Carmella’s Cafe and Dessert Bar owner Brian Solari opened the Italian-inspired cafe in 2014 with the intention of bringing a little piece of Europe to Charleston.  “Charleston has such an amazing European feel to it. It’s a very old-looking, beautiful city, and I just thought that bringing some of that European flair would definitely fit well,” Solari said. 

Solari, who comes from an Italian family, learned to develop and fine tune his business with the help of other family members who have worked in the food and beverage industry. The cafe makes all its own gelato, desserts and breads in house. Though vanilla is the most popular gelato flavor, Solari likes to mix Carmella’s blackberry and limoncello varieties together.