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Abbracci Italian Cuisine & Cocktails brings coastal charm to North Mount Pleasant (PROVIDED)

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCIV) — The new restaurant, Abbracci Italian Cusine & Cocktails, is offering coastal charm to a local neighborhood.

Don and Joanne Migliori are set to unveil their latest culinary venture, Abbracci Italian Cuisine & Cocktails, held its soft opening Friday, Nov. 8, in North Mount Pleasant. The restaurant promises an inviting and elevated dining experience, blending Italian recipes with the charm of coastal Carolina hospitality.

Named after the Italian word for "hugs," Abbracci reflects the Migliori family's Italian-American heritage and their commitment to creating welcoming spaces. This marks the couple's third culinary endeavor in the Charleston area, following the success of Migliori’s Pizzeria and their partnership in Legami on King Street.

"Mount Pleasant has been our home for years, and we’re so grateful for the support we’ve received. We’ve poured our hearts into Abbracci," said Joanne Migliori. "Abbracci is our way of continuing that connection, offering a place where people can come together over heartwarming Italian dishes, cocktails, and truly memorable experiences. From the food to the design, our goal is to create a space where people feel like they’re part of our family."

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Guests can expect a variety of dining experiences, including an expansive cocktail bar, a wine program, outdoor patio seating with a fire pit lounge area, a community table for gatherings, and a private dining room for special occasions.

The kitchen is led by Executive Chef Devin Sansone, known for his expertise in Italian cuisine. Chef Sansone has crafted a menu that combines rich Italian tradition with coastal-inspired flair. Signature dishes include house-made sausage arancini, crispy octopus, ricotta gnocchi, rigatoni sugo with braised pork cheek, potato-crusted fish, and a traditional cioppino with fresh local seafood.

"Abbracci’s menu has been really fun to create. We’re honoring the flavors and traditions of familial Italian roots while embracing the fresh, local ingredients of the Lowcountry," said Sansone.

Located at 1146 Muhlenbergia Drive, Abbracci will be open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday and closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The restaurant plans to introduce weekend brunch services and host a grand opening in 2025.

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC)- The final site review for a food, entertainment, and public gathering space was approved by Mount Pleasant’s commercial design review board on Wednesday night.

The space is called Gather Mount Pleasant and will be located on Midtown Avenue right across from MUSC Midtown in Mount Pleasant and off of HungryNeck Boulevard.

The co-developer of Gather Mount Pleasant, Mack Cross, said that this project will cost $14 million. He said he wants it to serve as a place for friends and families to come and enjoy time together.

“Spend time, you know, ideally away from screens and have conversation, meet neighbors here, host out of town visitors,” Cross said. “A place that Preston, our other partner and co-developer, are really kind of planning for families like ours and a place where we would like to meet our community and spend time.”

Cross said Gather Mount Pleasant will have a similar atmosphere to the Gather location in Greenville, South Carolina but it will be bigger. Along with a variety of food and beverage options and live music like Gather Greenville, the Mount Pleasant location will have additional features like retail, office and salon space.

However, the site Gather Mount Pleasant will sit on has a residential community right next to it called Midtown Townes and Cross said they have had to modify their designs because of some residents’ concerns.

“We reduced the scale of the project. Originally we had a hotel component, but we have since gotten rid of that. The economy changed through the process, so that was a factor as well, you know, so just navigating all those different factors and really wanting to be thoughtful about the design and making sure that it’s a great fit for this site and this community,” Cross said.

One of the concerns previously expressed was noise, however, Cross said they have addressed this with the setup of the project and wouldn’t be having live music played late at night.

“So the scale of the building and where the stage is located within the project the buildings will provide some natural sound screening for that stage, but yes, we are sensitive that this is a residential area,” Cross said.

Many residents of the townhomes spoke during the public comment session of the meeting. One of their main concerns was about an entrance and exit point for commercial vehicles located on Fortier Drive which many of the residents said this road is essentially a driveway for them. They said with that road already being narrow and having commercial vehicles come through they worried about what congestion it could bring.

Mac Deford, a local politician, is one of those residents. He said that he thinks his community would be overall supportive of this project if they addressed this issue and found an alternative access point for commercial vehicles that doesn’t include Fortier Drive.

“I think as long as they are not using our private road, what is an alleyway, clogging it up with commercial traffic which you know would create a lot of safety concerns and hazards, I think they would have the overwhelming support of our community,” Deford said.

During the meeting, officials assured residents they examined various places to put this access point but that this was the best spot.

Cross said he believes the project they have designed now is the best concept they could be bringing to the area. Now that the commercial design review board has approved, Cross said the next steps would be for them to finish their construction drawings and then submit those to the Town of Mount Pleasant for building permit approval.

He said they hope to break ground in early spring or summer with construction expected to be completed in the middle of 2026.

“It is a place for many occasions, spontaneous occasions. It’s really hard to go out with a big family or multiple families and find a place to eat that’s welcoming and you know not too expensive and you know where you’re not disrupting people,” Cross said. “I can think of numerous occasions of times where you know we will end up here and hopefully others will too.”

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