Wendy's, 7355 Two Notch Road: 2005 24 comments
The Wendy's on Two Notch Road in Dentsville, near the K-Mart and Hess station was the first one in Columbia (at least that's the way I remember it). When Wendy's opened, it had an appealing retro decor: The tables were covered with 1890s newspaper ads, and the walkway was hung with plastic hippie beads and baubles. More importantly, they could make a good burger, the way you wanted it and fast. You placed your order at the register, and by the time you had paid and walked to the end of the counter, your burger was out, hot and customized. This was in marked contrast to McDonalds, Burger King (no matter what their commercials said) and Hardee's. Even aside from getting it quickly, the Wendy's "Single" was larger than a McDonald's burger, and seemed to taste better. Having found a winning formula, they naturally decided to tinker with it. They branched out into other food items like chicken and baked potatoes, added salad bars, and most importantly, slowed down the service. At some point in the 80s, going to Wendy's had become as bad for slow, incompetent service and incorrectly prepared orders as any other burger chain. It's still a cut above McDonalds and Burger King (the jury is still out on Hardee's until I get a chance to try their new Thickburgers..), but nothing special.
I don't know if the Two Notch location was a voluntary closing as part of the general flight from Dentsville (Olive Garden, Kroger, Lizard's Thicket, Target...) or if they just couldn't make it any more.
UPDATE 18 Feb 2011 -- This place is now (and has been for some time) Nick's Gyros & Subs:
24 Responses to 'Wendy's, 7355 Two Notch Road: 2005'
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That's awful, and would certainly explain it. Thanks for the information!
ted
8 Feb 08 at 2:36 pm
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They've done a master plan to revitalize that area, but I just don't think it stands a chance.
Brian
8 Feb 08 at 9:28 pm
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This was closed immediately after the murders in the kitchen. however, the Wendy's chain said they already had plans to close that restaurant within the next month when that murder occured
Joe
23 Nov 08 at 2:51 pm
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Well...I know THAT place is haunted. I'd tear it down too if were me. I wouldnt wanna eat there knowing what happened.
Del
12 Apr 09 at 8:52 pm
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It now has a sign for "Nick's Gyros and Subs" -- opening soon.
Mike
27 Aug 09 at 6:38 pm
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Opening today, I think. Yeah, I need to get a picture of it.
ted
27 Aug 09 at 6:50 pm
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I don't think I ever ate there. Those murders were horrible though. Especially since I recognized the guy who did it as the guy who all the girls wanted back in middle school.
Amanda
7 Jul 10 at 10:26 am
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I ate at the Nick's Gyros and Subs earlier this year and it went well...wouldn't have a problem returning
Andrew
8 Jul 10 at 12:29 pm
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I wish someone would come up with a master plan to clean that area up a little and bring back the businesses before Best Buy and everything else moves out, I will always remember when it was a busy nice looking place. The stores in the Mall have been dropping like flies over the past decade, I would really like to see them come back.
The Dude
16 Nov 10 at 1:02 am
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Well, this building, at least, is back. It's some sort of all-night greek seafood place now. I keep meaning to get a picture.
ted
16 Nov 10 at 3:31 am
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i think i remember that shooting, do u mean someone had actually died in the kitchen or in the building..sounds spooky
Aliina
4 Feb 11 at 10:43 pm
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i know i cant believe that i ate inside that building
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Growing up in Spring Valley, this was *the* Wendy's. I remember going there tons of times, reading the old-timey catalogs pages on the tabletops and the bright yellow drive thru.... Three times I remember most of all as a kid:
(1) the night my older sister was in charge of babysitting me, but she was 15 and had a restricted license - we had to get home in time to watch the premiere of "Thriller" on MTV. Promised not to tell mom (I was 7, and Ozzy Osbourne played backwards, Dungeons & Dragons and MTV were work of the devil - thanks to Falwell, the Bakkers and Pat Robertson).
(2) My family getting cheeseburgers late (around 10:00) after a vacation. My sister and my dad got food poisoning. My mom and I just farted a lot.
(3) Zapping a bag of fast food in the microwave to make the burgers & fries nice and hot again isn't always a good idea -- pesky aluminum foil catching creating a huge fire!
Dave
5 Feb 11 at 6:26 pm
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yep Dave, I learned the hard way back in September 2008 that putting aluminum foil from a fast food place (Arby's in my case) in the microwave is a bad idea...I'm lucky I didn't set the fire alarm off or kill the microwave involved...
Andrew
5 Feb 11 at 8:52 pm
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here's the stabbing story that others mentioned that ended up being a colleague of theirs back in September of 2005.
I wish I could find it in either of these articles, but apparently, this restaurant was already about to be up for closure but this hastened the demise thereof.
Andrew
14 May 11 at 9:27 pm
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Im wondering if Nick's Gyros and Subs is about to move out of this building, because they opened another location on Decker in the old Taco Bell building.
Amanda
3 Mar 12 at 12:09 am
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I wondered that myself as it seemed odd to open a second location so close to the first one. I haven't seen any indication of it yet though..
ted
3 Mar 12 at 1:09 am
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I think the Nick's is closed as of now...
Toby
13 May 16 at 12:10 pm
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Like all the other businesses along this stretch of roadway, Nick's was adversely impacted in the floods associated with the outskirts Hurricane Joaquin last October and it has been slower than most to come back online but the last time I was down this stretch of road it appeared to me as if they're planning to reopen soon...
Andrew
13 May 16 at 1:00 pm
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Jesus, it hasnt been since Wendy's left 16 yrs ago
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I worked at that Wendy’s in 83. Very busy location.
Extra late drive through.Extra large salad bar.
Quite the experience for a 16 year old!John
1 Nov 22 at 8:37 pm
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Those murders were actually September 2006 and the store never reopened.
Ken
2 Nov 22 at 9:23 am
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Here is the story from WISTV-10
https://www.wistv.com/story/5361274/arrest-made-in-double-murder-at-wendys-fast-food/Sidney
2 Nov 22 at 10:30 am
They closed because 2 employees were shot to death by a former employee who came in early one morning to rob the place.