Forbici St. Pete: Everything You Need to Know About Downtown's Hottest New Restaurant
Forbici Modern Italian opened June 24 at Sundial in downtown St. Pete. Here's the full guide: menu, hours, parking, reservations, and why locals are obsessed.
On the map
The exact spot — handy for figuring out which neighborhood you're really in.
If you've been anywhere near downtown St. Pete in the past week, you've probably heard about it already. Forbici Modern Italian opened its doors at Sundial on June 24, 2026 — and based on everything I've seen, this one isn't just a restaurant opening. It's a genuine moment for downtown.
Here's everything you need to know before you go (or before you try to snag a reservation this weekend).
What Is Forbici and Where Did It Come From?
The St. Pete restaurant is the second location for Forbici, which first opened in Tampa's Hyde Park Village in 2019.
The original Hyde Park location earned a devoted following over seven years — long enough that St. Pete locals had been crossing the bridge just to eat there. Now they don't have to.
Forbici is part of Next Level Brands Hospitality, the group led by St. Pete native Jeff Gigante along with real estate investor Andrew Wright and attorney Joseph Guggino. They also operate Boulon Brasserie and Bakery, Union New American, and Predalina in Tampa.
This new Forbici location is their first St. Pete restaurant, and they join a growing list of Tampa restaurateurs to make the jump across the bridge.
The Space: What Happened to Sea Salt?
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.
That was a blow when it happened — Sea Salt had been a downtown anchor for a decade. But the transformation has been impressive.
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.
The original renderings hinted at the ambition:
while the Tampa restaurant features exposed brick walls with family portraits, warm wood tones, and dark blue bar seating, 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.
The overall footprint is
12,000 square feet at 183 2nd Avenue North in downtown St. Pete's Sundial retail complex.
The Menu: What Should You Order?
Forbici is known for offering a modern twist on Italian classics, including fresh pasta and Roman-style pizza.
The pizza program is a centerpiece:
pizza is the centerpiece of the menu. It's a modern take on a Roman classic, with dough fermented for 72 hours and baked at high heat for a light, airy crust. Guests can order square (teglia) or round (tonda) styles.
Options include classics like margherita, pepperoni, and four-cheese, plus specialty pies such as the Alora, topped with mozzarella, gorgonzola dolce, prosciutto, grape tomatoes, arugula, and truffle oil.
Beyond pizza, the pasta menu runs deep.
Dishes include cacio e pepe, rigatoni alla vodka, tagliatelle bolognese, mushroom cavatelli, tortellini, penne pesto, and eggplant lasagna.
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.
For lunch,
Forbici will offer sandwiches, salads, pizzas, and pasta dishes, while dinner features a lineup of antipasti, handmade pastas, seafood, steaks, and traditional Italian entrées.
Hours, Reservations, and What Else Is Coming to Sundial
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 at eatforbici.com — and based on early demand, booking ahead is strongly recommended for weekend evenings.
One bonus if you're heading to Sundial: Forbici isn't the only new addition.
Also opening at Sundial is Drift, a new outdoor cocktail bar from the same group in the Sundial courtyard. It spans 1,500 square feet with 26 seats and lounge seating for another 50.
And there's more coming:
Side Splitters Comedy Club, the Tampa institution with more than 30 years in business, is opening a 250-seat venue on the second level of Sundial this summer, in a 5,600-square-foot space custom-built between Forbici and the AMC Theater.
Sundial is genuinely becoming a destination again — this is not a sentence I expected to type two years ago.
Why This Matters for Downtown St. Pete
I drove past Sundial last weekend and the energy on that second-floor patio was something I haven't seen there in years. Forbici filling that Sea Salt void matters beyond just the food. Downtown blocks with strong restaurant anchors hold value — and Sundial has been working hard to reclaim that status.
If you're thinking about a condo or home in downtown St. Pete, this kind of dining density is exactly what pushes walkability scores and long-term appeal. Buyers in the 33701 ZIP code are paying attention to where the energy is going — and right now, it's clearly heading back to the Sundial block.
Bottom line: get a reservation before word travels any further. The meatballs alone are worth the trip.