Tavola at The Cloister was an outstanding dining experience for our group this past weekend. We started with the burrata, which was one of the best I've ever had! The rigatoni was also delicious and full of flavor. Everyone seemed to enjoy all the entrees they ordered. The service was attentive, friendly, and made the evening feel special. It was our parents wedding anniversary and they brought out champagne and a special dessert to celebrate. Combined with the beautiful atmosphere at The Cloister, it was the perfect setting for a relaxing last dinner on vacation. Excellent food, wonderful wine, exceptional service, and an elegant ambiance. We will definitely be back when in town next! read more

Tavola - Italian Near Me - Sea Island, Georgia

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We were seated quickly to a table with a lovely view, water poured and coffee served! What a way to start breakfast! Their breakfast options are the breakfast buffet or small breakfast menu entrees. I opted for the classic Eggs Benedict menu item with asparagus and potato sides- all delicious! The others in our group enjoyed the buffet. I did peruse the many breakfast buffet items before choosing, and the fruit was beautifully fresh and the proteins, and various cereals and pumpkin pancakes looked yummy! read more

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The whole atmosphere was enticing and calm by the sunset on the beach it was amazing. The food was delicious and refined. all the service was very attentive, and the food came out really fast. read more

Tavola - Italian Near Me - Sea Island, Georgia

We visited Tavola multiple times on our most recent trip to the Cloister. This place is a bit more casual than the other restaurants on Sea Island, and has a great vibe. Dinner: Dinner was amazing! The Cresta de Gallo is absolutely incredible with the mushrooms and Parmesan. Highly recommend! They also had a killer Cesar salad with anchovies. We ordered espresso martinis and sazeracs at the Tavola bar and they were perfect. The bartender, Parker, is just the BEST and she even remembered us from our visit last year. Dinner food and drinks and Parker were 5-stars for sure!! Breakfast: The Tavola breakfast experience is different from the dinner experience. Our friend ordered a $14 "fruit smoothie" off the menu and they brought out a glass of Bolthouse Farms Berry Boost Juice in a glass. The same one you get at Walmart for $2.50. The waitress was kind and polite and brought him a replacement which was Bolthouse farms green juice, but certainly not a smoothie. The eggs, sausage, and coffee were all pretty good and the grits were great! If you come for breakfast, get the grits and coffee! They have a breakfast buffet on the weekends, but we were there during the week and ordered off the a la carte menu. Service is always exceptional here and we appreciated the staff's kindness and attentiveness to our requests. read more

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Christmas Eve dinner. Very busy place. We were seated away from the large parties which we were happy about. Nice specials. Our waiter was fine, but seemed to be going thru the motions. The server's assistant was more enthusiastic...we had the Caesar salad & special citrus salad which was so refreshing. Our table had the Campanella pasta, wagyu special & Margherita pizza. The pizza was delicious & just the right thin crust. The pasta portion was small. The wagyu was a bit tough. I had the Sauvignon blanc which ended up having a bad after taste. We didn't have any desserts. Ok dinner overall. Just too hectic on a holiday when servers seem disengaged. read more

Tavola - Pistachio cake with Cranberry gelato & cranberry compote! Merry Christmas! - Italian Near Me - Sea Island, Georgia

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Great Pasta! This is an upscale Italian spot at The Cloister with good pasta and desert options. Our waiter was wonderful and always timely with drinks and the check. The rigatoni bolognese had a great depth of flavor and the bombolini desert had the perfect amount of sweetness. Overall a great pasta spot in Sea Island. read more

Good food, great service but small portion and veal Marsala without mushrooms?! Never heard of that

Staying at the Sea Island resort so we had to eat at Tavola. It's inside the hotel but I'm sure you can make a reservation if you aren't staying in the hotel. Very nice ambiance, ok wine selection. The bread was fresh but I did ask for a balsamic to dip it in as the olive oil pesto they brought didn't have must flavor. Now to the good part-the ricotta filled raviolis with the right amount of short rib meat was an amazing fall dish. It had a great creamy brown butter sauce with a few Havel nuts to top it off. It was an incredible dish! My husband ordered the chicken parmigiana which came with fettuccine Alfredo which he said the fettuccine was amazing. read more

