Pelato — Restaurant in Charleston

They crammed A LOT of tables in there.Trying to walk to our tiny table 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, running drinks and others clearing plates. Just so many bodies moving around at once. The tables were all very close together. Our server and her partner were great. Attentive, knowledgeable 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. 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. There were three in a bowl. Presentation looked good, so I was excited to try 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...

I’m not here to slander this establishment or the people who work here, I’m here to express how the lack of communication from hiring team has affected my recent week. I had walked in to apply last Wednesday, May 14th as I had been job hunting for a server/bartender position. They were gracious enough to hire me immediately after an interview with the hiring manager. The manager stated that I could start training on my off days (Monday) and that she would message me later that night to proceed further. I was so happy! The place looks beautiful and clean, the food looked amazing, and the cocktails looked like art! I was very eager to start as I needed a more upscale serving job as I’m a college student who supports himself. I even finished my online training and w-2 the same day as well as buying my uniform. I was specifically told I was HIRED. I never got the message that night, figured after a busy day she forgot and understood. Called the next day at opening and was told to call again on 11-1 on Friday as they don’t take those calls while busy. Totally understood, called the next day for the hiring manager and was told she would be in tomorrow and wrote my info down for her to call me. Saturday arrives, no message. Sunday arrives, called again and the kind hostess told me she unfortunately had personal matters and that she’s not in and that she would be in tomorrow, also that she will call me as soon as she comes in and to not bother coming in to train on Monday because there were too many people training she left a voicemail explaining that. I’m a frustrated, but stuff comes up I get it. I called Monday morning to a rather annoyed host, I asked if I could follow up on the job I was hired for. She asked if I listened to the voicemail that I was left, I said yes, she with a tone said she would be in today like the voicemail said to call me when she comes in. I’m sure you know why I’m writing this message. It’s 12:30 am on Tuesday, no follow up. I had put in my two weeks and declined other job offers because I was HIRED. It’s rather disappointing and stressful because I’m almost out of a job as a college student. (Im sure some of you know that struggle). I wish you guys had good communication, you can’t argue that you didn’t leave me in the dark. I genuinely wanted to be a good worker here and make that frozen espresso martini, but maybe you just didn’t care about a random person who wanted to...

So excited to try this restaurant out since Italian is one of my favorite kinds of food, having been to Italy and having eaten Italian food all over the US as well. Waited 3 weeks for a reservation that worked for my schedule. The drinks were very good, the desserts were very good. The server was very personable, entertaining, and knowledgeable. We were told, however, that dishes would be staggered when they came out. Instead, half the dishes were cold and came out at the same time. There were only 2 of us. The buratta was my fault, since I didn’t read that it said “whipped” and was looking forward to the normal flavorful and juicy overflowing goodness you expect from burrata which was not there. The radiatori was pretty good but a bit too spicy for me. The cacio y Pepe was terrible, cold, and tastes like a lower quality than frozen Trader Joe’s cacio y Pepe. I’m not kidding but I wish I was. The ravioli was miniscule, cold, and flavorless and was 19 dollars for about 6 bites of food. Honestly you have to laugh at that. I see some people calling it their favorite dish. They clearly have never eaten Italian food. Or they like Olive Garden lol. The bolognese polenta was the only dish I truly felt was good and worth the money. Overall I was extremely disappointed and will be sticking with the heavy hitters in this town that consistently offer high quality Italian food. I also do agree with other reviews, it’s wild that there are plastic chairs on the patio for a supposedly “upscale” restaurant where guests are expected to dress up. There were also flies constantly circling the food and us ourselves. If they improve their recipes, stop serving food that has been sitting out and stop serving all the food at the same time, they would make huge strides. Needless to say, I won’t be recommending this restaurant to any of my friends who were excited to try it as well. 151 bucks for 2 drinks, 2 desserts, and 4 very small plates. Oh, and I’ve lived in Spain before as well. “Tapas” restaurants that I’ve been to are much higher qualify and way more affordable than this. Recommend sorelle or even...