Village Idiot Pizza, 4517 Forest Drive: December 2023 8 comments
Village Idiot is the follow-on operation in this storefront to Paulie's Pizzeria, which succumbed in 2009 to a kind of "If we have ingredients today, maybe we'll make pizza" syndrome. I never found the space a good sit-down restaurant in that incarnation, and since I never really warmed to Village Idiot in Five Points, I never tried this location.
The chain remains ongoing, but with the sale of this strip-mall, and the end of their lease coming up, they decided not to continue in this location.
The State has the story here, as does the Free Times here. I'll note that The State describes Forest Acres as ritzy, which is not a word I'd ever associated with our little community before.
The closing date is not firmed up yet, but will be by the end of the year.
(Hat tip to commenter Larry)
8 Responses to 'Village Idiot Pizza, 4517 Forest Drive: December 2023'
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Tom
8 Dec 23 at 11:49 am
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Bummer. I liked their pizza, but I really liked their calzones. For some reason it tends to be a bit challenging to find a decent calzone locally. Maybe because FA is just so darn ritzy. Hah. But I'm not surprised it's closing. Village Idiot and Schiano's have very similar pizza styles/menus, and with the addition of Marco's I wondered if there were too many non-franchise pizza restaurants on Forest, and really too many pizza restaurants in general. The funny thing is we're now down to just Marco's and Schiano's. Pizza Joint burned down and Pizza Hut closed. Hoping that Village Idiot isn't yet another chicken retaurant. I think we're good on chicken restaurants at this point.
Matthew
11 Dec 23 at 9:39 am
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I’d really like a nice local deli to open in this spot. With Grouchos currently closed and its future unknown there really isn’t much in the area outside of the chains like McAllisters and Panera (which are both overpriced for what they provide in my opinion). The Other Store is about the only locally owned sandwich place I can think of in the area.
Larry
11 Dec 23 at 11:10 am
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What is McAllister's secret? I never see more than a couple of cars there any time I pass by. I can't figure out what keeps them in business.
Matt
11 Dec 23 at 1:04 pm
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@Matt - good question about McAlister's; I recently went to the one on Augusta Rd in West Columbia. No one there, they were out of products that I wanted, and half the staff were clueless and the other half were snippy. Makes me want to go back no time soon.
Payne
11 Dec 23 at 5:19 pm
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I had a similar experience last time I went to the one on Forest Dr. empty restaurant and was told it would be about 30 minutes before they would have food ready because they were short handed. I walked out and haven’t been back.
Larry
11 Dec 23 at 6:24 pm
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I've never had any issues with the McAlister's on Forest Drive. The grilled tomato & cheese is decent, and it's nice to sit on the patio in good weather.
ted
11 Dec 23 at 10:55 pm
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I went to McAllister's this week and it was really good. I got a reuben, and it had a ton of meat on it. Honestly quite surprised given how restaurants have all been raising prices and skimping on food. But I agree with the other Matt, I don't know how they stay in business. I've never been there when there have been more than 1-3 people in the restaurant.
Matthew
13 Dec 23 at 10:47 am
I'm with you Ted on their pizza. I know a lot of people who will swear by it, but I am not one of them.