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Need a memorable idea to add to your bucket list? Then, travel to Georgia to indulge in a one-of-a-kind dining experience at Tavola, which is located at Sea Island in The Cloister Main Building. Tavola is nothing short of extraordinary as it is flawlessly directed by the one and only Jonathan Jerusalmy. From the moment you step in you are greeted with a grand wine wall to your right and an intimate bar to your left. Once seated, your eye will dance around the elegantly adorned Italian inspired showroom infused with Georgia's southern charm; which automatically transports you into a realm of luxury and sophistication. The euphoric ambiance was a perfect blend of opulence and intimacy, setting the stage for an unforgettable evening. As for the culinary journey, as a guest of Chef Ishmael Emanuel I was honored with the opportunity to enjoy a SEVEN-COURSE MEAL personally prepared by Chef Andres himself. It felt like Christmas each time Chef Andres walked to our table to unveil his culinary masterpieces. Each dish showcased the chef's unparalleled creativity and commitment to sourcing the finest ingredients. From the delicate flavors of the amuse-bouche to the decadent finale of the dessert course, every bite was a symphony of taste and texture. The following highlights left an indelible mark on our palates. The presentation of these dishes were a work of art, further elevating the sensory experience. 1) Polpi Al Ferro (perfectly grilled colorful octopus internally tender/externally crispy nestled on tonnato sauce, topped with Chicory salad) 2) Polpette Fra Diavolo (Beef, Veal, Pork handmade spicy meatballs) 3) Raviolini Ricotta E Pepe (homemade ravioli top with Milk braised pork rested on parsnip puree coated with sage brown butter and sweet hazelnut) 4) Shrimp and Clam Erbe (fresh homemade spaghetti pasta covered with flavorful coastal shrimp and clams) 5) Baby Sea Bass Branzino (Rosemary scented potatoes, lemon, capers, radicchio salad) paired with Sancerre White Wine 6) Even a NEW Spring Menu option also made a surprise guest appearance at our table, (Shhhh I'll give you a hint it's a tender "volcano" inspired dish artistically placed on an asparagus risotto), 7) Castagnole (fried ricotta pastry, lemon-cardamom sugar, lemon cream) The wait service was also impeccable, with each staff member (Gianna, Estefany, Mandiza, and Mr. Richards) displaying a genuine passion for hospitality. From the sommelier's expert wine pairings to the server's attentive care, every detail was meticulously attended to, enhancing our dining experience. Tavola transcended mere sustenance; it was a transcendent experience that tantalized the senses and left a lasting impression. For those seeking a culinary journey unlike any other, Tavola is undoubtedly a five-star, five-diamond gem worth savoring. read more

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The Tavola was our favorite restaurant at Sea Island (but the Georgian Room has been closed due to covid). Service was very friendly and knowledgeable- Juliana was great. The octopus appetizer was very well cooked and delicious. Cocktails the best we had at Sea Island. Veal raviolini and scallop entrees both wonderful. And the tiramisu lava cake- yum!!! Highly recommend. read more

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This was my first time in Sea Island and our only dinner out, as we had rented a big cottage that we mostly cooked in, for the week. Boy, am I glad this is where we went for our dinner out! We started with cocktails at the bar. This restaurant has a beautiful, cozy, yet roomy bar top that's elegant & welcoming. I had non-alcoholic cocktails, not to be confused with mocktails. Rather than the taste of a spirit being totally eliminated, their non-alcoholic cocktails are made with N/A spirits and gosh did this make such a difference!!! I had both n/a cocktails on their cocktail menu & cannot decide which was better, but I wanted another of each. So, please...get a couple of crafted cocktails while ur dining, here. We were a party of 7 and for appetizers we shared the meat & cheese board and the salad with burrata. Both were delicious & beautiful to look at. For my entree I got the rigatoni bolognese. I can't believe I didn't snap a picture of it, as it was a sight to see, but the smell enraptured me to dig in right away! I ate every bite. It was absolutely delicious. It was rustic yet elegant. I ended the evening's eats, with a coffee w/extra cream & a slice of hazelnut chocolate cake. Again, I ate every bite and sipped every drop of my drink. If you are in Sea Island & craving Italian or just an excellent cocktail...go here. You will not be disappointed. *Everyone else at our table loved their entrees as well. **All 7 of us thoroughly enjoyed our food. read more

