7 Grill, 111 Sparkleberry Crossing #12: 16 Oct 2010 5 comments
Well, this is not a good week for restaurants. This is the third restaurant closing in a row I've done, and all of them very recent instead of 20 years ago...
I first wrote about this building almost exactly two years ago when D's Wings Northeast closed.
7 Grill was the next tenant there, and opened about six months ago. Their web site is still up, and I have to say the menu looks pretty good. Unfortunately I never got there partly because it is a good ways to drive and partly from just forgetting that it was there.
Sparkleberry Crossing seems to be having a bit of trouble really getting established and a number of operations have come and gone there. It's not a bad location -- there's fairly easy access from I-20, the connector with Two Notch isn't bad, and there's driveby traffic heading to Sandhill, but somehow businesses keep going under there.
(Hat tip to commenter O'Reilly)
UPDATE 11 December 2012: Interestingly it appears that the Beltline D's will be moving to this spot.
5 Responses to '7 Grill, 111 Sparkleberry Crossing #12: 16 Oct 2010'
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Barry
19 Oct 10 at 1:02 pm
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I didn't make it to this as it's difficult for me to try to eat at these types of places because I have an affection for that side of town, convincing my family it's as good as I think it is is between hard and impossible but I manage to do a few things I need to do at different places on that side of town once or twice a month. These are the type of places I don't like to go to by myself. If they have one in the Vista, Harbison or even Lexington/Cayce I have an easier time...
Andrew
19 Oct 10 at 4:00 pm
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The northeast part of Columbia is unfortunately where restaurants go to die. on paper there looks like a ton of promise with higher household incomes, lots of folks in a five-mile radius, and so forth.
however the word on the street is that even Solstice (one of the State's best restaurants, let alone Columbia) is going to shut down after the new year. I've spoken with the Owner, who also owns Mr. Friendlys and Cellar on Greene in Five Points, and he said just a couple weeks ago that they've barely stayed afloat for almost two years now. and he's a pretty sharp, hard-working, and obviously talented guy.
If a restaurant like Solstice cant do better than "staying afloat", does Northeast Columbia have any hope of sustaining anything other than established chain restaurants?
i doubt it.Chappy Rockwell
22 Oct 10 at 2:07 am
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That's strange, because every time I've gone to Solstice, the place has been packed. The prices are sort of high as well, so that's a lot of money coming in every night. I wonder if the rent is just really high or something.
That said, I don't go nearly as often as I'd like, just because getting there involves running the gantlet of congestion that is Clemson Road. I'd venture that that's one of the larger problems restaurants face in that part of town: inadequate infrastructure.
Jason
22 Oct 10 at 11:16 am
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I went to 7 after it first opened, and I was unimpressed. It felt and of course looked like D's just without the photos on the wall and very boring in general. The first thing I noticed though, when I first walked in is that the smell was not pleasant. The food was bland as well. I could see why they closed, honestly.
Cassidy
26 Nov 10 at 2:05 pm
This is a shame. 7 had really good food, drinks and service whenever I was there but word on the street was "inconsistent". People are more careful where they spend their money now and it's obviously very difficult for an operation like this to catch a break. It also didn't help that they didn't sink any money into redecorating to help establish a "vibe", but in retrospect that would have been more money down the toilet.
I have to agree that Sparkleberry Crossing seems snakebit, although Solstice seems to be doing ok. Don't know about Mint Julep...they seem to be the opposite of 7 Grill...the "vibe" is right but everything else is average at best.