Mediterranean Chicken Palace, 224 O'Neil Court (The Shops at O'Neil Court): 2008 9 comments
Well, that didn't last long.
The Mediterranean Chicken Palace was in The Shops at O'Neil Court, which is behind the Two Notch Road K-Mart on (logically) O'Neil Court. O'Neil Court connects traffic coming out of Columbia Mall with Two Notch and Trenholm Road, and so seems like it would be a good site for businesses relying on drive-by shoppers, but historically that seems not to be the case for some reason. The Shops at O'Neil plaza, while not dying, has never been robust, and businesses there tend to come and go. The most notable businesses there that I can recall were a sports bar by the owners of Very's (who should be experts at making a go of a marginal location) and a North-East branch of Capitol Newsstand (which,to be fair, has had trouble at all its locations in recent years).
The location acroos the street from The Shops has been marginal too. It's a pretty large building which was once some sort of "Texas Roadhouse" place, but I think a number of concepts came before that, and currently it is a struggling bingo operation after being empty for several years.
Anyway, the Mediterranean Chicken Palace is another entry on that long list of restaurants that went out of business before I got around to trying them. I looked at the menu they had on the door before they opened, and it didn't look bad. They had some Middle-Eastern dishes that I like, such as Tabouli and, I believe, Falaffel, which you can't get on that side of town. The only reason I never got around to it is that I was afraid that, given the name, the whole place might smell too much like chicken, which I don't like at all. My sense of time is not that great, but I think they lasted less than a year. Too bad.
UPDATE 31 March 2010: Added full street address to post title.
9 Responses to 'Mediterranean Chicken Palace, 224 O'Neil Court (The Shops at O'Neil Court): 2008'
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J.P.
21 May 08 at 11:02 am
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Yeah, I knew it wasn't actually Texas Roadhouse. I have the feeling that Garcia's might have been on that lot once too, though not in that same building.
ted
21 May 08 at 11:34 am
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The food here was great. The owner/chef is a great cook, but there were almost never any other customers in the restaurant when we went in. Several times, we were the only ones dining. We knew it wouldn't last.
I think that it originally opened with a different name, but I don't remember what it was.
Previous restaurants at this same location included Elizabeth's and Stellini's -- both with great food. This is a decent location for serving lunch for area businesses, but not so great for a good dinner crowd.
Michael
24 Aug 08 at 11:25 pm
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Technically, the name of the older restaurant in the Bingo building was the "Roadhouse Grill." There was another one off Harbison, which is now a Ryans. RG was forced into bankruptcy by its creditors back around '02 or so, and came out of it around '04, but eventually folded for good last year.
badger
29 Jan 09 at 9:46 am
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I think LulaBelles or something like that is in the Roadhouse building. That Ryan's was built originally for that "upscale" Ryan's "Fire Mountain." I never quite cared for Roadhouse. Ted, I am not familiar with O'Neil Court, but I believe you are correct that Garcia's was the original tenant of that lot you are referring to. I remember eating there in the very early 80's. You seem to spend some time in Myrtle Beach. Is Garcia's still open in the Galleria? Is there still a Kroger there? My grandmother moved south, so we rarely even make it into North Myrtle Beach anymore.
Jonathan
29 Jan 09 at 10:20 am
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You're right. I'm mixing those two up. I also hadn't realized that Ryan's parent company 'Buffet Holdings' had filed for bankruptcy a year ago.
badger
29 Jan 09 at 10:51 am
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The MB Garcia's closed a couple of years ago. The last time I went, it was clearly on its uppers. The Kroger is still there.
ted
29 Jan 09 at 10:56 am
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Garcia's is owned by the same group as the Garfield's chain. Back in the early '90s, there was a Garfield's on Colonial Life, where the Queenstown Bistro (and former Fatz) is now located.
badger
29 Jan 09 at 11:12 am
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I loved Garcias
Mr Bill
29 Jan 09 at 12:28 pm
The restaurant across (which is now the bingo parlor) was once "Roadhouse" - NOT Texas Roadhouse, which is a different chain (and has a location further North of Two-Notch, passed I-77). I used to go to Roadhouse quite a bit when I worked in the Carolina Research Park.
J.P.