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Stuffy's, 629 Main Street: 2000s   29 comments

Posted at 12:29 am in Uncategorized

Stuffy's was a sandwich shop in the University Corner retail block at Main & Devine streets, across the street from the old Towers dorms (now the new Honor's Dorms).

This picture was taken recently walking up the hill on Devine Street from Assembly Street, and is of the back side of the Stuffy's building. (The front side sign is gone). I might have walked up on the landing to get a better shot, but just as I had finished taking this one, someone walked out onto the landing to take a smoke-break. I presume this was one of the servers from Al-Amir, which now occupies the 629 Main Street space. For some reason, I neglected to get a new picture of the front, but you can see the space (rather poorly) at the University Corner link above.

I have to admit that I never ate at Stuffy's. I'm not sure why except that while I was in college I was on the "meal ticket" plan which put me at The Russell House and Capstone more often than anywhere else. Also, the sandwich I want is rarely exactly what's on a menu-board. From google, it appears that there are still Stuffy's open in Richmond Virginia. This is the only web page I could find. It's not very good, but it is good enough to confirm that the Main Street Stuffy's was in the same chain -- I can remember that guy-eating-a-sandwich from the Columbia ads.

UPDATE 27 December 2012: Corespondent wblood1 sends this 1980 picture of Stuffy's and The Big Bird. You can also see a bit of the demolished 7-11 on the left:

Written by ted on March 9th, 2010

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29 Responses to 'Stuffy's, 629 Main Street: 2000s'

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  1. I miss Stuffy's. I ate there quite often when I was at USC. While it definitely was aimed at the college crowd, there were many post-college clientle who ate there as well, myself included. The worst part was obviously the parking. I never quite understood, but Stuffy's proper only had two parking spaces, so even if you were lucky enough to find a front row, it might have been a "Carolina's Bookstore" space or the Smoothie place next door. When they started to build further down Main Street, the city blocked off a great deal of street parking. It was a nightmare to get to. Although it does not seem to have hurt Moe's. Stuffy's had very good wings. I was partial to the mushroom swiss hamburger. They also had "raw" fries. Floppy, just like they should be. Cheap beer pitchers...I wonder what they did w/ all the USC decor they had on the walls. Very cool place!

    Jonathan

    9 Mar 10 at 9:21 am

  2. I had a few sandwiches at Stuffy's but agree with Jonathan that by far their best item was their wings.

    If you ordered them "chinese" style, they fried them up, tossed them in a soy-sauce/butter mixture, then shook Lemon Pepper all over them. The absolute best. I actually requested the recipe on one of my later visits (before I even knew they were closing) and I'm glad I did. I occasionally do "stuffy's wings" as a commemorative now.

    Also remember all the usc sports posters they had all over the wall...some of them going back into the 80's. Just a really cool college-dive diner...thanks for doing this post!

    Brian C

    9 Mar 10 at 10:08 am

  3. Man, do I miss this place. Philly cheese steak with raw fries.
    They'd call out your order's number via a microphone.

    Midnight Rambler

    9 Mar 10 at 11:08 am

  4. Back in the late 70's or early 80's my mom used to get Oreo ice cream from there. It's the first place I can remember having that.

    David H

    9 Mar 10 at 11:24 am

  5. They were pretty lax in checking IDs when serving beer.

    Ironchef

    11 Mar 10 at 9:46 am

  6. The first Stuffy's in Richmond opened in 1975 down by VCU on Harrison Street. It was a beer joint with occasional live music after the dinner hour. They expanded throughout the Richmond area and there are still several around town - some are now franchised instead of having a common ownership.

    Looks like the same folks to me. Same typeface, guy eating sub, etc. It's one of those places that probably has an interesting history after 35 years but no one's bothered to write it down.

