Tavola Italian

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Table Set for Everyone

Tavola — pronounced TAH-vola, Italian for "come join us at our table" — opened in fall 2024 as the first restaurant from Greenville's respected Table 301 group to venture outside downtown. It sits on the second level of BridgeWay Station, Mauldin's new town center, and the setting makes an immediate impression: arched doorways, soaring ceilings, a terracotta-toned palette, and floor-to-ceiling "walls of wine" that frame every sightline. An open kitchen anchors one side of the room, letting guests watch the kitchen team at work, while an expansive outdoor terrace offers al fresco dining with views over the station below.

Chef Beau Owens and the Kitchen

Executive Chef Beau Owens brings a well-traveled résumé to Tavola's Italian-American menu. A South Carolina native trained at Johnson & Wales University in Charleston, he spent years at luxury properties including Montage Palmetto Bluff — where he rose to Chef de Cuisine and led the opening of the resort's restaurant, Coles — before joining Table 301 in 2019 as Executive Chef of The Lazy Goat. When Table 301 conceived Tavola, Owens was the natural choice to lead the kitchen.

His focus is on scratch-made cooking done with care. Pastas are made fresh daily; the menu features robust bowls alongside shareable plates of classic meatballs, hand-pulled mozzarella, arancini, and clams oreganata. Chicken parmesan and veal marsala round out the classic Italian-American canon, and the kitchen also turns out the finest cuts of steaks, chops, and seafood. Desserts are made in-house. Wednesday nights bring a dedicated lasagna feature — Chef Beau's lasagna paired with a seasonal salad and chef's choice dessert — a weekly ritual that has quickly become a local fixture.

The Wine Program

The wine list earned Tavola a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for 2025, a recognition that reflects the seriousness of the program. All wines offered by the glass are Italian, covering regions from Friuli and Alto Adige in the north down through Tuscany and Sicily. The bottle list extends into domestic selections, with particular depth in Piedmont — Barolo and Barbaresco from producers like G.B. Burlotto, G.D. Vajra, and Cavallotto sit alongside Brunello di Montalcino and Super Tuscans. Smaller artisan producers feature prominently throughout. On Tuesday nights, all bottles are half price — a generous incentive to explore.

General Manager Ken Preston, who oversees all operations, sums up the Tavola approach simply: everything from the moment guests walk through the door should be unforgettable in the best of ways. The Tower Room, a private dining space accommodating up to twelve, is available for special occasions.