This upscale restaurant on Hilton Head will have a new look, new name, cheaper menu

An upscale Italian restaurant on Hilton Head Island is undergoing renovations to convert itself into a casual sports pub.

Bucci's at Shelter Cove Harbour, which has been closed since the beginning of January, is set to reopen before Memorial Day as "Bucci and Murray's Pub on the Water."

The pub will feature live entertainment, a happy hour seven days a week and outdoor and indoor bars, according to owner Bob Murray.

The new menu will maintain the classic Italian dishes, pizzas and homemade meatballs that Bucci's was known for, but with the addition of typical pub fare, such as Reubens, hamburgers and corned beef, Murray said.

Menu prices will also be cheaper, ranging from $7 to $36 instead of $16 to $45, according to Murray.

"It's more suited, especially in the summertime, for the tourists," Murray said. "They can get a hamburger; they can get a hotdog; or they can have a formal dinner. Now we're offering them the choice."

Murray said the goal of changing the restaurant from an upscale Italian restaurant to a casual pub was to serve more people— especially during happy hour.

"We were actually turning away a lot of people, because we just couldn't serve them fast enough and we didn't have enough room," he said. "We did very well, but people don't want to wait more than 30 minutes for happy hour ... and happy hour is a huge business for us."

Bucci's happy hour, which cut the price of appetizers in half, was offered from 4 to 7 p.m. seven days a week.

The old restaurant only included one bar outdoors and a small bar inside that was barely used, Murray said. In order to maximize happy hour profits, a 28-foot bar was added inside the new restaurant.

"This gives us the opportunity to serve more people, because our happy hour, which everyone says is the best in the island, will be bigger and better," Murray said.

The indoor bar, which will have three 50-inch TVs above it, will face out on Shelter Cove Harbor.

"A lot of places build these bars, but the bartender has the best view and the patrons are looking at a wall," Murray said. "I turned it around, so they're looking out the glass windows at the marina."

A stage was also built inside the restaurant, so that live entertainment can take place almost every night of the week — including performances by Murray's wife, Christina Bucci-Murray, who often sings at the restaurant.

In 2014, Murray and Bucci-Murray opened La Fontana Waterfront Grill & Pizzeria at 13 Harbourside Lane, Shelter Cove Harbour. After about two years, Murray decided to change its name to Bucci's Italian Cuisine in order to give the restaurant a family name.

As far as adding his last name to the latest revamp of the restaurant, Murray said it was "all his wife's idea."

"It's funny, because I'm known by most of our customers as Bob Bucci (his wife's maiden name), and I don't even correct them," Murray said.

Bucci wanted to name the restaurant "Murray's Pub," but Murray insisted on keeping Bucci in the name, in order to maintain the reputation of the restaurant, he said.

In spite of the island's workforce shortage, Murray said his key employees have all agreed to come back and work at the restaurant once it reopens.

"We'll have most of the original employees back with us, which is great because we won't have to start at ground zero," he said. "That's one of the toughest things on this island — it's really hard to get good help."

The restaurant's new executive chef, Pedro Gomez, has worked in the restaurant business for more than 40 years, but this will be his first time working on Hilton Head Island. Before getting hired for the new position, Gomez worked as a chef in Spain, New York City, Miami and Savannah.

The pub will be open from noon to midnight, with lunch from noon to 4 p.m., happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m., dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. and a late night menu from 10 p.m. to midnight.

This story was originally published April 18, 2018 at 2:53 PM with the headline "This upscale restaurant on Hilton Head will have a new look, new name, cheaper menu."