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Everything was incredible! Starting with being seated by the window with the best view of the marsh. The service was great as well, thanks to our host Jonathon who was so kind and accommodating. We skipped the appetizers but our food was served quickly where we enjoyed the spaghetti, rigatoni, and chicken. The meals were light, but filling and flavorful. We ordered espresso martinis for dessert and maybe it's the large Hugo spritz talking but the espresso martini was one of the best. We then were brought complimentary donuts after Jonathan heard us debate whether or not we should order. We had landed on no, but thank god they were brought out they really made the entire experience. If you come here, don't leave without trying those. 10/10 from us! read more

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The French toast is amazing The biscuits are amazing and so crisp. The service is amazing. in the look is really cool.

Food has gone incredibly downhill. They used to have wonderful pizza until about 2 years ago. Not sure what has happened.

Favorite dinner at the resort though pasta dish big enough was heading home not hotel room so could do leftovers. Fairly extensive wine list from every region of Italy. Only issue was ordering wine and told sommelier would come over and never did. Place takes basic design of place and give it an Italian flare. read more

Tavola - Steak - Italian Near Me - Sea Island, Georgia

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Service and ambiance are good here. A large array of specials offered by the chef. Pizza was ok w bland crust. Bolognese had more heavy sauce then meat but was passable. Pasta was okay. The donut desert was good. Meatball app was the best thing we ate. Heirloom salad was standard fair. Wear a collared shirt here for entry. read more

We had a very nice experience at this lovely place. The Italian food was to die for. Great pasta, great drinks, great people. Reservation s needed. I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to eat, but with the help of a very nice waitress, it was easy. I can't spell it but it was very good. Deserts are fantastic. One of the best. Walk don't run and try here. Frank G read more

Food is delicious. Dan was fantastic at taking care of us. He did not forget any requests or needs. Beautiful surroundings very comfortable elegant. read more

We ate at all the restaurants serving at the Cloister and Lodge. All we fantastic, so the bar was set pretty high for our last dinner at Tavola. Like all others, the service was impeccable. We did not feel rushed and our server was friendly and knowledgeable. The food was mediocre at best. Really did not have a true Italian flavor (meatballs reminded us of Carrabbas...sauce too) the Branzino must have arrived on a slow boat from Europe. Did not taste fresh. The biggest disappointment however was the wine markup, a little over 4X which is higher than any other restaurant at the resort. That said, our waitress was sooo wonderful it made up for the food and drink. read more

Tavola - Branzino - Italian Near Me - Sea Island, Georgia

The service was extremely slow. The seafood pasta only had freezer scallops and only four shrimp. My friend got the real scallops about 10 times the size. Very disappointing read more

Had dinner here twice, food was delicious. My husband had the pork chop and I had the pasta with blue crab. Definitely will be coming back . read more

Staying onsite so gave it a try. Initially service was good and we got drinks and bread right away. Then waited long time to order. Bread was yummy and fresh. Caesar was fine I oiled the Parmesan chips. They were nice to split as we decided we wanted dessert. Got chicken Parmesan with Alfredo and was good not great. Breading was soggy and Alfredo was super rich but yet lacked flavor. No one ever came to add fresh cheese or if we wanted bread with dinner. Ordered donuts with vanilla gelato which were amazing. We asked to get an order to go and were told no. Seriously we a full meal there. I get volume to go orders but felt the service was not good. The whole resorts service is terrible frankly. So we left and didn't spend any more money. Good was average, service below average. Also server never said happy birthday or acknowledged. Hostess said it so the restaurant knew. Same goes for the cloister, generally disappointed. Why get dressed up for bad service and average food? Save yourself a trip and eat off the resort. read more

