A new restaurant has landed at the Lowcountry address previously occupied by a one-time James Beard Award finalist. It comes from a successful restaurant family with roots in Italy and New York City.
Anthony Scotto Jr., who operates two restaurants in Nashville, Tenn., and previously led New York City destinations like Bar One and Fresco by Scotto, opened Pelato (1085 Morrison Drive) with his wife Theresa and son Anthony Scotto III on May 13.
For those who visited Butcher & Bee, a Mediterranean restaurant short-listed for a James Beard Award in 2022, the space will feel unrecognizable.
(Clockwise from left) Bob Garcia, Emma Garcia, Jacque Evolfson and Kerrie Garcia share dinner inside the dining area at Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Henry Taylor/Staff
Inside, a new bar has been constructed near the back of the dining room, while the kitchen was tucked behind a wall of banquettes and family photos. An expanded private dining room, which doubles as auxiliary seating, can hold about 70 guests.
The restaurant walks the line between casual and upscale, with a buzzing atmosphere muted by tall ceilings. Its outdoor pergola with a fully retractable roof feels Italian, but the food and service are straight out of Brooklyn.
With that culinary inspiration as a backdrop, Pelato brings a different type of Italian restaurant to the Charleston area, one where appetizers and plates of pasta are meant to be shared. You won’t find the traditional structure of antipasti, secondi and primi of dining establishments in Italy, but the portions are similarly sized, which the owners say promotes a shareable dining experience.
Chicken Parmesan is a Pelato specialty, as are house-made pastas that pair wavy, flat and tubular noodles with pesto, sausage, shrimp and plenty of garlic. Some of the restaurant’s highlights are the most unexpected.
Croquettes were born in France, but they make Theresa Scotto think of Brooklyn. That’s where she would shuffle mashed potatoes and cheese into cylinders to be fried two at a time with her mother around the holidays.
Close
Guests sit in the outside area of Pelato on the other side of a wall with the restaurant’s name painted onto it, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Bartenders place drinks up onto the bar as servers swing by to grab orders and run to tables at Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Guests sit in the outside patio of Pelato that’s built with all-season features like fans, sliding ceiling panels and fans, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
(Clockwise from left) Bob Garcia, Emma Garcia, Jacque Evolfson and Kerrie Garcia share dinner inside the dining area at Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
A table with light from a window cast across it sits set for dinner service at Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
DaJanae Sanders interacts with one of the restaurant computer stations during her shift at Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Emily Randisi chats with her friend Jennifer Romano over desert at the bar of Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
A waiter walks up to the door to bring back plates to the indoor dining room at Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
(From left to right) Emma Lawrence, Curry Sherard, Annie Cribb and Anne Crosswell sit together at a table on the outdoor patio of Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Katharine Hutson looks up to listen to James Quinn as he explains the menu at Pelato to her and Anne and Sally Hutson, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Glasses stack up on a top shelf at Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Emma Ambrose reacts to a bite of food to her friend Sarah Hennon during dinner on the outdoor patio of Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Lights from Pelato light up the outdoor patio areas as the sun sets on the horizon, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Guests sit in the outside area of Pelato on the other side of a wall with the restaurant’s name painted onto it, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Bartenders place drinks up onto the bar as servers swing by to grab orders and run to tables at Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Guests sit in the outside patio of Pelato that’s built with all-season features like fans, sliding ceiling panels and fans, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
(Clockwise from left) Bob Garcia, Emma Garcia, Jacque Evolfson and Kerrie Garcia share dinner inside the dining area at Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
A table with light from a window cast across it sits set for dinner service at Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
DaJanae Sanders interacts with one of the restaurant computer stations during her shift at Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Emily Randisi chats with her friend Jennifer Romano over desert at the bar of Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
A waiter walks up to the door to bring back plates to the indoor dining room at Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
(From left to right) Emma Lawrence, Curry Sherard, Annie Cribb and Anne Crosswell sit together at a table on the outdoor patio of Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Katharine Hutson looks up to listen to James Quinn as he explains the menu at Pelato to her and Anne and Sally Hutson, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Glasses stack up on a top shelf at Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Emma Ambrose reacts to a bite of food to her friend Sarah Hennon during dinner on the outdoor patio of Pelato, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Lights from Pelato light up the outdoor patio areas as the sun sets on the horizon, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Charleston.
Pelato’s version has a wonderfully whipped center, the starchy filling supplemented by mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Each croquette — the shape of an overfed mozzarella stick — is dolloped with an airy aioli that adds a calm essence of garlic.
Polenta — a dish crafted with Celiac and gluten-intolerant diners in mind — is decadently hearty, the creamy cornmeal covered in a layer of ragú Bolognese. And then there’s the burnt broccolini, laced in black garlic, Calabrian chili and a spritz of lemon. The leaves collect most of the bronze sauce, which takes on the taste of teriyaki even though no Asian ingredients were used in its making.