Forbici St. Pete at Sundial: Full Review, Menu Picks & Parking Tips
Forbici Modern Italian opened at Sundial on June 24. Here's an honest look at the vibe, what to order, and how to make the most of your visit.
On the map
The exact spot — handy for figuring out which neighborhood you're really in.
I drove past Sundial last week and the second-floor lights were blazing at 9 p.m. on a Wednesday — the kind of sign that tells you a restaurant has hit its stride fast. Forbici Modern Italian soft-opened for friends and family over the weekend of June 21st, then swung the doors fully open on June 24th, and downtown St. Pete has been talking about it ever since. I've been tracking this one for a while, so here's the honest rundown: the menu, the vibe, what's actually worth ordering, and how to handle parking before you go.
The backstory (and why it took three years)
After nearly three years of planning and construction, Forbici finally set an opening date — Wednesday, June 24th — at 183 2nd Avenue North inside downtown St. Pete's Sundial retail complex.
The restaurant took over the second-floor space formerly occupied by Sea Salt, which closed at the end of 2024 after nearly 10 years in business. After a multi-million-dollar renovation, the space now features an expansive outdoor patio, a private dining room, multiple TV-lined bars, and seating for up to 350 guests.
The concept comes from Next Level Brands and restaurateur Jeff Gigante, who stepped into the massive space left behind by Sea Salt's closure.
The St. Pete location is the second for Forbici, which first opened in Tampa's Hyde Park Village in 2019.
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.
The menu: what to know before you sit down
This is not a red-sauce joint.
Forbici's menu is a celebration of Italian classics, thoughtfully reimagined — house-made pastas, Roman-style pizzas, and seasonally driven dishes form the foundation of the culinary program, crafted with fresh, high-quality ingredients.
Pizza is the anchor.
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.
On the pasta side,
the menu includes cacio e pepe, rigatoni alla vodka, tagliatelle bolognese, mushroom cavatelli, tortellini, penne pesto, and eggplant lasagna.
The eggplant lasagna has already become a crowd favorite — early diners can't stop mentioning it in reviews.
For starters,
popular options include wagyu beef carpaccio, fried calamari, Calabrian chicken wings, meatballs, and mussels sautéed with white wine, tomatoes, and fennel.
The beef and pork meatballs are one of the restaurant's most popular offerings.
For mains,
entrées range from chicken milanese and veal parmesan to red fish piccata and a 12-ounce New York strip.
Lunch is a different animal —
Forbici offers sandwiches, salads, pizzas, and pasta dishes at lunch, while dinner features a fuller lineup of antipasti, handmade pastas, seafood, steaks, and traditional Italian entrées.
The vibe: lively, loud, and worth it
While the Tampa flagship features exposed brick and warm wood tones, the St. Pete space offers a dimly lit ambiance with a color palette of red, green, orange, and gray. Shelves of fine wines wrap around the walls above expansive glass windows in the dining lounge, setting a sophisticated tone that carries into the main dining room.
The centerpiece bar, finished in warm copper tones, serves classic and specialty cocktails, with TVs mounted above for guests to catch local sports games.
One thing early diners are consistent about: it's energetic. Live music plays regularly, and that means the indoor decibel level climbs with the crowd.
The restaurant does have a patio, and many guests recommend sitting outside for a more relaxed, conversation-friendly experience — outdoor seating is popular for people-watching and avoids some of the indoor noise when live music is playing.
If you're coming for a quieter dinner, grab the patio; if you want the full scene, plant yourself at the bar.
Hours and parking (read this before you go)
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.
Saturday brunch is a real option — and worth noting for anyone who wants to try the menu before dinner pricing kicks in.
Parking at Sundial is straightforward: the Sundial parking garage on 2nd Avenue North offers validated parking when you dine at the complex. Street parking on surrounding blocks fills quickly on weekend evenings, so the garage is your best bet. Reservations are available via OpenTable, and given the buzz around this opening, booking ahead is strongly advised — especially for Thursday through Saturday.
One more reason downtown St. Pete is a real market
Forbici and its companion outdoor cocktail bar Drift are part of a broader Sundial revival. Side Splitters Comedy Club — the Tampa institution with more than 30 years in business — is also opening a 250-seat venue on Sundial's second level this summer, in a 5,600-square-foot space custom-built between Forbici and the AMC Theater.
This kind of momentum matters for people thinking about buying a home in downtown St. Pete. When anchor restaurant groups cross the bridge to open their flagship concepts in a neighborhood, it signals something real about where foot traffic, investment, and demand are heading. Sundial sat mostly quiet for a couple of years after Sea Salt closed. Now it's becoming a genuine dining and entertainment hub — and that tends to lift everything around it.
If you want to know what properties near downtown are actually doing right now, the July 2026 Tampa Bay housing market update has the latest numbers. And if you're already curious about a specific address, I'm always happy to run a quick value check — just reach out.