Delicious food, but overall service wasn't great. We did however have the most amazing waitress, Megan. She was absolutely outstanding and worked very hard as she was trying to serve many tables. All the staff was very polite and helpful, but my only complaint would be the time it took. In my opinion, they seemed very under staffed for tonight. I had the chicken parmigiana and it was amazing. The dish was very good and would be enough to split with someone if you aren't super hungry. I would definitely suggest this place! read more

Tavola - Menu - Italian Near Me - Sea Island, Georgia

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The food was mediocre but the service was great. I think we had Christopher and Wandy and they were both delightful. We had gone fishing earlier and wanted them to prepare our catch. Apparently they lost our fish but made up for it with complimentary appetizers (and desserts later). Mid meal, they apparently found them and prepared them for us. While resort restaurant food can usually be better, it's convenient when you don't want to leave the property. If you're staying at The Cloister, you'll probably eat there. It'll be fine but doubt anyone gets blown away. If not, there's no reason to go with plenty of better options outside. read more

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By far our favorite restaurant at the Cloisters. Located in the Main Cloisters Resort this Italian Restaurant has impressed us from the first visit. We were warmly greeted by the bar where we first came in and upon the pleasant attitude of the bar staff we decided to just eat right there. We were initially offered snacks bar side, flavored nuts and some homemade chips. Our bartender Franco was especially great, offered excellent suggestion for wine and dinner choices. We both had the special for that night the Tuna that was perfectly cooked. The following night we had the pasta with Meat sauce which was not your run of the mill simple dish, perfectly seasoned. All week long we were pleasantly surprised by the consistency of the food and service. It's nice to have some good Italian dishes but with a creative twist. Wish we were so lucky to have a place like this to go in CT. The Ambience is warm and inviting. Dress code is resort dressy. Can't wait to come back again. read more

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Lovely lodge setting. Fabulous bourbon and scotch selections. View is great. Personable service. Valet.

I could have had pizza - it looked fantastic but instead ordered Risotto with crab meat and shaved truffles and ravioli with goat cheese- how delicious especially the risotto. This is the more casual of the two restaurants at the Cloister hotel in Sea Island. Everything was perfect and I may be going back tonight for pizza. read more

Tavola - Risotto - delicious - Italian Near Me - Sea Island, Georgia

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The best: The waiters and bartenders. Definitely the most helpful and personable during my stay. The worst: The food. And their options. It's a tie. Both are equally disappointing. This certainly is not where you want to go if you're craving authentic Italian food in the area. If it's raining and you don't want to wait for your car and go elsewhere then this is your spot. There are plenty of other Italian restaurants with higher quality food and more options all within a 15 minute drive. This is an Italian restaurant and their pasta dishes merely consist of lasagna, linguini, a bolognese dish, and ravioli. Count it...FOUR dishes. My dad has a severe allergy to wine which was addressed a million times better at the other restaurants on the property. Apparently they missed the memo here at Tavola. Then again maybe that's why they were empty on a Saturday night. My dad ended up ordering three entrees in all. After we finished our salads the waiter came to the table and said my dad's entree contained wine which obviously is a no go. So he ordered entree number two only for the same exact thing to happen 20 minutes later. Granted it's better to be safe than sorry but we have never experienced such a thing in regards to allergies. Whoever the chef was that night was very rigid and by the time his third order was ready my pasta was cold and my moms pizza was hard and gross. Maybe it's because the chefs were off socializing at nearby tables. The food was just ok. Don't eat here unless you have to. If I ever return it will only be for a drink. read more

We ate here our last night at the Cloisters. This is an upscale yet fairly casual Italian cuisine restaurant. It's casual, yet men must wear collared shirts and no flip flops are allowed. We were seated at a lovely corner spot by the window. Perfect for our party of twelve. We enjoyed a spectacular view of sunset over the water. I thought the food was good, not great. The margherita pizza appetizer was huge but actually a bit bland; nothing special. The linguine with shrimp, scallops and crabmeat was so salty I could barely eat it. I just picked out the seafood and ate that. The octopus salad was actually fabulous and we did enjoy that. Also fabulous was the chocolate molten lava cake. Service was excellent. Cocktails and wines were the perfect compliment to this meal. A nice place to eat if you're craving a break from typical southern cuisine. read more

