Forbici Modern Italian will open its new location on June 24 at the Sundial retail complex in downtown St. Petersburg, following nearly three years of planning and construction, according to a June 1 announcement.
The restaurant occupies a renovated 12,000-square-foot space at 183 2nd Avenue North, previously home to Sea Salt, which closed at the end of 2024 after nearly a decade in business. Forbici features an outdoor patio, private dining room, multiple TV-lined bars, and seating for up to 350 guests. Reservations for opening week are available through OpenTable.
This marks the second location for Forbici Modern Italian; its first opened in Tampa’s Hyde Park Village in 2019. The St. Pete menu will retain about 90% of the original offerings—including Roman-style pizzas and handmade pastas—with some additions focused on seafood dishes tailored to local tastes. Lunch options include sandwiches, salads, pizzas and pasta dishes; dinner service expands with antipasti such as wagyu beef carpaccio and fried calamari alongside entrées like chicken milanese, veal parmesan and red fish piccata.
Pizza selections range from square-style teglia pies to traditional round tonda varieties with both classic toppings—such as margherita or pepperoni—and specialty combinations like mozzarella with gorgonzola dolce and truffle oil. Pasta dishes feature cacio e pepe, rigatoni alla vodka and mushroom cavatelli among others. The drink menu offers Italian-inspired cocktails as well as wine and beer.
Forbici is operated by Next Level Brands Hospitality—a Tampa-based group led by Jeff Gigante (a St. Pete native), Andrew Wright (real estate investor), and Joseph Guggino (attorney). The company also plans to open Drift—a new outdoor cocktail bar—in Sundial’s courtyard with seating for up to 76 people across indoor bar stools and surrounding lounge areas.
Once open, Forbici’s hours will be Monday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Thursday until 11 p.m., Friday until midnight, Saturday from 10 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
St. Pete Rising enriches the community by providing information on urban growth and local events that foster resident connections; it operates independently with coverage focused on downtown progress while offering news articles, an events calendar and development map for St. Petersburg residents, according to the official website.
