Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Asian Express started to set up in this old Church's Chicken location in late 2018. Like the one on Broad River Road, which also took quite a while, the crews appeared to be working on it as a side project. For a while, things appeared to be going OK, if slowly, though there were some setbacks as when somebody broke the windows, but it has been months since I've seen any activity there, and as it is more than four years since they started, I am moving the place into the "never opened" category. I'd like to be proved wrong shortly, but it's not looking that way.

I guess this isn't too surprising given that the other Wild Wing Cafe locations in the area have already closed (one fairly recently), but combined with the recent Buffalo Wild Wings closing on Two Notch, it makes me wonder if this market segment as a whole is in trouble. I have heard that for restaurants to get wings nowdays it is almost a "market price" situation and a recent google review for this place does comment:

The wings here are TINY. Like half the size of a traditional wing. Maybe smaller honestly. It’s like they killed the chicken just after it hatched.

I can't comment personally about that as since I don't care for chicken I had never visited the place. Still it's always a shame to see a spot close and folks out of work.

Here's today's Facebook announcement, and here is the still extant web site

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

This spot first featured here as Vegetable Medley back in 2018, and commenter Andrew reported in June of 2019 that Oak Grove Fish House was up and running as of that time.

It's certainly a location that needs good word-of-mouth, as it is off of the main drag. The signs on the property paint the closing as temporary, but at this point it's pretty clearly permanent.

(Hat tip to commenter Bobby)

Irmo's Blue Flour Bakery will be closing this Friday after 17 years so that the owner can retire and spend time with family. Although I rarely drive this stretch of Saint Andrews Road and was unaware of them, the story in The State makes me sad I missed out on some very good looking cookies.

Here is the announcement on Instagram, and the bakery's Facebook and web site are here and here.

The last days are this Thursday & Friday, 11 & 12 May from 11am through 1pm.

The closing for the former Main Street location is here.

(Hat tip to commener Mitchh)

I was unaware of this Lexington place, tucked away on North Lake Drive between Main Street and US-378 until commenter Heath mentioned that it had closed.

The Lexington Chronicle says that they

served breakfast items such as biscuit sandwiches and chicken and waffles, along with lunch dishes including chicken pot pie, burgers and sandwiches. The location also emphasized baked goods including cinnamon rolls and mini bundt cakes.

It's unclear exactly why they closed, but they are looking for another location, and so don't intend for it to be permanent. For now the web site and Facebook are still up.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

Main Street stalwart Drake's Duck-In has made a temporary move from its Main Street location to 1840 Hampton Street while repairs & renovations are made to its permanent home.

Contrary to the signage when I took these pictures, the actual opening of the temporary site did not take place until 21 April, as reported by The Free Times.

The Hampton Street spot has featured here twice, as Nathan's and Hampton Street Diner.

According to the link commenter Heath found, Drake's has been around in one form or another in various locations since starting on Elmwood in 1907.

So waddle on over...

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

Griffin Chophouse replaced Kingsman Restaurant in this spot in 2020 (the Parkland Plaza location of Kingsman remaining open) and closed in mid-March of this year. There was also another location of Griffin Chophouse in Chapin which closed as well. Royal Butcher, also in this building, was apparently under the same ownership as the Chophouse and closed at the same time.

The current plan is that the space will re-open soon as a new restaurant, Bone-Appetite, although the site given for that operation does not seem to exist yet. The Lexington Chronicle has a good article explaining the ins-and-outs of the situation.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

Honestly, I had good intentions about The Whig. There was plenty of notice given that it was going to close, and I was determined to visit it at least once before it did. In the event, as usual, good intentions did not a solid plan make, and I never got around to it.

The first time this underground space in the basement of Columbia's oldest skyscraper caught my eye was when it had the oddly compelling name The Frog & Brassiere, two things that don't usually go together. The Whig opened in 2005, and lasted 17 years until ongoing renovations to make the host building a hotel, and plans for a basement hotel bar as part of that resulted in the lease not being renewed.

You can read about it in The State and The Post & Courier

I still think of this store as fairly new, but according to all the closing stories, it's been here about 20 years now. I also had it in my head that it stayed open later in the evening than the other local stores, but I can't verify that now, and for the final run, it's only open to 6PM, which is kind of ridiculous for a coffee bar in an entertainment district.

The company hasn't given any specific reasons for closing this stor, but I do note that it has no drive-through. You can read the story in The State, or at WLTX.

I'm trying to think if I ever stopped at this store, and I believe I did, once, about five years ago. It was your standard Starbucks experience.

(Hat tip to commenter Russell)

I think I had only a vague idea that this Quincy's location existed while it was open, even though I really liked the chain -- in fact I used to keep a promo brochure with all of their locations in my glove compartment so I would have a sure thing on business travel. Generally though, we went to the one on Two Notch, and rarely got to this part of town.

I'm not sure when it closed and became a San Jose, but it was presumably while I was living out of town, so I've just guessed "1990s" in the title. They haven't changed the distinctive look of the building, though the murals are nice.