Tavola - Linguine with shrimp, scallops, calamari - Italian Near Me - Sea Island, Georgia

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We came to dinner here while staying at The Cloister, since it is part of the hotel and very convenient. Beautiful restaurant and friendly staff. We ordered a bottle of wine ($64, not too shabby) & the staff member who presented us with the bottle gave us a back story about the particular bottle, and we really enjoyed that. There isn't a large selection on the menu, but there is a variety. Everything we had; carpaccio(!!!!), lasagna, vegetables, and Caesar salad were all delicious! read more

Food was very disappointing & not cheap Limited menu. Had to send my chicken parmigiana back as it was rubbery & tasted like it came out of a microwave. Never again... read more

Incredible service. Vijay and Daniel were so great to us last night in accommodating a schedule change during a busy restaurant service. They were so incredible and our food was amazing. Would absolutely go back and are so thankful for their above and beyond service! read more

The best part of this Italian restaurant is when they start you off with a great, big basket of warm bread. However, the bread and booze are the only things keeping costumers from becoming hangry animals while they wait an hour for their mediocre entrees. Seriously, I had to take 3 bathroom breaks before my main course came because it took so long! On top of that, the server took my drink and never came back. In the end, I was not only hungry, thirsty, and bored, but was also grossly over charged. I only recommend coming here if you have money and time to blow. (Or maybe just come for a drink and bread.) read more

I would give this place a negative score if I could. There is a prevailing sense of what type of people are expected to dine here. You must be Caucasian to receive any type of respectful service. I would strongly recommend you do not come here for an enjoyable meal. read more

The people are nice, but the service is weak. We watched the pizza maker drop his pizza platters on the floor then pick them up off the floor and serve pizzas on them to customers. Mostly you can't get there or back very easily because of horses. Rich, fat kids on horseback hold up 50-75 cars at a time several times a day. I waited 15 minutes to clear the Sea Island gate, more than once. You don't come to Sea Island for traffic and failed resort planning. St. Simon's Island has plenty of nice places to eat and stay, if you like this area. read more

I had high expectations for this restaurant due to its location in the splendid sea island resort. However, this really fell short for me. The service was slow. We got our appetizer before our drinks. Our appetizer was a cheese board with no crackers or bread. I asked for some crackers and was given saltines in a plastic package. That's not what I was looking for. The cocktails were very expensive, and not very creative. The pizza choices were good, and the ravioli was a small portion, but tasty. We decided to just head to another location for dessert. I wouldn't make this place a priority if I had it to do over again. The river bar was better in many ways. read more

Delicious, fresh and great service. Mussels are so tender. Carpaccio is so good, my kids attacked it. Branzino special melted in my mouth. The staff was so great. read more

When you sit down and see the breathtaking view, you can count on Chef Bobby to complement the atmosphere with one of his many delectable mouthwatering creations. I suggest one of their signature drinks to go with the meal. Desserts are a must, so be sure to save room! read more

The food was ABSOLUTELY amazing There is no other way to describe it. The flavor combinations were just perfect. My favorites were the arancini and the funghi pizza. I think I am going to remember that pizza for a long long time And the desserts YUM! We had the flourless chocolate cake and it was lovely. They also had a great somelier and a very good selection of italian wines. The service was impecable and the ambience was great. MOST DEFINITELY 5 STARS!!!! read more

Our favorite restaurant in the area. The food and service are both impeccable. It's usually so good that we end up eating here twice in a week. There's truly nothing bad on the menu. The ricotta bruschetta and burrata caprese are stand out appetizers. All the pizzas are great but the speck and fig is a standout! A great balance of sweet and savory. Every pasta we've had is great. The staff is awesome too! read more