If there’s a right place for sipping on a frozen rum cocktail and catching up with friends, it’s a rooftop. And Riva Mare, a new Coastal Italian-inspired restaurant atop a rehabbed warehouse in North Charleston’s Navy Yard, has a fabulous one.
The space is decked out with red-and-white striped cabanas, twinkling string lights and an outdoor bar that stretches on forever. When I recently stopped in to try their new pizza (the dough is made in-house, with flour from Italy) I was inspired to try the Dream Vacation — a frozen mango-rum cocktail peppered with cardamom and angostura bitters.
Slushy and sweet yet a bit earthy, it’s reminiscent of another frozen rum-forward drink popular at beach bars: the painkiller (IFYKYK). Except this version feels decidedly more grown up — like trading in boardshorts for an Italian linen suit. Which reminds me, now is an ideal time to check flights to the Amalfi Coast.