Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I was unaware of Marino's Bistro, or indeed of this whole little strip mall near the Airport on Platt Springs Road, until recently.

I like the sign for the plaza, which has a sort of retro look without trying too hard. I don't know anything about Marino's itself, other than that it sounds Italian, which is always an indicator that I will have a better than average chance of liking a place. I'm putting the closing date as February, as the new phone books (which you can see outside the door -- one of the common sights of a closing) came out then.

(Hat tip to commenter fourlizards.)

As is the case with most non-national Mexican restaurants, Don Pedro was not the first restaurant operation in this building. To me it has sort of a Howard Johnson look to it, but I could be wrong. At any rate, the building is sited at, though not affiliated with, the Travellers Inn motel at the intersection of Airport Boulevard and I-26. I never made it to Don Pedro since I figured it would be about the same as a number of closer Mexican establishments. (Though the Free Times link below associates it with the Don Pedro on Two Notch which was supposed to be quite good).

I give 2006 as the closing date since it showed up in the Free Times Bites & Sights guide for 2006, but apparently no other year, and was not in the Feb 2007 phonebook.