Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I've always thought there would be a great routine for a Southern comic like Jeff Foxworthy to do. It would go something like:

So you forgot your Anniversary, and you're in the doghouse with your wife. Well, fellas, your wife is always waiting for you to say those three little words -- those three little words that can make it all better, make her remember why she married you. So just put your arms around her, put your lips to her ear and say: "Hot Doughnuts Now?"

Ok, that probably explains both why I'm not a comedian and why I'm not married, but still Krispy Kreme is kind of woven into the fabric of the South, such that the brand's troubles of the last few years have had me worried that the over-expansion to new areas might bring on a collapse in the heartland.

That made me a bit nervous when I started seeing hits on the blog from people searching on various keyword combinations of "Krispy Kreme Columbia closing", but when I went over there last week, everything seemed fine. There were no signs up warning of anything, and late evening business was very brisk.

Then I saw the comment this morning from Kenneth that the Knox Abbott location was in fact closed, followed by a comment from Rebecca saying

I don't know why I didn't see any fliers last week, but when I drove over there today, I was quite reassured: There were actually plenty of guys working on the remodel. Often a"closed for remodeling" sign is just hopeful wish, but in this case it seems to be the real deal.

Of course, this location was remodeled fairly recently -- within the last ten years, I think, and it was not an improvement. The old setup had nice padded booths for seating, and I could sit by the east window with my doughnuts and coffee and watch the Jiffy Lube to see if they had pulled my car around yet. They yanked all those out and replaced them with a bunch of really uncomfortable and unsightly industrial tables and chairs.

I'm a bit worried about he Kool Kreme thing Rebecca mentions as well. That makes it sound like they are trying to emulate the Dunkin' Donuts / Baskin-Robbins co-location concept, which I think would be brand dilution and a big mistake. (Among other reasons, I'll bet they find they're not selling much ice-cream at 11pm and start closing early.)

(Hat tip to commenter Kenneth.)

UPDATE 9 April 2010 -- Well, there is obviously some more cosmetic work to be done to the exterior, but the store is open again, with a new doughnut assembly line and soft ice cream:

UPDATE 13 March 2025: Updating tags and adding map icon.

I believe this Chinese restaurant on a Decker Mall outparcel has been there in one form or another ever since Decker Mall opened, making it much more durable than any of the stores inside the mall.

I'm not really sure when it closed. I was driving by today around noon and noticed that there were no cars in the lot, which I thought was odd, so I stopped to take a look. There is absolutely no indication that it is closed, other than the fact that it was not open. There was no "Sorry, Thanks for X Wonderful Years!" sign or anything like that, and all the fixtures still seem to be in place as well as third party items such as the gumball machines.

I'm saying "Jan 2010" then since that is recently enough to look fresh but far enough in the past that the phone being disconnected (which it is) makes sense.

This place is almost across the street from the old Jumbo Asian Buffet which is also defunct, but there is another Chinese restaurant just up the hill on Decker a bit, so the neighboorhood is not totally bereft.

UPDATE 19 Feb 2010: Added "China City" to the post title based on the comments.

UPDATE 5 June 2012 -- Somebody has been working inside this building recently after years of no activity at all:

UPDATE 12 July 2012 -- Open again!

UPDATE 14 November 2019: Updating the post status to "closed again". As I mention in the comments, I had taken new pictures and actually updated this post at one point to reflect the second closing, but lost it in a database crash. The pictures at least I should be able to dig up again if I remember to make an effort. Also updated the tags and added a map icon.

UPDATE 28 February 2020 -- Here are some pictures I found from 12 April 2015:

UPDATE 17 May 2024 -- It looks like this building may finally be about to meet the wrecking ball:

UPDATE 18 June 2024 -- Still no sign of demolition, I think they are just tearing the parking lot up for infrastructure work:

This picture comes from commenter Dennis, who says:

I was very excited when Mary Ella's opened about a year ago because I'm in this neighborhood a lot and there's nowhere to eat lunch. (2911 Millwood is across the street from Epworth Children's Home property.)

I went exactly once and the food was good, and hot, and not overly expensive, but... you know how sometimes a place just isn't for you even though you couldn't say why? Maybe it's because the place is so tiny -- about 10 tables -- and soo quiet. Great place to read I guess. They advertised a southern homemade style buffet, but the building is so small the buffet stayed on the stove in the kitchen and the one waitress brought you what you asked for from a chalkboard menu. Made me self-conscious about seconds and thirds, which to me is the point of a buffet.

So Mary Ella's is done and the banner promises the grand opening of Cafe Millwood. Could not tell if they're open yet or not. I peeked through the windows and did not see any change at all from Mary Ella's. The sign says breakfast which will be great if true.

I do know that feeling. In a small place especially, you can get too much attention.

I first wrote about this hard-luck building on Saint Andrews Road near the I-26 interchange when it had stopped being a D's Wings. (It had been a number of other things even before that). The second time I wrote about it was when it had just stopped being Baja's Southwestern Grill.

This time, it has just stopped being Delmonico Diner, something it had been in preparation to start being for quite a while. I drove over a few weeks ago to see the state of the place, and I believe the roadside sign said "open", but they were turning away customers who actually parked and tried to go in. According to commenter Alicia, when the place did open for real, they only made it for a total of three days before closing the doors. I'm sure there's a sad story there, and I'm sorry to see that.

The building is up for sale again, and I suppose it is well fitted as a restaurant, but I have to say that if I were looking to start an eatery somewhere, I think I would have to consider this spot's track record and look elsewhere.

(Hat tip to commenter Alicia)

Edna's, of course is a Columbia institution that has been on Broad River Road since forever, but at one time there were at least two other connected restaurants. One was off of Forest Drive behind the Tasty Bake Shop and had indoor seating with unique folk-art on the walls.

The other, listed in the above ad from the 1970 Southern Bell Yellow Pages, was at the site of what is now Anthony's Dairy Bar, which itself has been there a good while. (And Columbia seems to have had a lot of "dairy bars", a name I don't recall seeing in any other city).

To the best of my memory, we never stopped at Two Notch Drive In. In fact, when we started going to restaurants almost everything had gone to indoor seating with the exceptions of the original Columbia McDonald's on Garners Ferry Road, and Bell's Drive In on Forest Drive or that's how it seemed to me anyway.

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: