Vivian Nelson serves Pat Doerr and her husband, Dan Doerr, a sparkling cannoli dessert in honor of their 50th wedding annivsary as they eat at Allora with Mark and Sharon Schmetzer Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Charleston.
File/Grace Beahm Alford/Staff
Instead, the tight enclave, with an espresso machine that rests in a decades-old green Brazilian hutch, became a home for gelato, lattes and hot, delicious sugar-dusted zeppoles. It’s one of four distinct areas patrons will find at Allora.
There’s the cozy bar and breezy rooftop with bright red umbrellas. And the largest of the bunch is the showstopping dining room with its pink and green distressed wall, a perfectly Instagrammable backdrop that the couple designed themselves in the middle of the night when the contractors weren’t on-site.
“We just wanted to make it feel old school and warm and inviting,” Kelleanne Jones said of the space.
With large-format drinks and a moderate price point, Allora caters to the increasing number of visitors who make Cannonborough-Elliotborough their short-term home during their trip to Charleston. But with lunch, dinner and several seating selections, you’re likely to see couples and maybe even families with kids alongside the large groups the restaurant attracts.
The pastas
Allora serves several types of house-made pastas. Every day, dough is formed into shells, wide tubes, ruffled ribbons and other shapes before being cooked and coated in various sauces.
With the chefs rolling through over 100 pounds of semolina per day, it’s safe to say the options have been a hit. Patrons’ resounding favorite, the linguine al limone with lemon, basil and pecorino, is perhaps the most straightforward, while other items are directly influenced by the time the Joneses spent in Italy last summer, they said.
Consider the lobster spaghetti, a riff on a dish they ate nearly every day during their travels. They also re-created a fried zucchini pasta from a seaside restaurant in the small Italian fishing town of Nerano. If those aren’t for you, check out the paccheri with braised duck leg, clam bucatini, pork ragù mafaldine or local shrimp rigatoni, which are among the other pasta options offered at Allora.
Dining and Cooking