Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

To this point the website for New Orleans Riverfront Restaurant is still up and says the place was founded in 1996, which means it lasted about 13 years. Somehow during all that time, I never managed to make it over there. Of course my memories of New Orleans itself are that I generally ate Italian there aside from the obligatory beignets at Cafe du Monde. Still the Riverwalk at sunset was so picturesque when I went to take these pictures that I wish I had taken a Saturday afternoon lunch or two on the overlook. Offhand, I can't think of a restaurant in Columbia with a better view. (Though you could argue for The Top Of Carolina, I suppose.)

(Hat tip to commenter Steve.)

I only ate at Duke Sandwich Company, on Forest Drive between Lizard's Thicket and Zesto, once. Frankly, I didn't think it was very good. This was due to several factors. First of all, I have certain expectations from anything calling itself a "sandwich company" and those weren't fufilled. I went in thinking I would probably get some sort of chese sub, maybe with some bacon or salami, and I found the menu almost entirely made up of "spread" type sandwiches that I had no desire to eat. I suppose the name should have tipped me off, but the only "Duke" product I know of was mayonaise, which I figured was ok for a "name" draw, but was not going to figure in the majority of sandwiches. Anyway, the fact was the menu was not at all to my taste, and I ended up with a grilled-chese sandwich which was pretty much processed-american-cheese-food between two slices of Sunbeam.

Second, I drink a lot of tea, and the store setup was the worst sort for that. "Normally" you either have table service and the waitress keeps you topped off, or you have an ice dispenser and tea urns on the restaurant floor so customers can self-top. The day I was there, at least, they had no urns, one *pitcher* of tea on the restaurant floor and no ice machines. That meant that every time I wanted an unsweet refill or ice, I had to go to the counter, which was very annoying. Also, if I recall correctly, my table turned out to be a "wobbler" that sloshed my drink a couple of times before I adjusted.

Anyway, that's a "Ted" centric apprasial (which is all I have..), if you liked deviled-egg sandwiches, perhaps this was your favorite place. In the event, I never went back. I hadn't known the place was closed until AJ mentioned it in "Have Your Say". I don't think it was open more than a year or two.

It looks like the next tenant for the building is already lined up, "Yummy Good -- Fresh Food With A Hip Attitude". I wish them well, as the building has been somewhat ill-starred since it was a Sub Station II and there was a murder there.

UPDATE 4 Feb 2010: Well, looks like Yummy Good won't be moving in, but you can still lease the building.

(Hat tip to commenter AJ)

UPDATE 7 March 2011 -- Look's like it will be Tokyo Grill:
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UPDATE 3 September 2011 -- Tokyo Grill is open:

UPDATE 32 March 2022: Updating tags and adding map icon.

Captain D's Seafood is owned by the same people as Shoney's and generally seems to like to locate very near to a Shoney's. That was the case with the Shoney's on Two Notch and the Shoney's on Bush River Road, but this one, on Taylor Street, in an outparcel of old Food Lion / current Allen University Mall, never had a Shoney's nearby.

After Captain D's left, the building was taken over by loan company Title Max (which took over a number of failed fast food operations in town, including the old Charleston Highway Burger King, and Steve's #1 Sub Contractor on Broad River Road). I don't recall that operation lasting very long, and the building is now vacant once more.

UPDATE 27 January 2026: Update tags & add map icon.

Well, it was probably inevitable, but Columbia's original Chick-Fil-A and one of the last original stores in Ductch Square has shut down. They had been in that same location for 40 years, which is like since the Pre-Cambrian in mall-time. I'm not a fan of chicken and don't believe I've ever been in a Chick-Fil-A to get so much as a drink (though I could be wrong, 40 years is a long time!), but I've always admired the chain a little bit for sticking to their guns about not opening on Sunday no matter how much more expedient that might be.

I'll try to get a shot from the other side of the corner at some point, there was a whole table of people seated there at the time.

On the plus side, a new pizza operation has set up in the recently closed D'Avino's on the other side of the hall from Chick-Fil-A

UPDATE 16 July 2010: Added a second picture.

UPDATE 28 January 2021: Add tags, full street address, map icon.

On the unfortunate theme of restaurants that never opened, I'm afraid we probably have to add Savannah's on Two Notch Road.

I wrote about this building first when it had stopped being Santa Fe Mexican Restaurant, before being which, it had stopped being a Shoney's.

