Forbici Modern Italian is open at Sundial — here's what to expect
Forbici Modern Italian opened June 24 in downtown St. Pete's Sundial. 350 seats, handmade pasta, Roman-style pizza, and a rooftop patio worth booking for.
On the map
The exact spot — handy for figuring out which neighborhood you're really in.
After nearly three years of planning, a multi-million-dollar gut renovation, and more than a few "is it actually happening?" questions from downtown regulars, Forbici Modern Italian finally opened its doors at Sundial last Wednesday, June 24. I drove by Thursday evening and the line at the host stand told me everything I needed to know: this one is going to stick.
Here's a full rundown of what you're walking into — menu, space, hours, and whether it's worth the reservation.
What it is and where it came from
The St. Pete location is the second for Forbici, which first opened in Tampa's Hyde Park Village in 2019.
The concept is built around approachable but genuinely ambitious Italian cooking — the kind of place that works equally well for a Tuesday business dinner or a Saturday night out with a group.
Forbici is part of Next Level Brands, a Tampa-based restaurant group founded by restaurateur Jeff Gigante, real estate investor Andrew Wright, and attorney Joseph Guggino.
Gigante is a St. Pete native
, which makes this one feel a little more personal than a standard chain expansion.
After nearly three years of planning and construction, Forbici officially debuted on Wednesday, June 24th, at 183 2nd Avenue North in downtown St. Pete's Sundial retail complex.
The space: Sea Salt's old home, completely reimagined
Forbici opened in the second-floor space formerly occupied by Sea Salt, which closed at the end of 2024 after nearly 10 years in business.
If you ever made it to Sea Salt, you'll barely recognize the room.
After a multi-million-dollar renovation, the restaurant now features an expansive outdoor patio, a private dining room, multiple TV-lined bars, and a sprawling dining space with seating for up to 350 guests.
While the Tampa restaurant features exposed brick walls with family portraits and warm wood tones, the St. Pete space offers a dimly lit ambiance with a color palette of red, green, orange, and gray. In the dining lounge, shelves of fine wines wrap around the walls above expansive glass windows, setting a sophisticated tone that carries into the main dining room.
Guests are welcomed by a small market at the entrance, stocked with specialty wines, Italian seasonings, pasta, sauces, and other Italian pantry staples
— a nice touch that makes grabbing a bottle on your way out feel natural rather than transactional.
What's on the menu
The St. Pete location retains roughly 90% of the menu served at the Hyde Park location, including its popular Roman-style pizzas, handmade pastas, and shareable antipasti — with a few additions tailored to St. Pete, including a heavier focus on seafood dishes.
For lunch, Forbici offers sandwiches, salads, pizzas, and pasta dishes, while dinner features a lineup of antipasti, handmade pastas, seafood, steaks, and traditional Italian entrées.
Popular starters include wagyu beef carpaccio, fried calamari, Calabrian chicken wings, meatballs, and mussels sautéed with white wine, tomatoes, and fennel.
Entrées range from chicken milanese and veal parmesan to red fish piccata and a 12-ounce New York strip.
On the pizza side:
square-style teglia and round tonda pizzas both make an appearance, and the teglia uses handcrafted dough that ferments for 72 hours before baking at high heat.
That's not a detail they're putting on just for marketing copy — you'll taste the difference.
Drift: the bonus courtyard bar
One thing that didn't get as much pre-opening buzz but deserves your attention:
Next Level Brands will also operate Drift, a new outdoor cocktail bar in the Sundial courtyard, occupying approximately 1,500 square feet with seating for 26 guests, along with surrounding lounge areas that can accommodate another 50 people.
It's a solid option if you want the Sundial atmosphere without committing to a full sit-down dinner.
Hours and reservations
Forbici operates from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday, 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.
Reservations are available through OpenTable.
Given how much buzz this opening has generated, I'd book ahead — especially for weekend evenings.
Why it matters for downtown St. Pete
Sundial has had a complicated run over the past decade, with high-profile tenants coming and going. A 12,000-square-foot anchor from a proven local operator — with a busy courtyard bar attached — is exactly the kind of gravitational pull the complex needed.
Strategically positioned within St. Petersburg's growing dining scene, the Sundial opening places Forbici at the center of a market hungry for high-quality, upscale casual experiences.
For buyers and renters considering downtown St. Pete, this is the kind of anchor tenant that reinforces walkability and long-term neighborhood energy. The blocks around Sundial — and the broader downtown St. Pete ZIP code 33701 — continue to add compelling reasons to live within walking distance. It's not a coincidence that the areas with the best dining density also tend to hold value the best.
Worth a visit. Book it before it gets harder to get in.