendations, no personality, not even a "happy birthday." The only candle we saw was stuck in a napkin. Food? Overpriced and tiny portions. Three lobster ravioli. Cold winter ravioli. Zucchini fries too thin to dip. Radiatore was the only win. $400 later, we left still hungry. This was supposed to be a special night. It felt rushed, cold (literally), and half-hearted. Should've listened to the local reviews, not worth it. Won't be back. read more

Every once in a while, a restaurant stirs a major buzz. Food boards are filled with questions and pictures of food. Tik Toks start popping up like crazy and everyone wants to try the place. This is the buzz Pelato has created. We made our reservation three weeks in advance which seems the norm. When we arrived, we were pleased to see that dedicated parking was available since they are right next door to Edmunds Oast. The atmosphere is lively with waiters bustling around taking orders. There is inside dining as well as a patio which is glassed in and airconditioned. If you don't have a reservation, you can get bar seating but be forewarned that these disappear fast. We arrived right as they opened, and they were gone in three minutes! We ordered their frozen cocktails; my wife got the Frozen Limoncello drop which was not too sweet and very refreshing. I ordered the Frozen Espresso Martini which had great coffee notes and was perfect for a hot day. We started with the Garlic Bread which can have melted parm sauce or a red sauce added, we got both. The melted parm was lick the bowl delicious. We frantically tried to mop up every drop. Next was the Street Style Arancini where we made use of the red sauce we ordered with the bread. They were light and delicate with bold flavors which were enhanced by the red sauce. The Crispy Garlic Potatoes had to be ordered. They were downright crunchy in a good way and the garlic aioli was a garlic lover's dream. We decided on another cocktail, the New York Sour. It had whiskey, orangecello, lemon, and a red wine float. I really loved the fact it was two toned and very boozy. We then had the Pelato Rav which was their take on ravioli. The pasta was a perfect Al Dente and loaded with cheese and zesty sauce. If you want to try this, get here early as it is limited availability. Our favorite dish was the Radiatori Vodka. I am not usually a vodka sauce fan, but this made me a believer. Perfectly cooked pasta with a vibrant sauce with a nice spice kick at the end, excellent! Of course, Chicken Parm is a staple, so we had to give it a go. The chicken was juicy and flavorful with a nice crispy fry accented by the cheese and sauce, probably in my top three. Finally, we ended the meal with their San Gennaro Zeppoles which arrive in the traditional paper bag. Hot and sugary they reminded me of a powdered donut but lighter with a slight lemony taste. Everything we ordered was outstanding and the service was friendly, efficient and on point. Put in your reservation now! read more

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Welcome to Charleston, Pelato! We are so glad you're here. What an incredible spread of delicious options! Our service was speedy and the food came out as it was ready, rather than all at once. We enjoyed 5 different shareable pasta dishes and some apps while dining outdoors. The frozen espresso martinis were delicious, but a little too sweet to enjoy throughout the meal. The limoncello margarita was just perfect. We enjoyed the burnt broccolini and crispy garlic potatoes as appetizers and had every last bit of both plates. So good! While we enjoyed all of our main shareable dishes, the groups favorites were the radiatori vodka and the chicken parm. We can't wait to come back here! Extra bonus points for the parking lot!! read more

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