Charleston-based dessert bar to open in downtown Greenville

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Brian Solari strives to give customers “a taste of Italy” with the opening of his second café and dessert bar location.

Carmella’s Café and Dessert Bar is located in the heart of downtown Charleston and will open its downtown Greenville location soon with views of the Reedy River at 355 S. Main St.

The Greenville location is slated to open at the end of October.

“I am super excited about this location,” Solari said. “It’s right at the center of everything, near Falls Park and could not be more excited about the locale. It’s such a great space.”

Carmella’s combines generationally tested, gourmet recipes with a regional flair. They have a vast array of continually changing desserts, gelato and sorbet, as well as fresh, organic coffees, sandwiches, pizza, wine, beer and cocktails.

Carmella Solari began cooking in South Philadelphia in 1930. Fast forward to Brian Solari moving from New Jersey to Charleston in 1995. And in 2014, Solari opened the Charleston location.

“It’s what I grew up in my childhood,” said Solari. “All the things I love the most about food and how to enjoy it casually. People can relax and not feel rushed, and it’s the type of atmosphere I personally like when I go out and go to different cities and countries. I wanted to emulate that feeling.”

Carmella’s will offer exclusive creations to be served in its Greenville location along with seasonal offerings. They will have an expanded lunch menu, and being open from 8 a.m. to midnight every day, they will offer breakfast and café style-croissants, quiches, and a few more sandwiches and pizza options than the Charleston location, with most of their options being desserts. At Greenville, you can expect to find their twist on an Italian sandwich, cannoli cake and espresso martinis.

The aesthetics of the Greenville location also will differ from Charleston’s, said Solari, with more greenery, floral accents, modern features such as a marble floor to fit the feel of the exterior and city.

“Charleston’s exterior is brick, and I didn’t want to fake that here since this building space is more modern and wanted to match that feel for a greener and fresher look,” he added. “What I love about downtown Greenville are all the events that are right here. We are going to have live music close, hotels, a larger concentration of working professionals in the area and we want to cater to that with our full coffee program, grab-and-go breakfast. I think we are going to lean toward that here where we don’t have as much of that in the Charleston location.”

Carmella’s Charleston will also receive a small facelift.

Solari said they will reestablish its breakfast program and make a few structural changes to help with the flow when customers place orders.

“We get a big line in there, and when we first opened, people came to the register, but now we have a line and want to streamline it so there isn’t a jam-up at the counter all the time,” he added.

They have a sizable wine wall that will be made smaller to get customers moved away from the counter, to open up the space. Solari said that will be done during the café’s normal closing time, which is in the first few weeks of January — typically closed every year for deep cleans — although this project might extend the downtown by a few days.

When asked if any additional locations are planned at this time, Solari said eventually.

“We have our sight set on a possible location in Columbia but want to focus on getting the Greenville location up and running, change a few things with the Charleston location, and then we will continue to look more in the Columbia area,” he said.