As you can see in that closing, when the Savannah's signage initially went up (or when it was actually just a notice under the defunct Santa Fe signage), the original promise for Savannah's was

Grand Opening May 1 2009

Well, May 1 came and went. I believe the signage was adjusted a couple of times with different opening dates promised, then left as you see it here with the hopeful but indefinite

Grand Opening 2009

Obviously, that didn't happen either.

Looking in the windows, it appears that a good deal still must be done, with very little sign that work is ongoing (I've certainly never seen any crews working as I drove past). I certainly wish them the best, but I'm afraid that 2009 was just a very bad year to try to open a restaurant.

UPDATE 21 May 2010 -- As commenter Ken reports, it looks like this place has given up trying to get ready to open and is now simply for lease:

UPDATE 18 Feb 2011 -- Looks like it's to be another Wata Wing:

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This Dunkin' Donuts storefront, to go into the old Capitol Cafe site, was announced with more than a bit of fanfare in The State on 24 June 2008.

Since that's about a year and a half ago, and since there has been no apparent work done at the site since the sign went up, I think it's fair to conclude that this is not going to happen..

UPDATE 26 Jan 2011 -- Well, all the Dunkin' branding is gone, and work has progressed. It's got some fancy looking hanging lights in there, but whenever I tried to get a closer look at what was going on inside, I got dripped all over from some sort of overhead leak:

Club Kryptonite was in what is actually one of the more normal looking buildings in its section of US-17 Bypass (just north of Broadway At The Beach) in Myrtle Beach. Sure it is somewhat cylindrical, has huge torches and a comic-book logo on the front, but it's not a pyramid like the nearby Hard Rock Cafe or a really awkward looking sphere like the next-door Planet Hollywood.

I would hear the Club Kryptonite commercials from time to time on the radio at the beach, and they always made it sound like a really hip, risque, happening, appealing place, except for the fact that I'm years past the target demo, don't dance, hardly drink, don't much like loud techno or hip-hop and get stopped up if there's any smoke in the air... Still I wouldn't have minded seeing the inside.

Looking at the club's fossil web page and various fliers one thing that is somewhat surprising is that there is no mention of any connection with DC Comics. It's obvious that the club's logo is meant to invoke Superman's chest shield and, of course, Kryptonite is the fictional substance that is Superman's one weakness (OK, he's also vulnerable to magic, but that's not as widely known..). Obviously the club couldn't use the famous "S" logo without permission, but apparently DC neglected to ever trademark the word "Kryptonite". (I actually think the spelling "Klub Kryptonite" would have worked a little better, appropos to nothing).

According to the Myrtle Beach Sun News, Halloween 2009 was the club's last gasp:

I believe that this is the final radio ad and that this is the final promotion:

More pictures and audio after the jump..

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I never ate at this San Jose on US-1 near the I-20 interchange. Firstly, it's not near anywhere I usually am, and secondly (and more importantly..) it looked pretty suspect as far as quality goes.

At first I assumed it had just gone under (and was somewhat surprised at all the stuff left inside), but driving down the road towards I-20, I found a very nice looking new San Jose restaurant, so I assume it moved to the new building though there are so many San Jose places in Columbia that I can't swear it's the same operation.

UPDATE 16 Jan 2010: Commenter JB says this used to be The Oak Grove Superette, so I've added that to the post title.

UPDATE 4 March 2010 -- Here's the new San Jose building:

UPDATE 20 Jan 2011: Added "The Carolina Grill" to the post title based on the comments.

UPDATE 20 May 2021: Adding map icon and updating tags.

UPDATE 25 January 2023: Add tag.

I have never found a sub place I like as well as Dagwood's Deli in Surfside Beach. Most other sub places feel very down-market with indifferently bussed, hard, booths and the feeling that you're meant to wolf your sub and bolt the premises. It's been several years, but I recall the only Quiznos I've ever been in (in Arlington VA) the same way, and was not impressed.

Be that as it may, this Quizno in Five Points is now history, the latest of several fairly short lived operations in the Harden Street storefront.

I don't remember the Bad Ass Coffee Company at all, but apparently it received an SBA loan in December 2005 to set up business at 817. I do think I vaguely recall seeing the other recent business there, The Just Fresh Bakery Cafe & Market, but never stopped by. It will be interesting to see what goes in next.

(Hat tip to commenter MB)

UPDATE 10 Jan 2010: Added "Manhatten Bagel" to the post title based on the comments.

UPDATE 11 May 2010: Updated the post title to change "Quiznos Subs" to "Quiznos Sub". Interestingly (or not), in this post I remember my experience with Quiznos in the DC area as "not impressed" while today I recalled it much more positively. They say the memory is the first thing to, um what were we talking about?