King Street Italian Restaurant to Close Permanently in April

Owner of King Street’s Ristorante Juliet announced late Wednesday that the restaurant will be closing in early April, following a series of changes in chef leadership and the departure of its owners from Charleston.

The restaurant will officially close its doors at the end of the day on Sunday, April 7, a decision that owner Sinan Aktar said, in a statement to the press, required “long and heartfelt consideration.”

The restaurant, which Aktar says was a “passion project from the beginning,” opened in May 2017, serving up a range of affordable offerings, most famously, pizzas and pastas. At the time, former Former Burwell’s and Mrs. Rose’s chef Jordan Moore was leading the kitchen — but it wasn’t long before he departed for a position at The Restoration hotel, giving his spot up to former Tristan and 492 chef Nate Whiting. A little over a year later, Whiting stepped down, too, while the Aktar family moved to Chicago, leaving the restaurant in their staff’s hands.

Now, facing even more departures while managing the restaurant from another city, the owners say they “feel the time has come to close our doors.”

“We loved opening Juliet and have enjoyed serving our loyal customers, neighbors and visitors to Charleston,” Aktar said in the statement. “We have enjoyed every step of the journey.”

What will come in its place is still up in the air. In the meantime, the restaurant will be selling its wine inventory, equipment, and decor, an effort General Manager Andrea Molnar is heading up.

STATUS: Ristorante Juliet will operate under it’s normal hours, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., until Sunday, April 7.

• Juliet [Official]
• Italian Restaurant Juliet Opens With Crudos, Cioppino, Pizza [ECHS]
• Juliet’s margherita pizza is the gold standard for purists [CP]