Cuoco Pazzo spent seventeen years serving Neapolitan pasta out of a modest storefront in the Fairmount Shopping Center on Johnnie Dodds Boulevard. Then the building sold, the rent tripled, and the restaurant packed up. In the same shopping center, Caviar & Bananas signed a lease. Four miles away on Coleman Boulevard, a sandwich shop opened behind a pizzeria within months of being announced, while a restaurant on Ira Road has been telling residents "Coming Soon" for more than two years.
None of this is random. Mount Pleasant's food scene looks like it's simply adding restaurants this fall. What's actually happening is a shakeout in who can afford to hold a lease here, and it's worth understanding if you eat on Coleman Boulevard or Highway 17 more than once a week, which, if you live here, you probably do.
The Rent Bill Behind the New Awning
The Fairmount Shopping Center near Johnnie Dodds and Anna Knapp boulevards changed hands last year when a locally based developer, RCB Development, bought the property along with the neighboring Anna Knapp Plaza for $15 million. For Davide Davino, the owner of Cuoco Pazzo, that sale meant a monthly rent that jumped from $4,800 to almost $16,000. A native of Naples who had run the restaurant for 17 years, Davino told the Post and Courier he worried he'd have nowhere to go and would be forced to close. He found a new spot instead, with a lease scheduled to end at Fairmount on July 31.
The space he's leaving is filling in fast. Caviar & Bananas, the Charleston cafe chain known for its espresso bar and grab-and-go gelato, is taking over roughly 2,472 square feet at the same center. Owner Joe Caradonna called it a long time coming.
"Opening a C&B in Mount Pleasant has been a commitment for years."
Degree Wellness, offering cryotherapy and infrared sauna services, and Arrow Quality Cuts and Shaves are also moving in. Not every longtime tenant is being squeezed out, though. Tru Blue's House of Wings, one of Mount Pleasant's oldest restaurants, renewed its lease at Fairmount and is closing for at least a month to complete a full interior remodel rather than relocate.
That's the real split-screen version of this story. It isn't old versus new. It's whichever business can absorb a rent number that more than tripled almost overnight, and whichever one can't.
Coleman Boulevard's Opposite Problem
If Fairmount is a story about speed forced on a tenant, Coleman Boulevard is a story about speed some businesses chose and others still haven't managed.
Giannone Eatery & Italian Market opened at 216 Scott Street in January, tucked into a courtyard shared with Coastal Crust, the pizzeria that's been there since 2017, and Vintage Coffee Cafe. All three belong to Brian Piesner, a former professional soccer player who's built a small cluster of businesses on adjoining properties just off Coleman. The sandwich shop's focaccia is baked fresh daily, using a recipe Piesner developed with chef Michael Holler ahead of opening.
"The trick is not only having a good recipe but baking fresh every day."
A few blocks over, Neat Bourbon Bar opened this year at 440 W. Coleman Blvd, in the space that used to hold Topsail. Owner Howard Dozier, who's run bars, bowling alleys and a Comedy Zone franchise for more than two decades, told the paper he plans to stock 250 to 300 bourbons, including rare finds like Pappy Van Winkle and WhistlePig. Dozier is betting that even as younger drinkers pull back on alcohol overall, bourbon holds its own.
"Bourbon is a little bubble and kind of protected from that."
Meanwhile, out on Ira Road near the Wando Crossing Shopping Center, Frank & Jack's has been "coming soon" since design review meetings back in 2023. The restaurant and event space, a project from local group High Tide Provisions, has been publicly targeted for a spring 2024 opening, then a late summer 2025 opening. As of this writing, its own website still reads "Coming Soon to Ira Road, Mount Pleasant, SC." Whatever's holding it up, it isn't a lack of announcements.
Over at Belle Hall, the newest Eggs Up Grill opened in August near Seacoast Church on Long Point Road. Owner Cotone had moved his family to Mount Pleasant years earlier and told the Post and Courier the opportunity felt personal.
"This town has truly become home for us."
What's Actually Open Right Now
| Spot | Location | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Giannone Eatery & Italian Market | 216 Scott St. | Open since January |
| Neat Bourbon Bar | 440 W. Coleman Blvd. | Open |
| Eggs Up Grill | Belle Hall, Long Point Rd. | Open since August |
| Caviar & Bananas | Fairmount Shopping Center | Lease signed, opening date not announced |
| Frank & Jack's | 1434 Ira Rd. | Still listed as "coming soon" |
Timing a Fall Weekend Around It
The Town of Mount Pleasant's fall calendar gives you a few natural reasons to try one of these spots without making a special trip out of it. The Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration is scheduled for Sunday, September 27. The Cast Off Fishing Tournament returns to the Mount Pleasant Pier on October 17, and the Children's Day Festival follows the next day with the usual carnival rides and pony rides that make it a fixture for families with young kids.
A few ways locals are stringing these together this year:
- Grab a focaccia sandwich from Giannone before the Cast Off tournament weigh-in at the Pier, since the courtyard on Scott Street is a five-minute drive from Memorial Waterfront Park.
- Treat the Children's Day Festival like a full Saturday: festival in the morning, then walk off the funnel cake with an early dinner on Coleman Boulevard while Neat Bourbon Bar is still quiet before the evening crowd.
- If Boone Hall's pumpkin patch or Fright Nights are on your list this October, Highway 17 puts you close enough to Ira Road to check whether Frank & Jack's has finally flipped its sign, though don't count on it yet.
The Part That Matters Beyond Dinner
The Fairmount lease numbers aren't just restaurant trivia. A rent that triples in one sale is the same commercial math that shapes what small business rents look like across busy corridors here, and it's part of why the mix of shops on Coleman Boulevard and Highway 17 keeps shifting even when the street itself looks the same from the outside. If you've wondered why a restaurant you liked disappeared or why a new one seemed to appear overnight, the answer usually isn't the menu. It's the lease.
Mount Pleasant isn't short on things to do this fall, whether that's a fishing tournament at the Pier, a festival at Memorial Waterfront Park, or a new sandwich shop that opened faster than the one down the road that's been promising an opening for two years running. Keep an eye on both, because in this town right now, the restaurant scene is changing almost as fast as the people writing the checks for it.
If you're already paying close attention to what's opening and what's changing hands around here, you're paying attention to the kind of thing that shapes property values too. Nick Sells Carolinas keeps a close eye on Mount Pleasant's neighborhoods for exactly that reason. When you're ready to talk about the market behind the storefronts, Nick Sells Carolinas is here to help. Start your search, or just ask a question, whenever you're ready.