    Dave

    22 Apr 10 at 11:32 am

  7. I really miss the Big Stuff Burger Basket. It was delicious.

    Brandon

    27 Apr 10 at 8:15 am

  8. I LOVED the oreo ice cream at Stuffy's! I would drive over from Columbia College to get it. :o)

    Duncansmom

    13 May 13 at 4:26 pm

  9. I LOVED the oreo ice cream at Stuffy's!!

    Duncansmom

    13 May 13 at 4:27 pm

  10. I lived in Capstone most of my time at USC. On a pretty Sunday afternoon, my roommate, suite-mates and I would walk to Stuffy's for Oreo ice cream. Eat-in then walk back to Capstone. It was better than any Oreo ice cream I've had since. It was so creamy, almost like custard ice cream. I really miss Stuffy's.
    Now I have a junior at Carolina and in Fall 2013 I'll have a freshman Honors College student. I wish they could experience Stuffy's.
    Yoghut??? Really??

    Class of 1982

    13 May 13 at 7:08 pm

  11. I worked at Stuffy's for a couple of years in the 70's.

    In fact, it's where I met my wife of 33 years. She had a boyfriend when I met her at a Halloween party at Stuffy's. In order to find out where she would be so I could just show up and see her, I used to bribe her friends with huge servings of our Oreo ice cream. That was great ice cream, so always told me what I needed to know.

    That would be stalking today, I guess, but it was harmless and turned out very well. :-)

    I obviously have fond memories of Stuffy's. Too bad it's gone.

    Art

    24 Oct 13 at 2:45 am

  12. Art, you dog, you! Hey, you got to go after what you want in life. That's Business 101! Obviously turned out very well. Great story.

    Jonathan

    25 Oct 13 at 10:17 am

  13. I lived across the street from Stuffy's in Snowden my first year at USC. Stuffy's was a great place and they had one of the best steak sandwiches I have ever eaten (still). I was really sad when I heard that they had closed. I haven't been back to Columbia in twelve years, and apparently a lot has changed since my days there. Thanks for this post. Brought back some great memories.

    Dan

    24 Feb 14 at 9:10 pm

  14. I lived in Moore dorm in the late 70's and loved their subs. I would eat at least one a week. There was also a pool hall in the basement of the building that had great hotdogs. I worked at the Remote One computer center and we would sometimes buy 8 or 10 hotdogs at a time. I think they were 25 cents each. Sad that they are all gone now.

    Steve

    23 Jul 14 at 9:03 pm

  15. Steve-- I think you are talking about The Varsity pool hall. There is a post on here about it.

    Cam

    24 Jul 14 at 1:38 pm

  16. Cam

    24 Jul 14 at 1:39 pm

  17. @Dan- You mentioned you have not been back in Columbia in twelve years, where are you now? Just curious.

    And speaking of steak sandwiches, the best I ever had was at Dick's Flamingo Club on Leesburg Road.
    Dicks has a post on this site. They were one of a few supper clubs in Columbia back in the 60's. Also Mary's Celebrity Supper Club. Mary worked at a famous supper club in Vegas, the name was something like the Top Hat Club. Supper clubs were all the rage back then. Mary left there, worked at Dick's for a while and then started her own club. It's all on the internet, I'm just to lazy to look it up right now.
    The steak sandwich at Dick's came with what Dick called "Steak Fries". The fries were whole potatoes cut into 8ths and deep fried, DAMN they were good with the steak sandwich, and it only cost about four bucks. That was in the early to mid 70's, but still a great price for what one got.

    Supper clubs back then were a place one could /would go to for an excellent meal and spend most of the evening.

    We really don't see places like that anymore. Everybody is in such a hurry. In Vegas or LA one would see people like Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammie Davis Jr. and other Rat Pack wanna be's hanging out at supper clubs.

    Rick

    24 Jul 14 at 6:13 pm

  18. My friend Eric, who occasionally worked there, introduced me to Stuffy's shortly after I transferred to USC in 03. I ate wings, big stuff burgers, steak sandwiches, and grilled chicken sandwhiches with shoestring fries and I believe homemmade potato chips. "Got to know" the owner and his mom a little bit. Some other characters who worked there. Beer was often involved. Now feeling nostalgic for those simple times.

    Vivek

    22 Mar 17 at 9:09 pm

  19. My first LEGAL drink was $.50 draft in 1988.

    John

    23 Apr 18 at 12:21 pm

  20. My step-father was the last owner of Stuffy's. He still has much of the memorabilia stuffed in a shed at my moms house. He took all the kitchen equipment and its also stored at our house. I never attended college at the campus of SC. I always wanted to but it didn't work out. Being a huge SC fan I was excited when we bought this place. I worked there occasionally and remember the stuffy wings. My step dad was probably more proud of the wings than any other item. He always rates every wing place we attend to stuffy's. My family used to go there often and we'd have birthday parties and get togethers. Of course the beer was free and the wings were plentiful. It was a cool place especially for me being a huge South Carolina fan.

    Brad

    7 Jun 18 at 4:18 pm

  21. I loved Stuffy’s, went there a lot in college and would hang there with friends. They had the best wings and loved the fresh cut fries with a pitcher of beer. I also loved the Stuffy Burger till this day I haven’t been able to find a burger like that.... I would love to see it open back up in Columbia.

    USCGrad96

    3 Feb 19 at 3:04 pm

  22. I worked at Stuffy's from about 91 to 95. My old roomates who worked there with me (the Mauldin twins) bought the place shortly after college. Tony, Bart, Jamie,Tina, Pam,Elizabeth,Gary, Brantley. Had way too much fun there. Good times!

    Pete

    19 Feb 19 at 8:26 pm

  23. In college, I used to work at Stuffy's and I loved that place. In fact, I met my wife there forty years ago.

    Art Lader

    13 Jun 19 at 10:04 am

  24. I loved Stuffy’s! My favorite thing is that they would deliver to dorms! Mine was South Tower. We would order 5 gallon buckets of Oreo ice cream for hall parties! If you ordered food, they would also let you purchase beer and cigarettes and deliver them with your food!! Used to go to the downstairs there and we would play Quarters with the great beer prices! I loved the subs but maybe in part, it was because I got tired of always eating from the coupon meal plan on campus! Even went to Garden City beach to Sam’s Corner and they had Oreo ice cream. They heard us talking about the only other Oreo ice cream we had eaten was from Stuffy’s. They got so excited and gave us free ice cream to see if it measured up to Stuffy’s Oreo ice cream!! They were trying to copycat it!! I miss seeing all the old memories whenever I go to football and baseball games, like the kid honeycomb dorms, the George Rogers mural and the old Russell House setup and the old practice soccer field where they would often have free concerts!!

    Anna ‘82 alumni

    6 Nov 21 at 9:13 pm

  25. I have just confirmed with the owners that

    Stuffy’s Subs
    9780 Gayton Rd
    Henrico, VA 23238

    is one of the same Stuffy's restaurants as the one we had in Columbia.

    ROAD TRIP!!!

    Peter Hoffman

    20 Nov 21 at 11:16 pm

  26. I started working at USC 1n 1990 (Coker Life Science Bldg). Went to Stuffy's very often. Great wings, plus I remember they had a PacMan game. Loved Stuffy's. I remember two twins, real nice guys, who ran it. Can't remember their names. There was one thing about that place that was a bit worrisome: the front door opened toward the inside, and I always thought it would a mess if everybody suddenly had to get out at the same time.

    John Nelson

    29 Nov 21 at 12:23 am

  27. Stuffy's was my go to spot. The wings were excellent and I still judge everyone's fries against Stuffy's home fries! Their burgers were good too! Ah, yes I remember the twins!! Good guys and good times!!

    Scott Riggins

    2 May 22 at 7:58 pm

  28. I loved Stuffys! I ate there religiously in the early 90s in college and after college as well. I’m pretty sure I ate lunch there every single day in the summer of ‘93 with my buddy, Matt right after the summer P Chem class. I also remember $3 pitcher and nickel wing nights before going to USC girls volleyball matches. Stuffy’s was always ate go to place before basketgane games as well. Miss that place!

    Jim

    6 Sep 22 at 6:42 pm

  29. I worked at Stuffy's when I attended USC from 1999-2003. I, and all my friends, miss this place terribly. The regulars, the coworkers, the vibes, the food, all things that are sorely missing in Columbia nowadays. I have a wonderful career and life now, but my time working there were my happiest days and I was so fortunate to work there.

    For the John Nelson gentleman asking a couple years ago, the identical twins were Matt & Chris Mauldin. The best bosses I ever had.

    Brandon

    6 Sep 23 at 6:40 pm

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